Great trip and story!

Sounds like a good hunt.
Those lighted nocks are kind of neat aint they? Specialy with with a color blind tracker .

I think I came out pretty good on the trade Doc    :D

After all I been wanting one of them famous Tippit knives for a good while know

 

 

That sheath has got to have some mojo LOL

Here's a few pics of some of the character in the stave Joe took home. Look forward to seeing it on the bowyers bench.

 

 

heres a few more pics I had from the classic

Doc, Pat Brennan, James Parker and myself
Talk about a motley crue lol

 

Here's a good one of Tomi
 

Was at the awards ceromony and want to say congrats to Skyler for winning a fine plaque as well. He was gone and I think Larry picked it up for him.

Enjoyed sharing camp with Whip and Doc and the rest of the gang and it was good to see Rob as well.

Looking forward to next year!

Congrats Joe!!  

Congrats on the nice hog, Joe. Should be some good eating!

Awesome thread! Congrats on the hog, Whip!  

On the second night I elected to hunt from the ground.  We had corned a good stretch of road and the sign showed that hogs had found it.

The weather forecast called for a chance of thunderstorms, but Jeff assured me that they were in the middle of a major drought and that although storms might be in the area they were unlikely to affect our hunt.  No need to consider weather forecasting as a second career Jeff.  

The rain did subside though, and it turned out to be a nice evening toward the end.  I saw a few hogs, and got close on one small one, but that was it for me.  Jeff had better luck - I'll let him tell the story when he settles back in Massachusetts.

Thursday would be our last day of hunting on the lease.  Prior to leaving on this trip I had only been home for three days after returning from turkey hunting in Nebraska.  It was time to head for Wisconsin and reacquaint with my wife.

Larry Surtees had driven down from Kentucky to hunt with us and he reported that when he checked the stands earlier that day Skyler's stand had been hit sometime during the night.  

Benjy had to return home, but we had a good replacement to take his place.  Julian Tinsdale (Duckbutt) jumped at the chance to skip work and join us at the Bacon Strip.  He is a smart man!

The racetrack had shown the best action of the week so we put Julian there.  Jeff pulled the old man card and took Rob's stand since it presented a shorter walk.  I would give Skyler's a try.

It was still relatively early and I was sitting back just enjoying the sounds and smells when a fast shuffling in the leaves behind me got my attention.  

Five little hogs trotted straight in to the corn that was scattered below and started making pigs of themselves.  But they weren't alone.  Six more hung back in the palmettos behind me.  The wind was blowing directly at them, and I'm sure they caught a whiff of something they didn't like.

Of the six stragglers, one big old boar was definitely the boss.  He was huge!  I don't have a lot of experience in field judging hogs, but I had seen pictures of one Jeff had shot earlier this spring that pushed 250#.  I felt that the boss behind me was every bit of that - maybe more.  And three of his buddies were not far behind on the scale.  

This was a bachelor group, and they hadn't got so large by being stupid. After a few minutes of nosing around they turned and retreated the way they had come, and slowly walked away.  Not spooked, but they weren't coming in either.

For the next 45 minutes I watched these little guys filling their faces.
 

Eventually the little guys left, and I settled back down.  About a half hour before dark I saw movement out in front of me.  Some thing very big and very black was cautiously headed my way.   Bear!?!???  

No, it was the big boar hog from earlier, and he was back along with the rest of his buddies.  I stood slowly in anticipation of the action to come.  But for the next 25 minutes they stood and smelled, and watched, retreated, and advanced.  And stood still for long minutes at a time just watching the area.  

Finally a raccoon came in and started to feed, and that seemed to convince the hogs that all was well.  The largest of the bunch came in first, and as soon as he dropped his head to feed the rest charged in to join in the party.

I had been frozen in place and afraid to move a bit.  It had been a very intense standoff, and I was starting to cramp.  At least I am going to go with that as my excuse for watching my arrow sail harmlessly just over the largest hogs back.  

Great story  and pics guys!    

Tracy

This keeps getting better and better!   Thanks for sharing guys.

Actually, Joe, I've never taken a day off of work for a hog.  However, I did take a day off for some long over due handshakes and man hugs.

Some of my favorites...

 

You're absolutely right about that one Julian.  We travel to hunt, but it's the people that we do it with that really make the trip.  

I enjoy hunting as much as the next guy.  But I've found myself more and more choosing my trips more on the people I get to share it with than I do the species, quantity of game, etc.  

Without good campmates even the best hunting in the world loses some of its luster.  This entire trip contained some of the best of the best I have had the pleasure to be around.

It was time for this adventure to come to an end for me.  I had been gone long enough, and was ready to head for home.  But I had one more thing to do while I was in South Carolina.

Mothers Day was coming, and I needed a gift to take home for Irene.  What could I get her that would make a good souvenier of my trip?

How about a Boykin Spaniel, the official South Carolina State Dog?  A little detour to Myrtle Beach on the other side of the state and I had my answer.

 

Meet Arlo, the newest member of the family.
 

Momma had no clue that he was following me home.  Her first reaction was NO!  You didn't bring a DOG!!!
I thought for a little while there that I might have to build a bigger dog house than originally planned.  Within a matter of minutes though her heart melted and all is good in the world again.
 

Some outstanding adventures fellas.
It sure is good to see you 2 make the most of your retirement.
4 of the best of TG in that last pic.

dang I type slow.

2 of the best of Comptons with a new baby in the last couple pics

Whip's got a swamp poodle!

 

Sounds like a great trip Joe. You will love that pork.

Sounds like you are mentoring Jeff now for retirement. What kind of truck did you pick out for him?

Jeff seems to get along pretty well with a 737 for his primary hunting rig.  

Great stories guys. Thank you for taking us along. Joe, with that cute little pup and Irenes big heart you had no worries. Ya dun good!    

But really Joe, a 737 for a retirement hunting vehicle. They get terrible milage and they could be a little rough on towing horses