I got a late start on New Years day. My wife and I were childless (grandparents for the win) and we decided to stay out late. Even though I was planning to hunt the next morning, it's important for me to give in to the wife on nights like this. I'm more of an early-to-bed-early-to-rise kind of guy. When bed time creeps past 0100, I pay the consequences. I set my alarm for 0600 instead of 0430 to make up for the late night. When I awoke after 4 hours of sleep my head was still a little foggy and I hurriedly packed my stuff and hit the road. Arriving at the boat launch 20 minutes later, I realized I forgot my rubber boots. This is a no-go for Georgia Swamp hunting. It would be like showing up to surgery and forgetting your scalpel.
After I lost nearly an hour to my little boot snafu, I decided to change my hunting location. The original spot was about a 35 minute paddle from the boat launch and I didn't have any more time to lose. I chose to go to a new spot I had been wanting to check out. The wind was right. The distance was right. The time was right.
The image below represents about 1200 acres. This piece of ground is situated on a military installation that provides nearly 250,000 acres of huntable ground. The area gets a fair bit of pressure, but the deep swamps are generally untouched. The closest hunter access by ground is approximately 1/2 mile away (green). Access from the ground is blocked by hundreds of blow downs, deep bogs, thorn thickets, and many other natural obstacles. It's impossible to sneak through these bogs quietly unless you move at a literal snail's pace. I was banking on hunting pressure from easier-to-access land to the south pushing the deer deep into the swamps. Access by boat is the only real way to hunt this spot without alerting every animal in the area to your presence.
Blue = Boat Launch
Yellow = Saddle Tree
Green = Nearest Hunter Access
Red Line = 100 Yards
The wind was blowing softly from the East, Northeast at 1-2 mph. I decided to approach from the South and setup no more than 40 yards inside the wood line. This setup would ensure my wind was blowing back towards the river. Not only was the wind good for me, but a mature buck would like this wind as well. If he bedded on the peninsula, he would be able to smell any danger approaching. Unless of course danger came in from the river on a kayak.
The setup gave me a paddle of slightly under 1/4 mile up river. With my Hobie Pro Angler, I can cover this distance very quickly and silently. For those that aren't familiar with kayaks, the Pro Angler is the Cadillac of kayaks. Instead of paddles, it works with a Mirage Drive engineered to mimic Penguin's flippers. You "paddle" with your feet. The fins are under the water and are dead quiet.
Since I had never been to this location before, I wasn't sure if there would be suitable trees or stand locations. Once I arrived, I was pleasantly surprised. My boat came to rest on a big oak flat surrounded by nasty cypress bogs. My selected funnel is just over 100 yards wide (thin red line) and the Thompson Center Venture .300 WinMag could easily reach any critter passing through. The perfect wind and short walking distance meant nothing would know I was there.
That is until I took 3 steps from the kayak and had a 80 lb Sow bearing down on me from less than 20 yards away. She had her nose in the ground rooting for worms and was completely oblivious to my presence. That's when I saw the piglets. I didn't have time to count, but there were more than 3 (there were actually 6). The first thing that went through my head was "never surprise a mother with her young". While hogs aren't generally aggressive, there have been cases of attacks on hunters. In a split second, I decided to shoot after the sow had closed the distance to 10 yards. This entire scenario played out in approximately 45 seconds after I stepped on dry ground. 1 pig down.
Now that my element of surprise was completely blown, I moved further into the swamp to find a suitable tree for my modified SitDrag. I quickly got my Climb Right aluminum spurs (with the @flinginairos webbing mod) buckled on and climbed the tree. At approximately 23 feet situated in the crotch of the tree I heard movement to my right. I turned and saw 4 more jet black hogs approaching from the main land.
I wasn't completely setup and my gun was still on the ground so I couldn't shoot. The same pigs exposed themselves once or twice more during the hunt, but I didn't take the shot. I was more concerned with waiting on the swamp donkey that never showed up.
I rappelled down from the tree at 1145 in order to scout the peninsula to the Northeast. Hopefully I would locate significant mature buck sign to target next season.
The peninsula is a nightmare. I couldn't walk 10 feet on dry ground without encountering blow downs and mud holes. It seemed to me the perfect location for a big mossy-backed buck to hideout. The bad news is hogs have destroyed the area. Everywhere a pig could bury his snout in the ground had the telling sign of pig tracks and upturned soil. These pigs need to go. They truly are taking a toll on the environment.
Nearing the back of the peninsula I heard snorting. I froze on top of the blown down oak tree I was using as a bridge across one of the seemingly 10,000 deep holes I had crossed. About 60-70 yards away, the same 4 jet black boars from earlier in the hunt were feeding on an isolated oak flat. I gently and quietly slipped off the tree into shin deep water (rubber boots really are imperative) and steadied my gun. The 40 lb juvenile boar dropped instantly. The other pigs froze. I could have taken another one, but two pigs is enough for one day.
This was a really fun hunt. Even though I went in blind, my plan was solid. I didn't find the swamp donkey I was looking for, but after putting boots on the ground, I realize that my digital analysis of the terrain was spot on. I got a little lucky in that the place I chose to land the kayak happened to be the best possible spot. But every once in a while, lady luck smiles on us all.
