Had a blast at Hog Heaven!

[pdk25]

Originally posted by bushwacker:
...I duck down and nock an arrow and I'm about to move parallel to him to cut some distance when the wind shifts (it's been swirling the whole time) and as quick as that this stalk is over.    

....Tony

That almost never happens    .  Sounds like you were having a great time.

[LA Trapper]

I think he has got us.    

         


Billy

[bushwacker]

I'm sorry it's taking so long everyone....I've been busting my hump at work.....

So where was I? This next bit will go quick because for the next 4 1/2 hrs. I didn't see anything....except for these:

 

And there are almost as many squirrels as there are mosquitos. If you're into bowhunting them, this is your place.

Here's another photo just for the heck of it:

 

All the dirt in the foreground had been hit by hogs recently.

I lost track of time and must've been backtracking a little faster than I thought because before I knew it I was pretty close to being back at the cross roads. I didn't want to get back to the pick up area before daylight ended, so I sat down in an area that had been totally obliterated by hogs.

Nothing showed so I decided to move on. I stepped up onto the road and, lo and behold, directly in front of me was a hog feeding about 50 yds out in the swamp on the other side.

I nocked an arrow, checked the wind and easily closed to within 30 yds of it. As I got closer, I could see that there was another, bigger hog even further up and 5-6 football sized piglets. I slowed way down and got to within 25 yds of the first one, but then something bolted to my right. I was so intent on the hogs in front of me that I didn't see that there was a red one in a low area to my right. She must've been watching me the whole time.

The whole group ran about 40 yds away and stopped. The red one was at the back of the group and was looking back in my direction for what seemed like forever when suddenly all HE++ broke loose about 50 yds. to my left. It sounded like a plane was crashing or something. It scared the crap out of me and I couldn't have cared less about the hogs I was just chasing.

What had happened was the top of a tree....and I mean the whole top...broke off and came crashing down right beside me. I had to do a drawer check before I moved on.

The hogs of course boogied out of there and I only saw the rear end of a couple of them off in the distance and they didn't look to be slowing down.

I figured that my only luck that day was bad and called it quits and met Ray at the pick up spot.

The day ended with everyone laughing, BS'ing, and eating a killer spaghetti dinner. I ended up seeing 9-10. Aldo had an opportunity at one. Ray ended up seeing the one I spooked. Not bad for the first afternoon.

[Over&Under]

   Too funny about the tree!  At least it got your heart pumping, especially after it was already pumping from stalking up on some hogs!!

And then............?????

[bushwacker]

The next morning, after Ray made us breakfast, we hit the woods. Ray H. decided he would go the same direction as me for a while (he was turkey hunting), Ray R. took the same trail as the day before, and Aldo was taking a slightly different track. The plan was to meet back up at noon.

A couple of hundred yards in Ray told me it would be a good idea to follow the creek back into the woods a bit and to keep my eyes and ears open for the hogs down in the low spots rooting around the water.

Again the next several hours were pretty uneventful except for almost stepping on a water snake.

I ended up way back by the Savannah river where the swamp was still very wet:

 

 

Around 11:30 I found myself back on the main road headed back to the pick up point. As I was rounding the bend, I see something black in the distance and wagging it's tail. I instantly pictured a black lab, but it quickly dawned on me that it was a hog probably 70 yds away.

Moving forward, I saw another big one on the left hand side of the road in the water and several more, smaller ones on the right. Now, I'm out in the open in the direct sunlight and the biggest of the group kept looking in my direction. When she would look, I would stop and duck my head down (no face mask). She would go back to feeding and I'd move up again. This happened three times before I was finally within range for a shot.

Eventually, she moved to the right hand side with the others and was heading into the woods, I made it to within 20 yds of the first hog with no problem. I took a breath, drew back and.....MISSED!

I don't know what happened. It must've been faulty equipment or something. Surely it wasn't the shooter's fault. Regardless, the shot went low. It only missed the sweet spot by an inch. The back of the arrow slapped the pig's front legs which caused her to bolt which, in turn, caused the rest to bolt. I nocked another arrow and watched them move off.

Ray H. told us not to follow behind them if we got busted because they always watched their back-trail. Instead, he says to hook around them and try to get in front of them.

I found my arrow and confirmed the MISS and about the same time Ray R. shows up. I told him what happened and we both moved to intercept them. We went as far as we could, but we ended up getting too much water between them and us so we gave up the chase.

Back at camp, I took some practice shots at the hog target and hit the 10-12 rings on that joker 6-7 times in a row. Go figure!

Oh, and I forgot to mention; from where I took the shot at the hog to where Ray dropped us off at the lean-to the day before was only about 60 yds apart. I guess it pays to hunt all the way back to the truck.....

[bushwacker]

Ray H. informed us that he made it to the end of the road and stepped off into the woods and ran into a group of about 10 hogs that morning. I don't remember exactly, but I think he said they spooked.

