Want to know what is going on in the South Carolina lowcountry when it comes to being outdoors? Not just hunting, but fishing, sailing, sports and conservation efforts. Then you need to check out LowcountryOutdoors.

Jeff Dennis, who is an Outdoor Correspondent for The Charleston Mercury and saltwater columnist for South Carolina Sportsman magazine, created the site in January, and he already has 87 great posts up including the one yesterday on the NWTF’s SRS turkey hunt where 27  disabled hunters killed 27 birds!

Other recent post topics include:

Charleston Race Week

The Masters Golf Tournament

Turkey Season

Quail Unlimited

Again, if you really want to know what is going on when it comes to being outside in the lowcountry, you had better check Jeff’s site out. I promise you will not be dissapointed, nor will you believe how much you are missing!

However I also occasionally run into some real morons who claim to be hunters, and they remind me why we have to work so hard to keep our sport/heritage safe from groups like PETA and the HSUS… Because while we are fighting between ourselves, it allows them to go unchecked and progressively whittle away our hunting rights.

One of these camo-clad idiots left a comment yesterday on a post that I did a while back on a neighborhood in GA that was being overrun with wild hogs. I wrote the story because I thought that it was a great example of how feral pigs are spreading into our suburban areas. I also thought that I was being funny by encouraging hunters to go and help them out… Obviously the neighborhood is private property that would probably be hard to get permission to gain access to hunt, so I pretty much assumed that everyone would see the intended humor in the post.

However not only did one moron not see the humor, he actually wanted to warn me and others not to try and hunt there. It seems that the G-town hog slayers think that they have the sole right to hunt those hogs, and they don’t want any outsiders infringing on them…

I am truly torn, and that is why I thought that I would write about it here. Part of me wants to send a nice, carefully thought out email back reminding the writer of my humorous intentions as well as how he shouldn’t take that kind of attitude/approach with fellow hunters that help protect/promote the sport that he claims to love. I would also like to point out that it is the “locals only” mind set that often keeps others from taking up our great sport as well as discourages those that are trying to find a place to hunt so that they stay with it -   I will call this the “killing them with kindness” approach.

On the other hand, I just want to write the following:  Dear Moron, Glad to see that you are killing your own food since it is obvious by your email that you can hardly read and write, so that must make getting a job to buy groceries very tough. I also recommend that you keep your wife and sister out of the yard, and then maybe the local paper would quit writing about wild hogs invading your slum. And while I was just being funny about encouraging hunters to hit your woods, I now plan on hunting there everyday that I can. I also look forward to running into you there so that you can try to “remove” my 225 lb ass from your woods.

Anyone have a preference or recommendation on which email I send?

Jeff

She and her good friend/property manager, Robin, have also joined the ranks of outdoor bloggers by starting to chronicle everything that they are doing over there as well as how their hunts go. So please check out their new blog and welcome them. And if you are blogger, please consider adding them to your blogroll.

Thanks, Jeff

PS  It’s Sept 11th, so please remember all of those that gave their life in the terrorist attacks 7 years ago. And please take a moment to thank our military and law enforcement members that have kept another one from happening!

If you get a chance, drop by Mike Hanback’s Big Deer blog and thank him for featuring the South Carolina lowcountry. He was nice enough to showcase the Webb/Cubbedge Hill Monster that Cody Whittle took in October as well the huge 6 point I killed in November.

And I know I have posted the trailcam shots of our two deer before, but I wanted to make sure that any of his readers that are stopping by for the first time see them. I also wanted to include the trailcam shot of Cody’s deer from when he was 3.5 years old to show everyone what a difference 2 years makes!

In addition, I wanted his readers to be able to see the other buck I was talking about in Mike’s post. That is Daniel and his son Derek posing with his great 130 inch buck that he killed in December. And that is his deer in the trailcam shot next to them from October.

You can find tons more big buck photos under my trailcam category, so please feel free to look around. Thanks to all of Mike’s readers for stopping by my site, and a huge Thank You to Mike himself for featuring big bucks from our neck of the woods!

Please note that while I will not be managing Cubbedge Hill Plantation any longer, I still plan on promoting them and their great deer. And as everyone should know by now, I truly love promoting the hunting in the Lowcountry, period!

Jeff

I have to truly thank her for recognizing me and this blog because I just absolutely love writing about the great hunting we have here in SC as well as sharing all of my stories and photos. I also just love that so many people enjoy reading it, and I promise to keep up the good work starting with a post of some great trailcam pics later today, so please check back.

(I am in Florida this weekend, so working from my friend’s computer is making things tougher and taking longer. I have already had to download Firefox because I was unable to write a post from his Explorer… and even with that fix, I now can’t get the hot link buttons to work!)

I also have to pass the Excellent Award on, which is tough when I read so many great blogs. Every one of the sites listed in my blogroll, posted over to the side, should get it. They are all so deserving, and of course some have already received it. However I think the Hog Blog really stands out for recognition.

Phillip always has such great content! And just as importantly, he consistently provides a perfect example to other bloggers on how to to deal with the inevitable controversies that come up. I know I learn something every time I visit his great site, so please check him out and congratulate him on his EXCELLENT blog!

