Just in case my readers haven’t heard, I now work for Cypress Creek Hunting Lodge as their marketing and media coordinator as well as a guide. And what an opening weekend we had!

The weather was hot and muggy as it always is in August here in the lowcountry, but that did not stop the big bucks from moving. We had a lodge full of hunters, and most saw some buck movement including the two pictured here in this post. Ken, up from Florida, shot the nice 105 inch buck above while Hank, from North Carolina, shot the giant 130 inch buck below.

We also had two misses and one wound, and they were all by the same Florida hunter that was sitting with me on our Pleasant Hill Plantation tract on opening day. I was running the video camera in hopes of catching a monster being shot, and I thought that it was all going to come together about 6pm when a great 130 inch buck stepped out at 350 yards. I dialed in the camera on him and gave the go ahead to shoot if he wanted.

However before my hunter could pull the trigger, I saw more bucks coming in to the field and told him to wait. Another great buck walked in to the food plot that ran down the edge of a huge millet field along with another two year old buck and a doe. And as I was trying to figure out which one was bigger and hoping that possibly more bucks would ease out, my hunter rushed a shot on the wider buck as he was heading out in to the field full of high weeds and millet.

Most of the deer just stood there, but the one he shot at jumped so I thought he had hit it. However a few minutes later we saw his rack walking around in the tall field, so we were pretty sure he had missed him. The other deer then joined him, and we spent the next 20 minutes watching racks, but not the deer, eating in the field. Finally they moved deeper in to the field, and we lost sight of them.

The two of us then just sat there quietly in total disbelief. And if you believe that, I have a bridge across the Atlantic Ocean to sell you… it was total chaos in the stand as we debated the shot, size of the deer and what exactly what had happened. Finally we both settled back down, and we waited to see if anything else would come out.

Unbelievably, about 30 minutes later, both bucks stepped out at 160 yards right under the feeder! Unfortunately, for some reason, the camera started acting up, and I could not get it to work right (later we would figure out that I had knocked a cord loose). So I put it down and grabbed my binoculars to try and help figure out which one was better. I decided that the taller buck would definitely score better than the wide one, and told Bob, my hunter, to shoot when he was ready. BANG!

The tall-racked buck dropped while the rest ran off. I congratulated Bob, but then told him to keep on eye on the deer since he was laying behind some tall grass still kicking. I then started looking through my back pack for my phone to call the lodge, and as I was doing so, I looked up and saw the buck standing up. But before Bob could shoot, he fell back over. Now I was worried that he wasn’t hit well, and I told my hunter to shoot him immediately if he stood up again. Sure enough, a minute or two later, the buck stood back up. However when I ordered Bob to shoot him, nothing happened…

Bob had forgotten to put another round in the chamber, and the buck was now starting to amble quickly down the edge of the field. He hurriedly shoved another round in, and as I “calmly” suggested that he shoot, did so. However he missed the buck just as he was hitting a thick patch of bushes. I was now really worried about how well the deer was hit, so we waited on Danny, the owner, to come and get us before looking for the buck.

About a half an hour passed before Danny go there, and the light was fading fast, so we ran over to the spot were the buck had fallen. There we found a round blood spot, but no trail leading away from it. So we headed over to where we had last seen the buck and fanned out in search of him. Bob and Danny headed back in to the woods to see if he had gone through the thicket while I worked the thicket he was headed into when Bob last shot at him. And as I stuck my head in to one of the big bushes, the buck bolted out of the other side.

I heard him run a little ways, but thought that he had stopped. So we headed over to where I was pretty sure he had gone and continued the search. However darkness finally settled in, and we gave up about an hour later to return to the lodge where we discussed what to do about the deer.

We decided that we would go back in the morning with all of the guides as well as see if we couldn’t find someone with a trail dog to help us. And after getting everyone to their stands before daylight, that is what we did. However, while we found a dead 8 point from last season, we did not find Bob’s deer. And neither did the trail dog that Pete Simmons from Buck Run Hunting Lodge brought out to help us.

After reviewing everything that happened, we all decided that the buck had been hit high in the back, and that is why he dropped but didn’t die. Pete also said that they hardly ever find bucks hit like that with the dog, but instead usually end up shooting them later since it is normally a non-fatal hit.

