Every fall me and some friends head south for our annual hog hunt on a South Carolina WMA. This year only me and good friend James Wrenn could make the hunt on opening day.
The hog population in the area we hunt varies from year to year depending on the amount of flooding in the area that year, on how many hogs the gun hunters killed the previous year, and also on the mast crop that year. About half the time we go down we get into some real good hog hunt'n.
This year we had conditions unlike any we've had in previous years - a severe drought. We hoped this would be a good year but didn't realize how much of a negative effect the drought would have on the hogs. This pic of some hog root'n will give you an idea of how dry things are.
Here's a pic of James on our Sunday scouting trip walking through a swamp that is usually full of water.
Here's another pic of the swamp edge.
We found very few pigs and they were widely scattered on the property. The first morning of our hunt, we got on an 80-90 pound hog gobbling up the hickory nuts. I managed to get within 15 yards and took the shot. I hit him a little low, just above the elbow, but the 44 lb. Crow Creek longbow pushed the Carbon Express 150 tipped with a 160 grain Stos through that hog liked greased lightening, going through the brisket in the very bottom of the chest cavity and shattered the opposite leg on the way out. The hog went about 40 yards and bedded down - he was in a bad way. I pulled a sneak on him and finished him off.
Here's a pic of me and the hog.
About 1/8" of the tip of the Stos broadhead broke - I'm not sure if on the pig or if it hit a rock on exit. I think I'll round the tips off a little in the future. Here's a pic of the broadhead.
We hunted one more day but the hogs were so few and so scattered that we headed home early on the second day. One of the highlights of the trip for me was the big boar we saw Monday afternoon - he was the biggest boar I've ever seen in the woods. He and the sow he was traveling with got downwind of us and off they went. We hunted that area Tuesday morning hoping to get another chance at him but did not see any pigs.
Even though this hunt was not successful in large numbers of game taken, I had a great time and my spirit was once again refreshed by being out and about in God's great creation. Good luck to you all in your hunts this year.
Topic: A Hog Hunt'n Story (Read 487 times)
