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Author Topic: A few days with Ray  (Read 69053 times)

Offline knife river

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A few days with Ray
« on: July 06, 2006, 03:22:00 PM »
To set the scene, here's a "before" pic:

     

And here's an "after" pic:

     

The "who" was Ray Hammond:

     

The "where" was thousands of acres in South Carolina along the Savannah River.  Hog Nirvana.  The Shangri-la of Pork.

   

The land above the river was a mixture of pine plantations, open fields, and mixed hardwoods.  It hadn't rained much lately but the hogs had plenty of impressive wallows:

   

The low country along the river was other-worldly.  Dark, cool, and quiet, it felt like a green cathedral with the giant trees buttressing an unbroken canopy.  

     

We were the latest in a long string of hunters to walk these woods.  Some of the other hunters left their tools behind, some unfinished, some broken.

 

I picked up a worn out dart point, probably a Kirk Stemmed point, and Ray said it was a good omen.  He was probably right, but did it mean we'd have good hog hunting or should I just look for arrowheads?  Omens can be tricky things, especially for a guy who gets confused by fortune cookies.

 
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Offline Killdeer

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Re: A few days with Ray
« Reply #1 on: July 06, 2006, 03:26:00 PM »
Way cool, Woody! I will be back for more!

Killdeer  :wavey:
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Long, long afterward, in an oak I found the arrow, still unbroke;
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Offline John Krause

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Re: A few days with Ray
« Reply #2 on: July 06, 2006, 03:35:00 PM »
Off to a good start. You got me hooked........

I think Ray needs to invite every Tradganger down one at a time to hunt. Can I go next? Can I, huh?   :)
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Offline vermonster13

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Re: A few days with Ray
« Reply #3 on: July 06, 2006, 03:37:00 PM »
Excellent pics and a great beginning to the tale.
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Offline Ray Hammond

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Re: A few days with Ray
« Reply #4 on: July 06, 2006, 03:41:00 PM »
did you notice the manicure on that fellas hand????   :scared:      :wavey:

How can a guy with fingernails like that bust up rock for fun and profit???????

If I pick up a rock I get dirty. Woody had chips flying everywhere for two days and didn't even have to wash up...wait till I show you the stuff he made!

I have to tell you- he claims he is all rusty at this hunting stuff...hasn't done it much in a long time....yeah, right...he's a stealthy little bugger and got after 'em despite the heat and humidity.

Wish he lived closer!
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“Courageous, untroubled, mocking and violent-that is what Wisdom wants us to be. Wisdom is a woman, and loves only a warrior.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

Offline knife river

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Re: A few days with Ray
« Reply #5 on: July 06, 2006, 04:47:00 PM »
Hog hunting was the purpose, but it was only a fraction of the experience.  The low country teems with amazing life.  It seemed every third tree was decorated with a painted bunting.  They looked like they'd been painted by a young God eager to try His brightest colors first.  The flowers were no less spectacular.

     

Ray said this was an orchid, one of many varieties of wild orchids in the wet woods.

   

Even the insects were amazing.  Perhaps there should be a Pope and Young category for grasshoppers...

     

I hope someone can tell me about this plant.  The big blossoms opened each evening when it got cool and closed during the heat of the day.  Here's a "closed" shot.

   

And here it's open for business.

 

The mid-day heat was impressive.  Beads of sweat ran together and trickled down my face.  The trickles formed little creeks which merged into rivers until finally the whole Mississippi was pouring into the deltas inside my boots.  Early morning and late afternoon stalks would be the plan.  Early July is blackberry season in the Carolina low country.  Find the impregnable  blackberry fortresses and you find the hogs.

 

Discretion, valor, and a cool a/c kept us close to camp during the heat of the day.  I beat on a couple of rocks to pass time.  A couple arrowpoints were found hiding inside big flakes of fancy jasper.  I hope they'll fly well for Ray.

