I guess the quick report would be - No animals harmed. Lol

I slept in this morning, and got to the property a little while after daylight. We've had a ton of rain, and I wanted to see the conditions before picking an area to hunt. It turned out that the bays and bottoms weren't flooded yet, but soon will be with another rain or two.

I decided to slip into a couple of areas that rarely get hunted to see if I could find any sign, grapes, or future acorns and persimmons. I did find some green persimmons - that will soon be standing in water.

Concerning animals, I did slip up on a yearling doe. I spotted her before she saw me, but I was standing in the open when I saw her and I had no chance of moving or hiding. She turned 90 degrees and walked right at me. At 15 yards, she finally saw me, froze, and started the head bobbing, foot stomping game. I was getting pretty hot and tired by that point, so didn't wait very long before I waved at her, sending her on her way.

That was pretty much the only game I saw. I did see a raccoon returning to its den, and a world class Black Racer near my truck. I saw nothing when I went back and hunted the evening. The one trail camera I have said that it was 96 F at 1:45 this afternoon and 91 F around 4:30 when I was returning for the evening hunt. Probably why I didn't see anything. I was dripping like a leaky faucet after using my climber this evening.

I can't imagine hunting deer in the middle of August. I would if I could tho! Good luck!

I know one guy that hot an 8 pointer w a rifle. Ill ber in s yree this evening.

I know one guy that hot an 8 pointer w a rifle. Ill ber in s yree this evening.

Nope, not for me. Hunted speed goats in that kinda heat once but swore never again.

Hey Lowcountry, been very disappointed in the hunting prospects since we moved down here in June. Left my 23 acre honey hole in Tennessee to find no traditional hunters in the area (Bluffton) and minimal opportunities for land access. I applaud your diligence in chasing whitetails in this heat, something I'm going to have to get use to I guess. Still trying to hookup with a traditional hunter.

Lowcountry - How fast must you find your deer before they spoil in SC during August and how about mosquitos? I am accustomed to fall and winter hunting with mostly very cold conditions. I imagine comfortable weather has it's trade-offs. Just curious as I would like to know more about SC hunting.

I have ordered a new Summit viper climber and a new set of Ace two blade heads. Got a few spots to try but will wait till later part of September to see if it will cool off a little. Heat index today is 109 degrees.

did not go this week for all the rain out at our property in Walterboro....plus still getting dog ready for his next test in VDD-GNA in early October. Might try and do some hunting instead of fighting crowds during solar eclipse next monday. :)

keep em sharp,

ron herman

Bluffton has a golf and deer club for the rich , and famous , I did work there and they have some nice bucks out there . There is so wma land around there I scouted it just never hunted it . Deer hunting here is the same as any place just hot and humid. I am running alittle behind this season and did not even set out cams in my normal hunting areas. I have caught 30 plus crappy sence the 15th though, no deer

It must have been nice getting out just the same, Lowcountry. thanks for the report and good luck to you and everybody else who's hunting.

Budly - If you shoot a deer early in the morning and it lays in the heat all day, it might be a problem. Obviously the quicker you can get to them and cool them down the better, but I had one deer that went close to 5 hrs before being cleaned, and he was fine. I've know others that shot deer late in the evening and didn't recover their deer until late at night, and they were ok. It just depends.

Flatshooter - as r-man mentioned, there are a fair amount of WMA's and Heritage Preserves in your area that are available for hunting. I think many are bow and arrow only. Donnelley WMA is a little bit of a drive for you, but it used to have really good hunting. I haven't been over there in several years that though.

I don't get the urge to kill until it is cold. A/C is still running 20 out of 24 hours here in NC.

I would be about to climb in a tree right now but my wife allowed our dor to swallow a sock. So here i am at the emergency vet inducing vomiting to the tune of $130.... Ill be in the tree tomorrow. If you wait for cool weather around here you would be poaching in january.

Make that $220 cause my wife gave the dog way to much peroxide and hes being treated for that! I really need to get in the woods.

Ouch! Hate to hear that Nova. Hope the dog is OK.

Hes fine thank you.

Well no deer this morning but a heck of a workout! Lugging through the woods w that climber stand i was soaking wet when i got up in thst tree. I was immediately greeted by a barred owl sounding like a monkey and had a bunch of squirrles out and about.

Budly- some processors wont take a deer that rigormortis has set in and that usually starts 2-3 hours after death. I usually try to find it and field dress it immediately especially if I have a long drag/carry to truck and then another longer drive to processor. I will stop at first gas station and buy a bag of ice to throw inside the body cavity.... when I drove SUV I carried a cooler with 3-4 frozen milk jugs inside and would put them in cavity so did not have to worry about water leaking all over.

I have had buzzards find a kill less than 30 minutes after death....so not sure if it was already raising into the thermals or if they saw it visually and then came to investigate. Airing out the cavity to promote cooling even if propping open with a stick is going to save you a lot of heartache if you dont have ice available...

If one is wounded and not fatal....it will be good as long as alive but I dont keep it for eating if has to leave overnight and it is stiff as a board the next morning....or if coyotes got it. At that point I save what I can...and it becomes coyote bait after I put a tag on it if a doe.....

keep em sharp,

ron herman

In the 90's I watched videos of Ben Lee hunting there. Pretty country.

SC upped their non-res fees. Ouch!

If you have already registered, please

sign in now

For new registrations

Click Here