It's time to get this started.
On Sunday, October 18, I returned from a terrific hog and deer hunt at Wild Things. Wild Things is located along the Savannah river just outside Estill, SC.
In camp for this hunt were Terry Green, Bud Blaylock, Todd Herndon, Alvin (whose last name I don't remember) and me.
Our hosts, as always were Andrew Harper, his able hired hand and jack-of-all-trades Charlie, and Harry the wonder dog.
Harry turned out to be a very important dog on this trip as the stories that follow will reveal.
Suffice it to say, at this point, that I had a whale of a time and I can't wait to go back.
Come on, guys -- let's get the story telling going.
:campfire:
Looking forward to the stories and pictures Joe.
I will get the stories going. The first thing I did when I got there was scouting. I drove my Jeep slowly along about half of the 35 miles of roads on the property and looked for sign of both hogs and deer.
I found a ton of sign especially on the northern end of Andrew's 3000 acre property. There were plenty of hog tracks, and some of the critters had pretty big feet.
(http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg611/smokinjoepix/IMG_0781_zpst2stzsen.jpg) (http://s1246.photobucket.com/user/smokinjoepix/media/IMG_0781_zpst2stzsen.jpg.html)
:bigsmyl:
Needless to say, with tracks like that I got pretty excited.
I may have seen the boar hog that made those tracks. As I was driving along in my Jeep, a monster hog emerged from the pines onto the road and stopped broadside. I stopped, he stopped.
He was huge. He had a gigantic head and tall shoulders and a black, razorback mane sticking up. His head and shoulders were so big his rump looked tiny by comparison. I could see the cutters curling out of his mouth. He just stood there until I creeped the Jeep forward a bit. Then he high tailed it across the road and into the palmettos.
From the side, he looked a bit like a rhinoceros with his big head and long snout hanging down from huge shoulders. He was a trophy boar for sure.
I thought, "I need to hunt this end of the property." And I got set up to do just that.
:campfire:
:campfire:
In!
Bisch
I'll be watching this one for sure :thumbsup:
Gotta love hog hunting. :campfire:
And then?
My first sit I saw one hog in the distance, but being in a climber stand I could not put on a stalk.
On Thursday morning I was headed to Mulberry to check it out and then stalk over to McHenry to help Andrew with a dead feeder. At the left Turkey Foot Rd I came to the Mulberry fork and started slowly down towards the dead end. Not far from taking the split I heard squirrels chattering profusely ahead. I was too far away and walking too slowly for it to be me so I stopped. In about 10 seconds I saw a young doe headed straight toward me. She was just in the edge of the swamp wood line. She saw me but didn't spook. If you've ever had deer know you were there but just couldn't quite figure you out, this was her. She came into the road where I ws standing, but about 50 yards away. She stood and watched me ever so carefully. She'd drop her head as if to feed and quickly bring her head to to full alert, lock on me. She did this twice. With the uncertainty od what she'd encountered she did get quite nervous and gave me a wide pass to my right. I waited for her to disappear to continue on towards Mulberry. She never blew to alert the woods to my presence.
I turned around to do a 360 scan before heading onward and saw a black figure in the distance behind me in a slew. This was at about 7:30am or so. It was now on!
I was doing an afternoon sit in a tree stand with a feeder and a big wallow within 15-20 yards. The wallow was all torn up with big hog tracks and there were trails coming to the area from at least 5 different directions.
I heard a little crunching in the underbrush behind me. I stayed as still as a stone until I could hear the steps making their way around to my right side.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw a bit of movement. Bit by bit I could make out that it is a doe, and she was pretty big. I had a doe tag in my pocket, so -- game on.
More crunching, and I slowly see the outline of a smaller doe. So now I have to avoid being seen by at least two sets of eyes.
Both does are pretty twitchy and nervous.
They both pause for several minutes in very thick stuff just to my right-front quarter. I can see the ears of one doe and part of the snout and rump of the other through the thick tangle of branches.
