Pig hunt suggestions?

[PEL]

Hi Everyone,  I live in here in New England but I am thinking of going somewhere in the middle of march to hunt pigs.  I have two weeks off and would prefer to drive and camp in my truck, but flying is possible.  I think I would like to hunt public land, but I am open to suggestions (limited buget = same reason I have spring break off - I am a teacher).  I know this is too general, but I would welcome your thoughts.  Thanks, Paul

[Landshark160]

Some awesome pig hunting at Ft. Stewart here in Georgia.

[TKO]

I'm interested in hearing what others have to say on this subject. I was lucky enough to hunt hogs on private land in West Central Florida for about 10 years. I did try hunting on public land in an area called Duette. I was hunting with a .50 cal, traditional style muzzle loader at the time. I made a nice, double lung shot a 170 pounder. The .490, cotton patched, lead ball passed almost completely through the animal's mud caked body. The hog ran around a 40 yard patch of palmetto and was immediately shot by three other hunters.

They swore they shot the hog because I had obviously missed. I wasn't interested in fighting over the animal they had gut shot twice but, they complained to the game warden upon check out that I was attempting to claim their kill which was hanging by the back feet from the skinning pole. I have to admit, with all the mud on the animal, I couldn't see where I had hit this hog.

I explained the situation to the game warden as they denounced my story. I'm not sure the game warden knew who to believe, at least not until the hog was skinned out.

As the hog was skinned out it revealed 2 gut shots and a ham shot. When it was skinned past the shoulders, it became very evident that I had shot it where I said I did, right through the left shoulder. They attempted to claim one of the poor shots must have been mine but, they were all shooting jacketed, sabot bullets. The game warden dug my round, lead ball out of the right shoulder and knew I was telling the truth. Much to the dismay of the "crapshots", the game warden agreed that the hog was first shot by me and that the shot was indeed, fatal. He awarded me the animal but, after the 2 gut shots which had ruptured the bladder and turned the rest of the guts into a foul smelling stew of stomach bile and half digested acorns, I thanked the game warden and respectfully declined.

The three "shooters" for lack of an acceptable term, were more than happy to keep the hog, which they promptly hacked into several pieces with a machete.

I never hunted public land in Florida again. It still bugs me that I killed an animal then, had to sit and watch as three idiots rendered it mostly inedible.

Sorry for a long post that doesn't really answer your question but, I thought you may want to consider that cheaper isn't necessarily better. Personally, I think you would be better off saving a little ching and hunting with someone like Hog Heaven unless you can find private land to hunt.

Tom

[tarponnut]

I've heard similar nightmarish stories about hog hunting public land in Florida.
On some of the bigger public tracts, the concept of a "hunting season" is a novelty to some locals.
On the flip side of that, there is some excellent private land hunting with guides(for a fee).
I am also a teacher and have a "hog hunt" kitty that I squirrel money away into.
If you need info on reputable guides pm me.
Good luck.
By the way, the best hog hunting(and fishing) in Florida is in the summer months.

[Gatekeeper]

Tom,

Your post will probably be pulled because it has nothing to do with traditional bow hunting, but if you are looking for a place to hunt hogs then check out Stretch A String.  http://www.stretchastring.com/

This is a 3000 acre private ranch with very limited hunting on it. The person who runs the hog hunting operation is James Foster. James is a great guy and a lot of fun to be around. He is an old school competitive shooter for Bob Lee Bows.

James runs an honest operation. The price advertised is the real deal, meaning there are no hidden costs. $150 a day will get you three meals, a bed, shower, a place to do laundry, a place to get out of the elements and one hog. James will not charge you more than the $150 if you shoot a big hog. A lot of places charge $1 per pound over whatever weight limit they set. An example, if the limit set by the operation is 150# and you shoot a 180# hog, they’ll tack on another $30 to the price of the hog. James doesn’t charge his clients if they shoot a hog and don’t recover it either. He may give you some crap, but he’ll tell you to go try again.

Anyway, check his website out and give him a call he is a real hoot. Let him know that you shoot a traditional bow too…he’ll like hearing that. Then he’ll probably challenge you to try and keep up with the boys from Missouri.

Tell him Hannibal Hays says…hey.

Here are a couple of links to hunts that Chris and I have had with James.


 http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=089443;p=1

 http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=094142

[Mechslasher]

alexacarrie plantation in abbeville, ga.  i was there back in dec. and hogs were everywhere.  tim's foodplots will be ripe in late spring and the hogs will be grazing in them like cattle.  i'm planning on going back in late may.

  Alexacarrie Plantation

[wv lungbuster]

[Hoyt]

Ft. Stewart, Ga. is probably one of the best and most economical hog hunting areas around.

The place is absolutely loaded with hogs.

 http://www.stewart.army.mil/dpw/wildlife/wild%20boar.htm

I think RC guides there.

Only problem is they may not allow hog hunting during spring gobbler season which is in the spring,

[BILL LEU]

There is a ranch called San Saba in Texas, he charges $100 a day with no other fees and you can shoot as many hogs as you want.  Yes, there are plenty of hogs all sizes.  I've been hog hunting for several years now and this guy is by far the best operation I've seen.

[killinstuff]

Anyone who thinks Ft Stewart is loaded with pigs is crazy. Are there hogs there? Yes but you can't just park, walk out into the swamp and start killing. If you don't know the place, the rules the Fort has or think like a pig it will be mostly just a walk in the woods.

Best bet is to PM local folks if you're looking for hunting spots cause not many will broadcast their hunting areas on the internet.

[michaelschwister]

Fort Stewart is closed to hog hunting from 1 march through 15 may during turkey season. "Guiding" on Fort Stewart is also Illegal for "material gain". If someone takes you out free that is another matter. Get some local guys to show you around, or spend ALOT of time and shoe leather.  Remember it is also open to rifle hunters in almost all the same areas.