Trad Gang

Ray took me to his spot in SC this weekend to hunt hogs. Inspired by Flint River and his awesome pics during his hunt with Ray, I tried to pay him back a bit with these. I'll try to stretch this out a lil in true Charlie fashion:

I met Ray at his house Friday afternoon around 3pm. After loading all the gear and 5 coolers in his truck (we had high hopes), we spent the next 6 hours fighting traffic to get to Augusta. A stop for a hot meal, licenses, and some vittles and we were on our way deep into the SC lowland to Ray's camp. We talked of our past and the coming adventure well into the night, crawling into the racks later than we really should have.

Up early Sat morning, we ate a quick snack and began prepping our gear for the hunt. It was already sweltering hot and we both sweat freely as we touched up broaheads and made sure our thermacells were working.

As we slipped down the trail to the areas Ray suggested we check first, we came across the most unusual insect I've seen in some time:

   (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/7-29-06%20Hog%20Hunt/Picture002.jpg)

This thing was a good 3"'s long and bigger around than a nickel, with colors more at home at a greatful dead concert than in the woods. Funny, we weren't very far from the Savannah River Site, where all of the U.S. Plutonium is refined     :eek:        :cool:    

We slipped down the road with Ray giving me a history lesson on the place, pointing in a whisper one to particularly productive place after another. I saw hog sign just about everywhere and we hadn't even gotten into the swamp area yet.....

JC,  I just ran across a very similar type of insect, same shape and colours...wow, I noticed it in my wood pile as I was moving firewood in my back yard, I was wondering the same thing too  :)

Daniel

I like it already!   :thumbsup:

a baby grasshopper...   :bigsmyl:

Ray took me deeper into the swamp, the air got slightly cooler as we traveled further beneath the canopy. Now it was only 85 degrees at 8am instead of 90 in the more open clear cut area we had just come through.

It was mixture of oaks and cypress with little undergrowth...we had not gotten into the swamp deep enough to see the famous palmetto forest I had heard so much about.

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/7-29-06%20Hog%20Hunt/Picture005.jpg)

:thumbsup:

All Bandanna is gonna break loose any minute now, I kin just feel it!

Excellent, a hunting story...

*sits back and waits on more*

They place was simply gorgeous. I was overwhelmed by the amount of both flora and fauna. Along the old logging roads that lead deeper into the hunting area were flowers of every kind and color imaginable.

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/7-29-06%20Hog%20Hunt/Picture004.jpg)

The heat and humidity were obscenely opressive....to everyone who wasn't hunting that is   :D  . The thermacells did their job well and treked deeper into the woods looking for fresher sign and hopeful for hearing hogs in a feeding frenzy.

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/7-29-06%20Hog%20Hunt/Picture009.jpg)

I know what that is JC....that's peach cobbler! Ray  will understand cause I found some pecan pie.    :D  

  (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/7-29-06%20Hog%20Hunt/Picture002.jpg)

BTW, I aint heard from either one of them, so I'm really looking forward to reading the story as it unfolds right here.    :campfire:

We was burning the candle bro....and cell coverage ain't that great 100 miles from the nearest red light.

Yes!   :D   Keep it coming...

-Brian
www.bowyersjournal.com (http://www.bowyersjournal.com)

QuoteOriginally posted by JC:
and cell coverage ain't that great 100 miles from the nearest red light.

Yep,....that's why you didn't get any calls from me cause I knew better.  Thought about you two a lot this weekend.  Wore myself out at Cohutta let me tell ya.

Is that a Cicada? More story now please.    :bigsmyl:

I believe it is. And I agree   ;)

Boys, its actually one of three varieties of MONSTER grasshoppers we have. They are so big they can't fly...just sort of "flop" around when you go near 'em!

The other two are shiny jet black, one has vivid yellow markings on it, and the other has vermillion red markings.

Quite striking. The females are the big bold colored ones...the males are smaller and well, its real obvious when they get together who is the boss!

Eastern Lubber Grasshopper. I was way off with the Cicada.

Can't wait to read the rest of this one.

Ray...now just how do you decide which are the females?????

OK, OK...on with the story. Enought grasshoppers..were is the hogs  :D

Like I said, this place is beautiful.....and deadly. Ray and I were slipping through the thickening brush single file in an effort to make less noise approaching our destination. Ray was a few steps ahead of me, and as he lifted his foot for another stride I noticed the ground moved between his feet. Somebody left a perfectly good hatband laying out in the middle of the woods...