Then one cautious step, another long pause and then another step. This is taking forever.
I was sitting down in a tree stand but my bow was in my hand and an arrow was nocked. All I had to do is wait for an opportunity to stand up and then for a chance to draw.
Both does work their way around to my front. They are looking around, but I am completely motionless so they don't pause to look in my direction.
Then they both look away. I slowly stand up.
The larger doe is a big, old nanny of a doe with a very long snout. She is no youngster, and I decide she is worth a shot.
The does were still looking away, I picked a tiny spot above the elbow of the big doe and started a slow, silent draw.
At about 3/4 draw the does snaped around and looked at their back trail. Now the shoulder of the big doe was facing me and I realized that it would be a pretty unethical shot to shoot the doe from this angle.
I froze and hoped the does would settle down and turn away and offer me a shot, but it was not to be.
Their ears were pointed toward their back trail and they both spooked two steps worth to my right and were covered by branches again. They still had no idea I was there, but something was following them and making them really jumpy.
Well, it's October and the bucks must be pushing the does a bit. So, I slowly let down and let the does walk off to my right front, completely covered by brush the whole time. There is a buck on they way -- or so I hoped.
About 15 minutes later I heard another animal off to my right, completely out of sight. It never came into view.
I had been about 2 seconds from collecting a very big doe and some venison for the freezer.
When it was too dark to see any longer, I lowered my bow down from the tree stand. Just before the bow touched the ground the movement of the bow spooked animals both on the right and on the left. They sounded big -- I certainly wasn't spooking any raccoons.
Hmmm.... Maybe hogs were coming to this wallow after dark.
:campfire:
Sorry guys and gals, but it's hunting season. Will get back to this in due time. I found a nice hot spot on public land and archery season ends Friday. I'll be back to this as soon as I can.
And now for the rest of the story...........
It was another great hunt at Andrew Harper's Wild Things. It was a blessing just to be able to hang out with Andrew again.
Now let's get to the hunts!
First day I hunted a spot I always love going to over a Blue Lake. I carefully walked in and threw out some corn I had mixed up near the feeder and climbed into the stand. Now I had hunted this spot in May of this year and killed a nice hog, it was tore up with sign then, but this time it wasn't as much sign as last time but I have confidence in this spot. I hung up my Hummingbird Recurve on my bow hanger and loaded her with an Easton Axis 500 tipped with a Simmons Tiger Shark, now the wait begins.
(http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h440/herndondt/107_zpszhabdgdr.jpg) (http://s1109.photobucket.com/user/herndondt/media/107_zpszhabdgdr.jpg.html)
(http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h440/herndondt/110_zpspoygq5ps.jpg) (http://s1109.photobucket.com/user/herndondt/media/110_zpspoygq5ps.jpg.html)
At 5:30 the feeder went off and I got ready because the last time as soon as the feeder went off the hogs stood up in front of me and ran in. This time it wasn't the case so after 15 minutes or so I sat back down and settled in for the rest of the evening. Around 6:30 nature called and I had to climb down real quick. Before I climbed back in to the stand I eased over to the feeder and hit the test button. When the feeder started I ran back up the stand and climbed in ready for one to come running in. Around 7:05 I was "sitting in the stand minding my own business" "playing angry birds" when I heard what I thought was a bulldozer coming through the swamp. I looked and I could see several black hogs running in towards me, so I stood up grabbed my bow and positioned myself for a shot. There was 15 hogs came running in to the feeder. As the last ones were running in I heard a very loud deep grunt coming in behind them. It was a big sow and she ran in to the corn I had threw out and picked up one the smaller hogs with her snout and threw it up in the air and into the wallow behind the feeder. I had a tree blocking the shot but when she cleared it I had a 15 yard slightly quartering shot. I drew my bow picked a spot and smoked her! The arrow went completely threw her and stuck into a log on the other side. She took off running over the knoll and then turned right. I was watching her and listening and I thought I heard her fall so I said out loud "Yeah, Get some of that!" and then I heard something to my left and looked down and there were 5 hogs below me. I reached behind me and slowly grabbed another arrow and nocked it. There was a white spotted hog slightly quartering away from me feeding back into the feeder. I drew my bow, picked a spot and shot slam through both shoulders, which looked like a perfect shot. It ran about 30 yards and stopped and started stretching out like it was going to fall right there, but it got its balance and walked into the woods and I lost sight.