     
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Offline Al Snow

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Re: A few days with Ray
« Reply #6 on: July 06, 2006, 04:52:00 PM »
Knife River, great photos!  Thanks.  The flower is a rose mallow, close relative of marshmallow.  They grow as shrubs in low areas, along streams, sloughs, etc.
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Offline Terry Green

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Re: A few days with Ray
« Reply #7 on: July 06, 2006, 04:52:00 PM »
Man, that is some SERIOUS talent right there....those head look like they came off a CNC machine!!!
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Offline 4runr

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Re: A few days with Ray
« Reply #8 on: July 06, 2006, 05:11:00 PM »
Dang, that last head is something awesome to look at. Talk about artistry. You got it Sir!!!
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Offline Ray Hammond

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Re: A few days with Ray
« Reply #9 on: July 06, 2006, 05:17:00 PM »
sort of looks like a Simmons Interceptor, doesn't it?
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Offline Littlefeather

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Re: A few days with Ray
« Reply #10 on: July 06, 2006, 05:21:00 PM »
WOW! Incredible! Looks like someone almost missed that grasshopper. Also looks like one of those heads might have had some hog blood on it. I know hog blood when I see it!  :readit:   Looks like S.C. hog blood to be exact. Yall gonna sandbag us or cut to the good pics?  :bigsmyl:  CK
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Offline knife river

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Re: A few days with Ray
« Reply #11 on: July 06, 2006, 05:28:00 PM »
Littlefeather, we're gonna sandbag.  :p  

Truth is, I took lots of photos and would have taken even more if I hadn't made a bonehead mistake with the camera (I thought the batteries were dead but they were fine).  But I never took a single photo of hogs.  Not one.  At one point I had six hogs in front of me, 13 to the right, and two whitetails blowing at me from the left.  No pictures.  Even when there were four hogs hanging in the cooler I didn't take pictures.  But I'm kinda getting ahead of myself...   ;)  

Al Snow, thanks for the info about the plant!  I'll google it right now!
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"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."
  Martin Luther King, Jr.

Offline vermonster13

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Re: A few days with Ray
« Reply #12 on: July 06, 2006, 05:46:00 PM »
This just keeps getting better. I know guys like the hog pictures, but the others are pure magic to this northern boy. It's pretty sweet to be able to see other parts of the country from the comfort of my chair and yet still feel like I'm there.
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Offline knife river

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Re: A few days with Ray
« Reply #13 on: July 06, 2006, 05:57:00 PM »
vermonster13, you might like this photo, too.  What a cypress, eh?  As we walked up to it, something massive and heavy slid off the far bank and sent big waves our way.  Couldn't have been anything except a large alligator.  You might ask Ray about playing tag with those things...  It's always interesting when you step into the old predator/prey relationship and you don't know which role you're playing.

 
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"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."
  Martin Luther King, Jr.

Offline GroundHunter

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Re: A few days with Ray
« Reply #14 on: July 06, 2006, 06:23:00 PM »
Boy howdy!
That's what bowhunting is all about.
Wonder what the inflation-adjusted price of ancient clovis points is in 2006 $? Bet those old-timers were paying way more'n $56 for three broadheads!

Great spring hunt'n flowers! That's one great joy of spring turkey and hog hunting. My wife really like the flower pix I get ( I haven't hot a turkey yet).
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Offline Talondale

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Re: A few days with Ray
« Reply #15 on: July 06, 2006, 06:41:00 PM »
Knife River,  
  The Rose Mallow is a variety of Hibiscus.  A flower you can buy at most nurseries and very popular in the South.  The blooms on some Hibiscus can be huge.  More info on the Rose Mallow:  http://www.assateague.com/ros-mal.html

I did not know the original Marshmallow came from flower roots.  Smore's anyone?
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Offline TimBow2

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Re: A few days with Ray
« Reply #16 on: July 06, 2006, 07:20:00 PM »
great pic's.........
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Offline Ray Hammond

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Re: A few days with Ray
« Reply #17 on: July 06, 2006, 07:40:00 PM »
Here is a picture of a knife that Woody made for me...can you believe this thing????????

 
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“Courageous, untroubled, mocking and violent-that is what Wisdom wants us to be. Wisdom is a woman, and loves only a warrior.” - Friedrich Nietzsche

Offline UK Bowman

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Re: A few days with Ray
« Reply #18 on: July 06, 2006, 08:56:00 PM »
That is a thing of beauty...I'm serious.
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Offline Killdeer

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Re: A few days with Ray
« Reply #19 on: July 06, 2006, 09:13:00 PM »
Sho'nuff!
Dandy photography, too! Woody, you need someone to trot along behind you with a spare camera?

All those times we shot together, he never once mentioned knapping...  :banghead:
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Long, long afterward, in an oak I found the arrow, still unbroke;
And the song, from beginning to end, I found again in the heart of a friend.

~Longfellow

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