# Ossabaw Hog Hunt - Part 1, Long Post



## Clipper (Feb 28, 2014)

I figured it was about time I sat down and posted about my Ossabaw hog hunt last week.  My son, Tyson, and I went down Wednesday the 19th and came home the following Saturday.   He posted his hunt on the Spot and Stalk Hog forum recently under the title, Ossabaw 2 Hunt.  I would like to give credit to the DNR folks who managed this hunt for the great job they did.  They were all great folks, ran a good tight hunt and got us to and from our stands at the proper times.  The facilities there are now very good with hot showers and a large cooler for game.  The new trailers ride much smoother than the old ones that had no springs.  They also now have fire rings with grates and lantern posts.  This is a beautiful island and I think everyone should go at least once in their lifetime - during cold weather to miss the sand gnat season.  There are plenty of hogs on the island and the deer are small but numerous as well.

We got to Kilkenny  Marina about 4:30 am Wednesday morning so we could get in line early for the boat ride over and get to the island in time to pick a good stand.  My son had hunted the island before and had a pretty good idea where we should hunt.  I set up camp while he walked to the east side of the island to fish a tidal creek.  We managed to get to bed fairly early that night as we had to be on the trucks at 5:30 the next morning.  I should also mention that he was still recovering from a case of pneumonia, was on antibiotics, and had a nasty cough. 

We got to my stand Thursday morning and started a long walk to where Tyson wanted me to hunt.  When we were nearly to the spot I was to hunt we jumped 3 pigs and he promptly shot one with his 30-30. He left me to go to his stand and since he was still sick I gutted and drug his hog out.  It weighed less than 50 lbs gutted and wasn’t too bad a drag with the game sled I had bought for this trip.  I didn’t see anything else that morning.  I hunted the same stand that afternoon and spooked 3 pigs at the spot he told me to hunt.  They were behind a sand ridge and saw me as I topped the ridge.  They disappeared into the marsh before I could get a shot.  Tyson hunted a different stand that afternoon and killed another hog.
Friday morning I moved to a stand adjacent to where Tyson killed the pig the previous afternoon.  I had been hunting about 20 minutes when 3 pigs came out of a thicket and caught me without an arrow nocked.  The cover I was hunting was too thick to walk with an arrow on the bow.  They saw me nocking my arrow and trotted off without giving me a shot.  About 50 yards farther two very large black hogs crossed in front of me too far for a shot.  All these pigs were moving fast like they had been jumped by another hunter or else were headed to their bedding area.  None of them stopped to root or feed.

I met the truck at the appointed time of 11:00 am and told the driver I had brought a lunch and would stay out all day.  Tyson had shot a piglet and I gave him a hard time about it, but they want you to kill all the hogs you can to help control the population.  A thunderstorm which I knew was coming still caught me by surprise and got my legs and arrows wet before I could get suited up and protect my feather fletching.  It quit raining about 2:00 pm and I started hunting again.  About 4:00 pm I had come out to the road and met Tyson looking for me to help him drag out a big boar he had shot.  We spent the rest of the afternoon gutting and dragging the boar back to our pickup point.  He weighed 110 lbs after gutting.  That was enough meat for him so he stayed in camp Saturday morning to break camp, skin, and quarter his pigs… to be continued.


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## Clipper (Feb 28, 2014)

I ran across this guy Thursday afternoon in a waterhole and decided to get his picture.  I’m guessing he was about 6 feet.  Legend has it there is a 15 footer on the island.  I also saw a couple of armadillos Friday as they are plentiful down there.  The DNR Rangers told us not to shoot anything but hogs, so I let them walk.

I saw one other hunter take a gun and a compound out on a stand, but to my knowledge, I was the only hunter there who hunted exclusively with a traditional bow.  I did meet two other hunters who are interested in traditional bow hunting and let both shoot my bow.  One of them was a young man named Carl Cooke who got his first pig on this hunt with a gun.  He is an enthusiastic trad shooter who can’t wait to get good enough to hunt with his recurve.  I suspect we will, in the future, be seeing pictures of Carl on the trad forum posing with dead animals and a traditional bow.

Saturday morning was my last hunt and I really, really, wanted to take a pig with my bow.  I chose a stand close to my Thursday stand with similar cover and started into the woods at good shooting light.  I had just stepped out of a real thick area into a wide open live oak flat when I saw 3 pigs coming towards me from downwind.  The wind was erratic so I couldn’t say they ever crossed my scent stream.  Again, my arrows were all in the quiver because of the undergrowth I had been moving through.  They stopped about 30 yards from me and when I very stealthily tried to nock and arrow the lead pig saw me and took off to my left.  The other two pigs stayed put, so I managed to get a large live oak between me and them and stalked to about 15 yards.  I was just about to lean out from behind the oak and take a shot when they both took off to my right.  I tried following them but soon lost the trail in the abundance of fresh hog sign.  I saw fresh hog sign on every stand I hunted.

At about 10:00 am I decided to head back to the road so as to be there on time.  I got back at 10:45 and decided to walk back into the area I had hunted that morning.  About 50 yards in I looked up and saw 3 piglets come out of some marsh grass and asked myself, “Do I want my first pig with a bow to be a plate sized piglet?”  I answered the question, picked a spot on the nearest piglet halfway up his body over his front knee and released.  As I watched the arrow fly I thought I had shot under him.  When I went to find the arrow it was stuck in the ground with blood on one side of the arrow.  I followed the trail immediately since it was nearly pickup time but the blood petered out after about 50 yards.  It was now after 11:00 am and I needed to get back to the road so the truck and other hunters wouldn’t have to wait on me.  Since the arrow had most of the blood on one side and it looked like I shot low, I think the broad head just nicked the underside of his chest behind his leg.

