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Georgia Hog Hunting

- By Paul Beasley -

  The Shooting, Hunting, Outdoor Trade Show (SHOT Show) is the largest and most comprehensive trade show for professionals involved with the shooting sports and hunting industries. This year the show was held in Orlando, Florida so I decided to take my wife down with me and make a vacation out of the trip as well.

  We have some good friends in southern Georgia that we've hunted and fished with in the past and decided to get a couple days of hog hunting in while we were in the area. It was just over 18 hours by car to southern Georgia where we met up with our friends. The daytime temperatures were gorgeous compared to the Canadian winter we'd left behind but someone forgot to tell Mother Nature to turn the heat up before daylight Monday morning when we climbed into our stand. We were nestled in a roomy loft overlooking a nice small foodplot on the edge of a massive marsh. Wet, rainy and cold conditions weren't making things look so favourable but my wife and I were thankful for a roof on our stand and walls on all sides to keep us dry.

  It was about 8 am when our first 100% wild and free-ranging hog showed up. It was a young sow that would likely have only weighed about 40-50 pounds. Though a hog of that size would make a real good eater, we weren't looking for sows so we let her feed on through.

  The only other wildlife we saw that morning was a bearded hen. It's quite unusual for hens to grow beards so we made sure to capture this moment on film.

A rare sight indeed! This bearded hen came out and fed in our food plot the first morning of our hunt.

  We switched locations for the afternoon and found ourselves in the "honey-hole". As we neared the plot we were intending to sit over, we could see a large, white-faced sow feeding with her litter of little pigs. She was over 150 yards away and with her poor vision and the wind in our face, we were able to cautiously and quietly climb into our elevated metal tower stand without disturbing her.

Colour variations are the norm with wild feral hogs. We saw predominantly white hogs, red hogs, grey hogs, black hogs and just about every variation in between.

  She fed for some time before being joined by another sow with her own litter too. Over the course of the next hour, we saw various hogs come in and out of the plot from all directions. It was quite exciting to see so much action but where were the boars? At one point a group of two boars and one sow fed into about 50 yards but only weighing about 60-70 lbs I opted to let them go hoping a mature boar would come out before last light.

The two boars (right) were always together and presented many shot opportunities like this 50 yard shot here. The boar on the furthest right is the one I eventually killed.

  At one point a sow came walking in on the main trail with over 10 little ones trailing behind. We couldn't believe one sow could have so many in a single litter but we came to find out later that she was baby-sitting because another very large sow was about 30 minutes behind her grunting the entire way and as soon as the little one's heard her call, half of them made a beeline for her. She and the other sow then laid down on their sides while the piglets all fed vigorously. It was a neat sight to behold. The night ended with us seeing 12 hogs and an innumerable number of little piglets but no big boars.

With such large litters it's easy to see why hogs can populate an area so quickly.

Click on the thumbnail to view a short video clip. Dial-Up users beware! Depending on Internet Speeds it may take awhile to load.

  We were back the next morning in the same stand and despite very hot day time temperatures, once again we were greeted by a very cold morning. It wasn't until the sun was above the trees that the woods started to come alive. We heard the piglets first. They were squealing and squealing from just inside the trees but for about 20 minutes not a single hog came out. Then finally, a little sow made her appearance. She was followed by one of the same boars from yesterday and pretty soon we had all 12 hogs and the little piglets from yesterday out grazing.

  Once again we had many shot opportunities at the two young boars but again hoped for something a little better. They fed until about 9:30 am and then as they were getting close to the edge of the trees, I looked at my wife and said, " with today being our last day to hunt, and seeing the exact same hogs today as we did yesterday, maybe I should go try to kill one of those boars." She was fully supportive as that would then mean we didn't have to hunt that evening!