Before I left, I marked two trees that give me the best chance at a passing buck. I will preset them in the next few weeks in preparation for next season. I really believe this peninsula could hold a monster buck. I just need to get the pigs thinned out. Pigmageddon anyone?
After I lost nearly an hour to my little boot snafu, I decided to change my hunting location. The original spot was about a 35 minute paddle from the boat launch and I didn't have any more time to lose. I chose to go to a new spot I had been wanting to check out. The wind was right. The distance was right. The time was right.
The image below represents about 1200 acres. This piece of ground is situated on a military installation that provides nearly 250,000 acres of huntable ground. The area gets a fair bit of pressure, but the deep swamps are generally untouched. The closest hunter access by ground is approximately 1/2 mile away (green). Access from the ground is blocked by hundreds of blow downs, deep bogs, thorn thickets, and many other natural obstacles. It's impossible to sneak through these bogs quietly unless you move at a literal snail's pace. I was banking on hunting pressure from easier-to-access land to the south pushing the deer deep into the swamps. Access by boat is the only real way to hunt this spot without alerting every animal in the area to your presence.
Blue = Boat Launch
Yellow = Saddle Tree
Green = Nearest Hunter Access
Red Line = 100 Yards
The wind was blowing softly from the East, Northeast at 1-2 mph. I decided to approach from the South and setup no more than 40 yards inside the wood line. This setup would ensure my wind was blowing back towards the river. Not only was the wind good for me, but a mature buck would like this wind as well. If he bedded on the peninsula, he would be able to smell any danger approaching. Unless of course danger came in from the river on a kayak.
The setup gave me a paddle of slightly under 1/4 mile up river. With my Hobie Pro Angler, I can cover this distance very quickly and silently. For those that aren't familiar with kayaks, the Pro Angler is the Cadillac of kayaks. Instead of paddles, it works with a Mirage Drive engineered to mimic Penguin's flippers. You "paddle" with your feet. The fins are under the water and are dead quiet.
Since I had never been to this location before, I wasn't sure if there would be suitable trees or stand locations. Once I arrived, I was pleasantly surprised. My boat came to rest on a big oak flat surrounded by nasty cypress bogs. My selected funnel is just over 100 yards wide (thin red line) and the Thompson Center Venture .300 WinMag could easily reach any critter passing through. The perfect wind and short walking distance meant nothing would know I was there.
That is until I took 3 steps from the kayak and had a 80 lb Sow bearing down on me from less than 20 yards away. She had her nose in the ground rooting for worms and was completely oblivious to my presence. That's when I saw the piglets. I didn't have time to count, but there were more than 3 (there were actually 6). The first thing that went through my head was "never surprise a mother with her young". While hogs aren't generally aggressive, there have been cases of attacks on hunters. In a split second, I decided to shoot after the sow had closed the distance to 10 yards. This entire scenario played out in approximately 45 seconds after I stepped on dry ground. 1 pig down.
Now that my element of surprise was completely blown, I moved further into the swamp to find a suitable tree for my modified SitDrag. I quickly got my Climb Right aluminum spurs (with the @flinginairos webbing mod) buckled on and climbed the tree. At approximately 23 feet situated in the crotch of the tree I heard movement to my right. I turned and saw 4 more jet black hogs approaching from the main land.
I wasn't completely setup and my gun was still on the ground so I couldn't shoot. The same pigs exposed themselves once or twice more during the hunt, but I didn't take the shot. I was more concerned with waiting on the swamp donkey that never showed up.
I rappelled down from the tree at 1145 in order to scout the peninsula to the Northeast. Hopefully I would locate significant mature buck sign to target next season.
The peninsula is a nightmare. I couldn't walk 10 feet on dry ground without encountering blow downs and mud holes. It seemed to me the perfect location for a big mossy-backed buck to hideout. The bad news is hogs have destroyed the area. Everywhere a pig could bury his snout in the ground had the telling sign of pig tracks and upturned soil. These pigs need to go. They truly are taking a toll on the environment.
Nearing the back of the peninsula I heard snorting. I froze on top of the blown down oak tree I was using as a bridge across one of the seemingly 10,000 deep holes I had crossed. About 60-70 yards away, the same 4 jet black boars from earlier in the hunt were feeding on an isolated oak flat. I gently and quietly slipped off the tree into shin deep water (rubber boots really are imperative) and steadied my gun. The 40 lb juvenile boar dropped instantly. The other pigs froze. I could have taken another one, but two pigs is enough for one day.
This was a really fun hunt. Even though I went in blind, my plan was solid. I didn't find the swamp donkey I was looking for, but after putting boots on the ground, I realize that my digital analysis of the terrain was spot on. I got a little lucky in that the place I chose to land the kayak happened to be the best possible spot. But every once in a while, lady luck smiles on us all.
Before I left, I marked two trees that give me the best chance at a passing buck. I will preset them in the next few weeks in preparation for next season. I really believe this peninsula could hold a monster buck. I just need to get the pigs thinned out. Pigmageddon anyone?
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