This is one on my list. I have seen em, I have heard the monsterous noises they make, and I have an addiction to hogs in general. My next encounter is never soon enough.
I have a pic of a boar wallow that I will post on Monday, when Admin fixes me up. It will give you an idea of how big some of these GA hogs are. There was two other wallows just out of the pic about the same size, and we did see these three boars one evening walking out. It was a Mexican stand off I will never forget.
Terry the largest wild spanish hog (Florida) I have seen/killed weighed a tad over 200# (on a certified scale..not an outfitters ego building estimate) and he was a brute, an absolute tank, and meaner than snot. His shield was like concrete. Only way for me to kill him was to slip one up just in front of his hind leg angling up behind the opposite front leg thereby avoiding the shield. I can't even imagine what tackling a hog weighing 1/3 more would be like (but hey, I'd give it a try).
Micky , Hows about a 500 -600 lbs Russian Boar..wow!! now thats a hog...#78 Mark
At our ranch we've gotten big un's, several over 400lb. A 456lb killed this year, was 6'6" nose to tail. We have started trapping them. When we get a bunch of little ones under the 40-50lb range, we shoot the sows for BBQ and castrate the boars. This will enable them to reach in excess of 600lbs. It also fattens them up as well. I'm just a kid from the back 40 that knows too much!
Rob
Up at Rhinehardt college in Waleska Georgia, a gent kept a pet Russian Boar. I stopped by in the late fall to check him out. His owner said he weighed in the 500lb range. This guy was BIG. Very mellow monster, but they were having problems moving him. Ya see, if he did not want to go, he did not go.
He is living on a farm somewhere up in the mountains.
Honestly, if I came face to face with a wild boar of this size in the wilds, I may just let him walk.
I mean, I had a 50 cal. slug in my pocket and was holding the ball in one hand and looking at the boar in the other. If I shot him with my ml, he would probably just piss him off.
Frank
Here's my 175# ..5'9" hunting bud Doug Johnson with a Cohutta Wilderness Boar bath tub. He and I both could fit in it at the same time.
(http://www.tradgang.com/user_images/hog_wallow600.jpg)
Terry , we had one est. to be 600 pound range and the game warden stopped me during a bow hunting trip and asked if I would bring a gun nexted time, at the time I was hunting for whitetails. He begged me to bring a weapon and gave permission . This animal put one hunter in the emegency room , it was bad . but , I love to hunt them , with the heaviest and sharpest arrows and broaheads I can shoot well..63# lbs...anyway cool pic...shootin n groupin #78Mark
got one in the pen that comes in around 800 to 900 lbs 7" tusk black as the ace of spades..
Terry I have taken 400+ lbs boars with a bow of 55# but you will need to make shoot placement a priority!! quartering away is my choice..The only choice in my book!!! I seen a 350# boar take 5 slugs from a 44 mag at 3 feet away. it would knock him down every time he was hit and he would get right back up!! # 6 was put in his head!!! when we cleaned him all 5 44 mag slugs was still in his shield..
gator
Gator,
Post a pic of him please.
I'd love to just see the size of that buggar. AND those 7 inch tuskers.
I will get up with ric and get a pic or two this week...
gator
I hunt hogs often at my family's ranch in Southwest Florida. Average size is around 100 pounds. Big ones are over 150 pounds. We have killed hogs over 200 pounds and I have personally seen one that I believe to be over 300 pounds. anything over 200 pounds is few and far between. I love to hunt em, and have never had trouble putting one down with a well placed broadhead.
Scott
Terry-
That is a nice size wallow. Are there a lot of hogs in your area? On our ranch we have a couple of wallows that have been around for the last 15 years and they get used all the time. They have turned into giant areas. I will try and get some photos and post them here. Also, do the boars rub trees up there?
Scott
Got you a pic. I will add it to here when admin gets back with me..
gator
gator,
You said the 44 cal slugs were still in his shield? Bullets expand, arrows dont! Take a big coffe can and fill it with sand. Shoot a 44 or 50 cal in it. 9 times out of 10 the bullet wont go through it. Do the same with a 55lb bow and a perfectly matched arrow. The arrow will penetrate! I shot a 249lb hog through the shoulder bone with a complete passthrough this past season. Arrows are the shi :eek: Dazzale friends with can trick. Oh, stand about 15 yards from the can when shooting at it.
