Tabletop Mountain Ranch- Oklahoma Hog Photos

[RightTrailWrongTime]

Well our hog hunt adventure went well at the Tabletop Mountain Ranch in Oklahoma.
Loch McCollochs' place was about 1000 acres of free range thick heavy cover with lots of thorny vines to keep you from venturing too far without feeling like a fly caught in a spiders web.
The area had an ice storm come through a week or so before we arrived making stalking virtually impossible, although our fearless leader did stop to rest his old bones on a log and after setting his bow down and figiting around a hog jumped up about 15 yards or so and blew out of there!
Really a neat place with deep cut drainages and oaks and high "tabletops" some open area native grasses as well, plenty of hiding places for hogs and snakes! I keep an eye out since I really want some real skins for my bow.
Anyway we had a blast and it was only 8 hours on the road from Nebraska for us and 4 or 5 hours  for our fellow gangers out of Texas.
Saw hogs driving into the property so we were pumped, and couldn't wait to get out the following morning.
We stayed in Elmore City and had about a 20 minute drive out to the property, some of us younger guys made it hard on ourselves since we raised a little hell the first night but we all made it out the door!
Everyone either saw or had encounters with hogs on day one and I have to admit I missed one and was really mad at myself but on day two it came together after sitting ALL day on a spot that appeared to have a lot of sign and I just couldn't leave it unattended. I was shooting a 3pc Pronghorn 55 @ 28 drawn to 29.5 Carbon Express 150's 30"s 100 grain insert and 125 magnus stingers up front, 560 grains- passed on several small boars to shoot this sow at 18 yards broadside, arrow left the bow clean and severed the top of the heart and stopped on the offside leg bone, I was impressed with the amount of blood and damage, she went 35-40 yards and crashed dead....perfect! An easy short drag and quick field dress with some help and we headed back to celebrate.
I know theres some tradgangers headed down to the same place in a few weeks and I told ya we would leave you some hogs, we did...wait till you see some of the monsters down there...good luck! There might be some armadillos in the freezer for ya, we ate the pizza......
   
     
     

[Cottonmouth]

nice hog!

[NTXStickbow]

**  I replied to an older post before I saw Todd's update... copied and pasted. **

What? No replies yet? I won't let the cat out on who killed what at the table top mountain, but... Thank you to CongoMan for setting up another great hog hunt! It was great to meet some new faces, recount past hunts with the group and drink to our traditional ways.

Now for the land...cat-briar is not your friend! The woods are littered with this viney, thorn bearing, can't hop over it, can't climb under it, can't chop through it plant! Spot and stalk hunting was nearly impossible, though I think we all tried at least once. Not to mention the snow/ice that was left over made it that much more difficult to remain quiet. There are quite a few steep draws to hunt if you are willing to fight the cat-briar, but even with the snow on the ground the hog sign was slim away from the feeders. I only saw one group of hogs, maybe 25, nearly all shooters, but they winded me as the southern winds swirled at the top of the plateau and down the road where the hogs were rooting under the oaks. After that, I had a shot at a coyote but blew it when I tried to stop him with a little 'kiss' noise with my lips. He turned on his hind legs, turned and looked right at me in the stand, and in the same move bolted away from me.  Oh well, it was my first close encounter with a coyote and I've learned my lesson.

A couple of things I would change if it were my property to lease.. First, the corn feeders only ran for about 3-5 seconds. This only put out enough corn to feed the masses of cardinals and blue jays in the area. Second, it seemed that a southern breeze would severly limit any set-up on the feeders, and renders at least two of the ladder stands useless. Third, the quarters we stayed in were actually in Elmore City and required a 20 minute drive to get to the property. This may not be too limiting for some hunters, but I personally prefer to be able to be within walking distance of breakfast after a morning stalk!

Until next time...

[Shinken]

RTWT - good work on makin' some pork!  Those Pronghorn bows are really stackin' up some bacon in 2009!

Shinken

[BTH]

Nicely done!

[Chris Surtees]

Nice rooter      

[NorthernCaliforniaHunter]

I'm starting to twitch, bad.  

[RightTrailWrongTime]

Hey you guys headed up there in a few weeks take it easy on the plumbing, the six of us gave it a true test.
Oh also the shower is a little tricky, turn on the hot all the way and the cold just a quarter and you'll be good!
Good Luck

[Broken Arrow 1]

Great Job Todd! That is one hunt I will never Forget!!

[doowop]

We will be there the last weekend of March. I didn't know the lodging was in town. No big deal as we were going to eat in town anyway. Any hints on how to hunt this place?

[RightTrailWrongTime]

I can give you a few suggestions and a general overview of the layout, I'll pm ya some info tomarrow and answer any questions you might have. I was hoping to get some info before we left too but it seems like we r the only ones to hunt it so far.

[Fritz]

Congrats on a nice pig!  Looks like you guys had a great time.  Love the pronghorn, mine should be here in a week or so.  

[Guru]

[JoeM]

Are hats mandatory for this hunt?   :D   Congrats on a nice hawg!!  Joe

[JESSE69]

Congrats      

[RightTrailWrongTime]

Ha! yep the hats were a requirement, there's a story behind all the hats that I can't post here! I like the hat for several reasons, it's warm and the brim doesn't get in the way primarily, its not about trying to look like Fred Bear or G Fred although I do like the look.
aww what the heck- the story--Several years ago at a hog hunt in Texas, I got out of the truck with my hat on and my friends brother looked at me and said there was a particular name for the folks that wear those hats in Texas- thats the short version without divulging the phrase used and uncovering the identity of the perpetrator- hehehe Just prior to the taking of the photo above we held a little ceremony to induct our new members of the "CS Hat" Club so we all wear them now although I wonder how far back down into Texas he got before that hat got stuffed under the seat!

[Two Arrows]

Nice job Todd, looks like you guys had a great hunt!! Nice story!