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/7-29-06%20Hog%20Hunt/Picture010.jpg)

I let Ray get a few steps away and whispered to get his attention. Pointing with my limb tip, I said "You just stepped right over that". His eyes grew a few sizes larger than normal as I pointed to the well camoflaged predator. Ray swallowed hard and said "Andrew wouldn't mind at all if we got rid of that...and neither would I."

Judicious application of a sharp broadhead, buried the head and we were on our way. Strangely, Ray seemed a bit uneasy as the head lay there biting at the air, venom dripping from it's needle fangs. We took a bit more care in foot placement from this point forward....

The weather had been exceedingly dry.  Heat indexes well into the hundreds tend to bring thunderstorms in this part of the country but it obviously hadn't rained in some time. Areas that had previously been full of water, some of it running all the way to the Savannah River, were now dry. The puddles showed some, but no fresh sign.

  (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/7-29-06%20Hog%20Hunt/Picture017.jpg)

By this time it was approaching mid day quickly, we had covered a good bit of ground and had yet to see or hear any hogs. According to Ray, that was very unusual for this property.

We made the long march back to the truck, but not before Ray got to sample some of Curtis's dry javelina sausage for the first time. CK, I would expect a call from Ray any minute now trying to beg borrow or steal some. I think his exact words were "That's some of the best stuff I've ever put in my mouth!"

Returning to the trailer for some real food and planning session, it was time to change tactics....

"Snakes and Hoppers"   :help:  with morning Coffee and Donuts.

You'r a well taught student JC

Keep it comming    :thumbsup:  Great photos.

Nice respit from having to go pay bills today...

Thanks for the diversion, JC.  Can't wait to git some other reports on the PM cypherin and what it drug up!

Nice Hopper! I think I've seen all three species of hoppers Ray describes here in S Texas. They are a pretty rare find these days but I have seen those really biggun's in droves at certain times. Fish won't eat those big grasshoppers for some reason. I bet they carry nun-chucks under that pretty camo! Pretty Copperhead too!

It's ironic that I'm having dry sausage this morning as we type. Goat makes great dry sausage too. You just need to mix in some pork neck to grease it up a bit. On with the show. Bring on the pork!!! CK

Curtis,
Next time you see one of those hoppers pick it up and smell of it- it won't take getting it even close to your nose to tell why nothing eats them- those suckers are TOXIC with a T baby!

JC was sharp witted and interested enough to pick one up and smell of it and boy, those things have something funky going on, let me tell you!

Uh, how nice do I have to talk to you, and how much do I send via USPS to get some of that dry sausage???? Inquiring minds want to know.

I'll sell ya the half a link I'm chewin on pretty cheap. Ummmmm, lots of mesquite smoke flavor!!!  :D  

I put one of them hoppers in a jar when I was a kid. Even a mason jar couldn't mask the stink! I thought catfish like stinky stuff?  

Thanks, Vermonster13, for putting a name to the grasshopper.  I googled it and found out lots of great stuff.  Turns out that ALL those huge hoppers at Ray's hunting spot are probably the same species!  As it ages it moults and the new "hide" is different colors and patterns.  The immature is the jet black one with the canary yellow racing stripe down the back (it can also have bright red legs and red sides of the head, but that's variable among individuals).  In the mature stage, it is generally brown/black, with lots of red on it, like the one JC photo'd.

The bright colors signal predators that they're lousy chow because they eat toxic plants.  If the hoppers need to up the ante when attacked by something particularly vicious, like a kid with a mason jar (GGG), they "hiss" as chemicals are forced out through small holes to form a lather of stinky bubbles.  

Now is this a fascinating world or what?   :)

Joe...let's get with it.  I'm waiting for you to kill something.  :thumbsup:

Woody, guess I'm still a kid at heart....I spend at least some of my time on every hunt not necessarily hunting, but investigating some fascinating flower, bush, bug, snake, lizard, or other critter. I'm continually awed by His choice of endless variety and complexities of His plan.

Ray whipped up a hearty breakfast while I perforated his hog target and sharpened my broadheads for the umpteenth time. Ray was the consumate host and every time I asked how I could pitch in, Ray would say "Nothing, it's ready." We decided we had seen more sign in the ditches quickly drying up along the edges of the clear cut areas. We would scatter some corn in the wetter ones, with the hopes we would peak the interest of the hogs and draw them out of their seemingly impenetrable fortress of brush.