ASMS
Rob
You guys are lucky to have them rascals down there. Ky Longbow and myself are dying to hunt them. There are a few here in KY and we found out where they were earlier this year. We are going to try them when the weather gets cooler.
Strutter
hope this works??? If it does you can use the skidder tire for a comparason fo size..
My wife had first shot at he big black tank I wrote about earlier (it was her turn and that's what we found) Dianne was shooting a 46# recurve that had already put down several hogs. She shot this brute 3 times in the lungs and the arrows bounced off..no kidding we have it on video. The outfitter was worried about the dogs and asked me to shoot it (52# longbow). I figured I'd have about the same luck shooting it behind the front shoulder and shot a quartering shot instead. Complete penetration and the hog only lived another 30 secs.
I've seen 600# & 700# pigs on the *********** Hog forum that guys swore were wild hogs, but I'm not convinced (unless you consider wild, no longer in the pen). There is a supposedly 756#er on there now. There is no way one of those things could run much less spin and fight. The guy I hunt with in Florida has taken thousands of wild hogs (about 300 a year)and the largest he has even seen killed weighed 242#. Year before last my buddy took the largest one they had taken all year (out of 280 hogs) and it weighed 181#, and it was huge. I'll go scan some of our hog pics and post links.
Now these are decendants of Spanish hogs and not European or Russians which I understand grow larger, but I would have to see with my own eyes (see it run, turn and fight) a wild hog that weighed over 500# to believe it.
Micky , I agree with you . In my area of south Louisiana we have area where hogs that once were raise escape or get turned loose by farmers . Thus running with the wiid ones..besides some of the smaller ones make great table fair. It makes you wonder if some of those hogs are supplemented with something...good point...Mark #78
That particular wallow is a "satalite" wallow. All three of them were NOT there in July, and appeared late August. 3 wallows, all about the same size, and 3 hogs to fit in them. We saw all 3 together on the hoof opening day.
Not a thick population by all means, but they do have 95,000 acres to roam. We look for bears 1st, and the hogs 2nd. We we set up some 500 yards away from those wallows on some bear sign, and yes, we did consider setting up on those tubs. I wish one of us had, cause that is the direction they came from, and they were muddy when we saw them.
I'm sure they were taking an afternoon nap while we we on stand, and came right down the stream to us for an evening bite.
I live in florida and there are few hogs that aint got some kind of mix in them!!! that hog in the pic killed 2 dogs when we cought him.. you think hes tame?? Come on down and get in the pen. I will video it for you :bigsmyl: .. One of the dogs he killed was wearing a cut vest.. When he hit the dog he crushed his chest.. But you are right about a true piney wood rooter.. 300 is big.. 150 is the norm..I love to use dogs and duck tape to catch hogs.. Have any of you guys ever spear hunted hogs???
gator
Gator if you go to the link in my post above, you'll see my Bro Randy spear killed a hog (well 2 actually). It was quite interesting to watch :D
here is a direct link Gator..this was the smaller of the 2 hogs he killed. I think this one went 90 or 100#..the other went 140#
http://community.webshots.com/photo/73859316/73860382NfVieH
BTW he used a home made spear on one and a Cold Steel Boar spear on the other. The little tri colored one's heart was cut in half and he went down like he was rifle shot. The other was a lung stab.
Thanks for the link ferret.. great photos...
Useing dogs and duck tape Is a adrenaline rush Thats hard to beat aint it??? I have jumped out of perfectly good airplanes that was less of a rush.. :D had one play possum on my budy. You should have been there when he was getting out of this 350# boars way.. My buddy weighed more than the hog.. It was funny afterwards..lol..
gator
when I worked on the hog farm, I used to tell people that they would be amazed at "how little" of a hog could kick their ass. It's true. tiny little sucker'd put ya on your butt faster than that you could say "Whooaaaa!"
