OK, I've got people here at work from HQ, so will only be able to get things started, but the story will unfold as I have time.
Drag up a chair! It's a story of the lows and highs of hog hunting in the SC swamps.
:coffee:
Coffee in hand, ready for the story...
My friend Roger McCuiston and I left Lexington, KY around 2:00 Thursday afternoon for the drive down to meet Ray Hammond and chase hogs in the South Carolina heat. We met up with Ray and the other hunter in camp (Carlton) at 10:00 on Friday morning.
We picked up our licenses and were told that we needed a windicator to check breezes for stalking. Now, I always keep a piece of dental floss tied to the end of my bow strings to show me wind direction, but being the intelligent individual I am, I didn't even hesitate in picking one up -- when the experts speak, I listen! It was a good move. The first lesson I learned when I hit the woods was that the "wind" under the tall canopy in the swamps isn't wind. Any wind that is blowing is above the canopy and what you have underneath are shifting air currents that aren't strong enough to move my dental floss string. We needed those little puffs of powder that the windicators provided.
One other starting note about this hunt -- IT WAS HOT!!!!!
We unpacked at camp, shot some and had some time to get to know each other then headed off to corn the ditches. This involved throwing corn into standing water in the ditches to attract hogs out of the thick stuff into the roadsides so that you can get to them.
Ray told us that even though we were doing this, he felt like we had a better chance of finding hogs back in the swamp because of the heat, and that was where he wanted us to start hunting, then if the hogs started hitting the corn, we would swithch back to the ditches.
Then it was back to camp for sandwiches and a change into hunting gear before heading off to the swamps and under the canopy where the pigs were presumably waiting for us to find them.
:coffee:
We are headed there in 2 weeks...I am sure this will help us with what to expect. :thumbsup:
:campfire:
:campfire:
I Love These Stories....
he must've spotted a hawg...he got real quiet and is moving super slow... :saywhat:
C'mon, hoss... I feel like I just got kissed by a pretty girl at the dance and she left with someone else!
Keep er coming... :bigsmyl:
:coffee:
Sorry guys, see the first post above. Visitors from HQ are here today.
In addition to telling the story I'm going to try to add tips and techniques about what I learned down there, like the comments about the windicators.
Which brings me to another point -- Thermacells!!! Mosquitos are thicker than fleas on a homeless hound. One of the first things we did there is get a quick lesson on using our thermacells. That thing was a lifesaver. :scared: It was money well spent although there might be some drawbacks. I'll get to that later.
As an illustration to the mosquito problem, I ran up on a small (half grown) armadillo on Saturday morning. I took the opportunity to practice my stalking skills and got up close and personal with the miserable little thing. There was literally a cloud of mosquitos buzzing around that little beast. I don't know how much protection his armor afforded, but they were definitely all over him.
I also used some Permanone on my pants to prevent chiggers. Don't know if that is a problem for anyone else or not, but the permanone kept them off me. Spray it lightly on my pants and boots and no problem.
Marvin, I wish I had used that chigger medicine. I have about 20 wounds where those suckers are cannibalizing me. I will get some of that stuff.
Red Boar,
Take note of the above. What worked best for me as far as clothing was military surplus (woodland camo) shirts. Cotton T-shirt was not good -- they bit me right through. Long sleeves may not be necessary but they help with the mosquitos and complete the camo for your arms.
Thermacells are wonderful!!!! When you are moving, you walk out of your "cloud" of protection. Moving keeps the little blood-suckers off you pretty good, and when you stop it takes a few seconds for the "cloud" to surround you again, so you will get some bites, but nothing compared to what you would get without it. Don't go there without one. You've been warned!!!
Sharptop,
Permanone is good for summer hunting/scouting/gathering. Discovered that at Land Between the Lakes in Western KY -- odorless and very effective. Wal-Mart sometimes has it. Put it on your clothes, not your skin. I spray it on my boots, up the seams fo my pants and around the waistband. Works great.
More to follow. Stay tuned boys and girls.
:clapper: Keep it coming...
OK, we sat around camp for a while getting gear ready and shooting the breeze. Here are a couple of pictures of Roger and Carlton hanging out around the fire pit and swapping stories.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/kyarcher76/P6170094.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/kyarcher76/P6170095.jpg)
Pretty soon it was time to head out. We took my Jeep and drove back to the corn wagon as our jumping off point and headed out per Ray's instructions.
So we go down this road per Ray's instructions and it splits into three. Carlton goes right, Roger takes the center and I go left.
I'm easing down the road, getting a feel for the place and learning what the normal sounds of the swamp are. I'm in full stealth mode, checking the wind regularly and watching for movements. I come to a fork in my road. I check the wind and it's more favorable to go left, so I take the left fork. About 75 yards down this road, I hear rustling in the brush on the left.
A quick scan of the area reveals some movement and I freeze. The wind is right and I ease closer until I can see what is making the noise. An arrow comes out of the quiver and onto the string. Three steps closer and the beast turns broadside. I draw, anchor and the arrow is on it's way -- into the dirt under the creature's nose!!! He takes two hops and looks around to see what happened (did I mention that Hope is quiet?).
Almost automatically another arrows is out and as the beast starts quarting away, the arrow buries just in front of the left hip angling across the body into the boiler room. Pandemonium sets in as the death run begins.
A short wait later and I find this.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/kyarcher76/BloodTrail.jpg)
I follow the trail about five yards and remove the arrow from the carcase then drag the beast out of it's burrow, and Hope has her first kill in the books.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/kyarcher76/HopeandDilla.jpg)
OK, so it's not a hog, but Hope is now officially a killer and I'm barely into the swamp.
More on the 'Dilla's later.
I head on down the road looking for the feeder that is supposed to be at the end. I'm taking in everything and watching for hog sign as I go.
Ray had said the we would find where the hogs had been and where they were working along the edges. It didn't take long.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/kyarcher76/HogRootingsII.jpg)
The water had been up earlier in the year and where the water line had been I found this. I've got no idea what they were looking for here, but his is the very edge of where the water line and been and they had torn it to pieces.
Notice that the camera used the flash for this picture. I keep my camera on automatic since I'm not a very good photographer so if it thinks it needs a flash it uses it. This shot was taken at approximatly 6:oo pm on a bright sunny day and it still needed flash! As you can tell, it's dark under the canopy. You have to go slow and look carefully.
I got to the end of the road and inspected the area around the feeder that was there. Hogs were primarily moving left to right here judging by the tracks and the wind wasn't right to go left, so I backtracked to the fork in my road and headed down the new road.
