The deer season opens here in the Lowcountry of SC in 29 days.  On private land there is no bag limit on bucks.  As many as you see walk by your stand in a day you can harvest.

My problem is I don't feel like hunting until the November/December time frame.  I can't stand the heat, the humidity, the chiggers, the mosquitos, the ticks and I'm sure there's a few other things.

When I climb a tree and I'm wet from head to toe by the time I'm up to hunting height, I'm ready to climb back down and go home!!  I don't enjoy sweat logged clothing in 90/90 weather!!

Bill

PS For those who live in Yorba Linda, that would be 90 degree/90% humidity weather.

At lease you have that nice long season and no bag limit!        Our archery season doesn't start here in Texas until October and it is still hot here then too.

John

Hey Bill...i thought it was just me that felt that way..i'm supposed to come over Aug 23 for a hunt with a friend of mine from South Carolina, and i'm already trying to talk myself out of going so early!
It didn't seem to bother me so much when i was closer to "sunrise" than "sunset"!

when our season opens Sept 13th(NJ) I hunt near water and mostly early in the mornings & last 3 hours of the afternoon/evening... lot cooler

You can hunt early and you can hunt late in the Lowcountry, but it will still be humid and the relative cool is still in the mid to upper 70s.  Add the humidity to it and I'm still wet from head to toe by the time I'm up the tree.  That's not fun to me!  And if it ceases to be fun, I won't be doing it.

I ride my mountain bike about 3 or 4 nights a week in my neighborhood.  Depending on how windy it is and from what direction it blows, I'll ride anywhere from 30 minutes/6.65 miles to 42 minutes/9.5 miles.  By the time I'm finished I'm wet from head to toe.  But I know I'm going to sweat a lot before I start the bike ride and I also know that at the end of the ride I can go into the house and sit and relax under cool A/C and I can get a tall glass of ice water to help me cool down!

Bill

Wish my season started in August.   You get no sympathy from me.  

I have to wait till october, lucky!

I'm probably in the minority here but in Oklahoma our season runs from October 1 thru January 15.  I don't enjoy hunting when its hot so I usually don't start till around Halloween.  I do this for fun, so I can't justify being miserable while I'm at it.  I hate ticks and chiggers.  guess I'm saying that I'm with you Wildman.

Brian

Let me give an illustration on chiggers.  Maybe it will help folk understand why I don't "go there".

About 22 or 23 years ago we went back home to KS to visit my parents.  They rode back to SC with my family.  As we were driving through TN the kids spotted blackberry bushes loaded with blackberries along the interstate.

The kids started pestering me to "Let's stop Dad and pick blackberries so Grandma can bake a cobbler when we get home."  My response was there hasn't been a cobbler made that is worth me getting eaten up by chiggers.

Finally, one of them said "Dad, you stop, we'll get out and pick blackberries and you can stay in the car."  That sounded reasonable to me.  So I stopped and they got out and picked blackberries.

Well, guess what, when we got home one person had chiggers on him and guess who it was?  ME!!!  Somebody was the carrier and once they got in the car the chiggers obviously sniffed me out and said "There he is, get him!"  I've never fallen for that one since.  I just don't go there!!

Bill

chiggers are nothing, clear nail polish & bleach takes care of them... Lyme from ticks .... now that's bad....

No sympathy here either!  I sure wish I was back down there now.

Freeze up a Camelback. Cold on the back and as it melts drink it down.  Too hot for a tree... Hunt the ground.  If yain't serious about shooting anything in the heat, set up where you've got visibily to watch game movement from a distance.  Might just learn something to change your stand locations for later.

Ah heck... I'm just thinking out loud.  Those are some of the things I would do. I never miss opening day of bow season.  That's time to celebrate regardless of when it comes. Ya just gotta love it.  And that country you've got down there...Wonderful!!

As for chiggers...They tore me a new you know what while I was there.  Now I'm wiser for it and will be ready for them next time!!

To fully comprehend what chiggers do to me you have to appreciate the fact that I didn't get out of the car 22 years ago, or so, and when we got home I was the only one with chigger bites.  Had I gone out and walked amongst the weeds and blackberry bushes I would have had literally hundreds of bite sites under each arm, down each arm, between my legs, around my waist and down each leg.  

The total is usually in excess of 500 bite sites.  By the time we got home it would have been too late for bleach and the finger nail polish provides only temporary relief for the itching.  Believe me it is a miserable condition to be in to have that number of bite sites from chiggers.

I have friends down here that go out and hunt the early season and they tell me they have never had a chigger bite in their entire lives.  I don't know that I believe that, but I'm not taking the chance because I have experienced the misery of having the bites!!

Bill

I love it when its hot and the tick and mosquitos are swarming . No other fool in the woods but me ! Deer are still in the summer feeding patterns and very calm . I see more Deer in Sept. than I do at any other time in the year so i'll be there on opening day for sure in my net bug suit and underware (lol) . Great time to get a buck in velvet also .

Mike

QuoteOriginally posted by WildmanSC:
 

The total is usually in excess of 500 bite sites.  By the time we got home it would have been too late for bleach and the finger nail polish provides only temporary relief for the itching.  Believe me it is a miserable condition to be in to have that number of bite sites from chiggers.

Bill

HOLY SMOKES!!!  I had probably 50 or 60 and I'm still itchin' some of them three weeks later.  You get a pass Bill... You definitely get a pass!!!!!

I'm a chigger noob - what about bug repellent? Does deet or anything like that work?

As for the heat - I have two words for you...

Plaid Speedo.

:-D

Bill, get a therma-cell and put on some camo shorts and get lots of cork. Burn it and smudge your whole buddy, ya should not sweat to bad that way!!    Shawn

Bill, spend more time in the heat and less in the AC and it wont bother you so much.  :D   Permanone will eliminate the chiggers, and a thermacell will take care of the skeeters. Hunt early and late cause its cooler and thats when they move. They're still in summer patterns and predictable, its a perfect time to bowhunt. Daybreak on 8-15 I'llbe in a stand between some planted pines and a beanield in Williamsburg county waiting on the 8 Ive been watching to make an appearance.

I love hunting in the heat. Skeeters chiggers, ticks, snakes, and every other critter you can think of is out during the early season. I grew up in the low country of NC and I love it. I see more deer in September than any other month. I guess I am just used to it. I went to ILL one year in October for a deer hunt and nearly and froze my butt off. I'll take the heat any day over the freezing cold.

Im the opposite of slayer1I was born in NH and when its 0degrees (F) I like it.Our season opens Sept 15th and although it can be a little warm like mid to high 70's by the time October rolls around northern NH has seen its first hard frost and its getting cold.Last season I booked a hunt with Mountain Camp and we slept in canvas wall tents  without heat,the first three days it never got over 5 degrees (F)It was a tree stand hunt.If I cant see my breath when I exhale its not cold enough for me.

Don't you guys know that only hot pink fingernail polish works on chiggers!!LOL