After about 20 minutes I gathered my stuff and climbed down and eased out back to the jeep and drove back to camp. Once I got back into camp I told Andrew about the night's events. We waited on Bud and Joe to get back before we went back to track the hogs. When those guys returned we listened to each other's stories. We loaded up on Andrew's truck and went back to track the hogs.
Once we arrived at the spot we went to the first spot that I shot the first hog. There was no problem tracking that hog the blood trail was great and Harry actually found her before we got to her. She ended up running about 75 yards. We left Joe with that hog and then we went to track the other. The blood was not great on this on for some reason. I think it was a combination of a heart shot and the hide covering the holes as the shoulders moved back and forth. We last track it into a large field with grass over 5 feet high. We figured it buried up in the grass and we just couldn't find it.
(http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h440/herndondt/200_zpsd9wwtwvj.jpg) (http://s1109.photobucket.com/user/herndondt/media/200_zpsd9wwtwvj.jpg.html)
(http://i1109.photobucket.com/albums/h440/herndondt/112_zpsvmlc2mxc.jpg) (http://s1109.photobucket.com/user/herndondt/media/112_zpsvmlc2mxc.jpg.html)
To be continued...................
I'm in Missouri at the moment but I've got some pictures and video and you don't want to miss a video of a place we now call "Stampede"
And seeing The Stampede had all of us pretty excited about hogs with big feet. Heck, I'm still fired up about it.
If I wasn't working I would go back to Wild Things today.
Come to think of it, this is motivation to hurry up and retire so I can have more fun.
QuoteOriginally posted by smokin joe:
And seeing The Stampede had all of us pretty excited about hogs with big feet. Heck, I'm still fired up about it.
If I wasn't working I would go back to Wild Things today.
Come to think of it, this is motivation to hurry up and retire so I can have more fun.
Amen, Joe!
The little doe I had spotted and toyed with had given me a gift. Had she not spooked the squirrels and caused me to stop, I would have never turned around to see the the hog that was behind me.
When I saw the small black hog in the distance I headed that way. Wind was in my face, so all was good. As I stalked up I could count five hogs altogether. All smaller. The largest was a black boar of about 70-80lbs. Two other black hogs, one boar and one sow, were also black, but about 50-60lbs. There was a white and black speckled one of about 40lbs and a small red/orange one of about 20-25lbs. Quite the little drove of pigs.
As I stalked closer, they all left but one of the mid sized black ones. I got within 15 yards of the hog, but it was down in the slew rooting away and I couldn't see it, but could hear it noisily sniffing out its breakfast. It was down a steep drop into the slew and I was above it, trying to get the the slew's edge. I took a step and hidden under the damp leaves was a stick of probably pencil size that snapped. Off it went to join the others! I recalled Ray Hammond saying a few years back that if you were stalking hogs and they hadn't winded you but spooked, to head in the direction they went and you'd probably catch back up to them. I gave it a shot. I continued their way as the wind was steady out of the west seekingly chasing to the rising sun.
Bud 0 - Hogs 1
More later...
Although not the exact area, this is what the area looked like where I was stalking these hogs. Open swamp with little to hide me, except living trees, deadfall, some cypress stumps from logging days of old, and the dips in the terrain with some occasional low grass patches.
(http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f94/Equismith/th_Swamp.jpg) (http://s45.photobucket.com/user/Equismith/media/Swamp.jpg.html)
I caught up with the bunch. With five sets of eyes ever watchful I had a devil of a time moving. They rooted at a pace quicker than I could keep up. I got to within 25 yards this time and they decided to move on across the open swamp floor into the wind about 30 yards away.