There are several lessons to be learned from such an experience. One is to wait for a good shot. Bob had consistently hit the 300 and 500 yard target the day before at the lodge’s shooting range. However that is not a big buck on the move! Most hunters heart’s are racing when they shoot at a deer, especially a big deer, and targets don’t move like a deer does. The second lesson is to sight your rifle in at 100 or 200 yards and compensate for drop only. Bob had his gun sighted in at 300 yards, and that caused him to hit high at 160. It is tough to remember to hold low for short shots and high for long shots when you are looking at a monster! The third lesson is to always chamber another round and keep an eye on your “dead” deer just in case he isn’t.

We have a few hunters in the field this week including a camera crew from Monster Plots TV, so hopefully I will have more kill shots and stories tomorrow.

Jeff

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Look what showed up in our backyard this morning at 9am to check for fallen pears… With a month still left for his rack to grow, he should turn out pretty good. And he had better hope that I don’t sleep in and hunt the backyard opening morning!

I also wanted to wish everyone, including our great country and all of the members of our armed forces defending it, a happy 4th of July. Please be safe and enjoy some family time outdoors. With our youngest son’s birthday this weekend and my mom up for it, I know that is our plan. Next post will be Monday.

Jeff

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Well I finally got a new flash card for our trailcam (the other one finally died from the moisture) as well as put it up over near the combine on the Blount Place. I did that on Friday when I put out 1000lbs of corn and checked on all of our food plots. The rain really helped this past week, and the grain sorghum has gone crazy; some of their heads are as big as basketballs, so the deer should really continue to have tons to eat all fall.

I will check the camera in the next day or two, so I should have some new pics up soon. In the meantime, I am just posting a shot from last month of a really nice buck… we hopefully will have kill shot of him sometime in the near future. I know that a lot of seasons are opening up right now, and I just thought that this shot would keep everyone pumped up – you just never really know what is out there running around, and may come by your stand any minute!

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I thought I would post this picture of a decent buck snacking on corn over on Cubbedge Hill’s new road. The deer showed up on Richard’s camera about 10 days ago, but C.J. had pulled the camera and left it in the clubhouse. I did not bother to check it again since I had just looked on its card the day before… Just shows what can turn up in just one night!

And unfortunately I have nothing to report for the deer movement. Not a thing is moving at the moment…. not even in my backyard. And if they are not moving in my yard where there is no pressure (we never shoot our pets), then they are definitely not moving anywhere else. We normally see deer every night and morning, but have not seen even one in the last week. However, just like on the plantation, the corn keeps disappearing every night.

The only thing of interest that has been seen was a flock of turkeys roaming through my yard yesterday morning. I heard the dogs outside barking, and when I looked outside, the  group of hens were just moseying across my driveway. They did not even look concerned about our watchdogs barking at them 20 yards away! However if our goat/deer/sheep eater Daisy was loose, it would have been another story.

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The last few days, the deer actually moved a bit. Shane saw several nice bucks heading in to the corn at the big oak and killed a nice 162 pound 8 point Saturday afternoon. However C.J. shot first, taking out a young turkey killer going for a drink in the sink holes between the Clover field and CH6 (Apple Oarchard). He also saw plenty of deer, including a 2 year old buck. Those guys always come to HUNT!

It rained all afternoon here today, so I slipped out this afternoon for a sit at the back of the pasture on Cubbedge Hill after it stopped. It was very dark and dreary out, with a little breeze, so I thought that it would be perfect.

It was, except for the lightning! It cracked, then rumbled far off, as it moved in with black, ominous clouds leading the way on an already gray, afternoon sky. Then it started hitting closer and closer. I swore I was getting down several times, only to find deer in the field when I finally did decide to! What to do now?

Of course, hang tight in the metal tower standing prominantly on the edge of the field! So, while I counted the seconds between the crack and the thunder (27 seconds, which is close to 30. The safe zone, I think?) the deer poured out in to the field. Unfortunately it was nothing but does and fawns. But they truly put on a show while enjoying the cool, rainy afternoon. The yearlings and the fawns took turns running from one end of the pasture to the middle in one big circle, but with tight turns like in horse barrel racing. while the others bucked and messed about.

While this was going on, more does and fawns came out behind the stand and fed around on the corn. However the lightnings periods were getting shorter and getting more intense. The rain also really picked up along with the wind, and it caused all of the deer to get uneasy. The ones behind me just kind of melted back in to the pines while the group in the field trotted back towards Webb. I then gave it a few more minutes before finally getting totally spooked by the now, super close strikes, and got down.

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C.J. and Shane came up yesterday, and we hunted Cubbedge Hill last night… just a few does and fawns unfortunately, and a couple of unidentified ones. The deer just have not been moving very good, but they said the deer were definately out last night by the number of fresh tracts this morning. C.J. sat at BP7 and saw a few in the clearcut behind the stand while Shane sat on CH 20, the new road, and saw a three does and one small buck.