It is also one of my favorites, and I stay glued to it whenever we are visiting Will down in Florida since we do NOT have cable! I know many of you are wondering exactly how you live without it, but I assure you it can be done (hunting videos!). As a matter of fact, Amy and I went many years without any TV at all, and we are now talking about going back to that!

But back to our topic – The Outdoor Channel. I like many of the hunting shows on there, but I agree with Arthur that I tend to watch the ones that showcase more “real” hunting. My pet peeve is all of the recreated shooting and recovery scenes, and I tend to flip away from them if they over do it.

One of the best shows on the channel is Quality Whitetail TV, QDMA’s very own program showcasing good deer management as well as great hunting footage. It is on every Wednesday at 10am, Thursday at 8:30pm and Friday at 3:30pm – so you have several opportunities to catch it. This week it will feature noted deer expert and photographer Charlie Alshiemer following the amazing life cycle of a trophy buck as he goes from yearling to old timer.

And like the press release says on The Outdoor Wire, “The show also features many noted deer management experts such as host Neil Dougherty, wildlife habitat consultant from New York, and co-hosts Dr. Karl Miller, professor of Wildlife Management at the University of Georgia, and Brian Murphy, Joe Hamilton and Kip Adams, all noted wildlife biologists with the QDMA. Each episode is dedicated to helping viewers achieve better deer and better deer hunting. For complete air times, visit the Outdoor Channel or QDMA.

Also, please note that QDMA founder and co-host Joe Hamilton will be speaking tonight at our QDMA Salkehatchie Branch’s monthly meeting… We are truly looking forward to his very special visit, and I will have a full report on it tomorrow!

If you have seen it, you know what I am talking about. And when I googled it in search of more information on the clip, I found that there has already been quite a discussion about it over at Field and Stream’s blog Whitetail365. I couldn’t help but to read ALL of the comments, and I think the they are as interesting as the video itself.

What do you guys think about the footage? And just as importantly, what do you think of the definite division in our ranks on this?

Turns out it wasn’t hard at all. All you have to do is write down one of your most memorable hunts. Bill then says that he is then going to assign numbers to the entries and randomly pick the winners on January 19th. I have already completed my entry, so I thought I would share it with everyone below. I also think that I am going to send Jimmy Carter over to supervise the election, I mean drawing, to make sure it is all above board. If he can help the North Koreans, the former peanut president should definitely be able to get me a damn book.

One of my most cherished memories afield was when I killed my first Eastern wild turkey eight Springs ago. I had been trying for several years, but without any luck. Finally my wife and I came up to SC for a weekend of camping and hunting, and it all came together.
We slept in due to rain, then headed out about 9am. We had to wade water every where we went but finally made it to our pre-scouted spot to set up about 9:30. We had been calling off and on for about an hour when a bird finally answered from the neighboring property. He was pretty far off, so we just kept up our light calling for about another half hour. Then, like a ghost, the giant bird just appeared about 75 yards off to my right. This would have been an easy shot for my wife (we were sitting about 50 yards apart), but since she does not carry a gun or like to kill things, he went right on by her. I let him continue circling around until I was pretty sure he was right out in front of us. But with a row of brush in my way, I just couldn’t be sure. So I lightly let out a yelp with my mouth call – the big bird hammered back from just 30 yards away.
However even with him so close, I definitely could not get a shot from my spot, so I Rambo crawled across a muddy firebreak and eased up behind a big pine. There he was, and looking straight at me! I quickly drew a bead on him and let him have it… I couldn’t believe it when he went right down.
But then he was back up and flopping all around. I was so scared that he was going to run off that I looked like Carl Lewis hurdling bushes and sprinting over to get him. Once there, I put my best wrestling move on him and held him down until he stopped moving – I knew we would want to mount him, so I did not want his feathers messed up!
My wife came racing over and gave me the biggest, best hug ever, and we just stood there in complete amazement over what a spectacular hunt we had just had. The 2 year old gobbler weighed 16 pounds, had a 9.5 inch beard and 7/8 inch spurs. That bird now stands in our living room and struts for all of our guests. It was truly a moment that I will NEVER forget!

Thanks Bill for spurring me on to write this memory down…

Like many readers of his former blog, The Big Buck Zone, I wondered why he had not posted lately. However I just chalked it up to his busy hunting schedule along with holiday commitments. But then I read over on Hunt Smart, Think Safety that he had started a new one.

I immediately checked it out, and of course it is as good as the Zone. And knowing what a great writer/hunter he is, I have no doubt that it will be even better! He just has so many contacts in the big buck hunter’s circle that he is usually first in posting about any new giants killed. He also has so many readers that he gets lots of emails letting him, and us, know about other cool hunts and kills.

Please check out Mike’s new site and support him as he begins this new project! Also, please make sure and thank him when he shows his many readers the potential our Lowcountry has for producing monsters.

Jeff

However I can’t say that about Rex over at the DeerCampBlog since I believe he has left the hold of society in search of Thunderhoof, or at least a monster buck! He did manage to send out a Christmas card before he left though, and you must check it out!

I am headed to Florida for two days to work, so I will try and get this done once I get back. I am looking forward to it… Please note that I also have a pre-written post going up on Friday, so don’t forget to check it out as well.

Jeff