Hi!
I`m just back in Norway after an excellent weekend at Ray Hammond's HogHeaven!
And what a place.
I had read a lot about other tradgangers that have been there and I had some high expectations about hunting, there after all the nice read I`ve done here at tradgang.
But this place was more then I even hoped for :thumbsup:
Ray picked me up at the Atlanta airport (thank you) and after 20 minutes in the car I felt like I had hooked up with an old friend.
The 4 hour ride down to Estill went fast, we stopped for some food at a place near Augusta (very good T-bones).
When we finally arrived I was really tired after a near 30 hours of travel and had no problems with falling in to sleep.
The next day we ate a good breakfast and went out to look at the place.
We had not gone far before the first animal showed himself :archer:
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/IMG_2011.jpg)
A nice 175 # hog :goldtooth:
more to follow
The next animal to pop out of the woods was a nice whitetail..
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/IMG_2017.jpg)
To say I was excited is an understatement
I was lucky enough to have tags both for whitetail buck and pigs so I had all the possibilities :D
We then did go further around the area and Ray showed me some really interesting signs:
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/IMG_2030.jpg)
The hogs use their teethes to cut off the bark and rub their sides in the pine resin for then to roll in the dirt. This will give them an extra shield(smart pigs) :p
Then we Ray showed me one of the "snackbars" in the area..
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/IMG_2039.jpg)
This fruits if I`m remembering correct is the persimmons. I tasted them and and it`s a good taste.
After this small round-trip we headed for the town nearby called Estill to pick up the other tradgangers that was joining us this weekend and buying some groceries and collect the tags for the weekends hunt.
In Estill we meet up with father and son McAdams and father and son Hall.
Back in camp I also met Mike aka Squirrelbait here on tradgang.
Great gentlemens and a privilege to join camp with for the weekend.
None of us where able to get any animal to the ground during the weekend but that has nothing to do with lack of effort or game.
The area had acorns dropping like rain during the weekend and the hogs had just to roll over and eat acorns.
For my own I have to say that my stalking skills in the swamp definitely scared of some(many) pigs and deers :dunno:
Looks like the beginning to a great time!!
Finally when all had packed out the gear and done some test shooting ( here is a pic of the shooting range with the two of the targets):
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/IMG_0489.jpg)
Ray had a lesson in shot placement and area information ahe told us about tha stalking on ground in this area and that we should remember that good stalking would be 200 yards = one hour.
I asked him about snakes and other dangerous creatures in the woods and he told me that the pigs eat the snakes so you will probably not see them,
Squirrelbait said that in his 8 years at HogHeaven he couldn't remember to have seen some big snakes, Ray just said"don't play with them and you will be safe :D and of to the swamp we went..
QuoteOriginally posted by featherbuster:
Looks like the beginning to a great time!!
Absolutely :)
I have really enjoyed this trip
Margly
To go in to the swamp and start hunting was a great excitement for me. I`m from Norway and is familiar with mountains and pine-forests so this was really a new experience for me.
Here is my first pic of the swamp area..
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/IMG_2061.jpg)
I had not been in the swamp for more than a couple of hours before I almost stepped on a snake..
I did not see it and then just two feet away suddenly something did start moving away from me and to say that I sky-jumped would be an understatement :archer:
More to follow later..
Margly
Sounds like you had a great adventure. Hap
:campfire:
Here are a pic of a really strange animal:
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/IMG_2044.jpg)
I had several encounters with them, they had an attitude of just minding their own business and this one actually was so near that I could have touched it with my bow
:archer:
The nature of the swamp is like nothing I ever have been hunting and I really will go back and try that out many more times.
Here are some more pics of the swamp.
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/IMG_2055.jpg)
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/IMG_0444.jpg)
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/IMG_0457.jpg)
What a nice place
I did not see any gators but guess that this waterhole would be a nice place for an gator ambush.. :rolleyes:
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/IMG_0453.jpg)
If you look good at the pic above you can actually see the watermark on the trees. I wonder how it is like when the area is flooded? Guess that is awesome to experience :)
Here are a couple of more pics from the swamps:
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/IMG_2054.jpg)
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/IMG_0460.jpg)
Some of the creatures living in the swamp:
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/IMG_0481.jpg)
I think this was called a banana spider.
Here is a pic of one of the many roads in the area, this road was nice to go and stalk for the pigs. Some places it looked like someone had used a plough, where the pigs had been digging for food :D
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/IMG_0465.jpg)
I had many close-contacts with deers during the weekend. I did see about 15-16 deers during my time in the swamp!
Several six pointers and four pointers.
My nearest contact for a clear shot was about 30-35 yards but I`ll never shoot at an animal on that distance if I`m not doing a recovery shot.
So I tried to still-hunt into a nearer range, but my skills of this, when I felt I was walking on leafs crushing like cornflakes blew it because I didn't see the doe but she did see me :biglaugh:
Here is a pic of my "cornflakes" :D
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/IMG_2058.jpg)
The days went fast and on Sunday Ray decided that he would take me hunting.
