Good Monday Morning! For your viewing pleasure today I have some great footage our friends from Trijicon’s Outdoor America filmed at Cypress Creek Hunting Lodge a few years ago. So please check over at the Cypress Creek Skinning Shed to view them shooting a big hog and then harvesting a beautiful buck in velvet.

Jeff

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That’s right… The Hunt family is headed to Florida this morning for a full week of fun in the sun. We will be staying in Melbourne visiting Amy’s mom and stepdad that live across the street from the beach as well as catching up with lots of friends that we don’t get to see too often. We also have several day trips planned to Sebastian Inlet, the zoo and on the St. John’s River. So I look forward to sharing those adventures with you when I return, and hopefully I will also get  a post or two up while we are there since I will have internet access.

However to keep you entertained this morning, I suggest you check over at the Cypress Creek Skinning Shed for some new video clips that I just posted. One has some great footage of a big sow being shot by our old marketing/media coordinator and the other has Kerry Earnhardt watching a great boar fight and then shooting the winner. I think you will really like them!

Jeff

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This Spring has been very tough for me to blog. Not only have I been super busy with turkey season, but I have been having computer problems in addition to being very handicapped by using dial-up internet services to blog. And I just seem to be getting busier and busier every day with two kids, two jobs, a wife and a life, so I just don’t have the time to sit around waiting for pages to load or files to download. Throw in an older, slow computer that loves to freeze up, and you can see why I haven’t gotten around the bloggosphere as much as I used to and why I haven’t posted as often as I would like.

Well, that is all about to change! A wireless company has finally introduced a high-speed modem that will work out here in our internet dead zone, and I now have it. Then, due to my computer crashing last week, I have finally had to go and buy a new computer. So between the two of them, my computing/internet surfing ability has gone from the equivalent of a Yugo to a Ferrari.

I have already been able to view hunting videos that before always clogged my computer up, such as some of Tom’s great work at Base Camp Legends, Arthur and Jeff’s turkey hunts at SimplyOutdoors and Phillip’s hog hunts over at the HogBlog. I have also been able quickly run around many of my other favorite blogs to see what everyone is up to lately, which before was becoming more and more impossible due to my time/schedule constraints.

And now with the new computer to do the processing and the high-speed internet connection to upload them, I am working on getting some of the great hunting footage that we shoot at Cypress Creek Hunting Lodge up on the internet. I am very excited about this since we have so many hunts on film, and until now, it has been trapped on our many tapes. But that is all about to change too!

And to start things off, I have gone and pulled the great intro to the original Cypress Creek Hunting Video made about 5 years ago and posted it to YouTube and linked it to the Cypress Creek Skinning Shed, specifically at Cypress Creek Hunting Video Intro. Please note that it has a watermark on it for the first few seconds, but that is because I was using a program that we are thinking of purchasing. If it works well, I will buy it and remove the watermark, then re-upload it. I am also still trying to get it to play directly on the Skinning Shed, but for right now, I can only get it to work from YouTube. So check it out and let me know what you think of the footage. And then prepare for much more, because once I get the these bugs worked out, I will transfer the rest of the hour-long video and get it uploaded; then I will move on to some of our most recent hunts.

And of course, I am grateful for any advice anyone can give me about working with the videos on the internet as well as on the computer. I am new to this, so I will be glad for any help. Now if I could just get all of my old emails and programs off of my old, dead computer, I would be in good shape. However I am working now on getting that done right now, and as soon as I do, I should be all caught up on my biggest projects. Then throw in the fact that the summer is our slowest hunting time as well as our slowest wedding time, and you can see that I will have more time and ability to blog. So forgive me for the lack of writing this Spring and prepare for some big changes over the next few weeks. I truly look forward to sharing much more with you.

Jeff

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Bo and I with our first deer

Ever since Bo was born four years ago, I have anxiously awaited the time that we would be able to hunt together. That time finally came in late September when we hit the woods for our very first hunt, and what an unbelievable experience we had. Unfortunately a slight glitch occurred when I actually went to shoot a deer (read about it here, it’s pretty funny), so we ended up not getting our first deer together on our first hunt.

But that didn’t bother me, or Bo, a bit. And I was even a little glad that we didn’t get a deer on our first outing so that it didn’t seem like hunting was too easy. As a matter of fact, that is why we were even in a stand, because if all I wanted to do was kill one with him, I could have shot one right out of the back yard.

But, like I said, I did not want him to get the wrong impression that hunting was easy or that you didn’t have to work for your deer. Well, after hunting 8 more times together and either not seeing anything at all or having them step out to far to really get a good view of the deer and my shot, I think that I accomplished my goal! As a matter of fact, I think that Bo was thinking of hiring a new guide since his was obviously not very competent if he couldn’t put him on a deer in almost 10 tries.