QuoteOriginally posted by Marvin M.:
Red Boar,
Take note of the above. What worked best for me as far as clothing was military surplus (woodland camo) shirts. Cotton T-shirt was not good -- they bit me right through. Long sleeves may not be necessary but they help with the mosquitos and complete the camo for your arms.
Thermacells are wonderful!!!! When you are moving, you walk out of your "cloud" of protection. Moving keeps the little blood-suckers off you pretty good, and when you stop it takes a few seconds for the "cloud" to surround you again, so you will get some bites, but nothing compared to what you would get without it. Don't go there without one. You've been warned!!!
Thanks Marvin! As a Florida hunter I am very familiar with the use of a ThermaCell...one of the best products ever invented. Keep the reports and tips coming. :thumbsup:
:campfire:
Good story!
Red Boar,
I figure there are a lot of people here who know that, but others like me who are new to the things and this might help them.
OK, so I got back to the fork and take the right fork now to see what is down there.
I still hunted down it and got to the end where I found another road that branches off to the right. What I was looking at here is basically a "T" where I came in on the left arm, the feeder is on the right arm and the leg of the "T" is the road going off to the right. There is an old elevated stand at the intersection of the "T" that was put there to watch the feeder and is about 80 yards away -- obviously a gun hunters stand.
I can see movement at the feeder and pull up my binoculars to check out the activity and can see that there is a raccoon under the feeder sucking up corn. I settle in to watch for a while to see what is happening. After about fifteen minutes, the raccoon goes on full alert and stands on his rear legs to look off to the right. It didn't take him long to decide he had an appointment somewhere else that he needed to get to in a hurry. He turned on the afterburners and exited to the left.
Now I can hear something coming from the right. Pretty soon, three hogs come out under the feeder and start scrounging for the remaining corn. There are two black boars and a sow that is lighter, sort of a reddish color with a white front leg on the left side. It's time to get in the game.
I checked the wind slightly quartering from the right and decide that I will try to sneak straight down the road. After all, hogs can't see, right? They're eating and not paying any attention, so I start easing down the road. I actually made it to about thirty yards before they busted me. Lesson learned -- Hogs can see.
It's well after 8:00 by now and we are planning to meet back at the Jeep around 9:00 so I start back. I later took a GPS reading from this stand and it is seven tenths of a mile in a straight line back to the parking spot. Almost a mile and it's getting dark.
I eased back, still hunting along the way until it got too dark then booked on back as quietly as possible. I won't go into the story of the armadillo that came out from under my feet on the way, but that was an exciting moment.
A little more of the local color on the swamp.
Ray had told us that the Cyprus trees fall in the swamp a lot and looking around you can see evidence of that all over the place. These majestic trees have their roots in the water and have to reach well over a hundred feet to get to the sun. These trees remind me of the parable in the bible about building a house on the sand. It's very appropriate to these trees. They are planted in the sand and with water washing around them.
I was fortunate enough to witness one of the trees falling while I was there. I was on my way back up the left fork when I heard what sounded like a twenty-two rifle shot off to the left. I looked over and didn't see anything at first, but looked a little closer and saw movement in one of the trees about fifty feet up. There was a squirrel up there and he was really shaking the limb he was on. All of a sudden the tree started to lean and then slowly toppled over I could hear more popping sounds as roots separated from the strain. That squirrel rode the tree all the way to the ground!!!
It's amazing to think that a tree that was close to a hundred feet tall could be toppled by the additional weight of a squirrel on a limb.
Isn't nature grand!!!!
I'm going to let the others chime in with their stories if they want. I'll probably throw in some comments, but I'll not tell their stories for them.
And just for Vance, I'll let you know that dinner that night was a great Ceaser Salad, spaghetti with a marinara sauce that incuded spinach, sun dried tomatoes, and chicken sausage. I didn't even know you could make sausage out of chicken! And oh yeah, I almost forgot -- desert was Deep Dish Apple Pie with ice cream. YUM!!!
The food was great all weekend and I was up two pounds when I got home even with the heat that we had to deal with.
Everyone went to bed tired with high hopes for the Saturday morning hunt.
Great stuff, Marvin! Keep it coming. :)
BTW: didn't mean to imply I wasn't appreciative of the ThermaCell tip...you are correct, lots of folks haven't discovered them yet. They are worth their price in gold. :readit:
:campfire:
Man, I miss Ray's place!! and Ray is not bed either! :goldtooth:
Bill
Saturday morning we wake up to made from scratch biscuits and fresh coffee to get us started. Pretty soon we are all geared up and headed back to the swamp.
My objective today is to get out in the swamp more, off the roads and see what I can scare up. I head back down "my" road and take the left fork again. When I get to the feeder, I watch for a while, check the wind and turn to the right, find a hog trail and go into silent mode. The trail I'm following takes a ridge so I'm on high ground.
Let me clarify that. High ground is probably three feet high compared to the rest of the terrain.
Anyway, I'm easing along and a fawn busts out of his bed and takes off down the trail. The little thing was only about five yards away when it took off, so it took a while to get the heart rate back down to normal before I moved on.
I continue to follow this trail and it eventually comes out at the second feeder. There is all kinds of rooting sign along the trail on both sides in the low spots.
I watched the feeder from the brush for a while and when there didn't seem to be any activity I proceeded on past the feeder and found the busiest looking trail. There wasn't as much sign on this side as there was on the other and eventually this trail ran into the road that led to the other feeder.
I headed on down the road. The underbrush here is thicker with more Palmetto's and some cane mixed in. I'm easing along when I see a pig cross the road ahead of me just around a corner. When I got to the corner I can see that the other feeder is about a hundred yards ahead and the pig I saw is under the feeder. I'm watching and a second pig comes out. I've got a boar and a sow under the feeder rooting in the mud to find corn. Then I can see movement and two little red piglets come out and scurry around looking for grain.
I check the wind and decide that if I stay on the right side the wind will be OK for me to stalk closer and see if I can get close enough for a shot, so I start out intending to try to get a shot at the boar since the little ones are probably too small to make it on their own and belong to the sow.
I manage to get within about 25 yards using a tree as a shield but want to close the distance to the tree which is another five plus yards ahead when I see "smoke" from the Thermacell drift forward toward the pigs. They are instantly on alert.
