-
If you enjoy the forum please consider supporting it by signing up for a NES Membership The benefits pay for the membership many times over.
-
Be sure to enter the NES/MFS June Giveaway ***Keltec SUB2000***
2014 Hunting Megathread
- Thread starter dropride
- Start date
Exojam, there is a huge hog problem in the low country of SC and parts of NC to the point that there is no closed season in both states. SC started a night hunting season last year (May through early July I believe) to the delight of pretty much every farmer. My friend owns a true southern plantation and he leases fields to farmers and the past few seasons some of the farmers haven't even bothered with some fields because the hogs are destroyed the crops and also the fields themselves. Hogs give birth twice a year with some quite large litters (whatever they are called) so it seems like the more you shoot the more come back. I have 2 deep freezers and both are slap full of all kinds of game, but that's how we like it and even my 2 young daughters love to eat it and my 6 year old might try her luck in the end of the year youth hunt.
I have a few more pictures if anyone is interested. This was a really nice 8 pointer that decided to feed up to about 70 yards of my stand. I was targeting hogs & does as I had my CZ 527M Carbine .223 and unfortunately weren't shooting any Barnes 62gr TTSX projectiles otherwise I could've taken this nice buck. .223/5.56 is perfectly legal in NC & SC for deer and I don't feel under-gunned as long as I'm using a good projectile and ensure I get the right shot placement. I didn't feel bad letting him walk, I had a great time just watching him for the 10-15 minutes.
My first (and only) 10 point buck and he was about 3 years old. I shot him coming across a cotton field coming diagonal towards me from a little over 300 yards out and he stopped at 220 yards. For whatever reason he turned around and started going back the same way he came and that's when I took the shot with a Remington 700 .308 that I built myself from the action on up. I double lunged him and he ran about 120 yards and dropped dead. Another great performance with the 168gr AMAX projectile.
This was a really fat hog that more than likely escaped from farmer Brown's pen earlier in the summer. Incredible amount of fat and round shape, unlike the typical wild hog. Hard to describe but to see it side by side is pretty self explanatory. One of the best eating hogs that I ever had and even produced a decent amount of bacon. He also fell to my self built bolt gun and hand loads.
I just about always see turkeys. The most I've seen at one time had to be close to 100 of them coming down a hill on the side of a field. I always see a ton of them deer/hog hunting, but some springtime they seem to know what's up.
These 2 were in the back yard (Sandisfield, MA) playing around. One of the coolest things that I have ever seen.
I took this picture from the downstairs bathroom window right before my morning constitutional. I believe it was all hens with 1 or 2 small jakes.
I have a few more pictures if anyone is interested. This was a really nice 8 pointer that decided to feed up to about 70 yards of my stand. I was targeting hogs & does as I had my CZ 527M Carbine .223 and unfortunately weren't shooting any Barnes 62gr TTSX projectiles otherwise I could've taken this nice buck. .223/5.56 is perfectly legal in NC & SC for deer and I don't feel under-gunned as long as I'm using a good projectile and ensure I get the right shot placement. I didn't feel bad letting him walk, I had a great time just watching him for the 10-15 minutes.
My first (and only) 10 point buck and he was about 3 years old. I shot him coming across a cotton field coming diagonal towards me from a little over 300 yards out and he stopped at 220 yards. For whatever reason he turned around and started going back the same way he came and that's when I took the shot with a Remington 700 .308 that I built myself from the action on up. I double lunged him and he ran about 120 yards and dropped dead. Another great performance with the 168gr AMAX projectile.
This was a really fat hog that more than likely escaped from farmer Brown's pen earlier in the summer. Incredible amount of fat and round shape, unlike the typical wild hog. Hard to describe but to see it side by side is pretty self explanatory. One of the best eating hogs that I ever had and even produced a decent amount of bacon. He also fell to my self built bolt gun and hand loads.
I just about always see turkeys. The most I've seen at one time had to be close to 100 of them coming down a hill on the side of a field. I always see a ton of them deer/hog hunting, but some springtime they seem to know what's up.
These 2 were in the back yard (Sandisfield, MA) playing around. One of the coolest things that I have ever seen.