Walking back to the truck in a big hurry because I was now late, I came within two steps of a very large 5’ snake with a triangular head and a diamond pattern of brown on his back.  Going around him I looked at his tail and saw rattles.  He was stretched out in the sun and never rattled.  My camera was in my backpack but I was too late to stop and take a picture and I really wish I could have.   I had left my snake chaps at camp because it was cool that morning and will not make that mistake again.  When I got to the road the truck and its load of pig hunters was waiting at the stand marker.  My first Ossabaw pig hunt was over.

This was an exceptional hunt and I highly recommend it.  It is a little more difficult to kill a pig with a bow there because they are feeding at night due to the hunting pressure and moving to cover during the day, but if I had learned to keep an arrow on the bow I would have gotten two more shots.  I will be applying next year and hopefully the year after will have enough rejection points to get chosen again.  As I look back on this hunt and all the thrill of seeing game, enjoying the beautiful island ecosystem, fellowshipping with the other hunters, and getting a shot at a piglet with my bow, I realized the best part of the whole experience was getting to be with my son.


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## JBranch (Feb 28, 2014)

Great read Clipper. Sounds like a good time. Those pigs are a lot of fun to hunt. Don't hesitate to shoot those small ones as they are made of pork too!! Sawtooth has a great recipe in one of his posts with a crock pot size pig as the main ingredient. Thanks for the post again, I just love reading hunting stories.


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## Clipper (Feb 28, 2014)

From the looks of the date on my picture I need to correct the date in my camera.


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## Todd Cook (Feb 28, 2014)

Sounds like a heck of a good trip. Thanks for taking us along.


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## Al33 (Mar 1, 2014)

Great report David! Glad you and your son got to do this hunt together. Hate you didn't get a pig but know you have no regrets about making the effort. It has to be much more challenging trying to bow hunt with a lot of gun hunters but I know you are up to it.


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## dm/wolfskin (Mar 1, 2014)

Yea, I need to go on one of those island hunt before I turn into ashes. 
Great hunt David. miKE


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## Carl Cooke (Mar 1, 2014)

Hey Al why don't you put in for the hunt? 
 Thanks again for letting me shoot your bow and for the tips clipper


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## Designasaurus (Mar 1, 2014)

Thanks for your post - I have been checking and hoping to hear from those lucky enough to go on the most recent hog hunts.  It sounds like you had a good hunt - seeing lots of game even if you didn't come back with anything.  I must have some sort of problem - I can't get enough news from Ossabaw.  It is a GREAT place to take your kids - I haven't applied for another WMA since making my first trip.  My son & oldest daughter both love hunting there - maybe more than me.


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## SELFBOW (Mar 1, 2014)

dm/wolfskin said:


> Yea, I need to go on one of those island hunt before I turn into ashes.
> Great hunt David. miKE



You better hurry up!

Good story.  I've been to Cumberland once and would like to this one sometime as well.


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## bam_bam (Mar 1, 2014)

I plan on trying to go next year. I got one rejection already.


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## Clipper (Mar 1, 2014)

bam_bam said:


> I plan on trying to go next year. I got one rejection already.



My son and I got chosen with only 1 rejection notice.  That won't happen for the deer hunts but you might make it into one of the winter hog only hunts.  I like the winter hunts better because the sand gnats are really bad in the early fall.  One other thing to keep in mind, your rejection notices for the deer hunts and hog hunts are separate unless I am mistaken.


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## robert carter (Mar 1, 2014)

It is a wonderful place.I know you had a grert time. I have been on the archery deer hunts 3 times. Total of 9 days hunting and was lucky enough to kill 5 pigs and 4 deer with a stickbow. Good odds.RC


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## pine nut (Mar 1, 2014)

RC make that "skillful enough!"  I know what you're sayin' though!  Great story on your hunt Clipper.


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## ngabowhunter (Mar 1, 2014)

Thanks for taking the time to post this. I also have one priority point and hope to get picked next year.


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## Clipper (Mar 2, 2014)

robert carter said:


> It is a wonderful place.I know you had a grert time. I have been on the archery deer hunts 3 times. Total of 9 days hunting and was lucky enough to kill 5 pigs and 4 deer with a stickbow. Good odds.RC



Would you mind sharing your hunt strategy for pigs on the island?  Some hunters watched trails leading from or running beside the marsh while others walked continuously, listening and looking for pigs.  Being unfamiliar with my stands I walked for 2 1/2 days but all but the piglets I saw were moving too fast to stalk.  I found a trail the last morning beside a marsh that looked like it got used every day and would likely sit there if I were lucky enough to get that stand on another hunt.  Thanks.


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## tlee22 (Mar 2, 2014)

Great post clipper.  Thanks for taking me along on the ride.


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## robert carter (Mar 2, 2014)

During the archery hunts in October I looked for a hot water oak in the thick spots and saw lots of critters.

During the winter I would cover lots of ground.


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## Clipper (Mar 3, 2014)

robert carter said:


> During the archery hunts in October I looked for a hot water oak in the thick spots and saw lots of critters.
> 
> During the winter I would cover lots of ground.



Thanks, I will remember that if/when I get chosen to go again.


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## Barry Duggan (Mar 3, 2014)

This past October, those palmetto/cabbage palms, or whatever you call them, were dropping berries, and the pigs were all over them.


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## jerry russell (Mar 3, 2014)

Those "away" hunts make for the most lasting memories.


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## Carl Cooke (Mar 3, 2014)

Yes they do, and with all the exotic game you've taken with a bow Jerry why don't you and Luke start putting in?  Its a blast and its so thick in everywhere except the marsh and live oak patches yall would do great trad hunting.


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## jerry russell (Mar 4, 2014)

I think I did put in last year to get a preference point. I have been trying to get down there for an island hunt. I have the boat for it. This might be the year.


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