2021 Hog Hunt Day 2 - Under the Cover of Darkness

 Up at my normal time I putzed around online for a while before reading Donald Hall's Essays after Eighty.  It was only OK.  The beginning was good, but it didn't stay that way.

Rick and I went out to feed the stands around 9:00.  All had been hit well - the ever present question being if it was during daylight.  We kvetched about ammo availability.  Rick has been looking on gunbroker.com where it is now going for astronomical prices.

With the stands baited we headed back to the lodge.  I should have gotten a bit of exercise by walking down to the river, but ended up half-napping while watching The Office and eating lunch.  Then it was off to hunt.  Rick dropped me off at Fish Snatch where I quietly made my way down the sandy track to the box blind.  

It was warm, but once again the wind was significant.  I appreciated being in an enclosed blind with the wind; even if it did blow in, I stayed quite comfortable.  Once situated I was quite comfortable and settled in for the afternoon.

Some time through the afternoon Joe texted me. I last hunted hogs with Joe about five years ago and he continues to vicariously hunt hogs with me. Unquestionably I have met quite a few characters down here. I was glad for the distraction since not much else was moving. About the only excitement through the afternoon was when some kind of small, colorful raptor-bird landed on the shooting port of the blind when my face was only a few inches away. I'm not sure who was more startled - the bird or me.

Like the previous day as it got later the wind died down.  For about the last hour of daylight, the wind completely quit - so much that the silence was absolutely deafening.  I love these magical moments.  It was so quiet that every creek of the chair I was sitting in felt like an explosion.  The quiet also made me hopeful that the pigs would show up.

Around 45 minutes before dark, I heard some thumping to my right.  Peering through the shooting port I saw a one-antlered fork horn buck walking down the 2-track.  It either heard or smelled me and bounded away quickly after passing the shooting blind.  I also thought I saw something moving way beyond the corn pile, but I wasn't sure and if it was there it almost looked more canine-like.  Darkness came with nothing else.

I packed up my stuff and headed back to the gate.  Rick was there shortly and I got in.  We talked for a few minutes about not seeing anything on one of my favorite stands.  A few minutes later Rick asked, "How hungry are you?"  I wondered what joke I was being set up for but I really hadn't thought about eating yet.  "I'm pissed off about you not seeing anything.  Let's grab the thermal and see if we can find anything in the dark."  Being alone in camp has some priveleges.  "We ain't going to stay out all night, but let's try it."

"In a dark time, the eye begins to see." - Theodore Roethke

I dropped off my rifle while Rick got his 7mm-08 AR with FLIR scope and we headed out again, driving to a field Rick doesn't hunt with clients but whose owner has been having hog problems.  Using his handheld night scope, Rick saw many deer and a large group of hogs.  We parked at the gate, and because there was a bright light there, we hoofed it down a ways before climbing the fence and making our way to the back part of the field.  I could not believe how we could walk the field without spooking the hogs.  Many of the deer took off, but under the cover of darkness, once the pigs are settled they are fine as long as they didn't smell us.

Once at the far end of the field rick set up the rifle.  I looked through the scope and picked out a bigger hog.  They didn't look very big in the optics so I settled on the biggest one.  Since it was a group of pigs, I figured it was a big sow.  I settled the digital cross-hairs near the pigs neck and squeezed the trigger.  In AR-platform, the 7mm-08 is a pussy-cat, but it rocked the tripod.  Looking through the scope again, I saw my hog was down.

Rick grabbed the rifle and shot twice, bringing down another hog.  The rest of the group, quite confused, ran directly toward us, going into the woods next to us.  Rick and I talked quietly for a few minutes before he left to get the truck.  Standing there in the darkness I saw a vague shape and realized it was a big hog - and it was not acting right.  It took me a minute to get the FLIR back on and looking through the scope I saw it was Rick's hog.  It was close enough that I could see blood splashing off of it onto the ground.  It took me a few seconds to get the scope on the hog, but in the pitch blackness I wasn't sure what was behind the tree line.  I held off shooting - a decision I regret a little bit.

It took a while for Rick to drive up, and I told him about his pig.  We easily found bright red foamy blood that was easily followed.  Unfortunately, it was not recovered although there is little doubt it is dead.