I'm going to break away from the story to talk about this for a minute. Those of you with experience with this, chime in here on this. This was the first time I used a Thermacell and it's a great tool, but my observation here was that the Thermacell put them on alert. The reason I say it was the Thermacell is that I think if they had smelled me they would have vacated immediately. I know that at times I could smell the Thermacell so I have no doubt that the pigs could. They didn't bust out immediatley, but did go on alert and they were looking for the source. Maybe they have had enough encounters there that they are starting to associate the Thermacell with danger. What do you guys that use them more think?
Anyway, they eased off into the brush on the right and milled around. I can still see them in there trying to decide. Then, the boar walks straight away from me beyond the feeder, crosses the road and comes back toward me trying to figure it out. The air currents were trending from right to left, so he was trying to get downwind. I'm thinking that I'm going to get busted here pretty quick. But he must have satisfied himself that it was OK because he went back to the feeder and started eating. The sow and both piglets came back out and I'm thinking that things are looking up, but I'm pretty much pinned down here and as I'm evaluating options, they suddenly left. I don't know if they got another whiff of Thermacell, or me or what, but they left pretty quickly to the right.
The currents were favorable to go that direction, so I headed out behind them.
:clapper: :coffee:
Keep it coming...
They had a pretty good start on me and I wasn't sure I could catch up with them but thought that they might lead me to some good cover and maybe some other pigs.
It worked. I'm sneaking along watching when I see a log move in a cane thicket up ahead -- but it wasn't a log, it was a pig!!! I pulled out the bino's to check it out and it was a pig and I could see another one behind it. I checked the air currents and I was good -- wind was quarting toward me from right to left. The hogs are straight ahead so I want to angle left. I start easing that way and the pigs come out of the cane headed directly toward me and there are actually five of them. The biggest is a sow and is probably 120 pounds. The smalles is about thirty and none of them are the same size -- definitely a mixed group.
At about thirty yards they change direction and angle to the left. This is not good! If they get too far that way they will cross my scent, plus when they were coming to the right, I had a tree sheilding me. Now I'm in full view. They're now bunched up and grazing/browsing on the short grass growing in the area.
When they get to about fifteen yards, the biggest one sees something she doesn't like and locks onto me. I'm fully exposed and she doesn't like it. The others are still browsing and walking but I can't draw and they are approaching where they will get my scent with the air currents the way they are.
I didn't realize until now how close I was to the river. The brush is too thick to see it, but now I hear a boat coming down the river and so do the pigs. All five of them freeze. The big one is still watching me and I'm not moving.
They were all standing there, stock still listening as this boat goes down the river and it came around the curve and went past us. Once it was beyond us, one of the pigs grunted once, as if to say "its clear" and all five of them started moving. They are continuing on their path to my left so I know they will cross my scent stream soon. When the largest sows head goes behind a tree, I draw and one of them must have seen the movement or finally crossed my scent stream because they took off fast bofore I got to full draw.
Reviewing it in my mind, two things stand out that I wanted to take away from this encounter. First, I didn't have camo on my face. The sow that locked onto me was locked onto my face. I need to camo my face. I had looked for and couldn't find my camo paint before I left and should have purchased some to break up that white form. Second, I was standing erect. I should have taken a knee when they were behind a tree coming toward me to minimize my profile. I've been bust twice on the ground when I felt like my height had something to do with it. Here in this situation and once with an eight-point whitetail. Note to self -- get low next time (more in this later).
By this time it's a quarter to eleven and I'm over a mile from the Jeep and we are meeting back there at eleven. I ease back to the road and head out ending the morning hunt. My weekend hunt is half over and I'm encouraged. I've seen twelve pigs so far and have been within range of five of them to this point.
I haven't posted any pictures for a while. When I come back, I'll throw in some more pictures. Pictures always make a story better.
Great story and great info Marvin, I'm heading down there in Mar. with my son and doug g next year and really looking forward to it. Hopefully the skeeters won't be as bad at that time of year.
Marvin , I use a thermacel most all year down here. I can assure you that your hunt would not be as enjoyable without it. I`m still trying to remember how I hunted before they were out.
I know that if the hog or deer for that matter can smell your thermacel smoke they can smell you so it did not spook them. What happened is your scent and the thermacel smoke went to the pigs and the thermacel was kind of a "cover" scent for you for a little bit. They knew it was not right and was a little spooky .Had you not been using it ....your scent would have hit them with no "cover" involved and they would have run like scaulded dogs.
A pigs nose is twice that as a deer. I have seen pigs spook from places I walked the day before.
Two more tips and I`m sure Ray will agree. The lower you are the closer you will get and sometimes rustling feet will get you closer than quiet steps with a single twig snap.RC
good advice Robert
RC,
I can't imagine walking into that swamp without it. I can still see that miserable little armadillo rustling through the leaves with a cloud of the little buggers surrounding him.
My hunt would not have been enjoyable at all without that thing knowing what I know now I wouldn't have gone at all without one.
OK, speaking about the armadillos, lets talk about them again for a while.
There were two behaviors that I observed from them that I would like to comment on.
First of all, on my way in on Saturday morning I ran into a couple that were fighting. I'm going down the road on the way in and I see two 'dillas having it out on the side of the road. They come out into the road and are oblivious to me and are going at it like two prize fighters. Picture this: They are running full tilt until the one in front gets some distance between them then he turns around and they crash into each other. This is not head butting -- they rear up and smash inot each other looking like two NFL players chest-bumping. I managed to get my camera out and take a couple of pictures. Here is the best one.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/kyarcher76/TwoDillasII.jpg)
As I mentioed earlier, it was dark under the canopy. I had to lighten the picture, even after the flash went off whend I took the shot. You can see them running down the road here, and they have separated enough that they are ready to turn around and crash together again. Very interesting behavior.
The second incident occurred Saturday morning on the way out. We were riding with Ray and two of them busted out of the brush in front of us. I didn't get any pictures this time but this had to be either another fight or some kind of breeding behavior. Ray wasn't sure when the breeding season was, but I didn't see any small ones anywhere and I saw a lot of 'dilla's while I was there. This time they were chasing and the one behind would run up beside the front one and swing his/her hips over to knock the other one over. Ray yelled "kill them", so I bailed out, grabbed Hope and nocked an arrow. One was heading off the side of the road, and I was able to send an arrow into the front shoulder. The trail was short and ended abruptly, but not before the little cuss broke my arrow.
Anybody who might know what this behavior was, please chime in. I am always a student of nature and would like to know what was behind this.
Was it a territorial battle? Was it rutting behavior? Or are the little vermin just naturally mean and territorial?