Bud - 0 Hogs - 2
I followed, moving only when they were facing away or were behind deadfall. I got to within 20ish yards, but wanted to get closer. I am comfortable shooting at 15. I had maneuvered towards a stump and got to within 10 feet of it, but wanted to move up to the stump. This would give me a shot of about 18 yards. As I inched forward I think the larger boar saw my chartreuse fletched arrows in my back quiver. He immediately stopped rooting and stared my way. He let out a short grunt and off they went.
Bud - 0 Hogs - 3
I'd love to try hog hunting one of these days!
So I set up in a stand that was near to one of the dirt roads on the property.
The deer and hogs usually come to this stand from behind the right shoulder. There was a ton of sign at this stand because there was a corn feeder within about 17 yards. The road was at my left and the wind was blowing from me toward the road -- perfect.
The feeder goes off at 5:30 PM and less than a minute later a buck comes galloping acrid the road -- he had heard the dinner bell.
But - He hit my scent stream when he was halfway across the road and it was like he hit an invisible wall. He turned inside out and put on the afterburners and went back the direction he came from in a cloud of road dust. Bucks never doubt their noses.
Deer - 2 -- Joe -0
I stayed at the stand until full darkness and saw nothing else.
:campfire:
Congrats Todd,
Joe and the rest of the guys, this is good, keep it up.
The five disappeared and I followed in their direction. I lost sight of them, but with the terrain and low areas, the had gone into a swag in the landscape and I eventually got back into stalk mode.
By this time the boar was trailing, seemingly "keeping rear guard" and rooting whilst doing it. I watch him lift a log with his nose and the weight on each end of the rotted downed tree broke under its own weight. A loud pop echoed in the swamp. A noteworthy sound to head, should you ever hear it again. He raised the 10 foot or so log looking for grubs like it was a twig. I eased closer, with the boar closest to me. I tried again to get within my range, but only managed to get about 25 yards away, yet again. Something caused them to bolt once more. Maybe a breaking stick underfoot, or my movement caught by their watchful eye. A low grunt from the boar sent them off.
Bud - 0 Hogs - 4
And yet again they ran 30ish or so yards. This time they got into some grassy growth about knee high. The terrain still low in spots allowed them to be unseen, but also allowed the same for me. I got to about 30 yards from them, with the boar still at rear guard. He managed to root to a spot between two trees, yet his vitals were in the gap between the two, much like a 3D target setup I've seen at my home club. I removed my binoculars and my back quiver and crawled on hands and knees to a spot about 20 yards away from him. One of the smaller hogs saw me move and locked in on my figure. I froze. What seemed like several minutes we stared at each other. It eventually lost interest and got back to finding breakfast.
I started moving again, with the boar evidently in a nice rooting spot, because he stay put in the same spot for some time. I crept closer to get the shot I wanted when suddenly a doe I had not seen, some 50 yards away, let out a loud blow and alerted the whole area. All the hogs froze and stated in her direction. She was,, by then tearing away through the swamp blowing as she ran. She crashed out of sight and then all the nearby squirrels started barking alarms. I refocused on the hogs and they had had enough. They all bolted in a mad dash, faster then the previous runs, and were 60 yards away before they disappeared. I heard them continue well past their normal 30 yard sprint. They were in for the long haul escape this time.
I was sweating quite hard. sweat running down my face and under my clothes. I noticed my heartbeat was excessive, and was the whole time. I suddenly felt a draining feeling of exhaustion set in. The adrenaline dump had taken it's toll. I was crashing, but it was a good feeling nonetheless.
Bud - 0 Hogs - 5
A doe had given me the opportunity to stalk these hogs, and a doe took them away.
Even with no shot, this was the first true stalk I had been on in many years. I felt like it was a success. I was happy.