Off we went, with Ray driving while I flung corn into the places that still held mud wet enough to encourage rooting. Within an hour we had seeded the most likely spots and it was now approaching 100 degrees. We checked a few other areas from the truck, only to find the same: what water was left was quickly drying up...previously swamp areas were now just dried, cracking mud.

To combat the heat, we decided to take a side trip to the Savannah area. Our plan was to go to the Bass Pro shops and see what new gadgets we could make fun of, eat a late lunch at a famous seafood restaurant and return in time for an evening hunt. Hopefully, giving the hogs enough time to find the goodies we'd left for them.

Amen to being distracted by His wonders afield. Good tale so far JC.

QuoteSomebody left a perfectly good hatband laying out in the middle of the woods  

Never heard it put that way before, but I like it.  Looks like a fun beginning to the hunt.  

I'm the same way JC.  Always getting distracted when I'm supposed to be "hunting".

let's see...it's about 6:30pm on the east coast...should be finishing dinner soon....Come on JC we're dying out here!  :help:

Them boys are having just way too much fun and not sharing in it with us!   :bigsmyl:  

Either that or they got that heat prostation or whatever and are lying dehydrated in a dry ditch somewhere...Nah... they're too tough for that!

C'mon guys. I need a blood fix to cope with things here!  :)

I think it's a hawg.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ (and it's early AM)  :D

Whew....tough crowd.   ;)  

After our little side trip to Bass Pro shops, where we fondled their few sticks and 2 fixed blade, cut on contact broadheads, we were off to eat lunch at a superb seafood place. Oh, I almost forgot. Ya ever see a 280# feller in bright orange "Crocs"? (they are a fancy lightweight sandle popularized by yuppie docs) Needless to say I couldn't get Ray to buy em, but we certainly got some funny looks as he modeled them and I stood there saying "Awww yeah, thems purdy!"    

On the drive back to camp we saw thunderheads building. Thankfully, Andrew's land got some much needed water, though not nearly enough. As it drizzled we readied our gear, practically giggling that the temps were below 100 degrees.

We slipped down the road through the mist, hopeful that the cool and rain would get the hogs moving. At the first 3 locations we checked, none of the corn had been touched. Ray graciously offered me what we both considered the prime spot, so he split off to check the backside of the property we had looked at early in the day.

I still hunted from one area to another, hoping to hear or see some movement, finally settling down at an intersection that allowed me to glass down two roads without being seen. Deer came out to play, but darkness came quickly....without the company of hogs.

We were perplexed. I'm no hog expert, but I firmly believe Ray is....and he didn't have any answers either. We crawled into our bunks with prayers that the winds that brought the brief storm, were also bringing change....

How am I doing Charlie?   :bigsmyl:

JC we all love ya bro. But get on with it already!!! Even Charlie is more merciful with the tales than you are being. (Great so far! LOL)

Perfect!!  :thumbsup:

You guys came to Savannah and didn't think to give me a call  :wavey:  ..............I'm CRUSHED!!!  

Hey Ray, are you donating a hunt at the TBG banquet . . . I might need to run by the bank if you are . .

I don't know, Matt....nobody asked me about it. They may have all they need, you know?

Ray, is that little slice of heaven north or south of 301?

wow, bright orange crocs, i have the bright yellow crocs.  great sandals.  sorry, great story as well.

thanks

its right near 301

yeah, centaurshooter, but a big fat guy doesn't need to draw attention to the only, well maybe one of two only- small features of his body, namely his FEET!!!! Bright shoes would make my butt look bigGER if I wore 'em!

Keith, sorry, we were burning it pretty hard.

Sunday morning dawned a bit cooler, maybe by a whole degree or two   :D  . Geared up, couple of deadly practice shots, we headed out for what was to be the last foray of the weekend.

Arriving to check out how the corn fared, we were faced with fact that during the night, someone had brought in an entire semi truck full of migrant workers with very small shovels to churn up the area we had corned so we couldn't find it. Dang! Bet they scared the pigs away.

The pig sign was plumb silly. EVERY single kernal of corn was gone, apparently sucked into a large sounder, or maybe 5 sounders, of pigs. No pigs to be found, no noise, just lots of tilled mud. Guerilla tactic one: no more mister nice hunter, get in thar after em! Ray and I split about 30 yards apart and began slipping through the clearcut they were most certainly bedded down in. The water was still churning, bubbles still on top....they couldn't be far.