I took this picture from the downstairs bathroom window right before my morning constitutional. I believe it was all hens with 1 or 2 small jakes.
Mattitude,
Thanks for the reply. To bad about that hog problem as it seems to be going on in a quite a few states and nobody is able to kill enough of them to get it under control.
**********
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
Thanks for the reply. To bad about that hog problem as it seems to be going on in a quite a few states and nobody is able to kill enough of them to get it under control.
**********
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
In only my second year I'm still trying to figure out what works and what doesn't. I sit quietly in the stand pretty much all day. I do see deer (usually in the early AM) but I've yet to get a shot this year. If it were shotgun season I would have probably had 3 by now. But the shot just wasn't there with the bow. Other than the fawn I passed on anyway... I've walked around but have kept it to areas where I could do so quietly. I've never pushed through thick stuff because of the noise, leaving a scent trail and because it seems impossible to shoot through it. Especially on calm days. I'm sure there is more I could be doing... Most of the tactics I employ have come from advice on this forum or you tube. You tube is hard though - most of the hunting is for areas not around here and it's hard to relate to. You just see dudes hunting in forests with a clear floor. It's not like that - at least in my neck of the woods. there's a ton of scrub, pricker bushes, etc. Sometimes it's impossible to traverse without using some kind of clippers to cut through it. It's slow and noisy and I usually end up sweating if it's warm out.
Happy Turkey Day by the by..
Last edited:
Here are the results so far of our 4 person hunting group here in the augusta maine region.
This was shot before we got our gear on after dropping him off and parking back at the house on Residents only opening day, oddly shaped 5point dressed at 172# using .270
[/URL][/IMG]
This is my old lady and her first buck, she went out on opening firearms day by herself for a couple hours. 3 deer in her first 3 years hunting, all with a bolt action .223.
[/URL][/IMG]
And finally my deer shot Wednesday morning before I went to work and before we got a foot of snow in the afternoon. Little 8pt dressed at 122# 25-06
[/URL][/IMG]
This was shot before we got our gear on after dropping him off and parking back at the house on Residents only opening day, oddly shaped 5point dressed at 172# using .270
This is my old lady and her first buck, she went out on opening firearms day by herself for a couple hours. 3 deer in her first 3 years hunting, all with a bolt action .223.
And finally my deer shot Wednesday morning before I went to work and before we got a foot of snow in the afternoon. Little 8pt dressed at 122# 25-06
Last edited:
ccm75
NES Member
Had a good weekend two weeks ago on my friend's farm in NYS. Zone 8S:
Thought I'd share some pics.
Two coyotes came right by me while we were pushing a small brush lot. The 2nd one didn't make it home.
My friend and his two boys. His oldest got this big bodied deer out of woodlot we pushed out.
Managed to shoot this small 7pt late Sunday PM with only a few minutes of shooting light left.
Had to drag him out the woods using flashlights. He's cut & wrapped and resting comfortably in the freezer.
Thought I'd share some pics.
Two coyotes came right by me while we were pushing a small brush lot. The 2nd one didn't make it home.
My friend and his two boys. His oldest got this big bodied deer out of woodlot we pushed out.
Managed to shoot this small 7pt late Sunday PM with only a few minutes of shooting light left.
Had to drag him out the woods using flashlights. He's cut & wrapped and resting comfortably in the freezer.
Attachments
Zilch for me this archery season. Hoping for better luck with the shotgun. I had 3 enounters where I wish I had by shotgun as the bow just couldn't reach out and touch. Hope I get another one.
cmm75, you need to look a little happier in your pics...check out those smiles on the young men in your other pic!!! Awesome trophies (and memories) for the both hunters that will taste great at the table.
![[grin]](/xen/styles/default/xenforo/smilies.vb/041.gif "Grin [grin]")
It's not looking too good for me on opening day off shotgun. My dad (72) got a 5 pointer at 7:30 this morning. I helped him get it out of the woods and head to one of my tree stands only to find out it had been stolen, from my own property. So much for no trespassing signs.
Congrats to your father.
Sorry to hear about your stand, some people are just *******s.