OK, so since this thread is primarily about Hope, the 2010 Dryad Rover Gal, I need to show some pictures of Hope before I move on with the story.
Ray has a very good practice area set up with some 3D targets and a Block target for shooting broadheads. We shot some every day.
Here I am on the range with Hope. You can see some of the targets in the background.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/kyarcher76/PracticingwithHope.jpg)
Remember I mentioned earlier that I wore a cotton long sleeve T-shirt. Here it is. I won't make that mistake again in mosquito territory.
Here's one at full draw.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/kyarcher76/HopeatFullDraw.jpg)
And you always need the bow-against-a-tree-in-the-woods shot. Here is Hope in the swamp with an arrow nocked to prove she was there.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/kyarcher76/HopeandCyprus.jpg)
OK, speaking of Cypresses, lets talk about the swamp for a minute.
I've already mentioned that my flash went off every tome I took a picture down there due to the lack of light under the canopy. You can see that againg in the last picture up there with Hope against a cypress. It was ten in the morning when I took that.
It's an old growth area when you get under there and it's fairly clear so you can see for a long way in a lot of the areas.
You would find patches of thick stuff scattered around like the cane patch I mentioned earlier, but those spots were separated by clear areas. The terrain is limited to low and high with "high" being four to five feet higher than low. Following a ridge has a different connotation than it does here in Kentucky.
Here's another pictue of a cypress stump.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/kyarcher76/CyprusStump.jpg)
You can see some of what I'm talking about in this picture. That stump is in a low spot and the high ground is behind it. It's in a clear area and the cane behind it is on "high ground".
Now let's talk a little more about this stump. Ray said that "back in the day", when the swamp would flood people would float in on barges and cut the large cypresses to make planks. This must have been one of those, because that stump is hollowed out and is nothing but a shell, the rest has rotted away. Also, there isn't anything to give you perspective on it, but the top of that old stump is at least six feet across. Amazing stuff!!!
Now for a shameless plug.
While I was there I lost a knife that I made. It's one of my first ones and I liked it and would like to have it back. If you go to Ray's and find my knife, I'll pay postage to get it back. I lost it between the second feeder on my road and the corn wagon.
It was in a small sheath hanging on my quiver and came up missing when we got back that night. Small blade about an inch long and three quarters wide. Bone handle from a dead cow in the spot that I deer hunt here in Kentucky. Here is a picture wiht a highlighter to give size perspective. I'd love to have it back.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/kyarcher76/Set114_03-1.jpg)
I'll try to post more story later today. Stick around, it's going to get better.
Can't get much better than this. Your doing a great job. I expect "Hope" will do her part when the time comes. Thanks for sharing. :archer:
Hey Marvin...still enjoying your story. Thanks. With regard to the ThermaCell, there is no doubt that game can smell it. It has been my experience, however, that the scent does not spook them. I've had hogs and deer directly under my stand and they pay no attention to it. As was previously mentioned, I think it actually acts as a cover scent.
Hope there is a big hog at the end of this story. :thumbsup:
I've never seen armadillos chest thump, but I do know if you sneak up and whack one with a stick, he'll jump straight up in the air about 3 feet.
So will you, can't help it, even when you expect it.
Try it. You'll see.
Great story...keep it coming.
You learned a lot, and quickly! 1)It's dark in the swamp...gap shooters take note. Things look further away than they really are in low light. 2) Thermacells work great. 3) Wind swirls unpredictably in and around the swamp. Most often the air currents are OPPOSITE the prevailing wind (don't ask me why). 4)Those pigs didn't smell your Thermacell or you would have heard them crashing away for 300 yds. They are just nervous around that feeder. And for a few freebies: Your GPS won't track under that canopy so don't count on it. And if Ray didn't fix ya'll some grits one morning you ought to get a free trip back!
RC and Hogtamer are right-
They smelled the Thermacell...they ran from YOUR smell!
That's why the rule is- see em, get in fast, take the first good shot, and NEVER, NEVER, NEVER say to yourself, " I can get five yards closer"!!!!
Russ, I'll have to try that next time I'm around 'dilla's. Interesting little varmints!!
Ray,
Welcome to the thread. Is Carlton going to chime in? I didn't get his handle so I couldn't contact him to let him know it was here.
Just got an e-mail from Roger. He's kind of shy and doesn't want to post anything. ;) But he wanted me to make sure I mentioned the heat down there, so here goes.
IT WAS HOT!!!!!
I easily drank a gallon of water every day. Under the canopy it was better, but still hot. I made it pretty good for a desk jockey, but Roger had some trouble with the heat. Dress appropriately, drink lots of fluids, and don't rush. You'll be OK.
Armadillos aren't really territorial, but a single dilla will inhabit anywhere from 4 to 10 burrows.
What you probably saw was 2 male dillas jocking for position on a receptive female. One will usually stay close to the female waiting for her to become ready for mating. If another male comes courting the female, the first one will resort to fisticuffs to defend his sweetie.
Dilla Love.
Two more pictures I forgot to put up.
Back to talking about the swamp. There were scattered clumps of Palmetto around the area. Here is a picture of one that was on the side of the road and I had good light to take a picture.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/kyarcher76/Palmetto.jpg)
The thing that I noticed with them is that I wound up glassing them a lot. The testure of those fronds is different from the surrounding vegetation and when you are looking for hogs, they just kind of jump out at you. I found myself looking at a lot of palmetto's with my binoculars because of it. As I said, the texture of the fronds makes them stand out somewhat. Throw them back in the shadows and they have you taking second looks on a regular basis.
That brings me to another point -- binoculars. Ray sent and e-mail that I should bring some glasses to check back in the shadows. I don't have high-dollar glasses, have never owned (or even looked through) any and don't need them for the kind of hunting I normally do. I carried two pair with me. A pair of 12X25's to use from the road looking in the open for the better magnification, and a pair of 7X35's to use in the swamps. The bigger objective lense on the 7X35's allowed me to gather more light and I could see with them when I couldn't with my eyes. They were a good choice. I've also got a pair of constant focus that stayed home. Being able to focus through the brush was definitely a positive thing.
My cheap binoculars worked great on this hunt. If you come down, get something with large objective lenses to catch more light.
Final pictue and a couple of comments before I resume the story.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v102/kyarcher76/TradgangCap.jpg)
I've got to say that Tradgang is a great place to hang out. Great people and lots of knowledge shared here for people still learning. I got into trad back in 2000 and this site has really helped me develop my knowledge and skills. I'm to the point now that I can start to share with others. Heck, I even found something that I could teach Ray while I was down there and we never got around to doing it. Maybe I'll do a teach-along on it later so that everyone can benefit.
