Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: khardrunner on December 13, 2011, 07:17:00 PM
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My brother and I owe our dad a hog hunt from his 50th birthday. He's turning 52 this feb, so we really need to get on this! Due to the birth of kids, snow day make-ups (I'm a teacher), and my brother getting in to the Police Academy we've had to postpone at least 2 times. This June is the time when we are going to make it happen!
Anyway, we need to find a place to hunt near where they live. That means we are looking for land with hogs in southern NC or SC that we can hunt for as cheaply as possible. It would be great to take him on a guided hunt on private land, but money is certainly an issue. My dad got us into trad archery since we were very young, so this is sort of one of our dream hunts. Any ideas where we should look to hunt? Thanks ahead of your time for any help!
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Ray Hammond's Hog Heaven is in the Sponser's Classifieds, he is on the SC/GA border. No fences, lots of hogs, really cool terrain, first class food, and Ray is an excellent host!
I've been there 3 times and going back again in March.
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Sounds like a sweet place, but $575 per person isn't in the bank right now. It certainly is a fair price for what he offers, but we just can't afford that much. Thanks for the tip though, someday I will definitely get there!
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Check with RC on this site. He hunts a WMA in Ga that might suit your needs. Maybe a little out of your distance but worth a check.
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When and where?
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Late June this year or early July is when we are looking. My brother lives just above Charlotte NC and my Dad just south of Columbia SC, so anywhere within a few hours of there.
RC was one of the guys we had to cancel on due to snow-make up days at my school. Maybe I will contact him again.
All ideas welcome thanks!
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I RC is willing to take you out, he is your man
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You have limited your options a good bit with your time frame, which I understand is somewhat out of your control. At that time of the year, you won't be able to hunt public land hogs in either SC or NC, and NC offers such poor hog hunting from my experience that it is not worth buying a NR license. That means you will have to find some private land, where you can hunt them year round. Unlike PA, you will not be able to simply knock on doors and get permission to hunt. Maybe somebody in SC has a lease that you can pay a few $ to hunt. When I lived in Columbia, I would buy my archery supplies at Jeffrey Aechery and Owen was a hog hunting fool, killing a lot of them on his lease along the Congaree River. Might want to sent your dad over to see Owen and see if you guys can get an invite, or at least some leads on other leases that might allow you guys access.
http://jefferyarchery.com/main/home.html
If RC will take you guys out in GA, that would most certainly be your best bet, but again that time period is bad because you can only hunt hogs on Georgia WMA's during regular hunting seasons, not year round. However, you CAN hunt hogs at some military bases at that time of the year, such as Ft Stewart. I know that Ft. Jackson right there in Columbia has hogs but it is much harder to hunt there, they are less public-friendly than Stewart. Still worth checking into; when I lived there you had to be a guest of a miliary person, either active or retired, to hunt.
Good luck.
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Thanks for the heads up. My dad is ex air force, so where should he look at Ft. Jackson?
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I guess I'll need to re-read the public hunting rules. We did meet Owen when I was down here at Thanksgiving. Seemed like a great guy.
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Here is the Ft Jackson link, maybe others here can help you. I worked with numerous people in Columbia who killed hogs there on base, I just never hunted there.
http://fortjacksonmwr.com/hunting_fishing/index.html
However, I HAVE killed hogs down in the Francis Marion NF, and the deer season opens there shortly after August 15. I killed a hog on August 18 one year, on the deer season opener. It will be unbearably hot and the "nasties" (skeeters, chiggers, ticks, no-see-ums, snakes, gators, etc) will be bad, but at least you can be hog hunting. Best if you have a boat. PM me if you decide on that option, I can point you in the right direction. My favorite unit there is "Hellhole" and it is aptly named.....
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I think that may be early enough to still be before school. We may have to consider that if we go SC.
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Check out Chickasawhatchee WMA below Albany, Ga.
Chickasawhatchee WMA map (http://www.georgiaoutdoors.com/hunting/WMAmaps/ChickasawhatcheeWMA.pdf)
Also check out Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga.
Fort Benning info (http://www.benningmwr.com/openareas.php)
There is a good hog population on both. Good luck in your search!
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khardrunner, this winter would be a great time for your dad to scout out the Francis Marion NF, it is a pretty neat place. About a 2 hr drive from Columbia. Lots of gravel and dirt roads to drive, and plenty of gated NF roads/trails that are perfect to scout with a bike. Very flat of course, since it is near the coast. The guys I knew who had the best success with killing hogs and deer there used small jon boats to hunt the creeks and inlets off the Santee river. Good turkey hunting there too, so the spring turkey season would be a good time to scout/hunt the hogs as well. Several NF campgrounds there, so with this much time to plan, you could have a relatively low cost/high quality hog hunt.
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July is hot and snakey I would try to go early in spring as possible. Or go during turkey season and do both
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Kyle, is there any chance you guys could make a hunt in March? I'll be hunting for several days in the Francis Marion and have a few really good areas scouted out. I'd be more than happy to have some company.
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I can't do spring, especially this year. I'm a teacher so I will be in school. On top of that I coach track. This year is especially crazy in march as my wife is due with #2. Thank you for the invite though! I'm sure that would have been a great time!
We are pretty well limited to June through August for our trip due to my school. I may be able to work something out for Christmas break, though it would have to wait until next year. That is usually the week after Christmas.
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I'm considering hunting in the Wee Tee WMA in early June, too. I haven't been there, yet, but a good friend has and says it has hogs galore. We'll be hunting it in March, as well. I'll be taking my canoe to access some of the remote areas.
Hopefully it won't be unbearably hot in June. It definitely will be in August.
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Is there public land open in early June in SC?
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Yep. There are several. Here's a link to the list: http://www.dnr.sc.gov/regs/pdf/HogHunting.pdf
The Wee Tee WMA, in Game Zone 5, is one of them. I've also heard that Woodbury is a good place to go, but don't have any first hand intel on it.
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Awesome! I'll have to check those out too. This at least gives us some more options since our dates are so confining. I appreciate the help!
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Thanks for the correction, looper, good to see some WMAs open outside of the other hunting seasons, that is new to me but a good development.
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That site doesn't seem to be too user friendly, so it's nice to have some local guys to help out
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Looper, there's a chance that Wee Tee is in the picture early June. It would be great to meet up with another tradganger there if you are up for it, especially since you will have just been there. Either way, I'm looking forward to this.
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Let's definitely keep in touch. I'll have some good spots scouted out by June. I'll be bringing my canoe so we can access some pretty good spots.
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Alright, will do. I know my dad is looking at some private land some of his friends have, but we aren't sure where we are going yet. Right now it's almost certainly June though, as soon as school is out up here and I'm done teaching.
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looper,
I am outside of Charlotte, NC and would be interested in doing a hog hunt with a fellow Trad Ganger if possible. Keep me in mind if you need company.