Boeuf WMA Hog Hunt #2. ( updates )

[Hackbow]

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Like I said there was NO hog sign at our first stop, so Daniel, Jacob, Kip and Todd headed out for another spot. Randy, Marty and myself were quite a ways further back, so it took us longer to walk out. I beat them back to the parking area and saw my truck was in the sun. It was hot. I was sweating. Thought I'd move my truck past Randy's and into some shade, sit on the tailgate and drink lots of water. Didn't quite make it past Randy's truck and mine slid off into the shallow, muddy ditch and wasn't going anywhere. Thankfully, Randy still had the strap from getting stuck in his yard with him and he easily pulled me out.

[Hackbow]

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After meeting back at camp and partaking of caribou sausage and gumbo, we headed back out to a new area. I immediately saw some fresh rooting but then saw a bunch of orange up ahead of me. As I got closer I could see a lot of marker flags and then a fenced-off enclosure. Each flag grouping was a white marker flag surrounded by 4 orange flags. There were two of these groupings in the enclosure and probably six or seven more scattered about the general area. Curious.

[Hackbow]

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The rooting in this area was unlike anything I had personally seen before. This is just a small sampling and the picture doesn't do it justice. There was one spot that was approximately 20 x 60 yds that looked as if it had been churned up with a garden tiller.

[Hackbow]

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Does a boar poop in the woods?

[Hackbow]

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How about a bunny?

[jbpharmd]

So feeling guilty for hurting an animal and not being able to retrieve it Daniel and I left the squirrel to his own devices hoping that his leg was not to badly broken by the blunt arrow and he would survive. We continued on until the darkness and mosquitoes proved too much and we headed toward the road. While walking back to the truck we jumped a large boar about 200+ pounds at 50 yds and he slowly plodded through the swamp away from us seemingly unafraid.

When we got back to the camp it was time for me to prove my worth with my shrimp etoufee and it seemed like a hit since pretty much everyone came back for seconds (and i think Marty might have gone for fifths). We had a coon-shoot that night with flashlights each firing one arrow with the winner getting the call the next shot.

The next morning we all had another helping of Randy's excellent breakfast burritos and took to the swamps. I had a quiet morning but I did see a pair of raccoons, a gray fox, and an Owl eating a mouse. After that we headed to the camp for Marty's smoked salmon which was some of the best fish I've ever had (and I live in south Louisiana). Then Marty grilled us up some Caribou bratwurst while we munched on his Caribou summer sausage and hunter sticks!

As Kip and I caught the ferry across the river to head home after lunch I said a prayer to thank The Lord for a truly incredible time with some awesome men. I am so thankful that I was able to share a camp and some fine hunting experiences with these guys. I consider myself truly blessed to have been part of their group and I can't wait for next year!!!

[Hackbow]

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Just a taste of the cool stuff you see in the swamps. I didn't take as many pictures this year because I only had the one day to hunt. Looking forward to hearing all the final recaps.

Thank you Daniel for hosting us again. And thanks to all the guys for making it another great camp and hunt!

[Joeabowhunter]

   

Keep it coming guy's....

[Kip]

Great weekend with a great bunch of
guys   Check
Good food  Check
Little bit of B.S.
with nighttime shoot.Check
Small problem with weather Check
 Thank you Daniel Really enjoyed the trip
Kip

[Crittergetter]

Marty and I just got to my house. I will start uploading pics and tell my tale tomorrow!!  
Jacob, sorry for calling you Jonathan for two days!!  I am obviously terrible with names!    
But I think I got it down now!!

[jbpharmd]

Todd, Marty, Daniel, Randy what happened Saturday night? Any more close encounters of the piggy kind?

[John146]

Just got back and unpacked everything. As usual I did not want to leave. I had been looking forward to getting together with everyone again on this hunt and I was not disappointed. I think a great time was had by all again! Thanks to Daniel for hosting the hunt, and everyone else's contributions to a really great time.      

I saw a bunch of deer this year and it has become part of the discussion that we might end up having to throw in some deer hunting in the future. It's kind of interesting because the hog hunting becomes a neat deer scouting event even though your not looking for deer. I saw over 15 deer easy this trip along with coons, owls, hawks, alligators and too many ducks to count.