I did the breeding program, and we had 650 Sows, and over 25 main boars, and prolly 25 "up and commers" the big boars would all go over 600# and a few over 700#. I once got hit in the "handling board" (3/4" plywood piece with handle cut outs, prevent teeth gouges) so hard (by a little boar)it snapped the board clean in half on my leg. That was about 0.2 seconds before I made a new record for jumping over pens. Later that day I tied him to a post, took the tree trimmers and chopped out his tusks (necklace) and sent him packing with the cull sows to market. can't have a rank boar around...too dangerous.
I can attest to what damage domestics can do...you should see what happens when they knock the fences down and really go at it! I can only imagine what they could do if they were really wild. yessir...even a 200# boar could do some real damage...but then again, you can always jump over them!!!!
Yall boys need to come to the Texas coastal prairie. I know some "cats" that will run them with dogs (pit/lab cross or pit/cur cross) and when their dogs get the pig they Sick them with a knife. I have only seen 1 hog that they have not stuck with a knife and it was a 425lb boar that but 186 stiches in his dog. It was 6'2" head to tail.
Rob
Terry, I just finished a backpacking/fishing trip in the Cohuttas. Beautiful place. I bet it's rugged country to hunt. Have you had luck with the bear there?
Yes and no Chip.
We've seen em, had em in bow range, thought one was going to get in the tree with me last year, but I'm still waiting to skin one. I have just about given up my entire bow season chasing them for the last 3 years.
Terry,
Know how you feel. I've been chasing those critters at Pine Log for the last two years. I get close but............. always a but. Nothing like being in the thickets when there are pigs there. Kinda scary. Good adrenalin rush.
Frank
Terry-I figured that to take a bear with a bow in those mountains would require a lot of dedication, patience, and luck. Keep at it! I may slip up there for a bear hunt one of these days.
sure must be nice to have pigs to hunt .i have been wondering if the big old boars taste bad or smell when cooked have bought bacon that was pretty smelly from a boar. ----- herb or do i just have a good sence of smell ;)
Herb- I've wondered the same thing about the taste of wild hawgs. I've eaten cuts of domestic pork that tasted pretty nappy...sort of like the way fecal matter smells. Yuck! Probably due to poor handling and cleaning.
We've eaten lots and lots of wild hog, many of them boar hogs and served it to guests at home and at places like Cloverdale, Mojam and GLLI always to rave reviews. Mostly roasts cooked until they fall apart, and then either put on top of egg noodles with gravey, or mix in some barbecue sauce, but sometimes just the roasts au jus with potatoes and carrots. Also had sausage that tasted just like Bob Evans. Proper care in the field and a meat cutter that knows what he's doing makes a big difference IMO. Dianne also removes ALL fat before cooking.
Sometimes it is good to just buy someone a hog! :scared: (http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3db03b3127cce88278a53daa70000001610)
PS He shot it with a Marriah Chinok Longbow, the 30/30 was just for backup.
(http://im1.shutterfly.com/procserv/47b3db03b3127cce882675b8bae70000001610)
Boy Ferret my mouth is watering! If I ever get a chance to take a hog, I'll have to try one of your recipes. It sounds like a crock pot would cook'em up right.
I put a recepie on the recepie board for wild hog hams. Try it, you'll be amazed!
Rob
Frank,
You can hunt bears at Pine Log now????????
That's what I gathered from your reply to my post.
Let me know would ya?
Terry-Here are last season's regs regarding bear hunting at Pine Log.
http://georgiawildlife.dnr.state.ga.us/content/displaywma.asp?AreaID=68
Yupper, you can bear hunt at Pine Log. I think one was taken this year. ITwo years ago someone shot one and then threw it on the side of the road when they learned that it was not legal. SOB's.
I have run across some bear tracks at Pine Log, kinda spooky when you think on it. The bear taken this year I think was in the low 200's.
Frank
Wow.....glad you guys clued me in. Pine log is much closer to me than Cohutta. Although I do LOVE the mystique of Cohutta, and will probably still chase them there this year. I'll do a little scouting at Pine Log mayve this summer, and see what I can find.
My Bust.
Just got off the line with the DNR concerning Pine Log and no bears and only two hogs were taken last year.
I spoke with Mike earlier in the year and he mentioned that Pine Log did not have a good deer year. Maybe the turkeys are just taking over and running all the big game outta there.
Frank
Terry-If you do go scouting Pine Log this summer be ready to do a lot of walking. The main gate is usually locked when critters aren't in season. But you can walk anywhere you want. I've walked in a number of times to fish Stamp Creek in the summer months.
