Recent Hog Trail Camera Photo's!

I just pulled some trail camera cards and found a pile of sows and pigs using the area again.

There was a massive live oak acorn crop this year at this property but there were so many deer, hogs and turkeys using this hammock that they just wiped them out. Also, the woods have really dried up and this pushed the hogs back to the creek swamp. I just recently got my feeders going again and the hogs area starting to show back up. Not much for shooters on the camera but I'm sure they are around close.

I'll be offering some reasonably priced hog hunts coming up so if your interested in doing some hog hunting in North East Florida, leave me a comment and I will get back to you.

Here is a link to my guiding site where you can get some more information on both guided hog and turkey hunts...... http://guidedturkeyhunting.com/

 

I'll be posting a lot more photo's in the up coming weeks and hopefully a few new bow hunt video's.

 

Best of hunts, Larry Stephens

Another Successful Guided Hog Hunt!

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This is a short video of a hog hunt I guided in late October. The Hunter is Ed Acierno of Palm Coast, Fl. and was accompanied by his brother Mike.

We began our expedition by stopping off at one of the feeders at the ranch to see what sign we could find. There were so many turkeys on the pasture that every scrap of corn had been wiped out. We walked over to the close corner of the pasture to see if the live oaks were dropping and look for some hog sign. Their were green & whites (live oak acorns) everywhere and all the hog, deer and turkey sign you could ever want to see. As we were walking back to the feeder a whole herd of about 10-12 hogs came trotting out of the woods to check the feeder. We were caught off guard looking at the ground for sign and the hogs spotted us before we knew they were there. That put the whole group right back in the woods. That was all Ed and Mike needed to see, they wanted to go no further! "let's just hunt right here!"

I wanted them to have a little more of a hunt than that so we headed over to a little hammock section where I hoped we could get on a decent hog in the woods. We slipped quietly along the hammock edge for for a while but the hogs never showed. At that point and it was getting a little late so we slipped across the pasture from the other side to see if that first group was back at the feeder. There were hogs of all shapes and sizes there picking up corn.

The decision was made, we'd stalk the pasture feeder using a small out building to mask our movement.

One of the more memorable parts of the hunt was just after Ed had shot his Hog. He was using a .308
and had shot an 80lb guilt square on. I was so involved in videoing the hunt that I was not really paying proper attention to the shot angle.  When we walked up to the downed hog I couldn't remember what angle it had been standing at the shot.

The hog still had a little kick left in it when we got to it despite having taken a direct shot to the forehead from Ed's .308.

Ed was eager to apply a finishing shot from his .22 pistol but I held him off....."no, she's done, I related." After a few more moments of kicking I decided I had better have a look at the shot. It looked like the bullet had entered just right of center and had come out the eye. It appeared to be a quartering shot that had just clipped the skull.

I decided to have Ed put a .22 in the ear just to be safe. "Go ahead and shoot her in the ear Ed but hold it right up close so it's not so loud."
What I didn't realize was that the hog had been standing square on and the bulged out eye was from the expansion of the head shot which had devastated the inside of the head.

When Ed pulled the trigger on the pistol the pooled blood in the head went everywhere! Ed was covered in a fine red mist! Unfortunately, I had turned the camera off at that point.

We all got a little laugh out of that and it was time for the work to begin. I quartered the hog right there on the tail gate of my truck, the hog was in the cooler and my job was done!

I hope you enjoy the video.

If you are interested in a guided hog hunt with me at Bull Creek, you can contact me through my guide site at www.guidedturkeyhunting.com 

I can provide both fall and spring turkey hunts as well as Hog Hunts.

I will post some more videos shortly of the hogs and turkey.......you can't even

believe the number of turkeys using there right now. If you are looking for a fall turkey hunt

It is a guaranteed harvest right now.

The most recent count of birds on the pasture was just short of 100! with 11 jakes

and 13 trophy longbeards. I am about to head up to our lease in illinois for a muzzleload hunt

but as soon as I get back I'll get some video of them.

Best of hunts,
Larry S.

Two Boars for Kristina!