 We had some really bad weather but it hit us mostly at night so we were able to get some good hunting time. If these storms would have hit us during the day there's no way we could have hunted in it.

The coon shoot was a blast and like always I learn a bunch from the guys that attend. I can't wait till next year!!  

[DanielB89]

I am just now getting everything uploaded to photo bucket.  I always enjoy this hunt.  Not so much because of the hunting, but because of the fun at camp.  The high light of my trip was watching Jacob (also known as Johnathon) smoke that squirrel!!  He was so excited, as  I was also excited for him!  You would have swore he had just shot a 200" buck.  Traditional archery really helps you enjoy the small things.  For him to shoot that squirrel with a compound wouldn't have been nearly as fun!  

Something worth noting is that Darren drove around 6 hours for 1 day of hunting.  It didn't have much to do with the hunting.  The camp is what's so fun to me.  As previously stated, we had a coon shoot and it was a blast!  7 guys all shooting bows at an illuminated target at night was fun!  We did all different types of shots.  Todd loved to try to make it as awkward as possible. lol.  I was just waiting for him to say, "lets see who can shoot between the legs, behind the back, and around that tree all at the same time".  haha.  

Here is the time lapse video.  Crazy that this video covers about 40 mins worth of shooting in 21 seconds!  We ended up shooting for well over an hour!  
 

[DanielB89]

Last year I learned some valuable lessons on this hog hunt.  One of the soon to be "requirements"(tongue in cheek) is you must be a good cook to come!  We don't care how good you hog hunt, we care about the FOOD!!!

Each year the food is beyond words.  The first night I show up, Kip is working on his gumbo! Kip isn't much to look at, but he sure can cook!  

 

Here are the contents of the hen and sausage gumbo!  Boy, it was good!  
 

[DanielB89]

One things i've really noticed this year is that hte pig sign just isn't there like it has been in years past.  Like not even a fraction of a percentage of what it usually is.  Usually the whole woods are cut up like the picture Darren posted.  But, after seeing his pictures of the hog traps, I can see why they're gone.  Hogs are fun to chase, but not very good for a deer herd.  This weekend I saw more deer than i've see in the last 4 years hunting there!

[DanielB89]

Each night we had some form of 'Story Time'.  

Kip (Left) and Marty (right), Marty was sharing a story.  Living in Alaska is a blast!  I hope to go visit him some time.  

 

 Jacob(aka Johnathon) and Kip
 

Please forgive Randy for being so ugly, his wife makes great burritos though! haha.  Randy(Left) and Todd (Right)
 

[DanielB89]

Jacob and I checking out Rock Lake.  The only sign we had saw was the sign of a big stinky boar about 5'8" and 200+ pounds that goes by the name of Randy.  We walked up on where they had already walked before we headed back to the truck to go check a new area.

   

Mine and Jacobs mid day snack!

   


Some type of snail on a leaf in a the back water.

   

This was the encounter we had with the Alligator Snapping Turtle in the woods.  I spotted him crawling through from about 50 yards away!  pretty cool!!

 


   


He wasn't too happy with me picking him up.  He was ready to do emergency removal of any digits should they get too close to his chomper.

   

[DanielB89]

Boeuf is full of interesting sights.  Here is a pretty cool, very much alive, tree.

 

[DanielB89]

I feel like there was a bad joke going on here.  A lot of people use flagging.  I think a few guys tried to help one guy find his way to his spot.

How many pieces of flagging can you spot in this pic?
 


These were both taken in the same place, just facing different directions.

 


I never saw a pig in the woods while hunting, just when we were walking out friday night.  This was some of the best sign I saw the whole time.  

 

 

 

[DanielB89]

As previously stated, Marty is an INVALUABLE part of camp.  This year he brought smoked fish, caribou brats, hunter sticks, summer sausage, etc.  His contributions have earned him a lifetime invite.  


Seriously though, it is a lot of fun to be around a bunch of guys for a weekend with our tradbows!  I know I needed a weekend like this, even if the pig sightings weren't numerous, the fun was immeasurable!  

I am already looking forward to next year!