Now, a few more comments, then I swear I'll get back to the hunt. I haven't said much about the wildlife down there yet.
I know that Ray is now offering turkey hunts in the spring. We saw turkeys every time we were out. And these aren't little scrawny, wimpy birds either. Some of them looked big enough to whip the hogs.
Raccoons were everywhere. You'll hear more about them when I get on with the hunt story, but I saw many of them.
I've already talked about the 'dilla's. I don't know if my area had more than the other guys or not, but I saw lots of them, and killed two.
There was an owl in my area that sounded off every time I was down there. Roger and Carlton both heard him during their hunts. It was pretty cool having another predator in my area.
Egrets were a problem early on for me. There were lots of them around the water, and it took me a while to distinguish their sqauking from hog grunts. I found myself stalking birds on at least two occaisions.
Ray said there were gators down there. I was hoping to see one of them while I was there but wasn't that fortunate. Ray saw one Saturday morning but I wasn't with him at the time.
And finally, the squirrels. They were numerous. It was rare when I couldn't look around somewhere and see one, and I've already mentioned the one that knocked over a cypress.
That place was great. There is no excuse for not seeing game at Ray's place.
I'll re-start the story when I come back -- have to get a little work done, you know.
Ok, so back to the hunt.
It's Saturday afternoon and we head back in Ray is taking Roger to a new spot to try to get him on some hogs. Carlton and I head back into the swamp.
I carried a stool with me this time to do some sitting. This is also when I wore the cotton shirt and had more skeeter problems that ever.
I go in and take the right fork. Haven't seen anything on the left fork, so I'm bypassing it today. For those of you that have been there, Ray calls the left fork the Mulberry Feeder and it is supposed to be directly behind the infamous White House.
Anyway, I head to the second feeder that I described as being at the "T" to start my hunt. As I'm approaching I can see movement under the feeder. Pull up the binoculars and check and it's a turkey -- big sucker with about a six or eight inch beard. I'm watching from more than a hundred yards away and in the shadows, but he can tell that something isn't right and he eases on off into the brush. Those rascals can really pick you out.
I set up my stool in the shadow of the elevated stand and sit for a while. The wind is from the feeder to me slightly from the right -- conditions are perfect. Eventually I see and hear movement on the right side of the road leading to the feeder and I can make out shapes in the brush over there. Pulling up the binoculars I can make out two does browsing through the area. I lose track of one of them but the other one beds down next to a brush pile. I watch that one off and on for the next forty five minutes with no activity at the feeder, so I decide to go check the other feeder. I left my stool there and headed down the leg of the "T".
The two does detect me before I can make the first hundred yards and they bust out of there. I take my time still hunting down the road checking likely spots and not getting in a hurry. Eventually I get to the curve that shields the feeder. As I creep up and look around the bush that was my shield this morning I can see a raccoon under the feeder. I'm probably close to a hundred yards away and watch the coon for ten minutes or so. Eventually a second coon comes out and the two seem to acknowledge each other then go on sucking up corn.
I decide to move closer and see if I can get a better view of the coons and see what they are up to. The wind is still in my favor, now moving left to right and kind of quartering toward me.
I take my time this time and keeping low and to the right using all the cover I can, I ease along and get behind the tree I was trying to get to this morning. I make it, and get on my knees behind it. When I peep out, both coons are still there -- my stalking is getting better. I settle in for a while to see if anything will happen. I'm now about twenty yards from the feeder and the coon's are unaware I am there. They continue to suck up corn and occaisionally stop to scan the area. Eventually, something spooks one of them and he crosses the road to the left and climbs a tree. The other stays and keeps after the corn.
Eventually, I hear movement and then a branch snaps across the road from me. I turn to look and there is a hog across the road -- a pretty big boar. I'd have to cross the open road within sight of him to get anywhere near him so I sit tight hoping he will come to the feeder. He goes past me and stops to look at the feeder, then turns and goes on past the feeder and comes into the road about twenty yards beyond the feeder. He's now about forty yards from me and he is checking out the feeder. Again, the wind is in my favor, but he decides that he really doesn't like corn that well and goes on across the road and into the bush and disappears. I hang around for a while longer and then, since it is after eight, I start back the other way to check the other feeder one more time.
I got back to the "T" and as I look down at the feeder I can see a hog there. It's a boar and I'm estimating around a hundred pounds. I check the wind again -- still good, and start easing down toward the hog.
I remembered my lesson from this morning and I'm keeping low. There are some weeds growing in the road that are helping screen me. About halfway down the road and the pig goes off to the left into the brush. I hunker down and try to figure out what happened, then I hear a stick break and he comes back out.
It's getting darker under the canopy (where I am), but this black hog is standing in an open spot that gets more light and he is on the light colored sand. I can see him good, but I'm in very low light -- a good situation for stalking.
He crosses the road and is in the edge of the brush on the other side of the feeder now and is rooting around for grains of corn. If you've never been around one of those feeders, let me just say that they will sling that corn a long ways out. I take the opportunity to get a little closer. I'm within 25 yards when he comes back out -- I hunker down again. He's facing me now but I still have the screen of weeds between us. Now he turns and goes back to the feeder -- facing directly away from me. I ease closer. I'm now at eighteen yards -- I can hit what I aim at from this distance.
Did you catch Ray's post up above? Something about not trying to get that last five yards -- taking the first shot you can. I was listening to that and paying attention.
The hog takes a step to his left. He is quarting away facing right to left and is in my range. I raise up, draw, pick a spot about halfway up the leg and release. There is a nice, satisfying "thunk", and the hog goes off into the brush. He wasn't in an all out sprint or anything and he didn't grunt or squeal. I didn't hear much either. The area near the feeder is relatively clear. I dropped to my knees right there and collected myself. Once I got over the shakes, I checked my watch. It's ten minutes to nine and getting dark fast. All I have on me is my little Petzel head lamp that I use to get to and from stands and that isn't much light, especially for looking for blood.
Now, you need to understand something here. I'm not one of those people who can see the shot. I read posts where guys talk about watching the arrow arc toward the target and can see it spiraling to the mark. I can't do that. If I do it right, I don't see the arrow unless it is sticking out of the animal when it leaves. I didn't see it. I know where I aimed, but I didn't see the arrow at all in flight or hitting.