Of course being a Cohutta hunter, I doubt that a little extra walking will bother you much. :)
QuoteOriginally posted by Dirteater:
Of course being a Cohutta hunter, I doubt that a little extra walking will bother you much. :)
I seriously doubt I'll have to walk farther than I do at Cohutta....but it would be nice if I had too. :thumbsup:
Well ya'll can walk as far back as you want, but I've seen tracks less than 500 yards from Stamp Creek Rd.
I've talked with the WMA man and have done 4 day primitive pack in hog hunts in the past. This was during the late season hog hunts in Feb. He mentioned that if'n we did shoot ourselves a monster, that he would open the gate.
Have only gone trout fishing once, to no avail. Been wanting to get up there but just have not had the time.
Frank
Terry and Lance,About 100 yards from our gate on my lease there is a 300+ boar laying beside the highway dead. Bet he puts some dents in the car that hit him. Thats about a mile and a half from the paridise.I think it helps keep bugs off who knows.We don`t hunt over but its still neat to see a small wallow turn in to a small pond in a matter of days. Enough yapping I`m off to Ft. Stewart tomorrow. Pigs in the morning and bass in the afternoon. Life is sweet,Thank you Jesus,RC.
you can also take used motor oil soak a rag in it and hang it low in the bushes.. It will draw the hogs in.
gator
Take a piece of carpet, soak it in motor oil and nail to a tree ... :readit:
Wait a minute there's another product for Tarz's girls! :bigsmyl:
Terry,
Speaking of bears. About 10 yrs ago when I first started hunting with a selfbow, it was a little 43lb osage flatbow. I was up in Dawson Forest as that is where I use to hunt. Ventured down to the river to do a little business, when I finished up I noticed that about 10 yards away, there was a clear spot.
Upon further investigation I noticed that about 7 square feet including the bank of the river was just torn up. I mean roots pulled out of the ground, a foot and a half hole dug, just a big mess.
Later that day I ventured to the top of a mountain to this field. Well, a quarter of the field was just trashed. Trees broken in half on the side of the field. I noticed these very Large dog like tracks, but wider.
No biggy, just diddy bopped out of the woods and stopped by the WMA station on my way out. The WMA guy told me that that was a very pissed off bear. He was driving by the field earlier in the morning and heard a serious ruckass and saw the bear take off into the woods.
Needless to say, I got a bigger bow.
Frank
Guys I have a lease in SC that is infested with hogs. I have never had one do anything but run away when shot. I've never found them to be that hard to kill either. I 've never seen but a very few truly wild hogs over 200 lbs. But I have seen some battles between hogs and dogs. Those dogs really piss them off. My grand father built and ran two hunting preserves in TN, Clarkrange and Tellico Junction. He had some big hogs but they were pen raised then released for the hunters. I thinks hogs are defintely tougher than a deer, but I think their reputation is blown way out of proportion.
Lee,
I also hunt in South Carolina...few thousand acres across from Groton Plantation...directly on the Savannah River....the river is up real high now..hogs are on the hill...and so are the gators. I am going this weekend...they're telling me that they've never seen gators as thick as this in 30 years ...10 and 12 footers are everywhere...naturally that is pushing the pigs out to higher drier ground..and we should have a great trip...my partner and I have taken 60+ hogs in the last couple yrs, the largest being 467 lbs...and I can tell you that was NO PEN RAISED HOG...right now I am hunting a couple boars that will be legitimately 300+...and none of these hogs are anything but rooters well removed by generations from a pen- there has never been a hog in a pen on this land. Yes,maybe some of he neighboring properties have done so...and you are right, there are lots of places where a 200 lb pig is a big one..but I certainly believe that major river drainages will grow on average bigger hogs, just as they grow bigger whitetails.And you are right, what makes hogs angry isn't people ( unless you get between a sow and her baby) it's the dogs.. I hunt them on the ground, stalking, with a recurve or longbow...and its just about the most fun you can have with your britches on. And boy, do they taste good! We soak the cuts of meat in apple juice for 36 hours, than put it on a big grill (beside, not over the fire) and smoke it for about 15 hours....pull it apart and eat it,or the lesser cuts get chopped up, and add BBQ sauce to make sandwiches- I'm getting hungry just thinking about it!