Planted roes of youne pines mixed with blackberry, greenbriar, numerous small soft and hardwood saplings...but it was damp and we could move at least a modicum of silence. The wind swirled menacingly.....

No dice, nor pigs neither. Guerilla tactic one B: beat the bushes and run em outta thar! Ray volunteers to birddog, I slip back out of the cutdown and make my way down the road to a cutoff point by their proposed evacuation trail. On my way, I spot movement. Hunkering down to see what's coming, I make my best impression of  a 200# chubby shrub. Two lil piglets hop across the muddy ditch, both so small they make a slide and a splash when they can't cross it in one bound. Working myself for a more favorable wind, I actually at one point could almost touch one. Counting coup, at least in my head, I decided the sammiches wouldn't be worth the cleaning....I got razzed for that once already.   :rolleyes:  

Across the ditch, a pine tree about 10' tall was swaying dramatically, out of time with the breeze. Slip, crawl....spent 5 minutes getting into a position for a shot. Nice pig, I can see the dark brown through the grass, but not enough yet to get a shot. The fickle mistress the wind then decides I have not paid enough dues....with a "WOOF!" worthy of a large Rottweiler, she's gone...with the sammichs and by the sounds of it, a few more deeper in the brush. DOH!

Ahhhh, but the pounding of my heart and the sweat not caused by the heat is a sweet aftertaste I savor for a few moments....

I move to an area where I can see the escape route, but still check out the potential for more sightings under foot.

Ray emerged from the brush and we rejoined. He had seen or heard nothing....but was excited to hear my tale. Things were looking up. Trying to get a steady wind was futile, so....

The wind is roughly leading us to hunt the area where Terry ambushed his prey....I'm game! We still hunted through some more of the prettiest country I have seen on the way there:

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/7-29-06%20Hog%20Hunt/Picture026.jpg)

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/7-29-06%20Hog%20Hunt/Picture059.jpg)

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/7-29-06%20Hog%20Hunt/Picture023.jpg)

The variance of terrain on this property is really amazing. It assures you won't get bored with your stalking, that's for sure.

Was gonna finish this but it looks like I've waited too long and lost my audience from boredom....   :p

great story,

I bet you guys could start your own line of bottled scents with those hoppers you have. CK might even lone you a blender for the manufactureing process. Or maybe you could just attach a paper-clip and freeze'em. That way when your ready to go huntin' all you have to do is throw them in your pack and hang'em in trees around you stand. Just an idea!    :D        :notworthy:

We're still hanging in there.  Don't stop now.  There has to be some blood on the ground somewhere -- after all, you're hunting Ray's favorite spot!

Well, folks..if'n no blood... then lets remember what Charlie is made infamous for saying,

Being there was good enough..."

Good story tellin and some fine pictorial edifications there amigo! And yha didn't short out yer camera with all that sweat!? Wow!

Tain't done yet doc....  ;)  

"Terry's field" as Ray so affectionately named it lay spread before us. The wind was right, and Ray felt certain there would be hogs lounging in the high grass:

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/7-29-06%20Hog%20Hunt/Picture030.jpg)

I slipped around to the firebreak as Ray moved into position to attempt a push.

I was within 75 yards of my hopeful location when I heard a sound faintly reminiscent of a harley davidson nitro-methane drag bike idling at the start line......a BIGGG nitro-methane drag bike.

Whoops, gotta go....more tonight....  ;)

That's not nice!!!  I've been hanging with you all the way with this one and now you have to go and do this.

I'm gonna go pout!!!    :(  I'll check back in the morning.  There, that'll show you!!

I'm leaving for Canada tomorrow at 9:00 AM pst, chop chop! LOL.

Beautiful country Joe. It would be fun just to rove around and shoot stuff. Having a chance at a hog would be a nice bonus. Thanks for sharing your pics and story.

Thanks Joe........really enjoyed the story so far....can't wait to read the rest.

Dang Joe...this is good stuff!!!!     :thumbsup:    :thumbsup:

We need a milking smiley for this one. LOL

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/7-29-06%20Hog%20Hunt/Picture038.jpg)

So I'm trying to get down the firebreak in the hopes that I can intercept the drag bike before it heads down the quarter mile. Ray is waving at the woods and I'm doing my best to hustle but not run into something big enough to give me stitches.

Dang, was that hog mad we were in his living room. Needless to say, I didn't make it in time and he was gone off through the woods.
Asking Ray if if was a good one, he smiled a mischevious grin and said "All I saw was his hump on his back." ....as he held his palm up to his waist. Doh! (#2)

We headed back to the trailer for some breakfast and made our way around another field. Again, sometime during the night the trailer full of migrant workers had tilled the field. 30....maybe 40 hogs could have done the damage we saw.