I nocked another arrow and sneaked up to the feeder to see if I can find any sign. As I approach, I can see my arrow about five yards beyond where the pig was standing. I ease over to it and there is blood on the fletching and the nock. Hope did her part, did I do mine?
I head back to the Jeep, reliving the situation and trying to will myself to see an arrow in flight that I just didn't see. I don't remember anything of the walk out. Suddenly, I was at the Jeep telling my story. Carlton and I went bakc to the camp to discuss what to do and come back or wait, depending on Ray's assessment of the situation.
Stay tuned, it may be tomorrow before I get back.
Dom Da Dom, Dom DOM!
And the plot thickens... Great story tellin...
Hey, thankfully, Marvin isn't a Charlie Wanna be... he's going pretty quick here!
Thanks Marvin. Feel like I'm there... sweating sitting readin this if that helps! :)
He could still Charlie up on us, its been two days and he just shot the hog. May have to wait overnight to do the blood trail. Great story telling!
OK, so I forgot to mention the food again. We ate our big meal early today because Ray was going back to town to do whatever it was he had to do.
Early afternoon he threw some New York strips on the grill and some sweet corn. We had the usual ceasar salad to go with it and there was still apple pie for desert. Excellent!
This is too good story telling to interrupt. But I will say the advice about the chigger medicine and the Thermacells is spot on. I have about 30 chigger bites that are driving me nuts and a bunch of mosquito wounds that the Thermacell couldn't prevent but it would have been torture without it. I wore cotton camo tees and the mosquitos get you mostly on the off side from the Thermacells. I also was soaking wet much of the time, so wet that my knife got rusted in its thick leather sheath from so much sweating. It took me two days to recover from the hunt. It was 95-98 and high humidity in the swamp.
We got back to camp and conferenced with Ray. He looked at the arrow, asked a few questions and then made the decision that we should go check it out. We loaded got our trailing lights, loaded up in the truck and headed back.
We drove in and parked at almost the same spot I shot from. It's now been over an hour. Ray left the truck running (a detail that is important to the story) and the lights on. I showed them where the hog was, where I found the arrow and we started looking for blood.
We found the first drop of blood very quickly. It was close to where the arrow was and was on the left side of a rock. I shot that hog on the left side, so this blood means that my shot was in fact a pass through since it would have had to come from the right side of the hog.
I showed them where I thought the hog went and we eased in to look for more blood. We found a few drops early, then it just stopped. We fanned out to look for more but weren't having any success. Carlton and Roger went out farther and were trying to cut a trail. About that time, Ray called me back. He'd found it again. And it was good blood. We had a good trail and it was easy to follow. Instead of going straight left from the perspective of where I shot from he had cut back and was going directly away from where I was. And then he started to cut around to the right, making kind of a fish hook pattern. By this time, we had been here at least a half hour, trying to work out the trail and I'm really sweating it over this hog. The area we were going into was high grass with a few saplings for variety. The whole trail up to this point was less than forty yards.
We are concentrating on the trail, trying to work it out in the tall grass and something gets up to our right (back toward the feeder) and goes directly away from the feeder. I got my light up and Roger and I saw the hog go past us at about ten yards and head off into the swamp. I had my bow but didn't have an arrow nocked, but probably wouldn't have had time to get off a shot anyway. That hog trotted off into the dark very quietly and disapeared into the darkness. We were all very surprised.
We had bumped that hog out of a bed right behind the feeder!!! We continued to look in the grass and found the bed. There was a small amount of blood there and the grass was mashed down where he had laid down. He held there while the truck ran and shined lights into the area he was bedded and we were working out the trail right around him. He had to have been hurt by the shot.
We backed out to wait for morning in the hope that he would lay down again and either stiffen up over night or expire. We'd be back in the morning to try again.
It took me a while to get to sleep that night. There were too many questions running through my head. Was it a bad shot? Why did the pig lay there like that? He had to be hurt! Did we go back too soon? Where did I hit him?
Hopefully we would find out tomorrow.
:campfire:
Next morning, Carlton went back to hunt. Roger, Ray and I went back to try to find my hog.
W made sure that it was good light before we went in. We didn't want anything to interfere with what we were trying to do this time.
We had marked the bed by tying my handkerchief to one of the saplings last night so we were able to go straight to the bed without any problems.
There was no blood beyond the bed. :banghead: We headed off in the direction the hog had gone but still couldn't find any sign. We each kind of went our own separate way, but it was no good. We didn't find my hog.
I'm sick over it. I know that hog was hit hard. He had to be to lay down that quickly. Blood on the left side of the rock, where I found the arrow, and the blood coverage on the arrow all indicated a pass through. The blood trail was good from the hit site to the bed.
Laying in that bed, his would sealed up and he just didn't bleed when he left. Was the still bleeding internally?
We won't ever know.
Hope did her part. I didn't do mine. I didn't guide that arrow effectively.
Hope accounted for two armadillo's and wounded a hog, perhaps fatally, but the lack of closure is on me.
That is a great bow, and I'm honored to have carried it on this hunt.
I've got some family issues to take care of tomorrow and won't be back to comment until late tomorrow afternoon or evening.
I'll always wonder if I handled this one wrong. Hindsight is always 20-20, but even with hindsight, I don't know if I would do anything different with the exception of waiting longer to trail.
It was a great hunt!!! I made some great memories down in those swamps, but there will always be a small part missing from the memory.
Thanks for listening to my tale.
As usual Ray made the best choice on recovery. There was obviously no sign of gut on the arrow so no reason to wait till morning and if the hog had died right away it would have spoiled in the heat if you had waited till morning.Thats one of the down sides of hunting in the souths heat.If I had to bet on it I would say you shot high.RC
You may be right, Robert. It was strange. The blood sign was really strong, regular, and easy to follow once I figured out which way he'd headed.
It was that gloaming just before full dark when Marvin shot...and sometimes depth perception and angles are difficult to be certain about in that type of light.
The bedded blood had some clear liquid in it on one side...funny looking. It sure disappeared and the way he ran he went out into the open swamp with no undergrowth.
I walked every single trail for 180 degrees out to about 150 yards the next morning trying to pick up SOMETHING...but it just wasn't there to see.
Nothing goes to waste of course...he'll be food for lots of stuff if he does die..and if he doesn't he'll recover and someone will get him two months from now. Hogs are unbelievably resilient.
On the other hand, if you make a perfect shot they can go down quick!