Luckily, his guide got with the program and asked Mr. Danny (Cypress Creek Hunting Lodge owner) if we could please go over to Pleasant Hill Plantation to shoot a doe. It is a unbelievably beautiful place, there are tons of deer over there, and they have had little pressure – all things that make for a great hunt. And since we don’t have any more hunters booked on that tract this season, he said “yes”…

It was there Monday night that we were able to finally kill our first deer together. And what an experience we had. A cold front had moved in, so the temperature was just above freezing and that had the deer up and moving. We had several young does and small button bucks come out to the food plot and feeder at the Primus stand that we just enjoyed watching. Then a huge doe joined a couple of them, and Bo asked if I was going to shoot one. I told him yes, and asked him to cover his ears. When he was all set, and the doe had turned broadside, I took the 175 yard shot with my 30-06.

The doe jumped straight up into the air, came down, then sprinted across the field to the woods to the left of us. I was sure of a good hit, and Bo agreed that it must have been since she jumped so high. Bo then informed me that we needed to go and find it so that we could go home and show mama as well as take pictures of our “big mama doe”.

So we packed up all of our stuff and climbed down the 20 foot tower to begin the search. As we did, four of the deer that had run away at the sound of my shot came back out. So as to not spook them, we looped down and in to the pines towards the spot she had disappeared and started following the main trail that went back in towards the bedding area. And there, about 75 yards deep into the pines, was one of the biggest does I have ever seen. She easily went over 120 pounds.

Bo was ecstatic over “his” first deer and so was I! We hugged, checked out the animal that had given us its life so that we could eat, then started dragging her back towards the road. When we got there, we tagged her and loaded her up in the trunk of my Toyota Corolla for the ride home. There we showed her off to mama and took a few pictures before I skinned her out. And to preserve the memory, I also caped her out so that we could mount her.

Monday afternoon’s hunt was something that I had dreamed about for 4 years, and it was truly one of the greatest moments of my life… I will never, ever forget Bo and I killing our first deer together.

Now I just have to wait one more year so that I can do it again with Will. I have already been looking forward to it for 2 and a half years…

Jeff

PS. A huge, sincere Thank You to Danny and Becky for the opportunity to shoot our first deer on Pleasant Hill.

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According to my son Bo, I am the best hunter in the whole world. And the second best hunter is Dale Earnhardt’s son, Kerry.

He bases his belief in Kerry because on an old Cypress Creek Hunting Lodge hunting video, Kerry shoots a giant boar after watching two of them fight it out over a sow in heat. And out of all of my hunting videos, this “creek” video as he calls it is by far his favorite, that hunt is by far his favorite scene, and he must watch it at least once a day!

Well, this week at Cypress Creek we had a big group of employees from Bass Pro Shops come down from their Charlotte, NC store as well as up from their Orlando, FL store. And since Bass Pro is one of Kerry’s sponsors, he joined their group for a two day hunt here in the lowcountry. This meant that Bo had a chance to meet his second favorite hunter while he was here visiting and get his picture with him.

Kerry thought that is was very funny that Bo didn’t know much about him and his racing, but that he thought so much of his hunting ability. He was also very nice about it and graciously spent a few minutes talking big hogs with his young fan as well as took some pics with him. I must say that I have met lots of “well known” individuals, and many of them seemed to have two personalities: one when the cameras were rolling, and one when they were off. I was glad to see that Kerry was not one of those. He was just as nice as he could be, and everyone enjoyed having him and the Bass Pro crew at the lodge. Please visit The Skinning Shed for a complete recap of all of their hunts as well as pictures of their kills, especially the giant, freak of a buck that Kerry took.

Jeff

PS I also want to apologize for my post yesterday about the “new SC record book whitetail”. I should have know that was not a SC deer as well as that it had been photoshopped. However the picture came from a friend that I thought I could trust. In addition, I put it up at 4am as I was leaving for work, and I obviously was not thinking straight at that hour of the morning. I promise to be more careful in the future.

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After much delay, I finally want to tell everyone about our new project… It is called “The Skinning Shed“, and it is the the Cypress Creek Hunting Lodge‘s new blog. There I will be covering all of the latest happenings at the lodge as well as showing off all of our latest harvests, providing a weather and hunting forecast for the upcoming week and writing articles on how to best hunt the beautiful lowcountry of South Carolina.

I will be updating “The Skinning Shed” at least 3 times a week as well as continuing to post here at lowcountryhunting.com 3 times a week. And I have almost finished all of the remodeling on my mom’s house, so I am looking forward to having the time necessary to keep two great sites packed full of lowcountry hunting information.

I encourage everyone to please head on over to The Skinning Shed to take a look at our new blog as well as to check out our end-of-the-year hunting special that we are running. And if you are a fellow blogger, and your site’s link on our new blog (and this site’s), then know that I read and truly enjoy your writings! I would also appreciate it if you guys would add The Skinning Shed to your blogroll as well.

Thanks, 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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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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I had a few minutes yesterday to run out back of our Luray lodge and check one of the cameras… Unfortunately the battery had died a couple of days ago, but there were some nice shots of a some good bucks from the week before including the two fighting in the background of the shot with the young buck.

I am headed out today to set a couple more out, and since the deer are starting to really move good in this cool weather, we should have some

more to share in just a few days. We have also shot a couple of nice bucks in the last few days, so I will try to get them up as soon as I can.

Jeff

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