A consolation prize was left as I wondered when my luck would change. This was a flower I had never seen before:

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/7-29-06%20Hog%20Hunt/Picture034.jpg)

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/7-29-06%20Hog%20Hunt/Picture035.jpg)

A quick bite and we got in the truck to head to the swamp. The hogs were moving, and it was time for payback....

When I walked that field of fennel with Ray, there was about zip for hog sign.  In fact it was the only place on the 9,000 acres that wasn't cobvered up in hog sign.  But we both saw and heard hogs moving through the pines that border the field...  Come on JC, you're killing us worse than you killed a hog (or two???)...  And I know Ray's grinning like the Cheshire cat.  :D

We parked the truck and began walking down the road that lead us past the area next to the swamp we had hunted the first morning. The area was certainly wetter than anywhere else we had been too...at least with the quick rain from last night. The Rose of Sharon greeted us from every clearing along the trail.

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/7-29-06%20Hog%20Hunt/Picture043.jpg)

Here and there, a passion flower poked through the greenery like a diamond among lumps of coal...

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/7-29-06%20Hog%20Hunt/Picture040.jpg)

Ray and I split up, I took a road that Ray said went on and on...turn around when you get tired he said. Ray went another direction. Much of the trail I went down was open on both sides. The understory was not thick so you could see for quite some distance.

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/7-29-06%20Hog%20Hunt/Picture051.jpg)

Here and there in the low spots, you could see areas that had been wet up until just recently.

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/7-29-06%20Hog%20Hunt/Picture044.jpg)

An hour later, and at least a few wind changes, I returned....in time to say Ray casually enjoying a walk with his weapon.

"I don't know what to tell you Joe, it seems they have whupped us." We had a good laugh about the changing fortune of a hunter....feast one moment then famine the next. I had been on a great hunt though, and spent more time really taking in the things I sometimes look over in the quest for blood. Ray appreciated my thoughts and mentioned that he had seen a few great white herons up the creek in an area that still held deep water....maybe a picture of one would top off my trip with another interesting celluloid memory......

Sliding through the moist leaves Ray pointed out the magnificent birds up the creek. Well, maybe I should say, long pond since it no longer ran freely. I made a button hook out and around the creek on the left bank, hoping to come out somewhere near the birds to get a good picture.

As I crept closer to the edge of the creek, I heard Ray's words ring through my mind..."Big gators....and they look like a log, be really careful and make sure its wood before you get near it or for God's sake, step over it!"

Movement across the creek caught my attention....PIGS! Right at the edge of the water....right where we thought they wouldn't be because of the big gators that were hunting the stilled creek. It was all I could do to get the camera tucked away safe as I slid towards them....waving to Ray to tell him about the pigs.

and... AND??!!??

Two pigs about 50-60 pounds rooted along the far bank.....30 yards or so away. I quickly moved into position....trying to get ahead of them on my side of the bank without alerting them or stepping on some wicked reptile. The wind was right, my arrow had somehow magically appeared on my nock....the STOS head seemingly throbbing with anticipation....

The pigs were wired...like pigs almost always were. Constantly in motion, in and out of the cypress stumps and new growth "knees". My mouth got pasty, my heart was hammerin.....and that was just because of my proximity to the murky water.....the excitement of the pigs within range only added to it.

keep typing

I just fell off my chair!  :knothead:    :bigsmyl:

I started my draw...focusing on the wrinkle behind the shoulder of the nearest pig...now maybe 20 yards away. As I felt my fingers slide into anchor, the shaft lept from the bow.

SCHLUCK! MISSS! Daaaa..ng! 2" right over the back, perfect windage, now buried in the mud bank directly behind the whirling hog. Hogs scurried around....somehow another arrow was on my string now.....the hog was now up the bank and holding still trying to determine what just made the noise zipping past it. Draaaaaaaw......whooosh....the arrow arced perfectly to the shoulder....WHACK!!! Daaaaaa...ng! Deflected into orbit by a piece of cane I could not see in the shadows the hog peered around his shoulder from. With the crash only a sounder of scared pigs can make, my target evaporated....unscathed. Next thing I knew a brown one slightly smaller appeared at the top edge of the bank, and a third arrow was on it's way before I could think about it.....WHIFFF! right through the air the pig had occupied seconds before. Daaaaa...ng! Just too far now for the scared animals. They scattered in the cane.

