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Post by medic22 on Jan 17, 2021 21:34:38 GMT -5
Followed by two days with the family, then I'm off to Tennessee on a hog hunt. The same hunt that was cancelled cause of covid last April.
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Post by scrub-buster on Jan 17, 2021 22:07:30 GMT -5
Good luck!
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Post by esshup on Jan 18, 2021 2:03:33 GMT -5
Leaves off the trees, you will have an easier time.
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Post by greghopper on Jan 18, 2021 6:36:22 GMT -5
Don’t forget the carrots 😊
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Post by blackmouthcur on Jan 18, 2021 9:32:43 GMT -5
I don’t mean to be a Debbie downer but I did one of those in Tennessee years ago and to be honest it just wasn’t my cup of tea. The meat was great as was the lodging but not much when it comes to fair chase. I’d rather of went to Texas or somewhere else where they have a wild hog problem. The buffalo they had there would walk with us as we hunted, I could’ve took a hammer instead of my gun. But to each his own, I hope you have a good time.
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Post by medic22 on Jan 18, 2021 9:43:12 GMT -5
I don’t mean to be a Debbie downer but I did one of those in Tennessee years ago and to be honest it just wasn’t my cup of tea. The meat was great as was the lodging but not much when it comes to fair chase. I’d rather of went to Texas or somewhere else where they have a wild hog problem. The buffalo they had there would walk with us as we hunted, I could’ve took a hammer instead of my gun. But to each his own, I hope you have a good time. Weve been here before. Its fenced but its 400 acres behind a 4 foot fence. Last time we went, we got both our pigs with a spot and stalk bow hunt, we worked for it. If it was like a petting zoo, we wouldnt go back. Texas is on the list, but its just hard to fit into our schedules. Someone else here has been to the same.lodge and had a similar experience.
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Post by MuzzleLoader on Jan 18, 2021 9:56:08 GMT -5
southernohiohuntingpreserve.com/I did this one years ago. It wasn’t easy. Like hunting in Smokey mountains. drops offs and a lot of hills. Hog was excellent eating. Don’t think I could do that kinda exertion today on the old bod.
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Post by steiny on Jan 18, 2021 11:38:36 GMT -5
Good luck ! I'm hog hunting in SE Alabama in March. It's a fun trip to break things up between the hunting season and spring fishing and mushrooms.
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Post by esshup on Jan 18, 2021 12:16:41 GMT -5
I don’t mean to be a Debbie downer but I did one of those in Tennessee years ago and to be honest it just wasn’t my cup of tea. The meat was great as was the lodging but not much when it comes to fair chase. I’d rather of went to Texas or somewhere else where they have a wild hog problem. The buffalo they had there would walk with us as we hunted, I could’ve took a hammer instead of my gun. But to each his own, I hope you have a good time. Weve been here before. Its fenced but its 400 acres behind a 4 foot fence. Last time we went, we got both our pigs with a spot and stalk bow hunt, we worked for it. If it was like a petting zoo, we wouldnt go back. Texas is on the list, but its just hard to fit into our schedules. Someone else here has been to the same.lodge and had a similar experience. Loshbough? If yes, then it was me. My guys all did the spot and stalk, although the first year I sat in one of the box ground blinds(no floor in the blind, it was dirt). I shot one, my buddy came to see what I shot and I saw more pigs coming. I told him to get in the blind and be quiet. They were coming RIGHT FOR the blind and when I told him to get the gun out the window he turned and looked at me as if to say "What, now?? By that time they were too close and I told him to turn around and don't move. The sounder came so close that one was so close to the blind he couldn't see it because he was sitting, I was standing and the door to the blind wouldn't close. One stuck it's nose in the doorway just as my buddy turned around. I don't know who's eyes got bigger, his or the pigs. I think if the walls weren't there he would have ran faster than the pig did trying to get away from us. He ended up getting one the next morning, but that was a memorable trip for sure.