OK, this is not a good pic...since its a pic of a pic....but you can get an idea anyway.
Here's a representation of "The Paradise". Really nice whitetail buck, and a Spanish Hog.
The guy with the hog weighs 240, 250. The Spanish hog has a Tasmanian Devil build, narrow back end, and a dozer up front. They leave a realatively small track for their size. This one was well over 300#s.
(http://tradgang.com/terry/hog-deer8002.jpg)
well, the GATORS were there, boys! My bud and I each shot a 90-100 lb pig...I got a sow and he got a little boar...in the clearcuts...it was hot and the bugs were the worst I've seen them in twenty years...the skeeters were so bad it was kind of scary...deer, turkeys, pigs everywhere....deer are running around with fawns about 5 weeks old, looks like...cause they are getting around pretty good...following mama...in the low country of south carolina.
Ray I killed a boar in march that was 300+, but in my opinion they aren't the norm. There are a few bruisers roaming the areas I hunt but most are 100-150 lbs or less. I used to hunt near Groton. A place called Redland , it was abunch of guys from FL but once a year the guy who managed the property would have a bowhunt. Killed some deer down there, never killed a hog on their property. Next time your down that way ask the locals if they know Nilo Guifford or Bill Baker.
looks like a good place to hunt, we hunt down on the flint river in georgia the magnolia/beechwood swamps......huge hogs there,,,we have a rub tree that are rubbed by boars 48" high
Now Lee, you don't think we're going to let you off that easy on the Maglite deal, do you?!!! That sounds like a STORY to me!
You are definitely right, they are not the NORM anywhere...and I know a bunch of places that NEVER see one that big...
I know Redlands area...the place I hunt is on the river side of the road, everything WEST of the public landing that's across the highway from Groton for about 2 1/2 to 3 miles along the river...I love that area down there EXCEPT for the bugs....
I was wondering if they still have the T. Huntington Abbot Club at Groton. If you want to read about Groton, get a copy of James Kilgo's "Deep Enough for Ivorybills." I used to visit with the Billy Claypoole charter at the camp of Tommy Rhodes from Estill occasionally.
I started hunting along the Carolina River side before I ever met old Ray Hammond in the mid 1980's in Savannah. I've hunted from Butterfield down to Crabapple and places inbetween. When you cross 301 into Alendale County from Georgia, a longtime friend owns both sides of the road, with about 2000 acres on the left, what once was part of Butterfield, and about 10,000 on the right. For all practical purposes, he ownes everything on the right from the Savannah River up 301 to #3 for awhile. It's 3 miles from the intersection fo #301 and #3 to the entrance of the plantation and the property extends past.
That hog with Jerry Pierce that graced the cover of TBM was taken there at a spot I placed Jerry, the first time he hunted with me. Hog weighed 225#. Several more 200# have been taken with bow and some seen that will go 300#.
I've gotten bored with hogs and don't mess with them much anymore. Personal best is 280# with bow.
How about that Ray...all these years and we are still hunting only a couple good bowshots apart. Looks like you've killed a few good critters after you got started. Congratulations.
Funny you mentioned the book "Deep enough for Ivorybills".
I had a hard cover copy of that book and loaned it to a friend several years ago. It was lost when he moved. It was one of my favorite books. I just finished reading "Colors of Africa" by James Kilgo, same author, and just yesterday I got on Books A Million's website and ordered a paperback copy of Deep enough for Ivorybills. Can't seem to find the hardback anymore.
James Kilgo is an excellent writer and a Georgia boy to boot.
yes, Cliff....
I still think fondly of showing you the rudiments of turkey hunting...the photo we took together that first day hangs on my trophy room wall as a fond reminder of "the good old days" in Savannah.
Just ordered a copy of the book by James Kilgo, was pretty surprised to get it here in the UK, looking forward to reading it, just love books about that area, "THANKS"
If any of you have any questions on the history of archery, or ANYTHING at all on sporting books, I highly recommend that you check with Liquid Amber- he is one of the best read people on sporting books,and especially historical archery, that you are likely to run into, and he's a good guy too! :D
For those who would like a copy of Kilgo's book, check out the American Book Exchange or ABE. Quite a number are listed there. The University of Georgia Press may still carry it as well.