MODS!!!  HEY, MODS!!!  Isn't there a rule about this kind of thing!!!  (Wait - is JC a mod?)  

MODS!!!  HEY, MODS!!!  Isn't there a rule about this kind of thing!!!  (Wait - is JC a mod?)  

Great story telling Joe.....I'm right along beside you....

Leaping from log to log across the creek, now oblivious to any alligator dangers, I scurried up the bank in the hopes they would hold in the safety of the brush. They really had not bolted....they never saw me, never smelled me....they knew something was up but maybe.....

Nothing.....

Then up the creek I could hear them....Ray waved from the other side and motioned to his ear, then up the creek. I slipped back down near the water and trotted in the direction of the squeals.

Whoooaa, big fella...  Got kinda excited there. Hog hunting has that kind of effect, ya know.   :eek:

Come on.....

:banghead:

Doh #3 #4 and #5 lol

I was hoping you got to see a gator take a porkchop, instead we get three misses so far! Now I really feel like I'm there.    ;)

20 quick steps later I neared an oxbow I would have to detour up the bank around.....one step up the bank and the water 10 feet in front of me parted like someone felled a tree into it's murky depths.

Holy....smokes! So that's what a gator tail looks like flailing through the water....thankfully, away from me. I scurried up the bank and continued my pursuit through the cane and brush.

10 sweaty minutes later I had covered 50 yards and now....could no longer hear the pigs. They had escaped.....

Do we need to beg some more for another installment?

Past that boy's bedtime so I guess I'll just wrap it up! Wow...all that and then shots, misses and "Oh, Lordie" run ins with gators headed in the right direction! You live well, JC!

 :eek:    :rolleyes:    :cool:

Ray waved from the other side of the bank.....I motioned if he heard or saw them....the look on his face said it all. They were gone.

I carefully made my way back down stream, searched a few moments for the two arrows that were now somewhere over kansas, pulled my first miss out of the muck and crossed, making my way back out to the road. Careful of course, for any scaleys that might mistake me for an overgrown piglet.

I was dejected....I was irritated with myself. I could tag a golf ball with regularity from that distance but I had nerved myself completely off a 60# porker. I knelt and after wiping the mudd off, quickly buffed a razor edge back on the miss and put it back in my quiver. Then I noticed that everywhere around me....EVERYWHERE the ground had been tilled seemingly just moments before.

And I heard the grunts....two pigs, just across the road, moving away from me but not spooked. Now spurred on by my failures I pushed it...trotting after them in an attempt to catch up. I simply couldn't keep up with them....

I got my bearings and headed back towards the road. But not before, with my head hung in shame, I noticed yet another wonder of His creation....

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/7-29-06%20Hog%20Hunt/Picture057.jpg)

I had to laugh at myself....it was a miss, an old fashioned honest one at that...a deflection....and a "not there when the arrow arrived". I was humbled....I could think back on my six years with the stickbow and count on 2 fingers the number of previous misses on big game.....I guess I had a lesson to learn.

Back at the truck I sat on the tailgate carving a piece of dry sausage. The sting was gone now, replaced with the replaying movie of the last half hour.

Ray laughed down the trail and I turned to see his grin. "I was whistling and whistling....I was afraid that big gator had got you."

Nawww....it was only maybe a six footer. Then Ray looked really seriously and said..."No, I meant the 20'x3' slide that was another 10 yards down the bank from where you turned back." GULP.

Did you see me shoot?  With a giggle I got "I saw you miss.....3 times!" Only a good friend can jab you like that and it not hurt. We laughed and headed back to camp.

I'm hoping he's loading more pics -- pig pics!

Back at the trailer I piled out and immediately perforated the hog target three times within a half inch of where I was looking.

Now why didn't I do that with that shoate! "Cuz that, ain't got fur on it" Ray said with a grin. He consoled me with the fact that I need to miss many many times over my trad future to catch up with him. Yep, it was humbling.

For all you guys that hung on looking for blood...I'm sorry. You can leave now, I've lead you on for nothing.

For all you who followed in a hunt for the sake of a hunting tale, followed a hunt that will forever be many happy memories for me, I will tell you I am a better hunter because of my failure than I would have been because of a bloody arrow and a pig hanging in the skinning shed. I choked, whiffed, messed up....whatever you want to call it....and it was my turn to. No excuses, only the burning desire to remain in control of my faculties next time...not rush my shot...pick a smaller spot....forget about the gators....and a million other things that have run through my mind since those 3 arrows that didn't connect.