  With the hogs about 250 yards away, I climbed down out of my stand and began a stalk. Pigs are the perfect animal to spot and stalk. Their poor eyesight will pick up sharp movements but as long as you are slow and steady and move when they aren't looking, you'll be alright. Their hearing is pretty good but because they make so much noise themselves, they don't seem to look at every noise like a deer or turkey does. Unless you make a stick break or snap fairly close to them, they are quite forgiving of sound. Their best weapon of defense though is their nose. You will not and cannot beat their nose. That is, you MUST always have the wind in your face. They are incredibly sharp at picking up smell from your boots, or airborne smells from the wind and they will not give you a second chance. If they smell you they are gone.

  I managed to close the gap to about 60 yards rather easily and quickly but at that point I lost cover and had to belly crawl with only light, but tall, grasses between me and the herd. Several times I had the black boar in my sights and as I was about to squeeze the trigger another hog would walk in and ruin my shot. At one point a hen turkey walked right in behind the boar and again took away my chance as he moved and left me with a bad angle. For one reason or another I was unable to get the shot I needed before they moved into the long grass. I then slipped right in close to them and at one point I had a sow with a few little pigs only 15 yards from me and I could make out other pigs but I could not identify them clear enough for a shot. Knowing they'd be back out on the plot again that evening, I opted to back out so as not to spook them.

The morning was wearing on and the pigs were making their way for the timber so I decided to try and get close enough for a shot. I was well within range but never able to get the shot I needed on one of the boars before they made it into the tall grass and disappeared.

  I climbed back into my stand and my wife and I continued to enjoy the warm sun as it climbed higher and higher. At about 10:30 am, I spotted a hog right in the immediate area of where I left them an hour ago. I watched for a few minutes to figure out what they were doing and I realized that they hadn't gone anywhere since I last saw them this morning. They were using the long grass as cover but enjoying the open canopy which allowed the heat of the sun to come through. It seemed as though the 1 hour siesta was enough as they were soon all back on their feet and moving away. I decided it was do or die time and set off again to stalk in on them.

  This time, they were mingling around in a direction that was completely away from me so it made the stalk much easier as their backs were to me most of the time. Before long I was within 15 yards of one sow with about 6 piglets. I was quite tempted to drop my T/C Encore and Bushnell Binoculars in the sand and try to catch one of the little critters but movement to my left snapped me out of that dream. I had been following this group of two sows with their little pigs and hadn't noticed another group only 12 yards beside me meandering through the long grass. I knelt down on the ground with my scope ready and watched as my two boar's trotted out onto the trail with about 4 other pigs. They were moving steadily along the trail crossing back and forth and with a mess of other hogs in front of them, I couldn't make an ethical shot without the risk of harming another one. Finally, the two boars and a sow of the same size trotted off into the rows of planted pines to my right. This was good as this would isolate them from the group and give me a better chance at a shot. I made a dash to get up close and peered over the bushes to try and locate them. No sooner had I stopped walking when I could hear them crashing back out heading toward the trail I was on. I no sooner got down on one knee and they popped out at 12 yards on a brisk trot trying to catch up to the others. The grey boar came out first followed by the black one and I didn't waste anytime centering the crosshairs behind his shoulder as he quartered away. The gun went off and he took a hard right back into the bushes while the rest of the herd didn't know what to do. In defense mode, they all circled up about 25 yards away trying to figure out what happened. The only sound to be heard was my boar giving some final leg thrashes in the pine straw and that was enough to peak their curiosity. One by one they all crossed back in front of me and walked right up to my now dead boar. With a couple sniffs they gave a few grunts and continued their procession on into the rows of planted pines, unaware of my standing only a short distance away.

  I grabbed my hog and headed back to find my wife already halfway up the trail excited to see my kill. After some hugs and pictures were taken we climbed back up in the stand and enjoyed the warm Georgia sun until our ride came to pick us up.

  He may not have been the biggest hog out there but with such a short hunting trip I was almost down to the wire and decided I'd better not be too picky. Besides, with the exception of a couple outings near home, this was the first time I was really able to enjoy the outdoors with my wife at my side and I couldn't have asked for a better experience than that. Furthermore, we had the chance to spend some quality time in the afternoons and evenings with some good friends that are the essence of southern hospitality! The trip couldn't have been any better!

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