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This story actually begins three weeks earlier. I was bush hogging a stretch of broken woods pasture and wasn’t’ able to finish before dark so I decided to get back out there first thing the next morning to finish up. When I stepped out from behind a small island of cypress and cabbage trees, there standing in a slight depression in the fog was a heck of a big boar hog. The next weekend I needed to do a little more work out there so I decided to carry my open sight .30-.30 marlin in case I ran into that big boar again.

I eased down to the end of the mow to a small drain that still had a couple pot holes of water in it. Kneeling on some washed out roots over the water, I contemplated whether I really wanted to get across or just get to my mowing. A noise caught my attention down the hammock that sounded like it could be some hogs. A minute later, directly in front of me some movement caught my attention and a big hog head came pushing thru the palmettos. at 10 yds. He turned his head exposing his shoulder. I already had a bead on him and the hammer back. At the report of my .30-.30 the old boar hit the ground hard .

I have killed more than my share of wild hogs but this one was the largest I have seen on the hoof, in the woods.

The next weekend we were on our way over to an anniversary party and I had an appointment to get my hair cut with my niece Kristina.. I had brought some pictures of the big boar I had killed with me and eventually the subject of hunting came up and I told Kristina I have a picture for you to look at! She could hardly believe her eyes when she saw the size of the big pig.

I could see her interest was peaked and she related that she had been hog and turkey hunting a few times with a boyfriend but they were unsuccessful. Actually, at that point she had never even been shown how to handle a gun, never even fired a shot!

Do you want to kill a Hog?

I asked…do you want to kill a hog? There was no hesitation in her answer and she was all smiles!

Well, we planned a hunt for the next weekend. It was mid June and the afternoon rain showers had started. There is no better time to see game on their feet than after a cooling, late afternoon shower. Every critter in the woods will be moving and feeding…especially if it’s a quarter moon! Guaranteed!

The first order of business was to get Kristina comfortable with a firearm and select something that fit her without to much recoil. We set up a shooting bench at a 50 yds and started her off with a .22 LR. to build her confidence and teach her the basics. As with most women I’ve seen shoot, she was a natural!

After burning thru a pile of .22 ammo it was time to step it up a little. Next was the Ruger semi auto in .44 rem. mag., then a Marlin .30-.30 lever action and finally a Browning A-Bolt in .30-.06.

We settled on the Ruger .44 mag.. It a small rifle with a thin short barrel that is pretty easy to point.

Kristina goes to Hog City!

I had a two man tree stand in mind that overlooked the end of a natural grass opening along a swamp. Hog city!

The next morning Kristina, Tammie (my wife)
and I slipped into the stand from the down wind side, squeezed ourselves in and settled back for the wait.

About 30 minutes had gone by when movement caught our attention left and a little behind the stand in the edge of the marsh. It was a big brown Boar! At 20 yds the brute stopped to rub on a knotted cypress sapling that had been rubbed many times in the past. With the hogs attention diverted I started getting Kristina into position for a shot. Unfortunately, the hog caught the movement or a sound and busted off thru the swamp woofing at the intruders.

Kristina was crushed at missing her big opportunity. No other game showed that morning so we called off the dogs with a plan to return later that afternoon.

Right on que, as if it were planned, a light rain started to fall about 2:00pm. We made our way to the stand and got into position with high expectations of seeing some hogs.

Another Missed Opportunity!

The first to show was a small group of does and yearlings. About an hour or so before dark Tammie spotted some hogs coming down a grassy mow from the marsh. Two black and two red, all young boars that looked like they were out of the same mold. The tension was high as Kristina readied for a shot. Instead of moving out into the open and closer to our position they turned up the edge moving down the opening away from us. The closest they came was 90yds. and I thought that was a little far for her to shoot so I waved her off. Man, was she disappointed! The group continued on and out of sight. I reassured her “we’ll see some more, don’t worry.”

About 15-20 minutes later I caught some movement in the high grass and shortly, out stepped the big boar we had seen that morning. It was instant excitement! Kristina readied for the shot. The boar passed thru a small island of black gum trees and out into the opening at about 50 yds. I whispered, “shoot’em when he stops”. A minute later the little Ruger carbine sounded off with a crack! The hog wheeled back and was gone!