Marvin M
Sorry to hear about your unhappy ending to a great hunt. It happens. Still sucks. But it happens anyway. You did all you could.
I was so fired up from reading your story (at work) I got home and shot my hog target in the rain this evening.
I'll be there in Oct so your tips were welcome. I hunted in Feb this year and we had no bugs at all. You recommended not wearing cotton T's. What do you suggest?
Dave
A shannons bug tamer teamed with a thermacel is the way to go.RC
The leafy model is hot. I used an old one with the sleeves cut out with a cotton longsleeve tshirt for years. Keeps the skeeters off your back when your walking .When you stop the tcell takes over.RC
Red,
Those military surplus shirts worked great for me. Reminded me of the stuff I wore in the USMC in the 70's and 80's. I got three of them in woodland camo for 15.
Thanks for the comments. It was a great hunt. I'd go back in a heartbeat. Saw lots of hogs and had a blast.
Hogs are tough critters. You've got to hit them low and tite to the elbow. I shot one mid body right behid the shoulder a few years back. Perfect pass through. The fat wiped the arrow clean. Very little blood. Never did find that hog. It would have been a perfect double lung on a whitetail and a quick pile up. Looked for two days and still found no additional sign. Sorry for your loss but **** happens. That is why they call it hunting. Thanks for sharing. Job well done. :thumbsup:
That sucks losing the hog but it seems like you had a great time other than that. I will tell you from experience that where you often think you hit the hog isn't always the case. I realized this when I started self filming my hunts. At least with me I think i am hitting lower than what actually happens. Thanks for the tips, my friends and I are heading down in September.
Great story! Those hogs can be tough!
I'll share my Fri night hunt. Marvin covered everything extremely well so I'll just relate my flub up. We headed out to the swamp around 4:45 Fri eve and I took the road to the right and bore left all the way and after about a mile the terrain edged upward a bit. Later I figured it was a bluff right on the river. The road opened up through thick grass into a field about a couple of acres in size. As I spotted the feeder at the far end I saw a 100# boar messing around looking for corn. He appeared agitated and I crept toward him as best I could through the field as it was so thick around it I couldn't slip into the woods. Well he eventually saw me and hoofed off. I found a spot behind some weeds on the edge of the field with favorable wind and waited.
About half an hour later that hog or another came to the edge of the field and probably smelled me and bolted. Half an hour later a hog came out across the field and either saw me or smelled me or the thermacell and trotted off without stopping. Half an hour later two more came out, a couple of 80 pounders. They both looked at me after they got to about 20 yards. The rear hog acted like he was fixing to bolt but the forward hog took a couple of steps towards me and turned broadside. I calmly leaned over, slowly drew my 54 inch Super Shrew, 47 @27, anchored, stared at a spot right above the hog's front leg and let fly.....
Carlton,
Glad you decided to chime in. The thread is all yours. I'm about storied out on this one.
The shot felt good . The hog was in front of me broadside tail to the left, head right about 18 yards as I watched the arrow fly the perfect height to enter the kill zone and about 6 inches to the right of the hogs head. As the arrow burrowed into the grass behind it the hog grunted and exited stage left.
What happened? I have really been shooting good since I got this Shrew about a month ago. We had shot some Friday morning and some that afternoon and I was shooting good.
I finally looked at my bow and noticed something wrong. The serving had come loose below and above the string nock and the string nock was free floating up and down the string. I had shot bent or canted over almost sideways from behind a bush so the bow was almost 45 degrees to parallel to the ground when I shot. No telling where the string nock was when I shot. Another lesson learned. Note: This was not an original Shrew string. The fellow I bought the bow from had made it and I had really liked it (up to that point). It is one of those thinner fast flight strings and the serving had appeared to be new or nearly new before this mishap.
Well that turned out to be the only chance I had all weekend. I saw one more hog Sat when I hit the "test" button on a feeder and the corn flew out and pelted me and a big boar came flying out of the woods a second later, saw me and scrammed.
A couple of notes. I got hammered by chiggers, wish I had used the stuff Marvin had. They burrow into your flesh and leave wounds. You do not want these terrors!
It was so hot I got soaking wet and had a problem with the mosquitoes even with a thermacell. I know the hogs can smell the thermacell fumes because I can. In fact my eyes got real irritated by the fumes. I took a fanny pack with water bottles with frozen water in them or else I might still be out there. I took two, needed 4-5. The lightweight Sitka gear is no good when its that hot. It feels like a rubber suit. I had a pair of light weight LL Bean camo synthetic pants that were good, wish I had taken the matching button down shirt but I had cotton camo tees. Fri night I had on a short sleeve camo shirt and I think they saw me so the rest of the time I worn long sleeves and an ASAT leafy mesh headnet. Wish I had worn it Fri.
Enjoyed hunting with Marvin and Roger. We hit it about as hot temp wise as it gets. Marvin was really keyed up after shooting that hog and I'm sorry they couldn't find him. We'll get them next time.
Sharptop is a game magnet...I'm gonna hunt right behind him from now on!!
The Kentucky boys Marvin and Roger did great for guys not used to that much heat.....I was impressed!
We lost a bunch of our food in the two weeks since I'd been to camp, due to a power outage I think. So I kept figuring out stuff that I was missing and had to keep running to town!
On Saturday evening I just arrived back at 8pm and thought I'd ride around the southeastern edge of the "hill" and check some corned spots to see what was going on, before I went to pick up Roger.
I had flip flops and shorts on. BIG MISTAKE!!
Naturally, hogs were going nuts after the corn.
I grabbed my bow out of the back seat and moved in. The wind was perfect..and the two of them were so busy chomping they wouldn't have heard a Mack truck. But they were down in a deep ditch with lots of grass...so I needed (I thought) to get just a couple yards closer and I moved up accordingly.
I was using my 58@28 Zipper SXT recurve with foam core limbs Bill Dunn just built me and a BEMAN carbon with 160 grain grizzly with steel adapter, weight tube and 3 four inch feathers.
As I was drawing to shoot, I felt my leg get an electric shock..and looked down to find I had stood on a fire ant mound and my leg was covered in ants, that were now stinging me!
I wasn't going to lose the shot op, so I finished the draw, loosed, watched the hog climb the bank in one bound and not make a single sound after- then I threw my bow down and screamed...stomping my foot and brushing off the ants.
All totaled, I ended up with nearly 50 bites inside my shoe and in the ankle shin area.
