some big boars getting killed at Wild Things!

[smokin joe]

WOW!!!!!!

What a trip you guys had. Lots of action and memories made.

Tom, I'm very happy that one of the wide-body pigs fell to your arrow. Great job! And a great story.

I'm still looking to get a few days off in the spring and get back down there.

Congratulations to all.    

[Pointer]

This was a great hunt and Thom and Doug are the very best guys to share a camp with. Thom deserved to arrow that giant...he worked real hard at getting us into hogs on this trip..setting cameras, pulling them and recording the data. His guidance was superb. I wish I hadn't rushed my shot but it was all part of the learning process for me. There are several things I know much better for next time. I'd been to Wild Things twice before and although those trips were certainly enjoyable this one was taken to a new level for me mostly because of Thom's efforts to get us into hogs.

Seeing his reaction after he realized what his "meat hog" really was will stick with me for a long time lol.

I can hardly wait to get down there again

[T-D]

Congratulations Thom and the rest of the guys who connected! Thom that is a great hog you deserve it.

[MCNSC]

Thom, love the way you want to honor the hog, you can tell from the pics that he is an old warrior. Very fitting that he stay near the swamps that were his home. I bet a lot of smaller hogs are glad he is gone though.

[doug g]

Thom, So glad to have been with hunting with you again, but especially on this one. You definitely deserved this pig. I fear Rick and I created a Monster, your evolution since your first hog hunt with us has been unparalleled by anyone. It is always a blast to hunt with you, and for me to be there when you were at a loss for words after shooting that pig........PRICELESS. John, Val, Keith and Brian the pleasure was all mine, it was great to be your humble cook.

[WESTBROOK]

Congrats you guys! You had a red hot week.

What did Brian's hog weigh? they look well fed to say the least.

Thom I'll track you down at K'zoo and we'll chat some.

[bisket]

I am very happy for you Thom.  I have never been on a hog hunt...but feel like I have now.  Thanks for sharing your story.  Very nice!!
-Mark

[sticksnstones]

Thanks everyone! John, I'm glad you're good with how I recounted the hunt. You came a long way in those short days, it was really fun to watch. I hope we get you back into them next time, I'll bring my knife.

I'm glad a few of you were there to see me fall apart and start stammering after seeing it! It'll be your jobs to make sure I don't leave that part out when this story comes out around the fire in the years to come.

Bryan's hogs fell just on each side of 200 pounds. It was interesting that the one that weight 215 had a smaller head and tusks, but the one that was 180 had a stout head and nice cutters. He's getting them both done in a European mount, if he shares any pictures with me I will post them back.

Eric, I'll see you in two weeks! I should be there all weekend.

If I missed any questions along the way I sincerely apologize, feel free to send a PM or an email.
Thom

[Mint]

Congrats on the hogs taken. Great story guys.

[maineac]

Congrats to all.  I think your "big" in the title was an understatement.

[beaunaro]

Thom,

Biggest one I've seen here in Florida is around 300#s.

You've done yourself proud.

Congratulations to you and Andrew.

When I get a little time off, I am going to book a hunt with you guys.

[LCH]

Thom and gang congrats on your success. I went last May to wildthings it is a great place. What I liked best was remote and no cell service. I was fortunate enough to get a nice sow about 200lbs. My buddy Todd got a nice boar around 175lbs.
I saw some tracks coming out of the swamp that were big enough to lay four fingers in, looked like a small cow track. There are some big hogs there.LH

[sticksnstones]

Originally posted by maineac:
Congrats to all.  I think your "big" in the title was an understatement.

Big is big! I got a call from the processor and I've got 120# of sausage to coordinate. A little less as a ratio, but with the weight of the bones and hide I'm not too surprised.

BTW, Charlie saw one "in the same class or bigger" on Monday. I don't know yet if this is a new hog moving into the territory or just an adjacent monster.

Irv, make sure I know when you're coming and I'll put in for a little sick time!

Lee, you guys did great for such a short trip. This dude could have laid the track once those hoves splayed out. They did look like they belonged on a cow!
Thom

[LCH]

Yes Thom Todd and Bud were very familiar with the areas. One thing we learned real quick was trying to spot and stalk those hogs makes them nocturnal quick.
The track I saw was a long way from where you killed that beast.
Charlie told us he saw one thats back was as high as the bottom of one of those feeders.
Wildthings is a great place.LCH

[sticksnstones]

Originally posted by LCH:
One thing we learned real quick was trying to spot and stalk those hogs makes them nocturnal quick.