Kristina immediately asked….”did I get him”! “I couldn’t tell”. Well, to be honest I was pretty much thinking she probably had missed and decided we would give him some time and see if anything else showed. About that time, here comes the group of boars from earlier, running back down the pasture! They had spooked from the shot and couldn’t tell where it had come from. Now this is a handy tip to remember…..you can bet the farm, if you shoot at a deer or hog, its going to run back the direction it came from! They know there’s no danger on their back trail and there’s usually thicker cover that direction.

I started barking out orders, “get ready, get ready”, covering my ears and leaning over I told Kristina to shoot off my shoulder! Shoot the black one”, shoot the black one!“ The last hog stopped broadside at about 60yds and once again the little carbine cracked! The hog dropped in its tracks! As soon as Kristina recovered from the recoil and realized it was down she started hollering….”I got him, I got him”!

We all climbed down for a look at Kristina’s trophy. She could hardly believe what she had done! The hog weighed about 90 lbs. and she had made a perfect shot. It was spitting rain and the grass was wet so I told her to follow me, we need to make sure you did not hit the first hog. We started tracking in the wet grass and in short order cut a fresh blood trail headed south towards the marsh. “Oh no! you hit the first one too!”

Kristina could hardly believe it, she was grinning from ear to ear.

Two Shots, Two Hogs Down!

We started tracking but it was a short trail job. After 30yds, there just in the edge of the tall marsh grass lay a 200lb plus brown boar! A real trophy! She had put the .44 ball thru both lungs, right behind the shoulder. Kristina was absolutely amazed that she had downed such an animal!

The white spot in the photo above is one of the thousand mosquitoes we saw that evening that flew to close to the flash

We took some time to enjoy the moment and started our picture taking secession.

The Fun’s all over now Kristina!

Luckily, the pasture was still pretty dry and we were able to get the truck right to them without to much trouble. We got them loaded and headed for the house.

I kind of figured I’d get stuck with all the hog cleaning duties which is why I said "oh no!", when I cut the second blood trail. I guess you can’t judge a book by its cover though, Kristina, our beautician and modeling niece jumped right in there. She helped with everything from dragging, to skinning, quartering and disposing of the carcasses. I don't think she had ever experienced anything like this but you would have never known it.

We were finally wrapped up about midnight and we were all whipped. It was quit a day to say the least.

 

After it was over I told Kristina, “In the future, I’ll be more careful about telling you to shoot!”

Best of hunts

Larry Stephens

p.s.

All of the hunting photo's above were taken by myself and my wife Tammie. However, the top photo was taken and provided by Debbie Gainey Photography. Anyone in need of professional photography services in Central and North Florida can contact Debbie at her web site,  debbiegaineyphotography.com.

Larry

Trophy Boar Hog killed by black Bear!

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Over the last 35 plus years of stomping around in the woods I have seen a lot of interesting and incredible things but what I ran across while scouting for turkeys last Thursday ranks right up at the top of the list.

I had knocked off work early to head over to the hunting club to locate some gobblers for opening weekend. I had covered a portion of the road system looking for sign and it was about fly-up time so I stopped at a couple likely spots to owl and listen for a gobble. However, it was overcast and not ideal conditions to hear a bird on the roost. Since there was still a lot of road to cover I decided to push ahead and keep tracking in the dark. Probably not to many people scout for turkey sign at night and it sounds a little strange but tracking the roads for strut and track sign is without a doubt the best and fastest method for locating as many gobblers in the shortest amount of time there is. I have located a many a gobbler in the headlights of my truck.

I was actually on my way out of the woods, tracking a long sandy stretch of road that separates a creek drainage from a high sandy hill. The woods along the creek are super thick and almost impenetrable with palmettos over your head, ty-ty’s and bay heads. I have been on two or three crippled deer tracks into this hell hole and it is about as rough as it gets.

As I was easing down the road I noticed something black lying half in the road. As I got closer I realized it was a hog and it was not getting up. Not just any hog either, a brute of a hog! Probably 275-300 lbs.. He had been dead about 24-48 hours and the buzzard sign had stomped out all other sign for 30 yds either side of the carcass.

Of course I was curious as to what had killed him and why he was in the road. I looked him over a little and as best I could tell he appeared to be killed by a black bear! His head and neck were ripped up with deep claw marks. Part of his neck and shoulder and a ham had been eaten. The claw marks to the top of his forehead were all the way to the bone. Unfortunately for the hog his teeth had grown at an odd angle that did not allow them to wear against his top teeth and keep them sharp. He was actually pretty defenseless.