Thank you Ray. I learned a lot on this trip. You are a good friend, and a fine man. I'm proud to have spent the time with you. Maybe next time....or the next. But you know what, even if not....I had a trip I will look back on for years to come and smile deeply. And I will long for the next one....

To good friends to hunt with, beautiful sights of God's endless wonder, the excitement of the hunt.....and oh yeah....pigs....I'll be back!  :thumbsup:  

 (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v701/recurvhuntr/7-29-06%20Hog%20Hunt/Picture058.jpg)

Great pics and an even better story. Excellent job JC!

Thanks for sharing Joe....good story none the less my friend.   :campfire:

Thanks for the story,sounds like you had a great time.You did'nt make meat, but you made some great memories.

Thanks JC that was awesome readin.

Great story Joe - had me on the edge of my seat the whole way.  Now you know how the rest of us feel most of the time..........  :(  
But you found what was most important anyway, so it all turned out good  :thumbsup:

Good attitude, JC!  That's proof that a successful hunt can be measured in a lot of ways.    :thumbsup:

That was cool!!  :thumbsup:

JC: That "flower" you couldn't identify is crotalaria  (spelling??), a legume that was imported as a "land builder."  Those green pods turn brown in the fall and the seeds within are shaped sort of like a boxing glove.  NOTHING eats them in the wild because they are deadly poison.  When a farmer takes a load of corn or soybeans to the elevator to sell, several samples are pulled with long tubes that go all the way to the bottom of the truck.  ONE crotalaria seed in the samples and the whole load has to be cleaned so as to guarantee none of the seeds can be ground up as feed....

Some of the best hunting stories I've ever read ended without the taking of game, and this one is no exception. But the hunt was a success anyway based on all the wonderful pictures you were kind enough to show us. Fantastic story telling JC, you really captured this reader. Looking forward to hunting with you next month.

-Brian
www.bowyersjournal.com (http://www.bowyersjournal.com)

great spending time with you JC. He is a great campmate, fellas...always a cheerful spirit, always ready to try whatever you think up, always offering to pitch in and help- and always happy to be doing whatever he's doing.

THAT'S the kind of fellow you want to spend your days with in hunting camp.

Thanks for going with me JC...and for not making me skin hogs in 102 degree weather!We'll get after them again soon, and you will be successful I am sure. Glad that BIG GATOR didn't get you, for sure...would have not wanted to tell Miss Kim about that.

JC, Great story and great hunt.  It's the trip not the meat pole that keeps your heart singing.  Sounds like you two had a wonderful ride.  Congrats on a very successful trip...Doc

Sure read like a winner to me, guys. Kudos to JC and Ray for a memorable hunt! Been there, done that (or similar at least -   ;)  )

Great story, JC.  I enjoyed it thoroughly.  Don't feel bad about that.  If this sport was easy, it wouldn't be near as much fun.

Now Ray I have to tell ya, I wasn't really excited when JC told me about the gators either. Notice, he waited until AFTER the hunt to tell me about them.......  :rolleyes:  
He said if that big gator had gotten him that "Ray would go back and get my bow...it's too good of a bow to leave out there." What are hunting buddies for? That's supposed to make me feel better.......oh well, you brought him back safe and sound with some great memories.
Thank you.......
Kim

Great read and great adventure Joe.  :thumbsup:

Excellent!!!

Thanks for sharing Joe, I thouroghly enjoyed reading this one.  :thumbsup:  

David

JC, that is the adventure I was talking about.

Great show.

Joe is right, Kim...I WOULD have gone back and retrieved the Morrison- that is waaaayyy too nice a bow to leave in the mud down there, regardless of alligator danger!  :campfire:  

The thing that really got me was I didn't see the big slide until AFTER we just decided JC should start going back toward the road..I really was contemplating telling Joe to continue on...then I took 10 more steps further on MY side of the ridge overlooking the creek bank and saw that freshly used slide- I looked in the water but didn't see anything. But I distinctly remember a very short, choppy squeal coming from that direction...the directoin the pigs AND Joe were moving in, and thats why I encouraged Joe to move further down to begin with. I THINK that gator got one of those pigs as they moved away from Joe and drug it under the water.

Gives me a little tingle just talking about it.

Hey! You're pretty dang good at this story tellin stuff bro.  :thumbsup:

Fantastic story!  Great story telling....