My day did not work out as I was out hoping. I was out first thing this morning and found a lot of tracks so after lunch (around 10:30) I went back to watch that intersection of tracks until around 1:30 and 3 pumpkins came around the corner and two went on one path and one on another path I was watching. After that I knew no deer would be coming through those paths so I just scooted around to look for tracks until my batteries took me back to the truck.
Coming home I saw trucks all pulled over on the side of road with guys out hunting.
Next year I need to get my deer before gun season starts.
Last edited:
Wow that sucks.
...long evening for me today. I was out in a stand this afternoon looking to get a doe when at least a half dozen decided to show themselves not much after 5pm. I watched them for a few minutes seeing which one I was going to harvest and made my decision and when I just about got the rifle in position I got busted and they all broke camp on me. Needless to say I was frustrated and got the mindset that I wasn't going to see anything for the rest of the legal shooting time (a little more than an hour left) so I was a little bummed out. I always keep my clip on night vision device (Armasight CO-MR) in my backpack as legal shooting is 1 hour before & 1 hour after sunrise/sunset so I can get every minute of legal shooting time in with it.
Anyway I mounted it on my rifle which just so happened to be the 300 Blackout that I built and have been hunting with this season pretty much exclusively and decided to just scan around once it got just about dark. I was up 15' in a ladder stand over a picked cotton field and the stalks are still chest high so game can still hide pretty good in it and be very difficult to be seen. With just under 10 minutes of legal shooting time I heard some of the cotton stalks slowly snapping and I thought I heard some heavy breathing and thought "WTF is making that weird noise??" I turned on the NV and looked back and to my left and saw what looked like an big oblong mud puddle in the cotton. I was looking at it for about 30 seconds and then I saw it slightly move and then take a small step forward. That's all it took as I knew right there it was a hog so I flipped the safety and discharged a round. All of a sudden that sucker took off in a straight line like nothing happened. I got it again in my scope on a dead run and sent another round downrange...nothing, and by this time it's perfectly broadside to me going full bore through the cotton and I let another round go holding right on the jowl...nothing.
I knew that I was aiming right where I was supposed to be but it was like I was shooting blanks. It was pitch black out by this time but I was able to see just fine so I didn't know what the problem was. By now it was getting close to 50 yards going away from me at about a 30 degree angle and I made another good hold and sent another 125 grain SST at this animal. After that it showed signs of slowing down and I couldn't hear any more cotton stalks breaking from this hog busting through the field. Finally it's down and time for me to get out of the stand and find out what just happened.
I made my way out to where I thought it was right in front of me where I made that perfect broadside shot and proceeded to look for blood. It only took about a minute or so and I found one single drop of blood. Right there I thought crap I hope it didn't make it out of the field undetected (well my ears were ringing pretty badly so it was possible) and I would be tracking this thing all night. I made it about 15 feet and there I saw a bit more blood and then 5 more feet is where I saw copious blood about waist high all the way down to the ground. Now I know that hogs don't jump so this had to be one big hog...little did I know at that time. I found pieces of lung mixed in with big pieces of clotted blood so right there I knew this was a successful shooting and I should be seeing my hog soon. Well I got my wish on that...
I about fell over this hog when I walked up on it as it was about the same color as the ground and brown cotton stalks so it was pretty hard to see. I couldn't believe how huge this pig was...then the thought came over me of how the heck I was going to move this giant piece of dead weight. By this time my ride came up with extra help but we found out real quick that 4 grown men could barely move this thing much less put it on a rear rack. Luckily one of the guys has a front loader and that is how we got this ginormous hog back to camp.
The game lift winch is rated for 880 pounds and it barely lifted this hog up off the ground. The game scale goes up to 500# and this sow bottomed it out real quick so she was well over 500 pounds live weight. She had 3 holes in her and she was hit right where I was aiming. The first round was right behind the ear and went into the top of the chest cavity as she was facing directly towards me and was a top down type of shot. The broadside was right on and double lunged her. Blood was coming out like someone opened up a fire hose and she would've died from that shot but I would've more than likely had to track her through the woods. The anchoring shot was right into the liver and completely took out the far lung and that was when she put the brakes on and went down.