Here are some pictures of his body and some of his wounds. 

It was pretty amazing to find something like this but even more incredible was the teeth on this old boar. I have not measured them yet but they are the largest I have ever seen in person. The cutter on the right side actually grows back into his mouth and down into his gum. Its so deeply embedded I cannot find the end  of it. I am going to boil and clean his skull and  I’ll post some pictures when its done.

There is no way to know for sure if this same bear is responsible but two deer dogs have been kill by a bear in the club in the last two years. That is pretty unusual it self.

Another interesting point about the hog is how old he was and how he managed to survive so long with all the hunting pressure there. A big boar hog can be even harder to kill than a trophy buck and even more nocturnal. This hogs front and jaw teeth were just about worn to the gum line. As far as I know, no one ever laid eyes on this old brute, amazing.

Just another day in the woods!

Larry

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post script:N
This is a follow up post to this story. I decided to clean the skull on this beast as he had such an amazing set of teeth. What I found was nothing short of incredible!

This boars right lower cutter curved back into his gum and actually grew right thru the middle of his jaw bone and was rubbing his tongue! There was cartilage built up around the tooth's entrance and exit as though it was a normal tooth. I don't know how he survived, Surely he developed an infection from the penetration of the bone. Anyone that thinks a hog is not one tough critter dot know much about them. What a survivor this brute was.

Absolutely unbelievable! I've never seen anything like it. Have a look at this.

Notice the mass, unusual bone formations below and behind the penetration and the amount of ware on the teeth compared to the jaw on the right from a boar I took that weighed about 175#.

L.S.  

Three Osceola Gobblers Show up on Scouting Trail Camera

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Elvis have entered the building!
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I was wondering when a bird was going to show up around this big flock of Osceola hens. I have been watching them for several weeks now. Up to this point, I have only got a couple of jakes on the scouting cameras. Two mornings this week i sat in a blind and filmed then hens before i went to work. One of those mornings I was able to call a Gobbler from across the creek but he did not get in front of the blind where I could get him on film.

Last night I roosted a flock of birds over a flooded swamp. I shot a little footage slipping up under them on the roost. As soon as I can get it downloaded I'll post it for you. it's probably low quality but you'll see just how easy it can be. I'm going to set a camera trap for this flock tomorrow. There is a strutter in the bunch although he looks small in size. Hopefully I can catch him on film strutting.
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Trail camera setup tips:

Here is an important tip for setting a trail cam for turkeys.......Don't set it at the height you would for a deer or you'll get mostly head and back shots. You need to locate it about 16-18" to the camera.

Also, be sure to double check the camera is set to on, before you close up the unit! This sounds simplistic but you'll be surprised how easy it is to forget to turn it on. It's a big disappointment to show up to pull your card and you find out it's just been sitting there set to menu or off and you got nothing! It's like getting a lump of coal for Christmas.

If the tree you are mounting your camera to has a taper to the butt, don't forget to adjust the angle of the camera . You can leave the strap loose and wedge a stick, of the right size behind the top of the camera for the correction.

These pictures were all taken with (2) different type cameras. Both are Bushnell. One is the small Bushnell "Trophy Cam" and the other is the "Trail Sentry 2.1". Both are digital infrared units and work great. I highly recommend either unit but I prefer the Trophy. The only drawback to that one is it costs considerably more than the Sentry. As is usually the case, the extra money buys you more features. In this case they come in the form of extended battery life, more picture capacity, etc.. Check out the spec's on both before you decide. One of the other nice features of the trophy cam is its small, super convenient size, one of the smallest on the market!

One last though regarding the price. Camera theft is always a concern. The lower cost of the Sentry makes a loss a little easier to stomach!


Notice the all white head and neck on the gobbler in the middle, in the second photo compared to this bird in the first photo. When his neck turns white he's hot to go!

These guys just made the "most wanted" list, that includes that pesky red boar hog. He's got a rendezvous with one of my muzzy's.

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If you have any good trail cam pictures of your own, send them to me and I'll post them for everybody to enjoy.

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Good hunting,

Larry Stephens

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NOTE: If you would like to receive an email note when I make future postings, just click on the follow button in the upper left corner! thanks, L.S.

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