Oh boy Lee, you're playing with a powder keg here. I'll share my perspective with anyone who wants to ask, but most people don't want to hear what I have to say.

I learned a bunch about the perils of stalking from some rifle operations in Texas that used to offer money back guarantees, and I had a series of insightful short chats with Irv at Compton's Rendezvous after that. Using this info I prepared a week long hunt strategy and we gave it a test run in December.

As a group we harvested 5 animals between 6 hunters with 100% shot opportunity. In addition we failed to recover 4 animals, and had a few clean misses. We left camp to hunt at 3 hours before sunset each day. That's right, one sit per  with no stalking. Directly in/directly out.

While we didn't get the "thrill" of stalking, we did to sleep in, enjoy a leisurely coffee/breakfast. Do tons of practice shooting in camp. Sharpen heads, air out gear, descent, map the winds and carefully chose our plan routes for putting everyone in their stands. When we went out we knew we had at most 3-4 hours to stay hyper focused and motionless. It might not have been as exciting as chasing a pig into the briars, but hanging stuff in the cooler feels really good too.

The problem on other hunts has been that if anyone is stalking on the land in the mornings or daytime it can ruin the hogs travel patterns thus hurting everyone's chances for that night (and often a few more days to come.) The trail cameras don't lie. It seems even when guys don't see any hogs in an area while stalking it, their scent still shuts down their normal movement between stands.

It's hard to find an entire group who all want to hunt the same way, I'm glad we had a few guys willing to do that trial run. I'm glad to know what is possible.
Thom

[Izzy]

Ive enjoyed hunting the old Hog Heaven, Wild Things and the Bacon Strip and must say that Ive seen hogs every time but one, and that was due to bringing a fella who was scared of getting bitten by deadly spiders or eaten by a gator if he so much as left camp. Ive been into hogs multiple times a day in some cases with multiple shot opportunities. Ive stalked a big old boar hog in Texas as well.

   Aside from Texas, I have never sat a stand in all those times.   In my opinion hogs are a whole lot easier to stalk than deer, I think everyone would agree with me and the chance to do so is always welcomed by this northern deer hunter.

    For sure, hunting styles need to be coordinated among the group but if you've got a group of fellas who enjoy still hunting and can get it done right, there is no finer, more rewarding way to hang pork in the cooler for me. The lowland swamps alone are hard to sit tight in without the urge to roam and explore.
 
 

[sticksnstones]

Originally posted by Izzy:
The lowland swamps alone are hard to sit tight in without the urge to roam and explore.

I agree with you Izzy! I also killed my first hog there stalking and it was AWESOME! You would certainly miss out on a lot of enjoyable parts of the property if you did just the stand sitting.

Here is a little something more for you to consider since you know the property. What if everyone sat the stands on say the Right turkey foot the first day, then that became the stalking zone on day 2. That evening everyone sits the stands on the Northern 1/3rd of the uplands, that being the stalking zone on day 3, etc. This would keep the stands pristine for their first sit, and any pushing could move pigs towards the stands to be sat later. We toyed with this a few weeks ago, and that's how Andrew ran it for the guys leaving camp today. I know the hunters took lots of shots and had one in the cooler on the second day. Not sure how the hunt finished out, I know weather was working against them especially blood trailing.

Sorry if anyone is reading that last post and hearing a "my way or the highway" tone to it, not at all my intent!
Thom

[LCH]

I agree it is fun to stalk but your chances for success are higher if you sit a stand. I don't want to sit a stand someone stalked by that morning. Especially if I am paying to hunt.
Thom I like your idea and that would work Wildthings has a lot of acreage and hogs. Like I said it is a great place.LCH

[Izzy]

Im not disagreeing with you Thom, you've got some points. I just would hate to miss an opportunity to miss out on hunting the hard way.

 Im going there to decompress and wouldn't dare argue with my compadres plans. Ill do whatever they want. I may even sit in camp a spell and talk with Ol Goldy Locks. Its all good at Wild Things.

[Red Beastmaster]

The tribe discussed this very thing last week as we shot a 3-D together. Still hunting Andrews beautiful property is why we go. Sitting in a stand may be productive but not our preferred mode of hunting. Two hunts ago our group of eight saw 350 hogs while still hunting. Sure beats sitting swatting skeeters in a tree.

Besides, You aren't going to find many arrow heads from a tree stand!

We have always done our own thing there, used to drive Ray nuts. LOL