Well Ray promised to set the alarm so I could hit the slough early and we went to bed. Around 2:30 AM I had a call to nature that woke me up. I was in the back bedroom with the two bunk beds.
Now if you are not familiar with Ray’s camp here is the layout. Ray has single wide trailer with a big covered front deck. When you walk in the front door the bathroom and a bedroom are to the right. To the left is the kitchen, followed by the living room and then the back bedroom where I was staying.
When you make the left facing the back bedroom there is the kitchen table on the left and on the right is the sink, stove and refrigerator. As you walk into the living room there is a couch on the left and chairs on the right.
I was sleeping in the back bedroom and Ray sleeps on the couch. When nature called I got up and walked into the living room. I was half asleep (as usual) and looked down at the couch. I saw the pillow and crumpled up blankets and thought Ray was sleeping. As I went a little further I saw Ray reading at the kitchen table. I yelled, “ Hey Ray I thought you were sleeping”!
Ray must have had an encounter that day with the Devil’s Pilar too. Just like when that hog exploded right next to me and scared, “the you know what” outa me, Ray hadn’t seen or heard me and I scared, “the you know what”, outa him. I wondered if it was as good for the hog that scared me, as it was for me when I scared Ray.
Ray just about jumped outa his skin and yelled, “man you scared the you know what outa me”. I just said nature called headed on to the bathroom and chalked up Ray’s fear to an encounter with the Devil’s Pilar earlier in the day, like mine.
On the way back to bed Ray said he couldn’t sleep so he thought he would read. I told him he ought to have another Stoli, that would make him sleep. He said, “are you crazy, if I have another Stoli I will never get up tomorrow morning”.
Well Ray went back to sleep, but he should have had the Stoli since he didn’t get up anyway! We got up the sun was shining, the birds were singing and the hogs were long gone past my slough.
I decided that I was going to take the long walk around the road and slough and just enjoy more of the “SWAMP” before I left.
It was gorgeous day. There was supposed to be a big storm moving in (Tropical Storm Beryl) but it wasn’t here yet. You would think that with the lush forest it would be muggy, hot and humid, like a greenhouse effect, but it wasn’t. It was quite the opposite. While it was hot everywhere else, in the “SWAMP” it is 10 degrees cooler. There also seems to be a nice breeze most of the time, at least there was the whole time I was down there.
I walked the roads for a long time. I was trying to find the river. In NJ we have holy trees and bushes, but down here I saw a holy tree that was 70 feet tall. I have never seen a holy that big and never knew they could grow that big. I saw some mulberry trees with leaves like elephant ears. Man the tree wasn’t that big but the leaves made up for that. I thought I had gotten close to the river because I thought I had heard a baby alligator. I thought I must be wrong because I didn’t see any water anywhere.
I decided to turn around and head back so I could clean up and head out to beat the storm. I did not want to drive 14 hours in downpour. I started to head back and heard a couple of hogs fighting. I tried to pinpoint where they were but they stopped after a few seconds.
I headed back to the cabin. I showered for the ride and packed up my gear. Ray and Mike were packing also. Ray offered to let me hunt and Mike is always ready to go (unless it 5:00 AM) and wanted to hunt. It was getting close to noon and that storm was heading in, so I thought I had a great trip and didn’t want to push it.
I gathered and packed my gear. On the way out I thought I would sweep up the cabin. I put the remainder of my stuff down on the couch, swept out the cabin and headed out. Ray is going to mail me the stuff I forgot on the couch this week!
I hate leaving that place as anyone can tell you that has gone. I said goodbye to Mike and Ray. They said drive save and waved as I headed out.
Now I bet you are saying man he said he saw the most hogs of the trip on this day, what happened. Here is what. I swear this is true.
I headed out the long driveway from the cabin to the road. I noticed my GPS wasn’t moving so I thought I would stop at the end of the driveway and reroute it. I stopped and when I was done resetting the route I looked up and here they come! At least 20 hogs run 30 yards from my car on my right from the other side of the road into Ray’s property. They were all jet black and 5 were monsters. The big ones actually looked like they had big shoulders and a mane running down their necks.
I couldn’t be sure they were trophy boars since they were quartering towards me and we all know now that the trophy is on the other end!
I swear that I saw three of the little ones stick their tongues out at me and I thought I saw four of the big ones flip me the bird. I backed up that long driveway at about 40 miles an hour. Ray and Mike were outside by the cabin and they looked at me like I was nuts.
I yelled there are 20 hogs that just ran into the property 5 were huge. They just looked at each other and smiled and said, “oh yea”. I knew right there it was another low down southern trick played on a Yankee. I figured they hid them hogs over there and while I was in the shower went across the street and re-released them since I was heading home.
As usual Mike wanted to go and hunt, Ray’s knee was killing him (I think he sprained it when he jumped when I scared him the night before) and I had to beat the storm. I was tempted though.
I really did try to give you a good idea of what it is like to hunt at Ray’s. I may have used a small (very small) amount of "literary license" to make it more interesting, but what I said in this story is all true.
The property Ray has is very special. It is diverse and healthy. It is part of Nature Conservancy Easement because it is so special. There are plenty of hogs and other wildlife to keep you on your toes and enjoy the hunt. Every moment I thought I would see a hog.
The woods are similar to northern hardwood forests with additional flora like cypress and palmetto. There were absolutely no bugs. I used my Thermocell the first night and first full day of hunting. After that I left it off because it was not necessary. I did not see one mosquito, gnat, tick or chigger. I did not get one bite.
The pines are like any other pine forest, but the swamp is anything but a swamp. It was dry. As you can see by the pictures it is a beautiful, lush, old growth forest. There aren’t many places left that have that age forest. It is worth the trip to just walk amongst those giants.
Now there has been a drought down there for 5 years and I would imagine that if they get a lot of rain for an extended period time, the Savannah River will rise and fill the sloughs with water, but now it is easy great hunting. The swamp is 10 degrees cooler than the areas surrounding it. In the swamp I did not feel any humidity while I was there.
In May the flora is green and healthy and it is quiet walking. When I went in January the flora was brown and it was noisy walking. If you wanted to still hunt through the swamp you had to walk the tops on the sycamore leaves. In May you can walk anywhere and be quiet.
If you look at the pictures in Ray’s sponsor thread, you will see Jeremiah with a nice hog. I was on that hunt with Jeremiah. Look at the background of that picture. Then look at the next picture that was put up on May 13. That is the same spot and you can see the difference.
I am going next year again. I have my choice to book anytime I want since it is so early. The first quarter of the year is nice and the fall Mike likes the best because the acorns are falling and the grapes are in. The weather in the fall was like it was when I went Memorial Day weekend. In the fall I go on trips for elk, deer or moose so I am out of luck for the fall. I can go between January and March, having done both now I am choosing May again. I am going to pick the weekend at the end of May that has the best moon for hunting hogs. If none of the moons are favorable I will shoot for July.
I miss that place already and can’t wait until next year.
I have one more thing I promised and will finish this thread with that. That will be “The Poor Mans Guide and Dictionary to Hunting Terms of the South”. Tomorrow I will update the thread for the final time. I bet you guys are saying finally and thank God!
Topic: Heading to Ray's for some Memorial Day pork! (Read 2543 times)
