any of you heading to hog heaven this Friday?i am and just wondering who else.
Don looking forward to meeting you!
We have some international travelers joining you!
I'll be there. I'm looking forward to making new friends and getting after the hogs. It will be great fun.
See you there.
Joe
There are 3 of us coming down from Ontario to hunt this weekend. We are heading out Wednesday am. Look forward to meeting everyone.
:thumbsup: :thumbsup:
It's only been 3 weeks since I was there and I'm already missing the swamp. Have a great hunt!
how was your trip ?iam not that far from that swamp.
its been cold here in the lowcountry. 30s in the am but 50-60s by lunch...LOL thats life in the south .. soon to be 70s sat-sun ..
Hey ridgerunner.... that's not cold...we are in the minus up here in Barrie. We are looking forward to the temps in the 50's. :clapper:
Hey can you make sure you leave some of those pigs for us next weekend!!
Ray there might be something extra for ya if you keep the penned up across the street like ya did for Gil Verwey and let them go when we get down there. :thumbsup:
You will have to let us know how you made out. Good luck and shoot straight.
Darcy, "Ya'll" better bring some suntan lotion with you! :laughing:
You are in for a great time in the southern swamp with Ray! Good Luck!
Benjy
I think I am going to have to check out Ray's after I pick up the books of course... :)
Next weekend for me...save me a few too chase :)
First weekend in April for me. I'm looking foward to this trip with good friends and best yet my son is even paying for it .... sweet! Save a few for us PA guys.
You guys will have a blast. If the pigs are still hanging aroung in the same general areas as they were a couple weeks ago, stay close to the river and the thick river cane.
Be prepared to put on a few lbs! Ray is one heck of a cook!
Good luck guys,I am heading down there in May cant waite.
The weather forecast is perfect. It will be the dark of the moon.
I am fired up for the trip.
:bigsmyl:
Good luck down there. Have fun and let us know where those hogs are.
Great meeting you guys. I had a great trip and look forward to going again.
How Was the trip any good stories????
We all saw hogs, but no shots were taken. One of the guys had a very close encounter, but I'll let him tell the story.
Let's hear the stories! I can't wait for my trip in less than a month.
Nice meeting both Karl and Joe,.... great guys to share a camp with. The three Canadian guys never saw a single pig.......the closest I got was hearing one,once! We saw lots of other wildlife, but the pigs were certainly not co-operating!! We hunted hard for 2 and half days, but to no avail. My Hog Heaven experience was not what I was expecting..... I will leave it at that. :dunno:
I have been 4 times seen pigs every time and killed pigs.you have to move slow if you think you are moving slow move slower and check the wind over and over.you have to make it happen.there are pigs all over the place
Ive been twice. Ive seen 50 in a weekend and killed one to zero the next trip. Everyday since, I just cant wait to get back. Thats hunting.
Izzy ,I'll let you know how it goes this weekend...wish you could have made the trip..
Mike, Doug and I are in route as we speak. See you soon
I was there this past weekend and had a great time. I had encounters both days, but it never came together for a good shot. On Friday I was in the swamp and slowly moving along one of the high spots above the water. I had stopped to look over a spot of river cane when 6 small pigs came running past. I waited for a few minutes hoping that their mother or a bigger pig would come behind. The small guys were out in a grassy area about 30 yards away. After waiting a few minutes I decided to sneak up on the little guys. I crept slowly up to them keeping behind one of the huge cypress trees that dotted the landscape. My intention at first was to see how close I could get. But the closer I got, the more I started thinking about a suckling pig on my grill. It was the first time in my hunting career that my mouth started watering while hunting game! Anyway, by this time one of the pigs spotted me before I could get off a shot and they charged off like a firecracker had been dropped out of the tree. They fled about 50 yards and stopped, then started feeding away from me. I decided to back out about 60 yards and run to get myself in front of them. I positioned myself behind a tree and waited. I could already taste the grilled pig when I heard them coming my way. When I thought they were close enough, I peaked around the tree and to my surprise 6 pairs of pig eyes were looking at me. Needless to say they charged off across the swamp like they'd been stung by yellow jackets. :mad:
My next run-in was Saturday. I was in the uplands hunting in rows of planted pines. The pines were on raised rows and in between the earth was scooped out in a small trench. Water filled the trench, and Ray said the pigs searched along the flooded banks looking for worms and salamanders. Fresh pig sign was everywhere. After moving very slowly (5 s-l-o-w steps and then waiting a few minutes while scanning the woods) I needed a break. I'm not sure about you guys, but it takes a lot of concentration to hunt this way, and I tend to take a break every hour or so. My hunting buddy jokes that it is hunting tai-chi. This break was right at lunch. A little voice in the back of my head said it was a bad idea to stop in this much sign, but I did it anyway. Well, you guessed it, right when I was getting out my sandwich, I looked up and there was a big, black boar looking right at me not more than 10 feet away. I couldn't believe it :mad: What bad timing on my part. Because I was crouched down, he kept looking at me like he was trying to figure out what I was. When he lowered his head, I reached for my bow, but as I slowly lifted it up he did a 180 and took off. I was frustrated at myself for such a rookie move, but I know better for next time. The amazing thing to me is that such a large animal could get so close to me without making a noise.
All in all Ray's place is a lot of fun, and he is a great host. I also met some great guys. If I had done my part I could have come home with two pigs. There's always next time...
Steve,Good luck to you bro. I promise you Im going with you next time. You set it up for what weekend you want and Ill send Sugar Ray my deposit. I miss that carpet bagging Yankee.
Im also available for Kentucky. Have bow, will travel. :readit:
Good luck Steve.
I have got to get back down there too. Have fun.
Have a great trip Steve. let me know how you do.
Well far be it from me to speak behind folks' backs- but our NY contingent has buggered a few opportunities Friday! Lets see if they redeem themselves today
I hope steves silvertip isn't stuck in the treetops again.
:readit:
There's at least one on the board- they're really getting into them today and yesterday. It's just a matter of right place right time now!
Great to see that things are getting figured out down there. Looking forward to the stories.
Ray,
Where are the hogs being seen? Are they in those yellow wildflowers?
Joe
Everywhere joe
Fields palmettos pines swamp
What was the final tally? It sounds as if the piggies are back from vacation!
The stories will come through driving home after a great weekend with a great bunch of guys. Let's just say the Yankees learned to forge the swamps and creeks!!!!!!!!!!!
I will start another thread or post on the hog heaven 3-14 to 3-17.
I ain't saying no names but there was more than a couple of misses !!!!!!! RAY, STEVE, ALDO, maybe a few more! I had a front row seat to one of them !
Man. It must have been fun.
Squirrel bait there might have been a mystery miss today!!! But those pics are to come.
:campfire:
:scared: :scared: :scared:
I was also there that week I encountered 5 hogs on Friday morning and almost got a ethical shot.Then on Friday night I had my best opportunity and almost harvested a big black and orange bruiser in the 200 to 250 pound range.... if I would have had just 2 more seconds!I didnt see anything on Saturday.But sunday I made a stalk on the same group of 5 I saw Friday morning and shortly after that tried to ambush two 150 -200 pound brutes but got cought.I plan on returning next year to give it another try...im a bit wiser to their tactics now.
I hunted with a great group of guys and really enjoyed hanging out with them.