Your looking at 166 inches of monster South Carolina buck antler! All I know is that it was killed in Chester County recently, but I will try to find out more ASAP..

Jeff

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It’s Wednesday, and I am off this morning, so I thought I would catch everyone up on what has been going on around here. For one, I celebrated Veteran’s Day yesterday by enjoying the freedoms that our military men and women valiantly died for. And how did I celebrate it, why I went to work to support my family… what every person should be able to do without having to worry about being blown up by a terrorist or carted off to jail because they supported the losing candidate in our elections last week. So a huge thanks to everyone in our military for keeping us free!

As for the hunting, I had several friends up last week, and they all spent a lot of time in a tree looking at deer. My friend Raymond’s grandson Josh shot a nice 7 point over on Cubbedge Hill’s Blount Place, then spent the rest of the week with me trying to get a monster at Cypress Creek Hunting Lodge. Unfortunately it did not happen, but we came VERY close. First he passed a great 8 point at 40 yards with me running the camera. Then we had a giant at 80 yards, but it was right at dark, and I just couldn’t be sure how many points it had nor that he could put a good shot on it in the fading light. But that is real hunting my friends, and we had a great time trying!

Another of my buddies saw quite a few deer including a couple of good bucks that were just too far to shoot as well as a couple that were just across the property line. Again, a real hunter in real world hunting conditions! And I even made it out to the woods with Bo the other afternoon; But sure enough we didn’t see anything. However we had a fantastic time, and one of these days I am going to kill one with him by my side.

I also want to take a moment to thank my cousin Beth over at the Lightsey Hunting Club for Ladies as well as Robin and Ann. They had a nice cookout Saturday night over at their place, and Amy, our friends and I all stopped by for some awesome food and great company. We sat around the fire and talked big bucks until we couldn’t hold our eyes open any longer, then limped home for some much needed rest. Thanks to them again for having us over; we really enjoyed ourselves.

Please continue to check back here, and I will do my best to get some more big buck pictures and stories up as soon as I can. I am also looking forward to sharing a big, new project with everyone in the next few days!

But for now enjoy a picture I took the other day of one of our lowcountry friends that was warming himself on the pavement by the lodge…

Jeff

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This past week at Cypress Creek Hunting Lodge, I had the great fortune of guiding a couple of hunters looking to put their first deer down - Tony from West Virgina and his Father in law “Coot” from Columbia - along with their friend and veteran big buck killer Larry. They both had great hunts and well, just check out Tony (left pic) with his very first deer and first buck! Congratulations… We look forward to having both of you with us again next year, and thank you guys very much for the nice emails about how much you enjoyed hunting with us.

I also wanted to put Keith and his good 8 point up. He was down from New York about two weeks ago and had an awesome hunt where he shot this buck, a doe and a great hog! We are looking forward to having him back as well!

I tell you, you can’t always get somebody on a deer or hog, but it sure is nice when it happens. It is also nice to get the pleasure of hunting with such great guys. It really makes the “job” enjoyable.

As for the hunting right now, hopefully it picks up. We have killed a few more good bucks (pics coming), but the weather has been horrible for the last two days and hardly anybody has seen anything great. However the sun came out late this afternoon, and the rain has passed finally. Since I am headed to pick up our hunters, I will let you know tomorrow if it made a difference…

Jeff

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We have had some great groups of hunters at Cypress Creek Hunting Lodge over the past few weeks, and one of them was the Nation Wild Turkey Federation’s Women In The Outdoors. Twelve ladies from the group showed up this past Friday night for a Halloween party to kick of their weekend with us, then hunted all day Saturday and Sunday morning.

We really enjoyed having them in camp, and they all said that they had a great time too - which is what it is all about. However they were definitely there to see deer, and many of them did including a few bucks chasing does and a couple of hogs. And one huntress, Dana, dropped a great 8 point, so congratulations to her. They were a really fun bunch of hunters, so make sure and check out their website www.womenintheoutdoors.org for information on their great organization as well as dates for future events.

As for me, I finally have a day off, so I am trying to get caught up on everything that I can including getting a few pictures up on this site and a few jobs out to my brides who have been anxiously awaiting their pictures. However, when you work 5am to 10pm many days, it is tough to get to anything other than sleep. And if I am not working, them I am trying to get in a stand myself.

Fortunately, I should get a few hunts in this week while a couple of my friends from Florida are up. As a matter of fact, one of them shot a nice 7 point this morning, so make sure and check back tomorrow for some more pictures of this week’s kills. Now go get in the woods!

Jeff

PS The two “ladies” on the left side of the group picture are guides Bubba and Henry.

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Can you say, MONSTER? Mr. Lennie from from the West Virginia crew added to their total last night when he shot a 200+ pound 7 point over on

Pleasant Hill Plantation… Just check out those bases and main beams! 

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A fantastic bunch down from West Virginia have been having a great time this week with us at Cypress Creek Hunting Lodge. They all saw deer and hogs, and several took care of business. Ron shot two nice bucks and Joel killed a nice sow with his bow. Joel also had several great bucks come close, but unfortunately not close enough for an arrow!

They may have also killed something else last night, and I will find that out shortly since it is 4:30am and I am headed out of the door to the lodge. Please check back, I will have more news and pictures this evening…

Jeff

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The bucks seem like they are finally starting to move a little bit as our pre-rut cranks up. However I expect things to pick up even more as a cold snap moves in tomorrow and the moon changes from being full.

Check out this nice 8 point that Walt, down from New York, killed Wednesday afternoon along with an old doe. More pictures and updates as soon as I have more than a minute to get something up!

Jeff

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This is going to be quick. I got to sleep at midnight, it is now 4:30am and I am heading out of the door… I promise a full post tomorrow, but for now this shot of one of the hogs a guest killed this week will have to do.

Jeff

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Mike Dryden owns Lowcountry Taxidermy over in Beaufort, and he shot this great buck on one of the islands off of our coast last Friday afternoon. He said that the 8 point had only a couple of molars left in his mouth, so he was at least 6 years old. And I know that he doesn’t have a giant rack, but the deer that live on the islands do not get the nutrition that our deer around here get, so they generally do not get that big. I also know that some of the islands hold a slightly different subspecies of whitetail since they evolved separately than our mainland deer, and most of those are generally a smaller bodied/racked animal. However since Mike didn’t say which island his came off of I can’t say for sure if this is one of them.

Mike also sent me a great shot of a beautiful buck that he just finished mounting for some lucky lowcountry hunter. Check out the great spread on this 8 point as well as what a wonderful job he did on the buck’s facial details. I have seen quite a few deer that Mike has done, and I would definitely recommend him if you are looking to preserve one of your special kills. As a matter of fact, you can see some more of his work in another one of my posts a while back when I highlighted Bill Carter and his general store, Garbade’s, in Tarboro.

I also have to thank Mike for being a big part of our Quality Deer Management Association’s Salkehatchie Branch REACH Banquet in August. He donated a gift certificate for one one of his head mounts, and we used that as the prize in our “Guess the Rack’s Score” contest that we had there.

If you are interested in having Mike put his unbelievable skills to work preserving one of your big bucks, call him at 843-247-0625. You will not be dissapointed!

Jeff

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