Hog Wild @ Wild Things '13 - the Truth and nuthin' but the Truth

[kat]

Really looking to getting down there in March. Great looking digs.

[rolltidehunter]

looks like a neat place

[Terry Green]

Originally posted by rolltidehunter:
looks like a neat place

UNDERSTATEMENT !!!

   

[Jerry Russell]

Sounds like a great time.

[rbcorbitt]

Ok, where to start.

After meeting in Estill with 4 of the 8 (Thom was already in camp and Tom C, "Big Sexy" Brian, and James were still enroute), we arrived in "camp" around 5:30 or so.

I use the term camp loosely, as the facilities exceeded my expectations greatly!    

We all chipped in with the help of Andrew's "right hand man", Charley to unpack all the gear and coolers.  Always the eternal optimist, I had brought (along with others) our largest coolers and more gear than any one trad archer can justify (part of the fun)!!  

[awbowman]

This is painful!  Somebody post up some blood!

[Knawbone]

Looks and sounds great guys! Someone must have had a shot at a hog. I'll be hoging it myself in a couple of weeks in SC. Thanks for sharing your time.      

[Bud B.]

I'll lead off this post to say no blood was drawn by me. I did get blood drawn from me by some oysters that were steamed for the group. Those shells get kinda sharp. Has someone mentioned that Andrew can flat out cook!!! And Andrew's friend Doug did the steaming of the oysters.

On day two I had two close encounters. One was while working a swamp area in tandem with Bob Corbitt. We had decided to try to push some hogs out of their beds. We entered the area about 100 or so yards apart. After about 1/4 mile into the swamp I had just knelt and glassed the area and looked over a thicket as best as it would allow. I stood back up and took about 5 steps. Then saw and heard movement to my right and inside the thicket about 20 yards away. What looked like a snapping turtle's back scampering across the swamp floor was actually the muddy back of a hog. As it moved quickly away it stirred more hog movement and sent them directly away from me. I hoped they would head towards Bob. I heard the whole herd thrash through the swamp creek in a N/E direction. It sounded like many hogs, but I had only seen the one.

I'll let Bob take it from here.

[rbcorbitt]

Sorry, fellow TG members!  Dinner called       !

We shared a wonderful dinner of roast chicken Thursday night, strategized around the map and then set about to prepare for our first morning hunt!

I chose to hunt some familiar property - the area surrounding Blue Lake.  Dropped off before dawn, I slowly worked towards this area as the fog lifted and daylight took over the darkness.
Blue Lake at daybreak -beautiful!

 
The Angel of Blue Lake!

[sticksnstones]

OK, if we really need to jump right to the first blood picture, here it is:
 

Luckily it was just a nick and I didn't leave much of a blood trail in the new digs      
Thom

[rbcorbitt]

   !

[Marc B.]

Bob good to see you wised up and went to a bow quiver      and a Kanati at that.

[smokin joe]

I started my hunt on Friday morning at a dirt road called the cable Road. Brian and I took my Jeep down Highway 3 and parked at the junction of the Cable Road and Highway 3.

The strategy was that Brian would walk down the lane past where I was going to hunt. He was heading to a large section of pines. What we were all going to do was hunt in differing kinds of cover on the first morning and then report back to each other about the hog sign we saw. Brian headed out just as it was light enough to walk without stumbling around in the dark. I waited about another 20 minutes or so before I started so that he could get away without any noise from me.

I headed down the lane to an old clear cut that had a recently bulldozed muddy road encircling it. It was to the left of the lane as I was going in and the bulldozed road made a big half circle around the overgrown clearcut with the two ends of the C-shaped half circle about 250 yards apart where they met the road.

The wind was quartering from my right as I got to the first junction -- the lower leg of the big C I was going to explore. And right there I saw just what I was looking for. The ground was torn up where the hogs had been rooting and there were tracks everywhere. Some of the hog tracks were very big -- nearly twice the length of one of my Bear razorhead broadheads. It was time for me to slow things down to real stillhunting and work to be silent and invisible. The tracks were very fresh -- obviously made since the rain on Thursday afternoon.

[T-D]

Day 1:
Consisted of sitting in one of Andrew's new 20 foot ladder stands. I was in the hardwoods with the swamp approx 100 yards to my right. I had good sign in front of me at the feeder but all I got to see is squirrels. I sat there from 6:30 - 11:00. Andrew came around and picked us up for lunch which was great!

After lunch we took some practice shots and got suited back up for the evening hunt. I asked Andrew if I could hunt a stand I saw as we were coming in for lunch. The stand was call "The Pocket" and it had 2 good size wallows within 25 yards of the stand. Andrew dropped me off at this stand and I was pumped. I climbed up into the stand and got settled in. I heard turkeys off in the distance and saw more squirrels. One squirrel was so fat he looked like he was wearing sagging pants. The sun finally disappeared but no hogs.

 

[J. Holden]

I've seen the picture of the angel statue several times before.  It looks like a place that would cause me to pause and pray.  What is the story behind that statue?  How did that angel find it's way to the swamp?

-Jeremy  

[Pokerdaddy]

I'll let Andrew or Ray tell how the statue came to reside in the swamp, but Ray shared the tale last time I was in camp.  Very nice story.

[Homebru]

Originally posted by rbcorbitt:
Always the eternal optimist, I had brought (along with others) our largest coolers and more gear than any one trad archer can justify (part of the fun)!!      

Bob,
The hunter who doesn't bring a large cooler doesn't plan to take home any meat.
homebru

[Lefty]

Love the story so far.  Any bloody arrows coming up soon?

[suburbanirma]

Eight hunters filled up the bow rack in the bunk house with at least 15 bows. Eight bunks, two bathrooms with toilets and showers, a fridge, fireplace and a really comfortable couch. Great accommodations.

 

[suburbanirma]

On Day 2, we took a group pic (the one Thom posted at the beginning of this thread)and then headed out in search of the elusive wild hog. Thom and I hiked out of camp and soon found fresh hog sign under some oak trees in the hardwoods. We still hunted for most of the morning and  bumped either three deer or the same doe three times. While there was much hog rooting activity in the woods and along the pond near the cabin, there was little indication that the hogs were eating any of the corn below the feeders or on the various roads and two tracks. We did find a world class burl on a tree overlooking one of the rooted up areas.