Anybody ever try a SC diy velvet deer hunt

[mconway951]

i was watching a show on outdoor channel and they were hunting deer in august with rifles and i thought this looked like fun I have always wanted to get a buck in velvet just wondering if anybody has tried it on public land or if there even is much for public land in SC
Thanks again
Mike

 

[genesis273]

I have and use to hunt a lease in Orange County, near Orangeburg, SC. There are some good bucks down there and they are beautiful in velvet. Only drawback is, when we hunted in August the heat index was 110-120 degrees (humidity is brutal down there), actual temps near 100. We would hunt the first two hours of the day and the last hour or two in the afternoon and sat in the hotel the rest of the day. There are a lot of deer down there and you can kill a lot of bucks in one year.

Good luck if you decide to go!

 

[mconway951]

I used to live in florida so I kinda figured abot the heat did you hunt any public land down there I have looked on there website found what looks like lots of land to hunt but wasnt sure how accsable and what hunting pressure on public land is like

 

[Moe]

I'd have to agree with geneis.

I too am originally from Florida, but can asure you this is a kind of heat unlike anything down there- considering your wearing full-camo the whole time and not in shorts and t-shirrt. To add to this the skeeters will tear you up if you aren't covered, theres zero breeze, sitting in a stand is like sitting in a sauna; and the buck-movement is nill in August/Sept. till after dark anway.

I've been on two seperate August 20th velvet pursuits in SC (about 10 years ago). One at a small pay-per place and the two bucks we killed were actually not in velevet; they were small and had already hard horned. Another time I went to Bostick Plantation and was housed with a group of ten other guys we didnt know (not comfy)

It was miserably HOT and humid and in order to see deer (doe mostly) we had to hunt swamps and I still have skeeter bites on my scalp ten years later?!

Out of ten hunters in 3 days, we killed 1 buck and saw only 3. They'll tout you can kill two a day or whatever, but its higly unlikley that time of year you'll even see two shooters during 3 days- as its simply too hot, they're patient and will be nocturnal for most part.

Though some guys might pattern a few nice velvet bucks each year, it not worth going IMO- if you dont alreday have sights set on one predictable buck (coming ot their bait-pile).

I did have 2 baby aligators crawl under my tree-stand though.... pretty cool except unnerving getting down that one night- unsure where momma was..?

Moe

 

[genesis273]

The best thing for skeeters that I have ever used is a Thermocell. Worth it`s weight in gold. I did not hunt on public land but alot of my friends have and they say that it was not crowded at all and they kill some good bucks too, not in velvet but later in the year.

There were a few good bucks killed in velvet on the lease that I hunted on but they were killed right at the end of shooting light, when it was almost time to come down.

Moe mentioned Bostic Plantation, I will just say that I would not recommend going that route!