Dean

Well told sir.  Thanks for taking us along.

That's the way its done! Good stuff there Joe. Just like Charlie would tell and just like I shoot. Always amazed when I miss and more amazed when I connect. The pictures are fantastic. Will have to try and get afield with you next TX Sweat, you know how to have a good time.

Ray, sure am glad that pig came along when it did....I bet Joe could move real fast if he came upon the gator that made that slide....IF he saw the gator before the gator saw him!
Personally, I think you guys are crazy.....gators and snakes....not my kind of combination.    
I think I would just stay in the truck.  :cool:

well, I DON'T tell my wife about that stuff...I am sure that she thinks something is scary down there because she will NOT let me go by myself any longer- I have to carry someone with me nowadays.

Anyway, its somewhat more interesting when you are not sure you ARE the dominant predator or not where you hunt!!!

Smart wife......  :D  
Just makes it more challenging right?

thanks guys. Great being a kid again isnt it?  :archer:

WOW   :thumbsup:    :thumbsup:  

I started out with ya in the begining, Then got distracted with WORK. Finally got caught back up, Bitter sweet coming in at the end of this one JC.

Charlie you better hurry up on the book "LITTLE BRO" is closing the gap.

GREAT GREAT Story and Photos JC....THANKS

JC,

Great story.  I don't believe I have ever seen you miss anything with that Dang Morrison.  Look forward to seeing you at the TBG banquet Saturday!

Bill

Thats quite the tale JC! Seems like Charlies story telling talents have rubbed off on ya somewhat. Thats why they call it huntin and the reason we all love it so much. Good friends and good times afield what more can a guy want? Oh yeh, I forgot, better add a smart wife to that list!! Ray your right about JC, having had the pleasure of sharing camp with him a few times myself. Sure is nice to see that he knows how to miss like the rest of us! After seeing his shootin enough. I just figured it was the fear of gettin those nice shiney STOS'S dirty with anything but blood that created his pin point acuracy. For if I ever had to stand still with an apple on my head, right after Byron I'll take JC.

nice read, appreciate that story, btw, i love the pic of the bows against that big ole tree.  i've saved it got it on the desktop now.  

great job guys.

Thank you all for your kind words. To be compared to Charlie's storytelling ability is fine praise to this here feller.

I only wish I could shoot as good as you think I can, Bill and Dave!  

One of the best hunting stories I have ever read!  Thanks for taking the time to share your memories.

Neil

Joe - I bet if that that had been a big old bullfrog sitting out there you could have punched him out without really even thinking about it . . . must have been the "heat of the moment"!!!!

Great story telling, enjoyed the cootstale and ready for more.

GK

Great story JC.


Jeff Kitchens

Li'l Buddyk,

If'n we didn't occassionally miss, it'd not be called hunting but just simply killin and where'd be the fun in that!?  :eek:    :rolleyes:  

When ye git to the point where's ya never miss, never git sexcited, then it's time to take up golf..or knittin.  

Dang son but you sure made it all worthwile seein all the pics, feeling us along side ya all the way... I even turned off the A/C to read it all so's I'd sweat good to get the real flavor of it all!

You guys rock!   :bigsmyl:

stories like this one are hard to take , i drive into and outta these areas, but never get to see the better side of them. Whatever ya do, don't stop tellin' them though; cause the interstate is much easier to travel when i look out the windows and wonder :whose stalkin' breakfast just behind that tree line.. then i pull up in a truckstop, throw the nerf football out and join ya in spirit. GREAT story and pics.
Thanx for the ride.

Terrific story and pics, JC - and Ray, yer added comments are priceless.   :)

Excellant story and pics, JC. Seeing the pics and reading ya'll's discription of the area really makes me homesick for the sights and smells of the Low Country. Spending 12 years in Bluffton, SC and walking the river bottoms can be quite adventurous. One thing I don't miss about the area is the heat and humidity but you're probably used to that. I'm really spoiled since I moved to the mountains 16 years ago.
  I never had the opportunity to hunt hogs down there and it's something that's in my future. You might be getting a call from me, Ray.   Pat

JC,

Excellent story and pics, you really captured what hunting is all about.  Friends, nature, beauty, and emotion.  Hit or miss it is about enjoying the moment we have here on earth.

James

That was a good story,JC. That is really some unique scenery, what part of South Carolina is that land?

Great story!  You don't always have to kill something to have great memories!

Lee  :thumbsup: