After four and a half months, the South Carolina deer hunting season came to a close yesterday.

I spent the last hours of it sitting with Bo in a stand near Boggy Creek watching five does feed down a food plot, just enjoying our time together. I could have shot one, but chose not to since we had killed another nice doe the evening before. Instead we just looked at them through my binoculars while I answered his unending questions about the wildlife and woods…

I couldn’t have picked a better way to end the year!

I am now regrouping and putting my plans together for 2009, so allow me until Monday for some new posts. I hope that everybody had a great Christmas, and I wish everyone a Happy New Year.

Jeff

PS  Feel free to wish Amy and I a “happy anniversary”. Eight years ago on New Year’s Eve she committed to marrying a hunter – we then promptly went to Alabama hunting for our “honeymoon”! Please note that she is probably still reconsidering that commitment

It was also fitting that I hunted with Bo, one of two products of that union 8 years ago, this new year’s eve and killed our second deer together…  I now look forward to next new year’s eve when I can hunt with both of the products

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Well, I finally killed a deer last night. And while it certainly wasn’t a monster, the young doe sure will eat good over the coming months.

The warm weather and hunting pressure has really kept the movement down, so the hunting has been tough lately.  But it’s really my own fault. I passed on hundreds of deer over the season, mostly looking at them through the lens of a video camera, in hopes of a giant. So to now have to shoot a couple for the freezer during the hardest time of the year is what I get.

But I figured that with this cold front dropping in on the lowcountry this week that the deer would be moving, and they were. I ended up seeing 3 deer total, which late in season after they have been shot at for 4 months, is pretty good for our little spot.

I even had one get me before I could get the gun up, so I was pretty irritated with myself. I am normally pretty quick on the draw, but this deer didn’t even slow up as it crossed my shooting lane. And after hunting all of last week without seeing a deer in range, I really thought I was going home again without a deer. But fortunately a few minutes later, two young does ambled across my path at about 75 yards. I checked for buttons, and when I didn’t see any, let the second one have it… She barely made it 25 yards before falling over right behind the stand.

Unfortunately Bo wasn’t with me, so we will be going this afternoon to see if we can’t get one together. As a matter of fact, the deer that got by me was actually right in front of the blind that the two of us hunt in together (about 300 yards down the road), so hopefully it will return for us this afternoon. Then instead of a long shot, I will have just a 40 yard shot, and Bo can have a front row seat.

Of course, that is if he gives me the go ahead to shoot it. The other night we were hunting and had two button bucks come out, and he flat out told me “don’t shoot those young bucks dada. Then they can grow up and become MONSTERS!”.

I hear you son! We will give it another try this afternoon…

Jeff

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Greenefield Hunting Lodge 8 point

I saw the Vice-President of our QDMA’s Salkehatchie Branch the other night at his party. There Michael Greene told me about a couple of the great bucks that his hunters had killed at his Greenefield Hunting Lodge here outside of Estill…

And he wasn’t kidding! Look at these two monsters – both will go over 130 inches.

I sure could use one about that size right now. Bo and I did manage to see a couple of button bucks last night, but chose to let them grow. That way, one day, they can look

Greenefield Hunting Lodge 9 point

just like these two.

Thanks Michael for sending us the shots!

Jeff

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Check out the giant buck killed at Harter Plantation in Fairfax last week during the 2nd annual Law Enforcement Hunt that was held there…

It doesn’t surprise me that such deer abound on that property since Danny and Becky Harrell started Cypress Creek Hunting Lodge on that plantation. And while they no longer have that chunk of property to hunt, the deer management plan that they instituted continues to grow big bucks on that tract.

You can read the entire story about the hunt at www.lowcountryus.net. under the “local sports” section of the site.

Jeff

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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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