We drove back up to my pig which was an enormous boar hog.  And despite being well shot, he wasn't done yet either.  Rick had me walk up behind it with my SP101, and I gave him a coup de grace (Rick videoed this - but it is a bit much to share...).  It never ceases to amaze me how tough a big hog is.  My shot right at the base of the skull with a hand-loaded XTP produced a near-geyser of blood.  

We took a few pictures in the darkness.  I'm quite sure it is the biggest hog I've shot and definitely had a good set of cutters on him.  Now was the next problem - how to get this beast into Ricks truck.  We ended up going back to the lodge to get the receiver tray and it was still all we could do to get him loaded up.

Back at the lodge we got him set up for better pictures in the daylight. I knew he would be inedible, but was hoping that like my 2016 hog, it might be. Sadly, he smelled truly terrible; eating him would be like eating 4-day-old skunk (although in all fairness, I've never eaten skunk). I have no issues shooting feral destructive species - but it can feel a little wasteful at times.

I was tired and Rick asked to be let off the clock. Even though I was kind of hungry, I knew if I ate a lot I'd regret it so I snacked lightly before turning in. After hog hunting for many years, night hunting was new and quite exciting. It makes me want to come back in the summer some time to have a go at it.

2019 Hog Hunt Day 6 - End on a Spotted Note

I didn't have anything else to read, so I was forced to watch TV in the morning.  Still, the coffee was good.  I started to think about the drive home, but put the thought out of my head as quickly as possible.

Other than the TV, the morning routine continued.  We dropped Will off at school and headed out to feed stands.  Most of the stands looked like they had been hit hard.  The stand I was on the previous night had been destroyed by hogs overnight; just looking out the window I could see several very large hog tracks.
Back at the lodge, Rick let me look through the pictures from the game camera.  A couple of the stands looked promising, with hogs showing late in the day, but during daylight.  However, with the previous day, I wasn't assuming anything.
With a southeast wind forecast, there were only a few choices.  Thankfully one of them was one of the stands which showed promise.

After the requisite walk to the river and back, I had down time in the lodge for a while.  I ended up watching something on the History Channel about torture.  It was probably not the best choice - I didn't want to keep seeing that over and over while on the pig stand.

Soon enough it was time to head out for my final hunt.  I was sitting on a stand very close to the road - almost too close.  It almost felt like I was road hunting in the road or that at least every car driving past would see me.  In reality I was tucked into the woods off the road and it would be nearly impossible to see me.  Still, it was hard not to look at every car that went past.

Time passed slowly at first.  After 5 days on the stand it was getting a little hard to sit still.  About an hour before dark, I saw movement near the corn pile.  Hogs started tumbling out of the woods.  This was the same group that was seen the previous night on the game camera.  None of them were monsters, but they would all be good eating.
These hogs were much calmer than the first group I shot from.  I moved the crosshairs around trying to decide what to do.  There was one boar hog that was obviously larger, and I thought about it.  But there was another way off by itself, and after my previous shooting fiasco, that made it a good option.  But in the end the awesome spotted hog was the only right choice.
I waited patiently for it to turn.  I hesitated a few times as it quartered away and was rewarded when it turned broadside.  I squeezed the trigger.
At the shot the group scattered except the spotted hog, which flopped into the water.  After a head shot, most hogs run a quarter mile without moving.  This hog swam 100 meters without moving.  And I'm sure my shot put the fear of God into the driver of the car that went by.
I kept the gun on it after it quit moving - I've seen zombie hogs before.  But it was all over.  I texted Rick to let him know.

I sat on the stand for a while.  As it started to get dark, three of the hogs came out again.  They ran over to their buddy and looked at him, probably wondering why he was taking a nap in the water.  I thought about taking another one, but I had a lot of meat and I didn't want to be too greedy.  Before I really had a chance to make up my mind, Rick showed up and the hogs ran off.  Decision made for me, and the stand will probably be good again in a few days.

Two new hunters, John and Rooster, were in camp with Rick.  Back at the lodge Winston was there so there was a lot of BSing.  Rick cleaned the hog and it went straight into my cooler.  I've always wanted a black and white spotted hog - this one was more red and black, but still a really cool pig.  The picture below doesn't do it justice compared to how it looked once it was cleaned up.  I was happy.

The other hunters went off to eat.  Rick and I talked for a bit before he headed in and I packed up for the night.
I booked again for 2020, because what would winter be without hog hunting.

2018 Hog Hunt Day 2

After a night without sufficient sleep, I knew it was pointless to keep trying so I got up.
I took a shower and made coffee.  So as to not disturb my camp mates, I continued reading my David Foster Wallace book - not the best book I've ever read, but enough of his writing is good and it does make me think.  He also does get a little wordy sometimes.

Bob and Jesse were up a couple hours later and were out the door very quickly for their trip home.  That left me in camp alone.  I kept reading until mid morning when Rick and I went to feed stands.  Most of the stands were hit and with the changing weather, there was a lot of optimism.

Back at camp I tried to nap a little before heading out to hunt.  Temperatures were supposed to head down below freezing by dark, so I suited up in my snow suit I bought while headed west to hunt mule deer only a few months previous. 

I sat on the "Goose Pond" stand.  The first couple hours passed slowly as nothing much was moving.  The wind seemed to decrease through the evening which was nice and I had a few of those absolutely placid moments when the wind stopped for a time.  At least I was very comfortable as the new snow suit was very warm and comfy.

About 5:00 I saw movement and a hog came out.  It was reddish with dark splotches on it.  I looked at it, looked at it through the scope and looked at it some more deciding it must be about 50 pounds.  A few minutes after it came out, Rick texted me to ask if there was anything; the timing made me laugh in mock suspicion.  I told him a 50 pound hog was out then quick took a picture and texted it to him.

He told me to get him a broadside picture, but just then a bigger hog came out.  I told him that and dropped the phone - this one was a shooter.
I double checked the size through the scope and put the crosshairs on his head.  Squeezing the trigger, I thumped his noggin hard.  He kicked a few seconds but was dead before he hit the ground. 
I grabbed my phone again and Rick had texted to hold out as there were some really big ones.
Too late - I told him she was on the ground (at the time, I thought it was a sow).

I decided to sit for the rest of the evening in case more hogs showed up.  A short time later two deer popped out right in front of me.  They could have cared less about me, even though I was so close, but were very apprehensive about the hog on the corn pile.

They slowly walked down and fed for a minute or two, before disappearing into the pines.  When they were near the corn pile, I felt a little better about the size of the hog I had shot.  They always look really small on the ground, but it looked decent next to the deer.
A short time later a larger group of deer came out but only stayed a few minutes.

By this time it was getting quite dark and a short time after the deer left a hog, possibly the first one I had seen, came out.  I looked at it through the scope, but it was too dark to cleanly do a head shot so I held off.  This was definitely the right thing to do, especially with one already on the ground.

Rick and Will came a short time later.  We picked up the hog and headed out.  The amount of blood was quite impressive.  I took a picture, but it is too graphic to show here...

Back at the lodge Rick and I cleaned the boar; it was about 160 pound boar hog - still a good eating size although there was a bit of hog stink. 

Since it is so early in the hunt, I decided to get the meat processed  and frozen by a friend of Rick's who makes sausage.  Usually I do this myself, but in cases like this it just makes more sense to get it done.  I ran to Food Lion to get ice and plastic bags.  The backstraps, loins and ribs went into Rick's freezer - I'll finish dealing with them when I get home.  The rest of it will go to the sausage maker.

Things happen fast in hunting.  One minute I'm deep in my own thoughts and within a few minutes a hog is on the ground. 
After a quick dinner of Campbell's Chili I called it a night - after a great afternoon.

2017 Hog Hunt Day 5

It was hot, but more on that in a bit.

After another early morning, we headed out to drop Will off at school and feed stands.  Will had some kind of a reaction to something - not poison ivy, but similar, so we detoured back to the lodge and Rick took will to the Doctor.

Benadryl and Claritin to the rescue, Will was back in fine form in no time.

Rick, Rob, Jim and I headed out to feed stands.  Many of the stands had not been hit well overnight, but not as bad as two days previous.  As we fed stands, the day began to warm considerably.  The early clouds dissipated and the sun baked South Carolina.

After baiting stands, Rick, Jim and I went to a gun store so Rick could drop off a Thompson Center rifle that was having firing pin issues.  As we headed back to the lodge, the outside temperature topped 80F - this is crazy hot for January, even for the South!  The heat is far from ideal for lots of early hog movement.

We had a little while to rest at the lodge before getting ready to head out.

I was at the newly (and humorously, if incorrectly named) Fish Snatch stand.  As I sat down and got situated, I realized that the corn pile being behind the deer fence (used to keep hogs out of the corn during deer season) would mean that I'd have to shoot through the fencing - which was not good.  Or I would have to shoot through weeds.  Neither of these are the best options.

I texted Rick and we talked it back and forth.  Ultimately, I said I would just make it work.

The first hour passed rather quickly.  I had just looked down to check to see if any messages had come through on my phone when I saw movement on the corn pile.  I got my gun ready, only to see that it was three deer.

The deer milled around eating corn for quite a while.  I thought I heard pigs off to the left a few times, but there was a lot of unusual noises and quite a bit of wind which made it hard to hear anything outside the enclosed blind.  Some jack-wad on the road kept driving past with the music blaring as well.

After the deer kept me company for a while, they looked off to the left and bolted to the right.  I figured this meant hogs were coming in, so I got my gun ready.

Sure enough, after a few more minutes, a good sized black hog walked out.  I didn't take long to think about it.  I wanted to take him (although I thought he was a sow at first) while he was behind the weeds.  Shooting through the fencing would have been a much higher risk.

I put the crosshairs at the base of the head and squeezed the trigger.  The gun report in the enclosed blind was deafeningly loud.

Looking through the scope, the hog was on the ground.  He kicked a few times and was still.  I watched him just in case for several more minutes.

I sent a few text messages, letting Rick and everyone else know.  Rick said he was heading in to get me.  Before Rick got there, another boar hog came out.  He walked over to the dead pig, then past him and starting eating corn.  He stayed in the area until Rick came to pick me up, and even stayed until we were nearly down at the corn pile.

Rick and I quickly and quietly got my hog into the truck.  Rick placated the rest of them that might be in the area by putting out more corn, and we were off.

Nobody else had seen any; it was actually surprising I had with the extreme heat of the afternoon.  Back at the lodge, Rick and Rob cleaned my hog while Jim and I went in to buy ice, other supplies in town at the grocery store.  He was a good sized eating boar somewhere in the 175 pound range.

Once back, the very recently deceased pig was put on ice as there was another day of hunting.  

Dinner that night was chicken and rice. 

With the extreme weather, I knew hunting was going to be tough and I know I was fortunate to be able to take another great hog.  The meat will be great once I get back home.

2016 Hog Hunt Day 4

After sunrise, but with good morning light, I got some better pictures of my boar, some even with me in them.

After taking the pictures, Rob and I removed the head to get boiled out for the skull.  The meat actually looked pretty good - it didn't have that deep red color and didn't smell like stinky boar, so we strung him up and removed the backstraps and hams.  Even if it isn't the best wild hog meat I've ever had, it looked good and I'm not out anything by taking it home to try it.  I was able to freeze it in Rick's freezer.  Hopefully I remember it while packing to head back home.

Belated Edit:  Back at home, the meat was deboned and much of it ground up.  I've eaten some of it now, and it is actually really good hog meat, if a bit lean.  I wish I would have kept all of the meat!

We all lollygagged around the lodge for a while before feeding a few stands with Rick and heading out to hunt.  Rob and Cody were on club land, and I was on Kyle's property, recently brought into Rick's hunting area.

The stand was a very tall ladder stand.  The afternoon was cool, not cold, with abundant sunshine and almost no wind.  It was so still, I almost didn't dare to move at all.

At around 5:15, a few deer came out, and after that, they didn't seem to stop.  Well over ten were feeding on the corn pile.  The final two deer were two bucks, one of which was a very nice one.

Staying in communication by text message, we all heard some shooting and thought it was someone in the group, but it wasn't.  Nobody saw hogs, so they must have been moving late.  A weather system is moving in which could make the last two days interesting.  

Even though I didn't see any hogs, it was an extremely nice night.  Cool, with deer to watch and quiet time to think and reflect - it was the kind of night that people who don't hunt, and often assume hunting is a blood sport, just do not understand.

2016 Hog Hunt Day 3

Rob and I were put to work in the morning moving a freezer into Rick's new shed.  The freezer was probably not as heavy as all the deer meet that was in it.  After the appliance move and restocking, we headed out to feed stands.

The stand I had been on the first night had been hit, as had most of the stands.  A hog has 24 hours a day to be in the swamp, he doesn't have to choose to be out in the daylight.

Rick was originally thinking of putting me on the club land, but decided the wind wasn't optimal for it.  After feeding the hole, which was the first of Rick's stands I ever hunted on (a decade ago now), Rick said that pigs, which had been gone for a couple days, were back and there was at least one big one in the group.  Since the wind was right for this stand, it was mine for the evening.

After feeding all the other stands, we headed back to the lodge for a short time, followed by changing into camo and heading out.

Jessie and Cody were sitting in a ground blind on Will's farm.  Rob was on the same stand I was on the first night, and I ended up in the hole.

When I first got to the stand, there was already a deer on it.  I was almost in the ground blind before she got nervous enough and bolted.  The temperatures still being unusually cool by South Carolina standards, my chair had a small frozen lake in it, which was (mostly) easily removed by pulling it up from the canvas bottom.

Time passed somewhat slowly at first, until two deer came out.  They were nervous and kept looking in my general direction, but more to the right.  This made me hopeful that something else was lurking in the pine woods.  The deer huffed and ran off, only to return and leave a few more times.  

With the deer acting nervous and daylight starting to drain, I lifted my gun up to the rail, in case anything happened quickly and to minimize motion.

Around 5:30 I saw movement to the right of the corn pile.  Definitely a pigs ear flicking.  It milled around that right hand side for what seemed like forever, only briefly showing me his head and never his body.

After several minutes of this, the pig came out just far enough for his head and neck (if hogs had necks) to clear the trees.  Putting the crosshairs on his head, I steadied for a slightly awkward shot, as the rail was just higher than what I would have liked.  

At the shot, the pig dropped and kicked a few times before laying still.  With a fresh round in the gun, I kept the crosshairs on him, just in case he got up.  But, it was over.

Some hogs look very small after hitting the ground, but I knew this was a pretty decent pig.  I texted Rick and waited to get picked up.

While sitting quietly in the blind, I heard something else, probably another hog, come up the main trail to my right.  It may have made its way to the pile, but by then it was too dark.

Rick came and got me and we drove up to get my hog.  He was a 230 pound boar hog, with the bullet having taken him out cleanly just behind his skull.  We hoisted him in the bed of the truck and went to pick up the others.  The hog stunk pretty bad, so I knew he wasn't going to be a good eater, but I didn't ask at that time.

Rob had gotten a very good sized sow, and Jessie and Cody had pigs come in just a tad too late.

Back at the lodge, the two black pigs filled a large portion of Ricks truck bed.

We talked a little about whether my hog would be eating, but he smelled like skunk so I knew he wouldn't be.  This does bother me a little, but hogs are an invasive, destructive species that breeds prolifically so I don't let it bother me too much.

Rob's pig was cleaned and hung for the night - she was quite pregnant.

The skull of mine appeared to be intact.  I've always wanted to have a large boar skull so I was planning to have it boiled out.  I set mine up to have some good pictures in the morning light.  He was nearly a twin to my other large black boar, with huge shoulders and a much smaller butt.  He also had a light colored splotch on his nose.

I was happy and still hopeful for some hog meat before the end of the week.

2015 Hog Hunt day 6 and 7 (Drive Day)

The last day or hunting started with work to do.  Rob, Cody and I went with Rick to pick up some bagged corn that Rick got a deal on (nearly half price).  Joe went shooting with Rick's neighbor Chad and then left.  The forecast was for rain, potentially heavy and Joe was not interested in sitting out during inclimate weather.

After getting the corn, we went back to the lodge for the rest of the morning and afternoon.  It started to rain in the very early afternoon so we just hung out in the lodge.

Later in the afternoon Rick dropped us all off for our last afternoon of hunting.  Jessie was dropped off at "the swamp" which gave her the best chance of seeing hogs.  I was on NG's farm in a ground blind.  Thankfully it was a box blind with a roof.  Rob and Cody were on Will's farm in another box blind.
As far as ground blinds go, I really like the box blinds since I think the give the best protection from the wind and scent moving.  The darkness also allows for a little more movement possible, although this shouldn't be seen as a substitute for sitting still.  In this case, protection from the weather, even if limited is nice.

Rain during the afternoon was a mist to a moderate rain at times.  It wouldn't have been too bad, but since hog movement was somewhat down this year the protection form rain was nice.
The box blind had a very comfortable chair in it, but it still took some time to get situated to sit still.
At one point at around 4:00 I was rearranging things in my hunting bag when I looked up and caught sight of something running across the corn pile.  I'm not 100% sure what it was, but I think it was a really big coyote.  Supporting this, later that evening I heard coyotes very near the stand.  Part of me is afraid to believe I may have missed a chance at a big hog.

Not much else moved until just before dark when several deer came out.  I watched the deer for a while, but it got darker much earlier with the rain and clouds coupled with the heavy pine trees.  After dark, I quietly made my way back to the clearing to get picked up.  Standing in the mist waiting for Rick, a few coyotes howled in the distance.  This was followed very quickly by lots of howling and yipping very near by.  It sounded like the close coyotes were very close to the blind.  That howling sound of a pack of coyotes is both eerie and magical.

Nobody else had seen any hogs which means Jessie's 11 year run of getting at least one hog is broken.  She wasn't happy and neither was Rick; I felt bad for Jessie (but I've been there).

Back at the lodge, we quartered up my boar and put it on ice in my cooler for the trip home.
We ate food that was left over from the week.  I packed up most of my stuff to be able to leave quickly and quietly in the morning.  We all booked for the same time next year.  Without the plantation, this year was tougher than most, but hopefully things will get worked out in a positive direction before 2016.
Everyone turned in early since everyone was going home the next day.

I woke up a few minutes before my phone alarm went off Saturday morning.  A quick shower, my last few things packed up and I was on the road by about 4:00AM - a little paranoid that I forgot something (as always).
Rain in the morning was very heavy at times but let up through the day.  The mountains near the Tennessee/North Carolina border were somewhat snowy with more snow on the ground through Tennessee and most of Kentucky.
I listened tot he book Skyjack, The Hunt for D.B. Cooper by Geoffrey Gray.  I've always had an interest in the Dan Cooper hijacking case.  The book morphed form an interesting investigation of the November, 1971 events into his interactions with increasingly bizarre and conspiracy-oriented people.  It was hard to tell from the book if his interactions with the crazies were somewhat tongue in cheek, especially since the book was read by the author.  The conspiracy theories got pretty outlandish; the biggest problem with conspiracy theories is they kind of have to be all right or all wrong, there isn't much room for partial truth.

Back at home I unpacked before resting for the evening.  I was able to weigh my recovered bullet form the hog at 113 grains, meaning almost 70% weight retention after an aggressive path through the animal.  Fairly impressive!
A good part of Sunday was spent processing my hog into loins, steaks and burgers, ending this year's wild boar hunt.

2015 Hog Hunt Day 5

Morning came with work to do.  Rob, Joe and I skinned and finished cleaning the two hogs from the previous evening.  We put them in Rob's cooler which was alternately being turned on and off to keep things cool without freezing.
While cleaning the hogs, we were able to recover bullets from each animal.  This is the second time I've been able to recover bullets from a hog, the first being a .380 - which is more understandable (and quite a story).
Joe's recovered bullet was just the jacket.  Likely the lead core had shattered while passing through the spine.
My recovered bullet told the tale of the bullet path.  The handloaded Ballistic Tip had entered the hogs head near the "cheek" and passed through the skull.  It exited behind the skull and reentered the far leg, lodging in the off side of the leg right under the skin.  I've heard of early designs of Nosler Ballistic Tips being "too fragile" for large animals but in this case the bullet stayed together very well.

After cleaning the hogs, we fed stands with Rick and then lounged around the lodge for a while, and was able to take a longer afternoon walk to scare the neighbors more.

After Rick picked up Will from school, we headed out.  Joe was playing junior guide and dropped me off on the same land as Joe was on the previous evening, but we were both on the stands that were farther back.

I was on a small ladder stand for the evening.  The evening started slow with very little seen, but hearing turkey's roost up ahead.  Three deer came out a little after 5:00 which at least gave me something to watch.  At one point they took off running and I was hopeful the porkers were on their way in, but it was just another deer.
Several more deer came out and were in front of me until after dark when I slipped out to meet Joe back at the fork in the road.  Nobody else saw any hogs - Jessie has yet to see one after an 11 year run of getting at least one hog every year.

The next day's weather forecast was deteriorating with rain, and potentially lots of it.

2015 Hog Hunt Day 4

The day started as the previous two.  Early up.  Short walk.  BSing in the lodge.
Rob skinned his hogs and got them in his cooler.

Rob, Joe and I went with Rick to feed up stands.  Johnsonville had been hit pretty good overnight so there wasn't too much worry about my spooking the hogs while walking out the evening previous.  Chalk one up for walking quietly without a flashlight.

We went back to the lodge and got ready to head out.  Joe was headed to the same stand where I shot my very large hog a few years back.  But, instead of using the ladder stand, his plan was to hang back and use his bench rest rifle.  Joe and Cody were in a stand nearby.
Rick took Jessie to Will's farm and I went back to Johnsonville.  Rick told me that since the hogs were not patterning at the various corn piles at all, it was time to make some action.  I was to sit on the stand on the road and if nothing showed up before dark to make my way over to the other stand I was on the night previous to see if they were there.  The exception to the rule of:  Don't get out of the stand!

The evening passed slowly.  The ground blind was fairly uncomfortable with my legs tucked up in an awkward position.  The spot was also at quite an angle to the left and back.  Thankfully, my sciatica was cooperating on this trip.
Near dark I dark after not seeing anything, I releveled my shooting sticks, took one last peak in through the scope and headed very quietly to the other stand.  I'll admit that as I was getting up I thought that moving and trying to sneak up on mythical hogs was probably pretty dumb.  I hugged the right hand side of the road and peered around the last bush to see a whole mess of hogs milling around the corn pile.  But, it was dark, almost dark, dark.  I crawled on my hands and knees with my rifle and shooting sticks and set up.  I wasn't happy with the level of light.  Five minutes earlier would have made all the difference.
I could still see the crosshairs, but with so many hogs, I didn't want to have a pass-through wound or even worse a bad shot and wound.  I picked out a lighter colored hog near front that didn't have much else around it.  It definitely wasn't the biggest one, but the black hogs were too hard to see to risk shooting.  The lighter one was quartering toward me, nearly facing me.
At the shot, the hogs scattered, but not in a panic mode.  For the second time in recent hunts the muzzle blast of my gun temporarily blinded me in the dim light.  Through the scope I could see my hog flopping.  The lack of noise told me it was hit good and in a few seconds it stopped flopping.  There was still a bit of worry since it wasn't easy to see after the shot and the hog was covered in mud after the shot.

I quietly made my way back to my first stand.  I had a text from Rick saying he was at the clear cut.  I responded that I was pretty sure I had a hog down and to come get me.  He drove up a few minutes later and after driving to the other stand we easily found my boar on the left hand side behind the big mud wallow.  It wasn't the biggest hog I've ever taken, but given the circumstances and the fact that this one was taken in stealth mode, I was happy.  It was also probably one of the first hogs taken on this farm in quite some time.

We loaded up my hog and went back to meet the others.  Joe had shot a hog with his wildcat 7mm Norma Magnum bench rifle at a confirmed 498 yards.  Impressive!  The others in the group hadn't seen anything.

We cleaned the hogs and left them to hang overnight.

2015 Hog Hunt Day 3

The day started as the previous day with me getting up early.  I again took a walk down to the river and back.  Later in the evening Rick showed me a picture that a neighbor sent asking if the dude walking down the road was "one of his guys".  This just helps prove what I say about walking and why I need to have dogs:  An ugly old man walking alone down a rural road is a vagrant.  An ugly old man walking down the road with a dog is quaint.

We hung out at the lodge for a while while Rick and Joe went to the taxidermist and start to feed stands.  Early in the afternoon I left with Rick to finish feeding stands and pick Will up at school.  Then they dropped me off in the rough for the evening.  I was hunting the same property as the previous night, but a different stand.  We met the Forester of the property as we were driving in and he commented on how something needs to be done about the hogs before the clear-cut patch was replanted, "or there is just no point."
The stand I was on was the same stand as Rob, Cody and Will were on the previous evening.  They had heard hogs, seen a bobcat and the pile had been hit hard the night before.
The night was warmer than Monday, but also much noisier.  There was more wind, the peepers were deafening and there were numerous other tree frogs, dogs etc. all making noise.  I thought I heard a hog squeal at one point, but it was hard to tell for sure.
The evening progressed slowly.  As it got dark, a pretty amazing sunset could be seen through the pines.  The sun shone up on the staccato clouds, making a very pretty red to orange scene.

After dark I packed up my stuff and headed out to meet Rick back at the clear cut.  I packed and walked out without the flashlight.  As I neared the corn pile on the road about 100 yards from where I was sitting, I thought I saw a hog standing in the road next to a water hole.  I was walking very quietly so stopped and looked; I thought I saw a couple more hogs behind the first.  I thought for a second about what I should do when one of the hogs squealed.  The larger hog nearest me ran straight toward me, close enough I could have kicked it before doing a 180 and hightailing it to the left.  The other hogs followed.  I probably startled the hogs being able to walk up with 10-15 yards of them.  I know they scared me for an instant.  It was both interesting and frustrating to know that there were hogs within about 100 yards from where I was sitting.

After getting to the truck and relaying the brief excitement to Rick, we headed out to the property where Joe, Jess, Rob and Cody were.  Both Rob and Cody had shot very respectable boar hogs weighing in near 175 and 200 pounds respectively.  Nicely, neither hog smelled bad and so both should be good eating.

It was good that someone in the group got hogs on the ground, let alone two really decent ones.  Now for the rest of us.

2015 Hog Hunt Day 2

I was up before everyone else and poked around online until other life started stirring.
The day started cold, but warmed quickly with a nearly cloudless sky.  After morning coffee, I took a quick walk down to the river.  I don't have dogs to walk here, but at least I can stay somewhat active.

After lollygagging around for a while, Rick, Joe and I went out to feed stands.  Many of the stands looked good.  It will be interesting to see how the hunting goes without hunting at the plantation this year.
After feeding stands, we went back to the lodge to get ready for the afternoon.  I was hunting at a new farm near Johnsonville, with Rob hunting nearby on the same property with Cody and Will.
I was sitting in a ground blind about 50 yards from the corn pile.  There was quite a swamp right to my right through the thick brush.  The ground blind was better than some I've sat in as it was tucked in tight to the brush with a nice window to shoot through.
The evening progressed slowly without seeing anything.  It started out warm, but as the sun sunk it got colder quickly with very little humidity in the air.  It was odd to get updates from home by email as I was in the blind.  I felt a little guilty for being down here.

I unloaded the gun at dark and met back at the rendevous point.  Rob, Cody and Will had seen a bobcat.  Jessie had seen deer, and Joe hadn't seen anything.

We had dinner back at the lodge before turning in after the first night of the 2015 hunt.

2015 Hog Hunt Day 1 (Drive Day)

Morning came early as I got up at my usual time for work.  I got ready quickly and was out the door by a little after 4:00.  Weather was relatively warm for the time of year, with a light rain falling.  The rain persisted, very lightly for the first half of the trip.  Mostly this was just seen by wet roads.

Quite a bit is going on right now.  So much, that I wasn't sure I was actually going to be able to make my annual trip to South Carolina to hunt wild boar.  There were several heavy things on my mind as I headed south; deep in thought, I blew through a stop sign very near home.  This is through an intersection I drive through relatively often so it was a wake-up call.  The rural area I live in is devoid of activity at 4:00, but it was a message to pay attention with a long drive ahead.

As could be predicted, traffic was non-existent on an early Sunday morning.  Once on the interstate, I listened to the book How Starbucks Saved My Life by Michael Gates Gill.  It was a book about a man who grew up in a privileged environment, had a high level advertising job and family, then lost it all.  He ended up working at Starbucks and loving it.  For whatever reason, I found parallels to some of the stuff going on.  Not that these parallels really existed, it was just my frame of mind.

As with previous trips, I saw the sunrise near the Kentucky/Tennessee border.  With the clouds breaking it was very pretty.  As the sun rose, sun blindness was actually a problem which is a good problem to have compared to years where bad weather chased me south.

I made it to the lodge in about 11 hours, so good time was made.  No one was there so I hung out and almost fell asleep until Rick came back.  He was with another hunter who had just gotten to camp named Joe.  We talked a bit until Jessie and Robert arrived with their son Cody.

We ate dinner at the lodge followed by generally BSing and getting to know each other.  I was having a hard time staying awake, and so turned in for the night relatively early.