Hog Huntin with Ray Hammond

[RayMO]

OK, OK...on with the story. Enought grasshoppers..were is the hogs  :D

[JC]

Like I said, this place is beautiful.....and deadly. Ray and I were slipping through the thickening brush single file in an effort to make less noise approaching our destination. Ray was a few steps ahead of me, and as he lifted his foot for another stride I noticed the ground moved between his feet. Somebody left a perfectly good hatband laying out in the middle of the woods...

 

I let Ray get a few steps away and whispered to get his attention. Pointing with my limb tip, I said "You just stepped right over that". His eyes grew a few sizes larger than normal as I pointed to the well camoflaged predator. Ray swallowed hard and said "Andrew wouldn't mind at all if we got rid of that...and neither would I."

Judicious application of a sharp broadhead, buried the head and we were on our way. Strangely, Ray seemed a bit uneasy as the head lay there biting at the air, venom dripping from it's needle fangs. We took a bit more care in foot placement from this point forward....

[JC]

The weather had been exceedingly dry.  Heat indexes well into the hundreds tend to bring thunderstorms in this part of the country but it obviously hadn't rained in some time. Areas that had previously been full of water, some of it running all the way to the Savannah River, were now dry. The puddles showed some, but no fresh sign.

   

By this time it was approaching mid day quickly, we had covered a good bit of ground and had yet to see or hear any hogs. According to Ray, that was very unusual for this property.

We made the long march back to the truck, but not before Ray got to sample some of Curtis's dry javelina sausage for the first time. CK, I would expect a call from Ray any minute now trying to beg borrow or steal some. I think his exact words were "That's some of the best stuff I've ever put in my mouth!"

Returning to the trailer for some real food and planning session, it was time to change tactics....

[IB]

"Snakes and Hoppers"    with morning Coffee and Donuts.

You'r a well taught student JC

Keep it comming      Great photos.

[Doc Nock]

Nice respit from having to go pay bills today...

Thanks for the diversion, JC.  Can't wait to git some other reports on the PM cypherin and what it drug up!

[Littlefeather]

Nice Hopper! I think I've seen all three species of hoppers Ray describes here in S Texas. They are a pretty rare find these days but I have seen those really biggun's in droves at certain times. Fish won't eat those big grasshoppers for some reason. I bet they carry nun-chucks under that pretty camo! Pretty Copperhead too!

It's ironic that I'm having dry sausage this morning as we type. Goat makes great dry sausage too. You just need to mix in some pork neck to grease it up a bit. On with the show. Bring on the pork!!! CK

[Ray Hammond]

Curtis,
Next time you see one of those hoppers pick it up and smell of it- it won't take getting it even close to your nose to tell why nothing eats them- those suckers are TOXIC with a T baby!

JC was sharp witted and interested enough to pick one up and smell of it and boy, those things have something funky going on, let me tell you!

Uh, how nice do I have to talk to you, and how much do I send via USPS to get some of that dry sausage???? Inquiring minds want to know.

[Littlefeather]

I'll sell ya the half a link I'm chewin on pretty cheap. Ummmmm, lots of mesquite smoke flavor!!!  :D  

I put one of them hoppers in a jar when I was a kid. Even a mason jar couldn't mask the stink! I thought catfish like stinky stuff?  

[knife river]

Thanks, Vermonster13, for putting a name to the grasshopper.  I googled it and found out lots of great stuff.  Turns out that ALL those huge hoppers at Ray's hunting spot are probably the same species!  As it ages it moults and the new "hide" is different colors and patterns.  The immature is the jet black one with the canary yellow racing stripe down the back (it can also have bright red legs and red sides of the head, but that's variable among individuals).  In the mature stage, it is generally brown/black, with lots of red on it, like the one JC photo'd.

