St. Jude Hunt - A trip down under

[lt-m-grow]

It was clear by now that we hunting several groups of pigs in several distinct areas.   Meaning, we could walk and walk and find no sign, but once we did we could usually find the hogs.  And we could usually come back the next hunt and find them again.

So it became very important for us to not push too hard on each group.  

So for example, with the group of hogs in the palmettos, when we could not get a shot, we would back out so we could get a chance at them the next day.  

I knew I was gonna love this free range hog hunting!  What a great chess match.

[lt-m-grow]

Thursday morning led to a whole new twist to our hunt.

If you are a fan of RC's hunts, you know one of his favorite hunting "rigs" is his boat because it allows him to get into the remote hunting spots we need faster.

However, when we started the hunt, RC said the river was too high above flood stage and was expected to creep higher in the coming days due to all the rain.  Basically, the river is always at some flood stage of sorts, but right after big storms there is tendency to add challenges to the river beyond just high water.   It seems trees have a tendency to get ripped off the banks and work there way down stream.  This creates the immediate concern while you are on the river of course and it also creates a concern for the boat that is moored on shore while you are hunting.  You don't wanna come back and find that major debris has taken your ride - for a ride.  He didn't have to sell me on the safety issues so I was all good with walking.

But the good news is that RC felt we were good to go and he left me in camp Thursday nite and left for home to retrieve his boat.

He spent the nite at home, scoring those critical points that we all need with our wives :-) , and we met the next morning at the river boat landing.

The plan was simple, cruise upstream a mile or so at a time.  Poke around in the remote areas on foot for an hour or so.  Then repeat as necessary.

It was a great plan.

[lt-m-grow]

The morning dawned cold and sunny.  It was about 38 degrees.  With the sun and the warm water the river was gorgeous with steam rising everywhere.

 

 

RC boat is called a stick steer.  Again to this yankee that is new stuff.  I felt like the gator hunters you see on TV.

 

 

The stick steer allows the driver to drive essentially a standard rowboat

 

from the front seat.  RC offered that this really helps when the water is low by keeping the boat flatter in the water.

It also provided me a wind block from the back seat when we were underway  :-).

 

Hey, even for this northern boy, cruising in 38 degree air is a tad chilly first thing in the morn.

[lt-m-grow]

The river was beautiful.   Most of the water were I live is packed with people.  Cottages, houese, boat docks everywhere.

This land had no sign of people.  It felt we were back in time and we had the whole place to ourselves.  It was great

 


 

 

 

 

[hunt it]

Makem squeeaalll.......

[lt-m-grow]

Though bopping up and down the river was great.  Hunting was slow.  We hunted for hours with no luck.  

We kept at it and didn't even stop for lunch.  We were so hungry we even made a trip back to the boat ramp and scrounged through the trucks for stuff.  And off we were again.

We were starting to get a little concerned that we may have put too much pressure on them in previous days as we have covered a lot a ground without even the sight of a pig.  

So we sit for a badly needed break about 4:00 or so and chat.   After a brief break, we wander around a bit doing some stump shooting and wouldn't you know it, RC bends over to pick up an arrow and says pig.

So we had been together enough that when he says pig it is a long way off because when it is close we just quickly make a "tic tic tic" sound.  So I look long in the direction he is looking and see nothing.  And I am thinking, why can't I see them this is fairly open.  Then RC says right there.  And they were there, right inside of shooting distance.   We laughed about this later.  He said he was so excited after such a hard hunt to see animals it just came out.  It is great when the guide is just as excited as you are.

So I had to maneuver a bit and pick up other movement around.

Been there done that, but I had this nice sow broadside and I stayed focused and dropped the string again.

YES!

[Over&Under]

[lt-m-grow]

Hog down!

 

And the lucky man shot
 

Anudder...
 

And the awesome RC...
 

And the two of us...
 

I really like that last picture.

[steadman]

Very nice!  

[lt-m-grow]

RC says that I was the first one of his St. Jude's hunters to make meat.  I felt good about that and even better he told me after the fact.  I would have really felt the pressure.  :-)

Speaking of making meat watch this. This will take me longer to post than it did for RC to accomplish.  Also right before he started I got the sense of a man on a mission and I offered to help or stay out the way and he requested the latter.  Kinda reminds me of the joke where you ask the mechanic how much his work is gonna cost and he says "$50" and you ask how much it will be if I help and he says "$100".

So I took pictures...

 
 
 
 
 
 

[lt-m-grow]

 
 
 

And repeat on the other side.

[lt-m-grow]

So earlier in the week, RC mentioned that he backpacks all his game out.  In fact another RC axiom is "I will never drag anything again".  :-)  Which is another bonus for Georgia as here in Wisconsin we be dragging.  

So he tells me this than he pats on his little pack he is using, here is another look at it,

 

and says I have it right here.  And I look at his small pack and wonder how the heck he has another pack in there.  I was obviously curious, but took a personal pledge that I would see it when I had an animal down.  So now was the time.

He proceeds to produce this little rolled up backpack - and calmly (RC is always cool and calm I might add) halls it out of the swamp.

 

We weighed the backpack back at camp and it weighed 35#.  I will be darned...

[lt-m-grow]

Back to camp to ice the meat and celebrate.  What a great day.  The boat adventure.  The long hard hunt.  The sweet success of hanging in there...perfect hunting.

As I tell my wife, I am a lucky man.

[jcar315]

Fantastic story tellin' and pics!

Congrats!!

[GRS]

lt-m-grow, thanks for the great story and fantastic pics. You made it almost as good as being there. Apparently you and RC make a winning team. Thanks again, I really enjoyed following along.
Gerald

[RC]

Great story telling. I enjoyed this outing as I have enjoyed all the St. Judes Hunts.Allows me to meet folks with the same Love of the Stickbow I have.Dave is a good hunter and enjoys it and that made it fun.I look forward to another hunt with him.

  I tell a lot of folks that want to hunt here the Spring,Summer and early Fall are best but the yanks want to beat the cold and come in the Winter and it ain`t the best.I hope to continue to offer these hunts Lord Willing and look forward to it.


ps. I think Dave tried to put the grill together when I went after the boat but gave up....RC

[Benny Nganabbarru]

Superb, fellows! Very happy for you!

[kennym]

Most excellent adventure!

[Cookus]

Good hunt guys!   I too look forward to hunting with RC one day... Although my slow West Virginia hillbilly drawl may confound him a bit   :D   ...   Hats off to RC and what he's doing for the kids at St. Judes...   Takin' yankees and such     !

[hunt it]

     Way to go RC another great adventure for the kids. Great story telling Dave, thanks for taking us along to the swamps.