Big hogs will suck up some arrows. The 280# I shot was bayed by Jack Douglas'[Hall Brothers] dogs. I put four zwickeys in the boiler room at 15 yards as fast as I could shoot and all the hog did was flinch as they hit. His only concern at that time was the two dogs talking ugly in his face. Jack walked up to me and said, "Shoot'um in the neck!" I did with my fifth and last arrow.
Hog charged Jack and I, force me to toss my empty bow and race Jack to a more secure area. Jack's helper had already acquired some height. Hog turned and piled up within 40 yards. The first four arrows had complete penetration with the broadheads protruding on the off side.
Ray ought to remember those arrows, he gave them to me. Orange and yellow fletch with Eskimos.
Now that's (a HOG story) what I'M TALKIN' ABOUT! I do remember those arrows, now that you mention them. Are you still shooting your Fedorah, or have you fallen in love with something else? A J.P. recurve, maybe? What weight/draw do you shoot now, L.A.?
i have killed a number of hawgs in south texas (mostly on the calaghan ranch) and most of them ranged from 50 to 150 lbs. there are some brutes down there but i like the smaller ones for eatin. the largest ive killed was 275 lbs very near here in austin. about 4 " teeth and mean as a snake. shot thru him with a 50 lb longbow (i build my own and lots for other folks) and he run off with my arrow half and half. thought i heard him die, waited about 20 min and went to fetch him up, he wasnt dead and jumped up and tried to eat me back, had to poke him again. the meat was awful but the head looks cool on my shop wall
keep huntin, bob
I have a buddy who has been hunting the Callahan Ranch(spelling right? I don't know!) for about 15 years now...sometime in the late Jan/Feb. time frame...a big gathering of hunters..for javelina and hogs...he really likes going down there...may have to join him this coming winter! Sounds like a great place...
Was on my lease today fishing and saw a "pig" track that was wide enough to put four fingers in. The biggest track I`ve seen and I`ve killed a couple 300+ pigs and they did not leave tracks like these . Anybody ever seen a 4 finger pig track in the wild or better yet seen the critter that left it ?
Saw the pig in a food plot today and was sure it was him. I walked over and checked the tracks. He is around 250 I would guess, like my son he`s just got big feet.RC
that's still a hoss, RC!
I've got some footage for the Member Videos forum of a few nice hogs....75 to 150 pounders I would guess. And I have one cut of 2 bruisers at 250+. In that cut, the millet is almost knee hi on me, so you can get an idea of how hi their backs are.
Trying to get the movies to the forum at the moment.
Movies are up at the Member Videos forum.
I just read all the threads on Pig Hunting..More than once!
I wanna Go!!!!!!!!!
Stagmitis
Largest boar I've seen here was a ferral that weighed over 500#. Filled the 6' bed of my partners old truck. The largest Russian strain boar I've seen weighed in at 250#. Never killed anything that big though. I shoot pigs that weight around 150# so I can haul them out without killing myself.
Well, since this thread was started.....I've seen 2 Cohutta Mountain Boars that were about #250, and 7 in south GA that would bust #200...and 3 of those where 250 plus. And not a one of em farm raised.
Haven't seen one that I would guess to go #300 yet though. But you guys will be the 1st to know...specially if I git an arrow in him.
I saw a 550lb Russian Boar up at Rhinehardt College last year. I'm telling you, if I saw him in the woods, I would just leave him alone.
I had a 50 cal lead ball in my pocket and I held it up, looking at him, looking at the ball. No way I thought.
Yes he was a tame boar. They were trying to load him into a trailer earlier in the day. Problem was that he just did not want to go. So, he didn't go.
Frank
I've seen two big boars shot with .50 caliber round balls, it wasn't impressive, other than the total lack of pentration. We got a boar in OZ last year that had 13" tusks and one this year with 11"'s and neither one was quite up to 300#'s, but I did see one that I would put at 350#'s and he has teeth like a warthog, no joke! Rick
ain't seen no hog, nowhere, or anything else for that matter, that can stand up to my Sharps 45-90 and 480 grains of cast lead bullet...