Posted: 14 February 2005 at 15:26 | IP Logged

Well, I'm back from my hog hunt.  Looks like yall didn't manage to wreck the place while I was gone

Anywhoo it was an adventure so sit back, and pick up your favorite legal beverage (HINT: Crown Royal) and read on!

Preparations for this hunt took several months perse'.  I did my homework and contacted the South Carolina Division of Natural Resources for information on hunting wild hogs.  Checked a few forums on the internet too!  All proved helpful in pointing me in the right direction.  The hunt location was to be:

I had tried and tried to get a few hunting buddies to go but alas the only person to take me up on the offer was my girlfriend's father.  Wonderful fellow and was glad he went.  We left out early on Wednesday the 9th and made the 8 hour drive down to our camping cabins in the town of Florence.  Folks, for the money and the amenities, these things are hard to beat:

After making a hasty unpacking we headed out to do some scouting and came to the above gate pic.  I was under the impression that the only "authorized vehicles" allowed on the road were game wardens and wildlife managers but alas we were allowed to drive in as well!  Great, saved us some boot leather but not much!

The next day we woke up out of our bunks and headed out to the area to check out the "X's" I had marked as potential hotspots from my tabletop scouting.  We were really going in blind with the only advice being - "get away from the crowds and concentrate on the waterways".  That we did and didn't start seeing sign until about 1 1/2 miles into the property!  Quite a lot of walking as you couldn't go straight line dead reckoning but a lot of walking around swamps and cane thickets.

I stillhunted my way up this one old logging road as my partner did about a mile down the road.  Didn't see sign of ANYTHING until about 1 mile in and then started seeing everything - deer tracks, rubs, turkey feathers, hog tracks, hog rootings, etc.  That might be a good spot for tomorrow I thought as we were going to be hunt/scouting until we felt confident in finding a good spot. 

The afternoon of our 1st day we headed off to another area.  This time we were headed south.  Again, lots of walking and scouting.  However, we started seeing a lot more "good" swamps.  I can't rightly describe what made a "good" swamp for the hogs but could tell them by sight.  Here's what one of those "good" swamps might look like:

The swamps were common around this area and we later decided that the only "pattern" these hogs had was to move from swamp to swamp.  I was able to set up on several good swamps and heard hogs coming but no shot opportunity.  Around 3:30 PM or so I heard a shot that sounded like it was my hunting buddy's.  I called him on the radio and sure enough he had taken a hog!  He had set up on a swamp with lots of good sign and was there for about 30 minutes when a nice 150 lb boar came out and presented him with about a 75 yard shot.  With one well placed shot out of his Winchester Model 70 Westerner in 30-06 shooting 165 grain Sierra Hollowpoints the boar went down.  Beginners have all the luck!  But what a happy hunter:

Now dragging that SOB through the swamp and having to do a field quartering in the middle of nowhere is not my idea of fun but as one blue collar comedian says, "we got 'er done!"

We continued to hunt the next two days and decided that we'd hunt further south of where my hunting buddy had taken his boar as sign seemed to be improving the closer to the water we got. We spent some time back at the cabin Thursday morning cleaning up the hog he had taken but still got out into the woods around 11:00 AM and hunted till dark.  We didn't see much in the way of critters but plenty more sign.  We seemed to bump into a lot of locals but they were hunting real close to road and during our daylong excursions in the back country we didn't see anyone!  Kinda nice too!  On our way out we were stopped by a game warden a very friendly southern guy who tried giving us a few pointers and when we made mention of the hog we got he said that there's been people in the area we had been hunting that had been hunting all week and not taken anything.  I told him that we were going a pretty good clip in and that we probably lost everyone except the biggest diehards and he agreed as nobody wanted to drag critters out that far - including us!  He checked us for our licenses and was just very very hospitable, thanking us for making the trip and offering tips and advice. 

The next day we headed out on a daylong hunt even further south.  My hunting buddy made every effort, against my wishes, to drive hogs to me.  We saw some but couldn't get a shot at any and decided that in the afternoon we'd just sit up on the edge of a swamp and watch. 

As the sun started to makes it evening descent, I decided we'd make a "last stand" at the edge of this swamp:

Nothing ever showed but on our way out I bumped a big wad of hogs out - probably 6-8 of them but without any shot opportunities. 

A tough, rewarding hunt though I didn't get any.  But having the opportunity to take my potential father in law hog hunting for his first hog was all the reward I could wish for and then some.

A truly successful hunt.  We traveled sight unseen 8 hours south to a state that neither of us had hunted for an animal that one of us had never hunted before and I had only hunted for a handful of times myself.  Going in blind without any first-hand knowledge on an area over 2500 acres in size, just finding sign was very rewarding in and of itself.  For this time of year this was an opportunity I hope to repeat many times in the future as most other seasons are closed.  Only next time I'll not have to spend so much boot leather hunting up a good spot

Posted: 15 February 2005 at 14:42 | IP Logged

Man that looks like it was fun. I can see where it wouldn't be fun dragging a pig throuh the swamp for a mile or better though.

DD

Posted: 15 February 2005 at 16:41 | IP Logged

 Nothing like that up here in these parts. Looks like fun, especially this time of year. I'd bone out that thing in the field and slap the meat on a pack frame. And i must add who'd a thought a '06 would be up to such a task.

Posted: 15 February 2005 at 19:03 | IP Logged

Good job Mountaineer...Glad you guys had fun and brought some meat back with ya.

Gene

Posted: 16 February 2005 at 18:59 | IP Logged

Mountaineer;

Congratulations on an interesting hunt, to say the least.  Never hurts to make points with the prospective in-laws either. 

Now let's hope he don't root for the 'other' college football team!

 900F