This was by far the biggest hog that not only I have ever shot but also the biggest hog I have ever seen that wasn't on a farm or on the back of a truck on the way to the Smithfield packing plant. This is a true trophy hog and one that I will more than likely won't best in my lifetime. She is very healthy and will make excellent table fare. Big sows are good to eat, big boars not so much unless they have been gelded...and chances are you won't find a gelded wild hog. It looks like I'll be getting a shoulder mount to remember this amazing animal.
Anyway I mounted it on my rifle which just so happened to be the 300 Blackout that I built and have been hunting with this season pretty much exclusively and decided to just scan around once it got just about dark. I was up 15' in a ladder stand over a picked cotton field and the stalks are still chest high so game can still hide pretty good in it and be very difficult to be seen. With just under 10 minutes of legal shooting time I heard some of the cotton stalks slowly snapping and I thought I heard some heavy breathing and thought "WTF is making that weird noise??" I turned on the NV and looked back and to my left and saw what looked like an big oblong mud puddle in the cotton. I was looking at it for about 30 seconds and then I saw it slightly move and then take a small step forward. That's all it took as I knew right there it was a hog so I flipped the safety and discharged a round. All of a sudden that sucker took off in a straight line like nothing happened. I got it again in my scope on a dead run and sent another round downrange...nothing, and by this time it's perfectly broadside to me going full bore through the cotton and I let another round go holding right on the jowl...nothing.
I knew that I was aiming right where I was supposed to be but it was like I was shooting blanks. It was pitch black out by this time but I was able to see just fine so I didn't know what the problem was. By now it was getting close to 50 yards going away from me at about a 30 degree angle and I made another good hold and sent another 125 grain SST at this animal. After that it showed signs of slowing down and I couldn't hear any more cotton stalks breaking from this hog busting through the field. Finally it's down and time for me to get out of the stand and find out what just happened.
I made my way out to where I thought it was right in front of me where I made that perfect broadside shot and proceeded to look for blood. It only took about a minute or so and I found one single drop of blood. Right there I thought crap I hope it didn't make it out of the field undetected (well my ears were ringing pretty badly so it was possible) and I would be tracking this thing all night. I made it about 15 feet and there I saw a bit more blood and then 5 more feet is where I saw copious blood about waist high all the way down to the ground. Now I know that hogs don't jump so this had to be one big hog...little did I know at that time. I found pieces of lung mixed in with big pieces of clotted blood so right there I knew this was a successful shooting and I should be seeing my hog soon. Well I got my wish on that...
I about fell over this hog when I walked up on it as it was about the same color as the ground and brown cotton stalks so it was pretty hard to see. I couldn't believe how huge this pig was...then the thought came over me of how the heck I was going to move this giant piece of dead weight. By this time my ride came up with extra help but we found out real quick that 4 grown men could barely move this thing much less put it on a rear rack. Luckily one of the guys has a front loader and that is how we got this ginormous hog back to camp.
The game lift winch is rated for 880 pounds and it barely lifted this hog up off the ground. The game scale goes up to 500# and this sow bottomed it out real quick so she was well over 500 pounds live weight. She had 3 holes in her and she was hit right where I was aiming. The first round was right behind the ear and went into the top of the chest cavity as she was facing directly towards me and was a top down type of shot. The broadside was right on and double lunged her. Blood was coming out like someone opened up a fire hose and she would've died from that shot but I would've more than likely had to track her through the woods. The anchoring shot was right into the liver and completely took out the far lung and that was when she put the brakes on and went down.
This was by far the biggest hog that not only I have ever shot but also the biggest hog I have ever seen that wasn't on a farm or on the back of a truck on the way to the Smithfield packing plant. This is a true trophy hog and one that I will more than likely won't best in my lifetime. She is very healthy and will make excellent table fare. Big sows are good to eat, big boars not so much unless they have been gelded...and chances are you won't find a gelded wild hog. It looks like I'll be getting a shoulder mount to remember this amazing animal.
Just for scale I'm 6' 2" and she is just as big as me hanging up. Definitely a very big girl and loaded with bacon. The smaller hogs you can't get bacon from because there really isn't much meat on the belly, but this one has at least 3" of fat and loaded w/meaty goodness.