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Post by medic22 on Jan 18, 2021 13:02:09 GMT -5
Weve been here before. Its fenced but its 400 acres behind a 4 foot fence. Last time we went, we got both our pigs with a spot and stalk bow hunt, we worked for it. If it was like a petting zoo, we wouldnt go back. Texas is on the list, but its just hard to fit into our schedules. Someone else here has been to the same.lodge and had a similar experience. Loshbough? If yes, then it was me. My guys all did the spot and stalk, although the first year I sat in one of the box ground blinds(no floor in the blind, it was dirt). I shot one, my buddy came to see what I shot and I saw more pigs coming. I told him to get in the blind and be quiet. They were coming RIGHT FOR the blind and when I told him to get the gun out the window he turned and looked at me as if to say "What, now?? By that time they were too close and I told him to turn around and don't move. The sounder came so close that one was so close to the blind he couldn't see it because he was sitting, I was standing and the door to the blind wouldn't close. One stuck it's nose in the doorway just as my buddy turned around. I don't know who's eyes got bigger, his or the pigs. I think if the walls weren't there he would have ran faster than the pig did trying to get away from us. He ended up getting one the next morning, but that was a memorable trip for sure. Yep. Loshbough is where were going. We did stands the first morning, wasnt fun. The first evening we probably put in 3 miles of hiking before we saw the first pig and we doubled up with bows. Planning to just do spot and stalk bow hunting again and have a back up gun for the last evening.
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Post by parrothead on Jan 18, 2021 13:11:57 GMT -5
Killem all. Hate those things. My hunting club in Bama is loaded with them. You can only kill one turkey a day down there so I will spend the rest of that day chasing hogs. Killed 30 plus in 10 days down there numerous times.
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Post by esshup on Jan 18, 2021 20:11:13 GMT -5
Loshbough? If yes, then it was me. My guys all did the spot and stalk, although the first year I sat in one of the box ground blinds(no floor in the blind, it was dirt). I shot one, my buddy came to see what I shot and I saw more pigs coming. I told him to get in the blind and be quiet. They were coming RIGHT FOR the blind and when I told him to get the gun out the window he turned and looked at me as if to say "What, now?? By that time they were too close and I told him to turn around and don't move. The sounder came so close that one was so close to the blind he couldn't see it because he was sitting, I was standing and the door to the blind wouldn't close. One stuck it's nose in the doorway just as my buddy turned around. I don't know who's eyes got bigger, his or the pigs. I think if the walls weren't there he would have ran faster than the pig did trying to get away from us. He ended up getting one the next morning, but that was a memorable trip for sure. Yep. Loshbough is where were going. We did stands the first morning, wasnt fun. The first evening we probably put in 3 miles of hiking before we saw the first pig and we doubled up with bows. Planning to just do spot and stalk bow hunting again and have a back up gun for the last evening. After that first hunt in the blind all we did the following years was spot and stalk. It's amazing how well critters inside a fence can stay away from you. My buddy and I saw a HUGE Boar after we shot ours the first year. We looked at each other and we concluded NOT to shoot 2nd one. Daniel said we were seeing things when we described the hog - said that there wasn't anything in there that big. That Fall a guy that was deer hunting shot it. The taxidermist said that he had a winch that was mounted on top of the ceiling joists, and picking the hog up by the neck with the head against the 8' tall ceiling the feet were still on the concrete floor. The shoulder mount that he did was on the floor the next Spring when we were there. It's snout was about half way between my belt and my arm pit. The thing was HUGE. When we asked Daniel about it the next year he said "I owe you an apology. I thought you guys were pulling my leg when you described how big it was. We never saw it, not even when we were running the dogs. You guys were right." I think he said he has 9 miles of fencing there.
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Post by greghopper on Jan 18, 2021 21:26:20 GMT -5
Killem all. Hate those things. My hunting club in Bama is loaded with them. You can only kill one turkey a day down there so I will spend the rest of that day chasing hogs. Killed 30 plus in 10 days down there numerous times. Is this club area fenced in or just pigs moving from one property to another with free range? I am assuming this is day light hunting also!
