All but one of the stands had been hit well, so it was up to Rick to decide where we were going to sit. Back at the lodge, Denis and Claude went out to go to town. I got in an almost-real nap.
Rick and I headed out to get another trailer full of corn. These things are always more of an adventure than they sound like they should be. Rick shared a game camera picture to Facebook of a very large boar in daylight at one of his stands. Since Denis had been hunting with Rick for some time and really wanted to shoot a big boar with teeth, I assumed this might be where he would end up.
I had just enough time to quick get ready for my last afternoon of hunting.
Rick dropped Claude and I off at the same property where I was the previous day. I helped Claude get pointed to his stand where I had quite a walk back to my stand. I was a bit bummed that not only was this my last day of hunting in South Carolina, but also that this would likely close out the 19/20 season. And what a season it has been. I had a great bear hunt in Manitoba. I had my first attempts at waterfowl hunting, and my first duck. I had a deer season which put venison in the freezer and had one of the most pleasant and memorable days of deer hunting. And I had two hogs in the coolers - connecting with old friends in the process. As I neared the stand, my mood changed to one of gratitude.
Before getting into my stand I walked a short way down the road to peak at the corn pile. Seeing something, I watched carefully and saw it was a buck. Carefully making my way back to the stand and climbing in, I was really surprised the buck didn't bolt. While he probably wouldn't have made many hunters happy, I would have shot him if I was hunting deer.
The afternoon was extremely pleasant. The temperature was nearly perfect at a little below 50F. The sky was cloudy and wind was minimal. This is as good as it gets.
At some point the buck wandered off and I had quite a wait. I was sitting in the same crazy Some Kind of Wonderful stand from the previous year, but it seemed like it was less uncomfortable than I remembered. Still not my favorite, but I shot a hog the previous year from this stand so hopes were high.
I noticed dark movement on the corn pile as a lone turkey walked in. It only stayed for a few minutes before making its way out.
After another wait four does came out. They stayed on the corn pile for quite some time. I enjoyed watching them and I knew if any hogs were imminent the deer would run off, so it made watching and listening for hogs a little easier.
While the four deer were in front of me, I got a text from SO asking "what I was up to." We don't chitchat and she knows I'm hunting, so this was out of character making me wonder if something was wrong. As it was, the text was misdirected to me - so who was that intended for when she should be on her way home to take care of the dogs???
The does left and the buck returned again. I got a better look at him and while not real wide, he had good height and reasonable mass. He was nervous and flitted in and out for a little while.
Noise behind me made me hopeful since the hogs the previous year on this stand came from behind me. Carefully turning around I saw several turkeys. They wandered around behind me for a while before heading away from me and not toward the corn pile.
After the turkeys headed off away from me into the brush, it started to get dark. I watched the buck on the corn pile as it got darker and darker. He was joined by at least two more deer, but considering I was having a hard time seeing them, I knew it was time to call it a hunt.
I unloaded my gun and packed up my stuff to head out. Since I needed to walk past Claude, I waited a bit in case his night vision was better than mine.
Denis had indeed shot a very large boar that weighed out at just below 240 pounds (and sorry for the somewhat graphic picture). He was quite happy to have finally dropped a large boar.
Back at the lodge I packed up most of my stuff. Denis and Claude again graciously shared their meal of steak, brussel sprouts and potatoes with me.
We all agreed it would be fun to meet up again next year to go after hogs again.
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