South Carolina Rut Report
Richard Peeples of The Peeples Passion provides a whitetail rut update for South Carolina.
Location: southern South Carolina
Rut stage: end of summer patterns
Current buck movement: 7/10
Projected buck movement: 4/10
Buck movement was surprisingly good over the weekend. I didn't see any of the shooters I was after, but did see some quality 3.5 year olds on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Although I wasn't able to fill my tag, I do know of three big bucks for the "low country" that were killed over the weekend. One was on Friday night, one on Saturday night, and one was on Sunday night.
The temps were average for this time of year, with highs around 90 and lows around 70. I think the new moon on Sunday had more bucks on their feet and coming to food a little bit earlier than previous weeks.
Most bucks are broken up from bachelor groups and are hard-horned. They're starting to abandon their spring and summer grounds in search of refuge from hunting pressure. I think a lot of deer have moved into the swamps, and more will as doe season opens this coming weekend. Bucks will surely become more nocturnal and I think daylight movement will steadily decrease through October until colder temps and the moon align.