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Post by medic22 on Jan 18, 2021 21:35:59 GMT -5
Yep. Loshbough is where were going. We did stands the first morning, wasnt fun. The first evening we probably put in 3 miles of hiking before we saw the first pig and we doubled up with bows. Planning to just do spot and stalk bow hunting again and have a back up gun for the last evening. After that first hunt in the blind all we did the following years was spot and stalk. It's amazing how well critters inside a fence can stay away from you. My buddy and I saw a HUGE Boar after we shot ours the first year. We looked at each other and we concluded NOT to shoot 2nd one. Daniel said we were seeing things when we described the hog - said that there wasn't anything in there that big. That Fall a guy that was deer hunting shot it. The taxidermist said that he had a winch that was mounted on top of the ceiling joists, and picking the hog up by the neck with the head against the 8' tall ceiling the feet were still on the concrete floor. The shoulder mount that he did was on the floor the next Spring when we were there. It's snout was about half way between my belt and my arm pit. The thing was HUGE. When we asked Daniel about it the next year he said "I owe you an apology. I thought you guys were pulling my leg when you described how big it was. We never saw it, not even when we were running the dogs. You guys were right." I think he said he has 9 miles of fencing there. We requested the same guide again. Were hoping after this trip he just lets us do our own thing the next time were there.
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Post by parrothead on Jan 18, 2021 21:36:14 GMT -5
All free range club is 2,500 acres. Yes I just walk/ride 4 wheeler and shoot them. Club rules say guys are suppose to shot every hog they see, but they dont because the dont want to mess up deer hunt.
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Post by esshup on Jan 19, 2021 0:28:10 GMT -5
After that first hunt in the blind all we did the following years was spot and stalk. It's amazing how well critters inside a fence can stay away from you. My buddy and I saw a HUGE Boar after we shot ours the first year. We looked at each other and we concluded NOT to shoot 2nd one. Daniel said we were seeing things when we described the hog - said that there wasn't anything in there that big. That Fall a guy that was deer hunting shot it. The taxidermist said that he had a winch that was mounted on top of the ceiling joists, and picking the hog up by the neck with the head against the 8' tall ceiling the feet were still on the concrete floor. The shoulder mount that he did was on the floor the next Spring when we were there. It's snout was about half way between my belt and my arm pit. The thing was HUGE. When we asked Daniel about it the next year he said "I owe you an apology. I thought you guys were pulling my leg when you described how big it was. We never saw it, not even when we were running the dogs. You guys were right." I think he said he has 9 miles of fencing there. We requested the same guide again. Were hoping after this trip he just lets us do our own thing the next time were there. We'd get "Here's the keys to the truck, you have my cell number, call me when it's on the ground." LOL We knew to shut all the gates and double check them so nothing could wedge them open.
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Post by greghopper on Jan 23, 2021 7:34:54 GMT -5
Well either the Hogs got him or he ran out of carrots🤔...
Update?
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Post by esshup on Jan 23, 2021 18:02:38 GMT -5
Well either the Hogs got him or he ran out of carrots🤔... Update? Unless things changed there, cell signal is VERY poor.
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Post by medic22 on Jan 24, 2021 16:39:44 GMT -5
Well either the Hogs got him or he ran out of carrots🤔... Update? Unless things changed there, cell signal is VERY poor. Nothing has changed. It still sucks at the lodge, I had enough signal in the woods to send a few texts. Shot a sow yesterday morning. I'll try and get a write up tonight. It was an interesting trip this year.
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Post by medic22 on Jan 25, 2021 17:18:00 GMT -5
So this time around was a little different. They were down to one guide because the rest have all moved on to other jobs because of the covid slow down.
This left one guide to 9 hunters, as there was a group of 7 Polish guys from the Chicago area. The first morning they stand hunted which left is to spot and stalk with the guide.