Total lapsed time from first sight to last sight was about 1 hour and 20 minutes. No wonder I was drained. The next day my legs muscles told me of the workout I had experienced. It was a good kind of sore.
Going to start loading pics tomorrow...and my Stampede vid....been crazy since I got back.
Stay Tuned.....more to come....
Looking forward to video ....MAN I WANNA HUNT HOGS!!
Trad bowhunting stories :campfire:
Very cool guys, thanks for sharing. :archer:
I am still working on some stuff n Todd still has more to share! !
Man! I wish I could have made it this year, and I'm really curious about this "stampede".
I just booked for the December 15th hunt, I can't resist the temptation any longer!
Now I just have to decide if I want upgrade my license to hunt deer too... Kinda sounds like I should, what do you guys think?
Thom
Thom,
I think that Andrew's land is becoming a great deer hunting place. The way he is managing the property is leading to more sightings of better deer. In December the deer will be more interested in food than chasing, so patterning might be a bit easier. Get the license!
Unfortunately, I have to travel on business the week of the 15th or I would be coming down to hunt with you.
I didn't shoot any hogs on the October trip, but I spent a lot of time developing and testing a strategy that I think may get me a shot at one of those wide-body boss hogs at the north end of the property on my next trip. I have a plan!
We saw tons of deer I don't even remember how many but I had seven and bow range I can tell you that and that was stalking hogs
I saw 16...missed a nice wall hanger, too. (With Andrew's blessing to try ;) )
:campfire:
Thanks guys, sounds like it will be worth $100 to not have to pass if a shot presents itself. I will get it. I've been really close to shooting my first spot-and-stalk deer there a few times now. The last one was a really tall symmetrical six point in 2014. That would have been a special one for me, but at least I still get to enjoy chasing that dream. Andrew didn't put a point limit on me, he just said I had to commit to at least a shoulder mount if I were to draw on a buck.
Joe, I've pretty much stopped talking about them really big hogs publicly. Guys either see them or they don't, and if you don't see them you just have no idea how "big" is "big". I'm glad you have a plan, and I am pulling for you getting him!!! I'm still working on one old dude that holes up not too far from camp. There is also a matriarchal black sow with a white face that runs a big multi-generational pack that has busted me on at least 4 occasions. I'd really like to get the better of her someday. It's funny for all the hogs you can't tell apart, there are the few you get to know really well.
Man, I better stop thinking about hogs or I will lose this whole day to daydreaming, scheming, and sharpening broadheads.... Again!
Still looking forward to another installment from Todd and knowing what this Stampede is about!
Thom
Thom,....loading Stampede....let me know when you are coming down and if there is an opening.
I would love to share a camp with you again.
Joe....that goes for you too.
Thanks.
T
Alvin and I were stalking a 'doe'...or button buck...in the direction we were stalking hogs in anyway, and the stalk on the deer lasted at least 20 minutes...
It drew us in the direction we wanted to go, but a little left.....so we regathered after the party was over with the whitetail finaly and we came upon the woods road we were looking for but only there was a kink in the road, a split I'd not seen before....it was a re-route.
Seems the old road had been washed away in two places and Andrew and Charlie had decided to make a new road around the disaster....and what a disaster it soon became.
Now this stretch of road left untraveled by vehicles had oak trees on either side of it....and even though it had not rained much there in ages, what little rain that did come before we arrived caused them to have a 'block party' in the abandoned road.
Here are some pics.....but you have to see the vid that's still loading to get the full effect of just how much devastation was done and over what size area....
Tracks beside tracks, tracks on top of tracks....like the inside of a barn....
(http://www.tradgang.com/upload/terry/stampede1.jpg)
(http://www.tradgang.com/upload/terry/stampede2.jpg)
(http://www.tradgang.com/upload/terry/stampede3.jpg)
(http://www.tradgang.com/upload/terry/stampede4.jpg)
(http://www.tradgang.com/upload/terry/stampede5.jpg)
...now that people are seeing the pictures, I'm sure everyone understands why this spot is now known as "The Stampede"!!!!
