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Suggested WMA to hunt hogs in South Carolina

I haven’t hunted hogs before but wouldn’t the flooding force them all into specific areas ?


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Don’t overlook North GA. It’s five hours closer than south GA for the guys driving from up North and we have over 3/4 of a million acres of public ground on Chattahoochee National Forest that has a good hog population. The terrain is very rugged which keeps a lot of guys from chasing them. As a result, many of the hogs get to be huge. In the last five years I have killed ten of them on public in the mountains. Most were over 200lbs, with two being over 300.
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I texted a relative with SCDR. I’ll let you know what he says.


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Thank you - I am definitely itching to get a hog. Hard to pass the time waiting for deer season to roll around again :tonguewink:
 
Thank you - I am definitely itching to get a hog. Hard to pass the time waiting for deer season to roll around again :tonguewink:

I talked to my bro in law and he said McCormick county in SC is probably the best county for hogs that isn’t in the lower part of the state. He works for the SCDNR and traps a lot of hogs.


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I am not seeing anything in the way of WMAs in McCormick county. Might be great for hogs - but not so great if I don't have a place to hunt them.
 
I am not seeing anything in the way of WMAs in McCormick county. Might be great for hogs - but not so great if I don't have a place to hunt them.
WMA’s will be different than game management/public land. I’m not aware that game management land is even listed on the SCDNR website. You’ll probably have to go with OnX or something similar to locate the public land. I grew up in SC and deer hunted public most of my time there and never stepped foot on a named WMA. There is lots of game management land available in most every county in SC. It’s usually posted with a sign that is a yellow diamond. Most of these are unnamed WMA’s.
 
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All of the light green is unnamed WMA or game management land. There’s a lot in Greenwood, Abbeville, McCormick, and Edgedfield. Probably more land than you could cover in one trip. Like I said not all WMA land is named.


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I was sticking to the areas listed for the special hog hunting still hunt on WMA and preserves - as I know the legal implements that I could use.

http://www.eregulations.com/southcarolina/19scab/hog-hunting-seasons-for-w-m-a-s-heritage-preserves/


As the regulations are somewhat vague - Maybe someone can enlighten me on what I could hunt these other public lands with/when. The regulations say that you can use whatever legal implement for any open hunting season - but if there is no season - are you not allowed to hunt? If I were to hunt these other public lands - can I use rifle? Muzzleloader? or not allowed till fall seasons open up? They really do not define public land restrictions very clearly. Private land restrictions are clear - you can kill hogs however you want- whenever you want.
 
Welcome to SC DNR......

Zero hunting on unnamed WMA lands outside of open hunting seasons for other species and only with weapons allowed for that season.

Named WMAs will often have a short season where you can use a real weapon that is suitable for the task.

Private land is kill them all.

Finding what you want on the SC DNR site or in the regs can be daunting to the uninitiated.
 
Welcome to SC DNR......

Zero hunting on unnamed WMA lands outside of open hunting seasons for other species and only with weapons allowed for that season.

Named WMAs will often have a short season where you can use a real weapon that is suitable for the task.

Private land is kill them all.

Finding what you want on the SC DNR site or in the regs can be daunting to the uninitiated.
I always call the office in York. They are always very helpful explaining regulations when I have a question.
 
Anything close to the Savannah River watershed. I believe this is the original “location” of wild hogs.

Estill, SC I’ve been to twice. There was a trad only camp there. It may be called “Wild Things” now.
 
Thank you everyone for the helpful suggestions.

We ended up hunting Woodbury WMA. Saw some fresh tracks - not much in the way of fresh rooting. I am wondering if the water level was still too high to employ the strategy of hunting the receding waters.

We put 6 miles on the canoe and 11 on foot on Friday - saw 2 gators and 6 whitetail. We hunted mostly south of the powerlines.

We put 8 miles on the canoe and another 6 miles on foot on Saturday. Most of it was in 3 foot of water with waders slowly stalking the swamp edges. We accessed it from the north and stuck around the old clubhouse. Did see more fresh sign in this area - but unfortunately the hogs were no where to be found.

All in all - It was a wonderful trip - being able to get out in the outdoors in the off season. If anyone else has any other good ideas for hog hunts before Deer season starts - I would be all ears. it is still on my bucket list. No offense to those that use them - but I do not feel guide hunting is an accomplishment - I find the joy in doing the research and striking out on my own - I am not very interested in guide suggestions.

Happy Hunting!!!
 

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My company just picked up a couple projects on Parris Island. This means I will probably be making a couple trips down there. Any good hog killing near Parris Island? I haven't started doing any research yet, I came right to you guys first.
 
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