Here is a pic of Ray.
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/IMG_0452.jpg)
Here is a pic of me in the swamps
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/IMG_0455.jpg)
I have to say that I was impressed of he`s skills :thumbsup: . After a small hour we did see more pigs than I had during the whole weekend.
We scared up 7 pigs one around ca 350# area (that's BIG)
We decided that I should try to round up behind them and Ray would be near the place we stalked them the first time. I had not been gone for more than one hour before Ray heard some noise and went looking. He discovered about 20 pigs in this period and was about 10 feet above some pigs in an river-bottom fighting and I was of course far away :)
He decided to go back waiting for me so I could go in for the pigs but I was just stalking for a six-pointer and forgot about time. So when I finally went back it was too late.
Great story and pictures!
Bill
I have not yet mentioned the food :clapper:
The food was great and I have really been eating:
Here`s a pic of the chef of the weekend:
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/DSC00044.jpg)
BTW Ray:
Your salsa recipe made a big success with my family! I made it yesterday and every body was eating and enjoying it with the Friday taco dinner.
Some of the hunters sitting waiting for Ray to serve the dinner :D
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/DSC00043.jpg)
Mike aka Squirrelbait and Ray really put an effort in that we all should have the best opportunities to get some animals to the ground.
And here is a pic of them discussing the next moves for the swamps:
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/IMG_2041.jpg)
At last I would like to mention the feeders...
I was told that they would scare the **** out of you when they went of.. :D
well I was sitting on the ground the first day near one of them looking at my watch wating for it to go of 5.30 It went of a little past that time and YES it scares the**** of you
:scared:
Here is a pic of one taken from the treestand at 11 acre field Saturday evening just after 5.30.
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/DSC00045.jpg)
Here is another pic of HogHeaven
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/IMG_0490.jpg)
This has been a great trip for me and I really enjoyed sharing camp with some nice people and I would really like to meet up with all of them again.
I did not kill any deer or hog on this trip, but that`s OK. The adventure, relaxation and stress-relief it has been cover up that plenty times.
(http://i570.photobucket.com/albums/ss142/RonnyMargly/HogHeaven/IMG_0492.jpg)
Just to sit in one of these chairs in the evening with a big fire in the middle with a cold beer in the hand, after a long day with stalking the swamps.
Then just sitting there and listening to owls and some coyotes.. well that's priceless :thumbsup:
Thanks for looking
Margly
Great story! It is not the kill that makes the hunt!!!!!
It was our pleasure, Ronny! You and the Halls and McAdams were great campmates and I hope all of you return!
Margly, thanks for taking us along.Looks real nice.
Squirrly.....Are you wearin skinny jeans? Dang Son.
wow! thats pretty cool!!! though im surprised to hear hogs eat snakes??? O.O
Great pictures and story! Thanks for sharing your hunt with us. :thumbsup:
Feel's like I had just been to Ray Hammond's HogHeaven.
Great pics and narration.
Thank you for sharing.
Armadillo, Great thanks for taking us.... (thats that strange looking creature.
Mike
Heading back in April with my sons for my second trip.Your post is making me anticipate it even more.Thanks for sharing.
What an adventure. Thanks for sharing and the pics really brought it to life.
Thank-you for sharing your hunt with us,I enjoyed the pics and story.
Leland
Thank you for sharing. Makes a me think about going on a hog hunt one day.
Butch L
Ronny
It was a good time and the company was great. Even though we had permanoned our clothes I still ended up with about 20 chigger bites. I never did have to use my thermacell either. Food was great and company was good. Too bad we didn't have a little more time, those hogs had to be in there somewhere with so much rooting going on.
All the best to you and your family.
Bob
:thumbsup:
Great story Ronny, looking forward even more now to our trip together to Hog Heaven in february... :campfire:
Ronny, great photos!
I don't know why, but it just makes me chuckle to think of a bunch of Norwegians munching on salsa,chips, and tacos-though lutefisk, the dish you asked me if I'd tried before, now makes me understand why you would like tacos- that stuff is scary just reading about it!!!! :scared: :scared: :biglaugh: :nono:
I think the biggest thing new visitors to our camp can do to help themselves is in learning to spot and stalk animals.
Practice sneaking up on squirrels in your yard would be a good thing to do.
At our place, its very flat. The wind swirls often. You MUST learn to carry a puffer bottle (like a sinus spray bottle, filled with corn starch) and "puff" it frequently, to make sure youare working either upwind or crosswind at all times.
A hog's nose is 5 times BETTER than a deer's nose. His eyesight is as good at picking up movement as any critter out there- stationary objects they have trouble with, but they're not stupid and if you're within 50 yards and standing out in the open, you're going to get picked off.
You need to learn how to move fairly quietly- using the toe/heel step, raising your foot at the knee rather than dragging it through leaves like you'd walk down the street- if you put your toe down on a stick- you can pick it up and move it- if you place your heel down first you're committed to completing the step and cracking the branch.
