Tell me about Ft Stewart hog hunting

[John Krause]

A buddy or two and I are contemplating a hog hunt at Ft Stewart in early February.  We have never been there and are wondering if it is worth it. We will be coming from the St Louis area and probably be primitive camping there.

Is the campground close to the archery and hunting areas? Is it a good place to camp? Do you have to check on open areas every day? What is the weather like that time of year? Where would a guy new to the area start looking? Would the archery only areas be better than the open firearms area? How many days should we set aside to hunt? I have a lot of questions and would really appreciate some info from guys that have been there before. Feel free to answer here or shoot me an email at [email protected]

Thanks guys........

[Apex Predator]

If you have never seen it before it can be overwhelming.  With something like 300K acres, it is huge.  The maps are numerous, and you never know which areas will be closed.  I recommend you trying out the Altamaha Wildlife Management area in McIntosh county.  They have a camp ground, it is lightly hunted, and it's loaded with hogs.  An incredible spot and stalk area.  Bring your knee boots at least because the water is abundant, even during a dry year like we are having now.

[John Krause]

Thanks for the info, Apex. C'mon guys help me out here.........  

[AnointedArcher]

Hey John,
A bunch of us are heading down there the first of Febuary sure would love to have you guys come along with us. I have attached a link about the hunt.

 http://www.mitraditionalbow.com/mtb_hoghunt07.shtml

[Jeff Holchin]

John, Ft. Stewart is pretty big but very interesting country.  You will see hog sign everywhere, the trick is to find where they are NOW.  This will take some serious walking.    Two ways to narrow your search are (1) ask the rangers, they know, and (2) check out the "hog damage areas" on the Ft. Stewart web site, where there have maps of specific areas.  If you are driving that far, you might allow at least 3 or 4 hunting days, more would be better.

Do a search for "Fort Stewart" and you will find several threads on the place with some good information and answers to several of your questions, especially about the campsite.  Be prepared for cold nights and warm days.  If it gets real warm the snakes and gators might be out, but not too active.  You do have to check each day to see which areas are open, then sign in/out.  There is a whole network of dirt roads - a good idea is to drive in the area that you signed in, until you find smoking hot pig sign and follow the sign.  Take a compass and/or GPS - it is pretty flat but there are numerous firebreaks to follow as well.

One one hand, you  guys might have fun exploring a new area all on your own.  On the other hand, hooking up with Anointed Archer's group might provide good fellowship and more chances at hogs.

Either way, good luck. I'm headed there at the end of January on the way to the TBG hog hunt (another option for you guys to consider), you can PM me for a scouting report.

[John Krause]

It looks like our date has changed to the last weekend in Jan, drive down on a thurs and hunt 3-4 days and go back. We are also looking ar other WMA areas.

Appreciate the info and the invite, will seriously consider it.......

Me and my buds are on the board of the Il trad group  UBI

[RC]

I`ve hunted Fort Stewart a bit and love it. I hunt the wma`s west of Stewart but have never hunted Altamaha on the east side although more than one person has told me it`s good. The problem with the wma`s is they are hammered by small game hunters and by late January the pigs are nocturnal, at least the ones I hunt are. On Stewart dogs are not allowed so that helps and I think in all the years I`ve been there I`ve only seen one small game hunter.I have never been in any area on the place that did not have pig sign and have been on pigs from one end to the other. As Jeff said you have to hunt`em but there are enough to make it fun and exciting. I usually hunt it hard from now till Turkey season, e-mail me if you want and maybe I can save you some walking time. Don`t forget your hunter safety card because you will not hunt with out it.RC

[Whompy]

I would recommend somewhere else as I hunted it with a group of 7 hunters for 4 days last Feb and we saw a total of 11 hogs and they were the first evening in one group. They were totaly nocturnal!

Jack

[Jeff Holchin]

Small world, John, as I am a UBI member myself.

RC, I worked some holiday hours and will work on Jan. 1, so that I can take off some week days at the end of January to hopefully hook up with you and Mudfeather at Ft. Stewart and then head to the weekend TBG hunt.  Interested?

[RC]

Jeff, I`m game.RC

[Titan_Bow]

I have hunted it a few times, and spent time in the field there when I was in the Army.
 The last time I was there was in 2001, and most of the training areas were closed because its one of the places where they train National Guard units going to Iraq.
  There are a ton of hogs there, but they are hard to hunt because they do see alot of pressure.  If the areas are open, B-22, B-23 are good bets along the river, as well as B-19.  This part of the base was where I always had the best luck.  I was down there in 1999 on a training exercise, and saw literally hundreds of hogs on the east edge of the main impact area.
 Now if you are retired military, or know someone who is who can sponsor you, get down to Fort Benning. It is somewhere near 350 thousand acres, and is open to hunting only to active and retired military, DOD personel. That is alot of land that receives very little hunting pressure.  That place is loaded with hogs!!(and deer)  My buddies and I would go out every evening after work in the summer time, and you were almost guaranteed a stalk or two on every outing.  We shot alot of pigs the three years I was stationed there.

[John Krause]

My buddy and I have decided on Ft Stewart.  We will be down there on Jan 25 early or late afternoon and hunt the 26th, 27th, and 28th. We will camp on the base.  Anybody game on those days? RC Jeff? Shoot me an email at [email protected].

Thanks

[always89]

I was stationed there from 93 to 97. Since you are bow hunting, I would try to spend as much time around the populated areas as possible. These hogs really like people trash, and the consolidated mast crops in those areas. I dont remember the area number, but I did alot of damage behind the family housing area, across the street from the horse stables. I want to say area-27. Ponds 28 and 31 where always productive. Also, the small AAFES convinient store by the housing has a large tract of woods behind it. Check that out also. There is an area beside the mobile home park that is good as well. Good Luck!

[John Krause]

ttt

[RC]

John,  I`ll try and hook up with you on Thursday and Friday. I got to work on the weekend.I was over there a week or so ago to renew my pass and hit the woods for about an hour and got on three big hogs and nearly got a shot. E2,E3,B7,B9,F18and F19 are good now.
  Always 89  The area in front of the horse stables no longer is a hunting tract.Its all two story apartments.Progress.They got it fenced now, the hogs have been pushed in to B5 and B6 where its so thick you can hardly hunt it.

[John Krause]

RC
That's sounds great! We may get there earlier in the morning of the 25th and use that day to get permits, set up camp etc. I guess we could get an additional 1 day license and hunt the evening of the 25th too. Shoot me an email at [email protected].  I tried emailing you but it came back undeliverable.

Thanks

[Jeff Holchin]

Good timing John.  I'm arriving around 11:00 am on 1/25 with my son, to get my permit and set up a camp.  I plan to hunt/scout the rest of thursday, and most or all of friday (depending on the hog action), before heading to Chickasawachie for the TBG hunt.  I look forward to meeting you.

I know RC has a new longbow that is begging to hunt hogs, so he will be hard to hold back!  My advice is to follow RC and get ready for some shooting.

[whitebuffalo]

Good luck guys.