The bright colors signal predators that they're lousy chow because they eat toxic plants.  If the hoppers need to up the ante when attacked by something particularly vicious, like a kid with a mason jar (GGG), they "hiss" as chemicals are forced out through small holes to form a lather of stinky bubbles.  

Now is this a fascinating world or what?  

[rabbitman]

Joe...let's get with it.  I'm waiting for you to kill something.  

[JC]

Woody, guess I'm still a kid at heart....I spend at least some of my time on every hunt not necessarily hunting, but investigating some fascinating flower, bush, bug, snake, lizard, or other critter. I'm continually awed by His choice of endless variety and complexities of His plan.

Ray whipped up a hearty breakfast while I perforated his hog target and sharpened my broadheads for the umpteenth time. Ray was the consumate host and every time I asked how I could pitch in, Ray would say "Nothing, it's ready." We decided we had seen more sign in the ditches quickly drying up along the edges of the clear cut areas. We would scatter some corn in the wetter ones, with the hopes we would peak the interest of the hogs and draw them out of their seemingly impenetrable fortress of brush.

Off we went, with Ray driving while I flung corn into the places that still held mud wet enough to encourage rooting. Within an hour we had seeded the most likely spots and it was now approaching 100 degrees. We checked a few other areas from the truck, only to find the same: what water was left was quickly drying up...previously swamp areas were now just dried, cracking mud.

To combat the heat, we decided to take a side trip to the Savannah area. Our plan was to go to the Bass Pro shops and see what new gadgets we could make fun of, eat a late lunch at a famous seafood restaurant and return in time for an evening hunt. Hopefully, giving the hogs enough time to find the goodies we'd left for them.

[Shaun]

Amen to being distracted by His wonders afield. Good tale so far JC.

[Marvin M.]

Somebody left a perfectly good hatband laying out in the middle of the woods  

Never heard it put that way before, but I like it.  Looks like a fun beginning to the hunt.  

I'm the same way JC.  Always getting distracted when I'm supposed to be "hunting".

[beachbowhunter]

let's see...it's about 6:30pm on the east coast...should be finishing dinner soon....Come on JC we're dying out here!  

[Doc Nock]

Them boys are having just way too much fun and not sharing in it with us!    

Either that or they got that heat prostation or whatever and are lying dehydrated in a dry ditch somewhere...Nah... they're too tough for that!

C'mon guys. I need a blood fix to cope with things here!  

[GroundHunter]

I think it's a hawg.

[ber643]

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ (and it's early AM)  :D

[JC]

Whew....tough crowd.    

After our little side trip to Bass Pro shops, where we fondled their few sticks and 2 fixed blade, cut on contact broadheads, we were off to eat lunch at a superb seafood place. Oh, I almost forgot. Ya ever see a 280# feller in bright orange "Crocs"? (they are a fancy lightweight sandle popularized by yuppie docs) Needless to say I couldn't get Ray to buy em, but we certainly got some funny looks as he modeled them and I stood there saying "Awww yeah, thems purdy!"    

On the drive back to camp we saw thunderheads building. Thankfully, Andrew's land got some much needed water, though not nearly enough. As it drizzled we readied our gear, practically giggling that the temps were below 100 degrees.

We slipped down the road through the mist, hopeful that the cool and rain would get the hogs moving. At the first 3 locations we checked, none of the corn had been touched. Ray graciously offered me what we both considered the prime spot, so he split off to check the backside of the property we had looked at early in the day.

I still hunted from one area to another, hoping to hear or see some movement, finally settling down at an intersection that allowed me to glass down two roads without being seen. Deer came out to play, but darkness came quickly....without the company of hogs.

We were perplexed. I'm no hog expert, but I firmly believe Ray is....and he didn't have any answers either. We crawled into our bunks with prayers that the winds that brought the brief storm, were also bringing change....

[JC]

How am I doing Charlie?  

[vermonster13]

JC we all love ya bro. But get on with it already!!! Even Charlie is more merciful with the tales than you are being. (Great so far! LOL)