Holy cow! Andrew told me the old "double dip" was coming out as it was always a problem for hunters and vehicles, I never imagined hogs moving in there like that!
Looking forward to seeing that video when it's ready!
Thom
So, I was curious about the hogs hitting the feeder across the pond at night. We had all heard them there feeding after dark, eating corn and hickory nuts, on other hunts.
So I set up a blind, a camera, and a hog light.
The hogs just let the food sit. Something about the set up was bothering them.
First I took down the camera -- no change.
Then I took away the light -- no change.
On the morning I had to leave I went over to remove the blind and the hogs had been there over night. It took them 5 nights to accept the blind and come back to that spot.
I'll remember that for the next trip. That's not part of my BIG HOG plan, but it is something I will put into the mix of information for going after the grill hogs across the lake.
Stampede (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LO2pFfUfGr4)
Holy cow. That video reminds me of the Buffalo trail on the movie "Dances with Wolves".
Looks like you all had a great hunt. I have a feeling it is not over just yet.
Yes...there's more....
Can someone text me Todd's cell number please?
Thanks.
Just sent you a text message.
Thom
Todd will be finishing the rest of his story by Wed Night...I'm trying to get a few more pics resized, cropped and loaded...and I have a few more words to add....hopefully tonight.
Terry, that video is pretty cool! Lots of hogs! And I might add, those girls of yours are exceptionally talented! You should be proud!
Great stories!!
Good read guys...thanks
God bless,
I'm typing!!!!
To finish this up.....
Nice Hogs, Congrats.
The amount of tracks in the stampede is incredible.
Thank you!
I have to get my butt down there one of these days. Great hog!
OMG!!! Huge hogs. Congrats.
Congrats Todd! I've been cutting tracks on several of these big guys for a while and even bump into one from time to titme. I'm really glad you got to put an arrow into one! Way easier to get a picture of them after they are dead!
What are you doing for meat with the big one? Cook any of it yet? Looks like at least a hundred pounds of sausage to me!
Thom
Congrats T-D!
Bisch
I divided up some with the guys in camp and I had the rest processed into sausage, ribs and etc. We ate tenderloin last night and had sausage last weekend. We're thoroughly enjoying the meat that's for sure. Thom we need to get together down there sometime brother. Thanks for all the great comments guys. Gotta get back to work now
Hold on...I'll show you a pic of what we ate at the office....Todd gave me a shoulder off that Brute and it was....
Before.....
(http://www.tradgang.com/upload/terry/herndonshouldergrill1.jpg)
After......
(http://www.tradgang.com/upload/terry/herndonshouldergrill2.jpg)
Looks delicious Terry, How do you eat it? slice it? Pulled pork?
Sliced it up and had an assortment of BBQ sauces....
I have to add again that I've never seen that much hog sign in my life. ......and never seen that many deer on the property.
And the food was as always..... FABULOUS!
Hard to believe I walked all that I did and still gained weight!!!
Man, that looks awesome! I've been taking the easy way out and grinding all my hog meat so far. I think I'm gonna have to get tricky and do some experimenting with my next one!!!
Thom
Thom....200 for 3.....250 for the next 3
,
A lot of the talk about big boars not being edible is.... pardon the pun quote hog wash un quote
Wild Things is a great place I know everyone had a great time. Todd you did good.
My son-in-law smoked the ham given to me by Todd.
https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/12347821_1283196178373220_572930086351019993_n.jpg?oh=2254c801bff3d1c5780bd090801fa2b3&oe=56E6D977
(https://scontent-iad3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xpa1/v/t1.0-9/12347821_1283196178373220_572930086351019993_n.jpg?oh=2254c801bff3d1c5780bd090801fa2b3&oe=56E6D977)
That looks good!
A guy last week put two nice hogs in the cooler, 165# boar, 145# sow. He said there are plenty left for me to hunt next week! Counting the days!
Thom