It rained pretty good yesterday at CH, so the grain sorghum should really start to head out now. And it rained 1.5 inches at the Blount Place the night before, so that helped out over there. The weather man is now saying that we should be in the low 90’s for the week, down from the 100’s, so maybe the deer movement will pick up…

C.J.’s camera was out this week at CH5, the clover field, and had a few bucks on it. Unfortunately it shut itself off at some point, so it did not get as many new shots as it should have. However it did have a few good ones on it. One of which you can see is a good 8 point! There was also a few upcoming bucks such as the 7 point in the other picture.

We just put new batteries in several of the cameras as well as moved them, so we should have a bunch of new pics here in a day or two. So check back!!!

Jeff

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Thank goodness for C.J.’s dad, Chip. And the fact that he knows how to hunt!!! He managed to salvage us from a very disappointing opening week by paying attention to the cutover behind #7 on the Blount Place and killing a nice 8 point this morning.

Many hunters would have just watched the road, where he did say he saw one doe eating at the corn pile. However the bucks had obviously already made it back to the thick stuff and were loafing around when he spotted him. After the shot, Chip said one slightly smaller buck ran off.

The deer just were not moving good this week, and Chip’s deer was the only buck killed this week by our group that included Richard, Will, Shane, C.J. and Chip. However several nice, but small, bucks were seen on various stands, and I saw 5 bucks at the back of the pasture Friday afternoon, including 2 that were around 100-110 inches but chose to pass. Richard also saw a couple of shooters headed into the tall corn around CH 10 on Wednesday and Thursday pm’s hunt, but failed to get a shot.

As the major feeding times get right over the next few days, I think that the buck movement should get better, and they were certainly moving better last night when I saw over 20 does and fawns at CH2, but none of the 5 bucks from the day before???

As for some of the other hunters around us, our crew over at Aunt Mary’s tract in Scotia killed one nice 7 point that went around 105 inches in a big clearcut (that must be where they are all at!) while the Cubans killed three 8 points that ranged from 1.5 to 3.5 years old down the road from the Blount Place. And right across from the BP, Duane killed a nice 7 point, around 105 inches also, while hunting with Michael Green’s crew on the Pendarvis piece.

EVERYONE, please feel free to leave comments on how your hunt was and/or what you saw. Also, please include where you hunt if not at Cubbedge Hill! Hope everyone enjoyed their hunts this week!!!

Jeff

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I finally got our septic tank issues taken care of, but now I have Jeep problems. Yesterday after loading up Cubbedge Hill, my truck blew a tire and had a wire harness fire all at the same time! That left me high and sweaty on the Webb avenue for several hours until Jamie could come and rescue me. Thank god, because I was just shy of a heat stroke.I did check two cameras before the break down, but I have been too busy to get any images up. So…. I am putting one picture of a big buck up to keep everyone jacked up. Many of the bucks on camera this week have already been seen (at least by me!), but this one 10 point was new. And he is big, almost as big as our giant, but with less mass. So if anyone sees him next week, just go ahead and pass him up so that we can give him one more year to grow. Yea right….

Jeff

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Peanut field bucks

I saw these bucks last week in a neighbors peanut field, with plenty of shooting light left. If our big bucks will come out this early during opening week, we will be in good shape…Because with the full moon this week, daylight deer movement has really been slow.

And if you saw these pics last week in an email, then I am sorry too. haha… but I did want everyone to see them because it just shows that with so many properties around here on the QDMA program now, there are a lot more giants than ever before.

However the real news of the day is the major progress that has been made in the house… Thanks to Richard and his two buddies, Charles and Johnny, we now have a killer new bathroom! They came up from Kingsland for the day and did a great job of putting in all of the tile… It just looks FANTASTIC! Richard also installed his PVC pipe shower curtain hanger in the other bathroom, and we now have 2 showers! Can you believe it????? There is just nothing we will not do to keep our members happy. Thanks Richard!!!

Jeff

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Check this nice 8 point out by the house on Cubbedge Hill… He’s just grabing a quick bite before heading back to bed for the day.

As for what’s going on – the deer are really hitting the soybeans. J.O. and Jamie put out 50 bushels of soybeans and another 50 bushels of grain sorgum between the two tracts a few weeks ago. And the deer a mowing them down. I just hope that there are a few left for opening week! The sorgum should be ready about the end of October, just in time for the rut. So there will definately be plenty of food for them.

14 days left!!!!!!!!!!!

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