Anyway, the hogs were there and they were moving during daylight. Unfotunately, neither Ray R. nor Aldo saw anything on the morning hunt if I'm not mistaken.

[James on laptop]

Glad you had a good time Tony.Bet it was pretty hot this time of year?I see you found out that just because hogs are around and even when you can get pretty close they are no chumps when bowhunting.  

[bushwacker]

Yep, you are right James...I learned a bunch about hogs on this trip.....Tony

[bushwacker]

Well, now my story gets about as anti-climactic as you can get because that was that in the hog department. I never even saw a hog the rest of the trip. No complaints here. That's just hunting. Besides, I had two good opportunities in two days. That's pretty good in my book.

Anyway....After lunch, we headed back out. Ray R. and Aldo swapped roads and I walked down a high road to an old shack and an area called Blue Lake where I dropped down into the swamp. I saw another, small alligator and snapped its pic:

 

Not the best pic. It was from a fair distance and my camera isn't very good at taking them that far. Check out all of the bugs on the water. There are about that many mosquitoes and gnats flying around too, just to give you an idea. Thermacells strapped to your pack is the way to go when it comes to keeping them off of you. I had one of my thermacell pads go dry and almost instantly I was being bombed by them.

Also, that afternoon was hot and humid as heck. I was sweating like crazy. Anyone going around this time of year will do good to get a camel back and constantly take in water.

This area was the wettest I'd hunted. I had to cross the water at least 20 times that afternoon which was sometimes a challenge. I got back far enough that I was glad that I had a GPS because everything looks exactly the same in there.

Again, no pigs, but here are a couple of pics:

Old cypress stump:

 

None of us saw pigs that afternoon.

Ray H. had an awesome Surf and Turf supper that evening to include wine if you wanted. Again, more laughing and joking and good times rounded out the day.

More to come tonight after work.....Tony

[ALDO]

Didn't realize this thread was started, I came back on Monday with Ray R and had to go back down to Richmond VA on Wednesday for a Thursday meeting.  Meeting with Tony was a blast.  Good time had by all at Ray's place.  Glad Tony got some photos of the Gators, I managed to see 3 and two were better than 6 foot, back at what was called Hog Lake.  After seeing what I did they may consider a name change.  I don't think Tony mentioned the other critters so here are a couple more photos. These little guys make a good bit of noise and can manager to get your heart pumping until you get used to them.  

 

 

[Red Beastmaster]

We hunted those exact same spots last Oct and it was bone dry. Didn't see a hog on that trip either. I guess it's all about the water. Hmmmmmm.

The PA Hawg Hauling Crew will be back in Feb '11 for our third hunt. I wish I was there now. It's a pretty special place.

[ron w]

Can't wait till January, this is gonna be fun!!!!!

[bushwacker]

Thanks for posting Aldo...He reminded me about the armadillos. I finally saw three of em at last light on the second night. They were within grabbing distance from me. That was pretty neat.

The next morning after breakfast, Aldo went in where I got the shot at the hog the day before and followed all of the pig sign back into the wet stuff. Ray R and I hoofed it back to an area neither of us had hunted. He went left towards where Ray H saw the hogs the morning before and I ended up going to the end of my road and then hooking a right. Here is a pic of the feeder at the end of the road...

 

Ray hadn't been baiting because it is turkey season and it is illegal to have bait out at this time.

I hooked a right and got way down in the swamps. It was beautiful down there....


 

 

There was a gobbler down there that gobbled at anything that made a noise. I ended up getting less than a couple hundred yards from him before it was time to turn around.

Here's a hog wallow I found on the way back out. It was right next to the river....

 

We all made it back at noon. I didn't see anything except a couple more armadillos. Aldo saw zilch and Ray R saw one, but couldn't get on it before it got away from him.

We went back to camp and Ray made us a last lunch. We packed our gear, BS'd a little while longer, said our farewells and hit the road.

I was very impressed with the operation. Ray H really wanted us to get on the hogs. The food was good. I was fortunate to get to hunt with Aldo, Ray R and Ray H. They had me laughing like crazy the whole time.

This place is a menagerie, with all kinds of animals you can think of. My tally for this trip was 17-18 pigs, 5 armadillos, 3 snakes, 2 alligators, 2 raccoons, 2 wild turkey and a HUGE number of birds that I can't even begin to name.

I absolutely can't wait to go back.....Tony

[Cyclic-Rivers]

 
looks like good times were had by all!

[the longbowkid]

loooks like a blast!!! Im headed down there this weekend.....

[Ray Hammond]

We've got the feeders cranking now and my caretaker saw 60+ while loading them up changing batteries etc

should be a good hunt coming up

[DW Dyer]

Sounds like a good time!

[Red Beastmaster]

Take lots of pictures.

[coaster500]

Nice to find a good story for my morning coffee:)

Great pictures, Mosquito's love this sweet meat, I'd have to strap two Thermacells on    

 

[Irish]

Ray does a GREAT job, and is a fantastic host.  If you get a chance to hunt with him, do it!