Only pigs, deer, and people crack branches, and the hogs know that. Hogs have a higher order of brain than a deer- in my opinion- and they REMEMBER stuff.
These pigs are WILD pigs- not turned loose farm stock. There's no floppy ears on Hog Heaven....these pigs are wired for sound baby.
The only reason you kill turkeys is cause they don't use their nose- the only reason you can kill wild hogs is because they're gluttons.
Practice walking less, and standing still more. Listening, and using your ears and also your nose believe it or not, to smell where they've been recently will pay dividends.
Look at sign- pigs turn over and root stuff. Learn to tell the difference between yesterday's rooting and this morning's rooting- yesterday's dirt will have a 'crust' on it- this morning's will be fresh and likely still moist.
Listen for sound- hogs make tons of noise if they are moving. If they're laying up- use your optics to pick up dark spots in the distance around stumps, logs, trees, and in depressions taht might be bedded up hogs.
If you stick to the ridges (sometimes only 2 feet higher than the surrounding ground) you can use that height to see into the far distance to pick up pigs before they pick you up...and move quickly after checking the wind to get in front fo them...letting them work toward you....inside 50 yards is the toughest and you need a little luck and a steady breeze to help you close the book on them....but it can be done.
If a 55 year old overweight blind deaf guy like me can kill them I know YOU can!!!!! On Sunday's hunt I saw 20 different hogs- including 8 I could have shot- while four hunters had difficulty catching up to them all weekend.
Sometimes its a feast- sometimes its famine. The most successful hunters we've had have been guys who hunt Sika deer on the Maryland coast- where its coincidentally very thick and close quarter hunting- which it often is at our place.
Thanks for the primer Ray!!
Great photos, going in January.....can't wait!!!
looks like a great trip, Ray has a great operation down there. better luck next time!
I can't wait til March, thanks for the pics Ray sure has a great place!
Love the pictures Margly.Got to go to Ray's last July.It's no country club hunt. You better bring your big boy pants if your goin to play with the hogs in the swamp. Ray does his best to put everyone on hogs.But you better be ready to hunt hard.And the food oh the food.I hate cooked carrots.But Rays cooked carrots are soooo! GOOD!!!.I'm hopeing to get back down there next year.Glad you enjoyed yourself.,Jim Preece
Great pics. I`ve only seen Rays place in pics but its awful purty.Love them southern swamps.RC
Great pics and story.
Hogheaven looks very similar to the places I used to hunt in central Florida. The pictures in this thread have brought back many very good memories for me. I thoroughly enjoyed hunting those places and I enjoyed reading about your adventures at Hogheaven just as much. Thank you for that! I think I may look into Hogheaven myself!
Tom
QuoteOriginally posted by TKO:
Hogheaven looks very similar to the places I used to hunt in central Florida.
me too. I lived in orlando for 27 years. good times hunting the swamps!
I really need to book a trip over to hog heaven before I move to MO next year...
Thanks For Sharing Margly and Ray. Looks like a great time had by all again.
Like Ron, I am looking forward to January.
Glad you all liked the story and photos :archer:
Margly
Arrowk9, You wait till you get back down here! You and I are hunting together!!!! Margly, I really enjoyed this past weekend, it was a treat to share camp with you. Will be looking forward to your return. Mike
Siloutemirage, why are you surprised to hear hogs eat snakes???
Hogs'll eat just about EVERYTHING except squirrel Bait- cause he's too nasty for even a buzzard
Seriously- hawks eagles owls herons turkeys yes I found a small snake in a turkey crop once- gators fish storks just about everything will eat a snake!! Even people eat em!!!!
Takk for kjempe flotte bilder og god historie. Når ein velger å jakte med trad utstyr kan ein ikkje forvente å skyte dyr kvar gong ein jaktar, men steike ta kor spennende jakta blir :campfire:
I just said the same you guise said, only in Norwegian :bigsmyl:
I'm headed to Ray's in February and your post has me grinnin already----thanks
I need to get back down there!! I miss the hunting, the friends - and the food! Ray is the best hunt host I have ever been around.
I reread all your tips Ray. I guess the fact that I got my first Maryland sika last week means I'll close the deal next time. Been workin hard on creepin close to critters lately.
P.S. I miss the place already. Oh yea, you too.
Hey you got a sika?!!!!! How bout a pic?!!!!
Mike, sorry bud....you're out as guide when Arrowk9 comes back. He especially requested that I guide him....Ray ok'd it. Didn't he tell you?
Don't worry, you can help drag. We will need lots of help with that.
Always nice going back to Ray's....even if its just on a thread like this....thanks for sharing! :campfire:
Ya! what Biggie said....
Biggie,
you have to bring moosh steaks though.
Thanks for posting.Great pics.Good luck for the next row.
ronny thats a great thread & very cool photo`s
mate .i really hope you & nathan have a good hunt next feb , are you still comming back to benito`s next year ?