We got in late after getting all of them set up in stands but managed to put in a couple miles and finally spotted a boar and a sow along one of the 4 wheeler trails. My buddy decided to take thhe boar (and a couple hunts later I would eventually take the sow).
We stalked up to within 35 yards but the sow saw us (or something she didnt like), and they got just out of range and stayed there for several hundred yards. We finally managed to get in front of them as they angled down a hill and my buddy put 2 arrows in him.
Despite at least a single lung shot and a liver shot, we had to track blood for 300 yards before finally catching back up to them (we think the sow pushed him) in a stand of russian olives, where my buddy put a 900 grain arrow in one side of the pigs head and out the other. Despite all of this, he still had to stab it when it fell in the creek and was too weak to get out.
I passed on the sow a couple times throughout this because we had one wounded pig and that was the focus, and even though she bluffed charged us a few times, I didnt seem right at the time.
Fast forward to that afternoon, the Polish guys wanted to run dogs, so the guide sat 3 in stands and took 4 and us to run dogs. I didnt want to do it so I decided I was going to be very picky. Despite my urgings, he wouldnt let us go off on our own. I was also a little nervous shooting my bow around the dogs.
They got on a boar pretty quickly and the first Polish guy dropped it with one shot. While gutting it out the dogs had gotten on more pigs.
This time they had 2 boars and 2 sows cornered where my buddy had first shot his boar, they had been eating the blood in the leaves. Another Polish guy shot the biggest boar, the third and myself passed. I wasnt shooting into 3 pigs so close together. One sow was the one I already passed, one of the boars was mean and did charge us a few times, but he was young and not very big so he got a pass for his behavior.
On our way out we picked up some tracks and I went ahead solo to try and get a shot, but it was the mean boar and his small sow again, so we called it a night.
On Saturday morning, all 9 of us went out and within a few minutes the dogs were on a boar and a sow. It was the mean boar from the previous evening and he made it interesting. He took 3 28 nosler rounds before going down, but he injured a dogs leg before dying. The sow charged someone so she got 2 rounds also.
While gutting those out, the dogs got onto 3 more. The remaining 3 polish guys took care of them.
Once again, within minutes of getting those pigs down, the dogs were back on another pih, deep in the Russian Olives from the previous morning. I took off with the guide, my buddy in tow, and I think a couple of the Polish guys came to watch, they were curious how many arrows it would take.
We snaked a couple hundred yards through the russian olives and found the dogs had bayed that same sow from the first hunt. I had already decided I would shoot her that day, and while she had her attention on the dogs, I crawled up to 10 yards.
She had some brush obscuring her vitals but I have a 575 grain arrow with 19% foc. I drew back and got the all clear from the guide, just as a dog stepped in the way, he called me off, but I had already seen it (this is why I didnt want to hunt with dogs).
The dog cleared just enough and I was given the go ahead, I had already settled my pin so I released it. Entered in next to the front side shoulder, and exited the neck on the offside, taking both lungs, the heart, and the jugulars out in the process. She turned and ran at us, bouncing off of a couple of us before crashing 5 yards behind us. She took 4 more breaths from there.
It was pretty exciting working with the dogs, but I think that would very much be a last evening, gotta get it done type of hunt for me.
All in all I was happy with it, and I brought home a cooler full of meat, and despite coming close a few times, I didnt end up with any extra holes in me.
Turns out my Sow was pregnant with 10 or so piglets, and had also recently been beat up by a boar, as well as the dogs. I felt kind of bad for her. This also means by official count I have killed 12 pigs with 2 shots, a fun stat to throw out to my buddy when were being competitive.
I don't think I will go back again unless I know they have the guide situation worked out, there were too many guys with guns for one person to deal with.
I also dont think ill go back in January, all of the hogs were too young to have cutters yet, not sure when the best time to go is, but I know in October they had cutters so I guess thats when we will go back, again, if they deal with the guide situation.
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