But, I got my hog. My " lousy blood trail" two blade grizzly left a shark chum line in the short pines a blind PETA person could follow- for the 10 feet it ran before it leaned against a tree, tucked its legs up and died right there!
I forgot to ask Marvin and Roger to take MY picture with the hog....and they had such a long drive to get home they couldn't stay Sunday to dress it out so Carlton took it and I'm sure he will be enjoying some marvelous 'cue real soon!!
(http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e322/rayhammond123/Rays20Pig.jpg)
Great post Marvin.. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: . Nice shot on the hog Ray.
you can see the entrance wound just behind the last rib in the photo if you look hard- the arrow did not leave the hog..but the 32 inch shaft was sticking just out in front of the opposite shoulder bone in the brisket area. I shot the hog at a very steep quartering angle, from above, headed down at an angle so it cleaned her clock.
QuoteOriginally posted by Ray Hammond:
I had flip flops and shorts on. BIG MISTAKE!!
Naturally, hogs were going nuts after the corn.
As I was drawing to shoot, I felt my leg get an electric shock..and looked down to find I had stood on a fire ant mound and my leg was covered in ants, that were now stinging me!
I wasn't going to lose the shot op, so I finished the draw, loosed, watched the hog climb the bank in one bound and not make a single sound after- then I threw my bow down and screamed...stomping my foot and brushing off the ants.
All totaled, I ended up with nearly 50 bites inside my shoe and in the ankle shin area.
Now, I'd pay good money to see that :biglaugh:
Your saposa be the guide man,LOL to funny Ray
Great story on what sounds like a really great place to go to. :)
As a side note I spray all my clothes including hat,face mask and gloves with permanone the night before I hunt and have never had any bight through my thin cotton shirts and pants.
I spring bear hunted once in Ontario and everyone was wearing bug suits and duct taping their sleeve and leg openings. I just used the Permanone and had no problem with any bugs.
I do use a Thermacell if the skeeters start buzzing around my head and annoying me while I am on stand.
Many old timers swear a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar every day and no skeeter, chigger or tick will ever bite you. I have never tested this theory myself. :eek:
QuoteOriginally posted by Arrow k9:
Great post Marvin.. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: . Nice shot on the hog Ray.
What he said! :thumbsup:
Great stories guys!! I can see Ray doing a rendition of the River Dance trying to shake the ants loose! Too Funny :biglaugh: Sorry Ray,but you know it is.
Bill
Thanks guys, really enjoyed the stories. I had a great time hunting at Rays in February, don't know if I could handle the June heat.
Nice hog Ray! Concentrate, pick a spot, kill a hog while something is chewing on your leg; gotta love it. :thumbsup:
---
T
QuoteOriginally posted by Ray Hammond:
But they were down in a deep ditch with lots of grass...so I needed (I thought) to get just a couple yards closer and I moved up accordingly.
Ok..first a li'l tease for Ray...Now I could be wrong and dind't go all the way back to check, but didn't you tell your hunters NOT to try them extra steps? :D :bigsmyl:
Quote My " lousy blood trail" two blade grizzly left a shark chum line in the short pines a blind PETA person could follow- for the 10 feet it ran before it leaned against a tree, tucked its legs up and died right there!
]
And then second, I just fell outa my chair on that one, Ray...nuff said!
Thanks to you all for your stories/pics. Only way I might get on a good hunt this year is through a "ride along" with you great story tellers!
well, yes...but there was NO SHOT where I was standing...some reedy things that would have definitely stopped or diverted the arrow.
If I'd have had any shot I'd have taken it, believe me, Doc.
Yep, I wasn't sure anyone could handle the way I REALLY feel about the broadheads so I toned it down some.
Bill,
The Zipper SXT is just awesome, buddy! It's as quiet as a selfbow with those foam cores...I saw someone here a few months before saying how much quieter they were..and honestly, I didn't believe that was possible.
I stand here today a true believer in foam core limbs! And 20+ years of shooting a Zipper has to say something...I think you've done a great job of taking over the reins from Bob!
Ray Them ant bites are hell.What I want to know is how they wait until they all climb on you and then give a signal and all bite at the same time.
You're exactly right, Kip....there were at least 500-750 ants on my leg when I looked down and only one had bitten...and then they ALL bit down it seemed like! Kind of scary how they do that, isn't it?
If they weighed 30 lbs they'd take over the planet!
Ray, I'd be interested to see pix of the "lousy bloodtrail", and pix the amount of twist that occured between entrance/exit holes....I'd bet a lot of folks would like to see them...
You can talk BH's all ya want bud, but you have to keep it respectful...
I'm still a little shook up about picturing Ray in shorts.. :scared:
Relax, Curt
It was a little impromptu "hunt"..all I had with me was the iphone, and the pics don't show up very well because of the shadows. Sorry.
I was being "tongue in cheek", but certainly if you feel the remarks are offensive, you've got the sword- feel free to strike out that which offends thee! :bigsmyl:
I'm being tongue in cheek, again...just in case that's being missed!!!!!
I'm just asking for pix Ray, nobody said anything about your post being offensive. I'm truly interested in your twisting bh's....
But like Charlie said in another thread, you single bevel guys seem to be a little sensitive.....
I know you don't like when folks disagree with ya and tend to get a little over the top with your comments when they do.....so I'll keep my hand on the sword just in case :goldtooth:
How about we get on with this thread since you don't have any pix.....
Great stories fellas and congrats on the hog Ray.
Congrats on the pig, Ray. Sorry that you had to deal with the biting critters.
Thouroughly enjoyed the hunt down there. It was hot, as mentioned, but I saw fourteen hogs and learned a lot about hunting them. It was also really enjoyable wandering around the swamp.
We had what my dad called a slough a couple of miles behind the house when I was growing up and chased coons in it a lot, but this was different. The heat is manageable if you are in decent shape and stay hydrated. I carried two water bottles with me on each trip and kept more in the jeep within walking distance.
Another thing I did was use one of those "cool-dana's". They go by different names, but have something in them that soaks up water then lets it out slowly. Evaporation helps keep you cooler.
Thanks for the comments on the story. I like it when others share, so thought I would add my story for others to see. Glad everyone enjoyed it.
Regarding Ray's comment on the hog he shot. I wasn't there for the "autopsy" so can't comment on twist, but I pulled the arrow out.
I will add to what he said. The arrow was sticking out about six inches in front. The fletching was almost completely buried. From the angle of the shot, I would say that it probably did not hit bone, but it was difinitely right through the area you want to send it through. It was a good shot.