# Chattahoochee Buzzer Board Hog



## Killer Kyle (Feb 23, 2016)

Just in the nick of time. That's exactly what this hog was. 
I've been hunting these mountain pigs all winter long, and have been turning up empty handed. I have never really hunted deep mountain hogs throughout the dead of winter like I have this year, and so I have done a lot of learning throughout the winter. 

Last Christmas, I found myself with some extra cash, and some gift cards to burn. Those landed me my first muzzle loader, with hardly any out of pocket expense at all. I ended up purchasing a black/black Traditions Buckstalker + Scope combo. The Buckstalker is a value/entry type rifle, and I have been extremely pleased with it. I had resolved earlier in the year to purchase a .50 so that I could hunt hogs with it in small game season, and leave the .22 at home.

Well, right when deer season closed in the NF on Dec 26th, I went right back to looking for hogs. I ended up hunting Chattahoochee WMA almost exclusively just because it is close to home, and I know it better than I know almost any other place in the mountains. It took me several hunts to figure out what the hogs were doing, what they were feeding on this late in the season, and the areas where they were holding. Once I pieced together that puzzle, I started finding areas across the WMA which were holding hogs. Most of these places required long hikes with my rifle, big pack, the butchering equipment I would need to butcher an animal, and all my gear needed for a long hunt. Some of these spots were up to three miles one way, and uphill 90-95% of the way.  
I hunted, and I hunted, and I hunted. Every time I checked these various spots throughout the winter, there was new, fresh sign, but still I came home without pork each time. I found that the hogs were moving a LOT within the bounds of the general areas where they were holding, and they were basically just going to be where I found them. No really good way to pattern them this late in the season when the food is scarce and scattered.

Last Saturday, February 20th, I knew I only had a week before the close of small game season, and could only hunt maybe two or three more times before my chance was gone. I worked Saturday until about 12:30. I immediately changed clothes, and went straight up to Chattahoochee. I hiked about three miles up and scouted around for a little while. I checked creek bottoms, and food plots. I made some mental notes, but didn't find any fresh sign way up where I was. So, I slowly started hiking back to my vehicle. 
About 1.25 miles before I reached my vehicle, I saw a set of tracks in the road. It belonged to a good sized pig, and some piglets. This set of tracks was not there on my way up, and so I knew they weren't even 2 hours old. I stopped, and looked around to assess the area and what my next move should be. I looked to see where the tracks were going, but they left the road, and the tracks petered out in the leaves. I then made a circle of the area, and found the trail they had created when coming to the road. Since I couldn't tell where they ended up going, I decided to just back track their trail and see what I could see. The trail lead down into a creek bottom overgrown with rhododendron. I looked upstream for a while and saw nothing. I turned to my right looking downstream, and was pondering what to do next. As I was looking downstream, and over the noise of the running water, I heard something. Thunder, or a plane off in the distance I thought. And then I heard it again more recognizable, and yet again a third time, unmistakable. It was the deep guttural growl of a hog. I thought I was in the presence of a sow with piglets, and was about to live that bear attack scene from The Revenant. I turned to look behind me, and saw a black hog walking to an opening to get a look at me. I went to cock the hammer, and forgot that this rifle not only has a hammer, but also a trigger safety, which kept me from cocking the hammer. (rookie mistake, I know!) I popped the safety, cocked the hammer, and went to bring the cross hairs down on the hogs forehead, when I realized I couldn't see the hog in the scope. The hog was at 20 yards, and my scope was dialed in at "9". (Double rookie mistake!) As I dialed the scope down to 4, the hog saw me and took off down stream. I thought I had blown the hunt when I heard running to my left. I caught a glimpse of another hog running across the creek from me and she was running downstream and to my right also. Got the crosshairs on her, and stayed on her trying to aim for the side of the head. Squeezed off, and a boom and smoke filled the creek bottom. I heard more running, and through the smoke I saw two big black hogs scrambling straight up the 45 degree slope ridge across from me. In that moment I thought I missed. I said to myself "HOW could you miss at twenty yards?!" After all that time and effort, all those uphill miles and long days in the woods, I blew it at twenty yards.

Suddenly,  I heard scuffing in the leaves across the creek. I stepped through the rhododendron to see a hog laying there kicking her back legs. I took no chances. Pulled out the speed loader from my pocket, rammed another powerbelt down the barrel as fast as I could muster, and sent one into the base of her skull. Done deed. Ended up quartering her and packing her out. Got two hams, two shoulders, two racks of ribs, two back straps, and two tenderloins. I ended up hiking a total of about 8 miles for the day, maybe a little more. Three miles up, three miles down (went down to Helen to get ice for the cooler before I quartered her). One mile back up to quarter, and one mile back down with the meat.

I think that this is the most memorable hog I have ever killed simply because I worked like a dog to find her. I usually have a pretty good grip on the mountain hogs. I shot five last year alone. But I realized finding late winter hogs is a different game, and different tactics must be applied. I thank the good Lord for this pig. I'm thankful he gives me the freedom to hunt, and the freedom to roam. After hiking 80 miles (+-), and hunting about sixteen times and coming home empty handed, I was able to bring home a hog for the post-deer season winter. The Lord taught me that patience and hard work pay off. I hunted tirelessly, like a dog, and never second guessed why I was out there, and I was rewarded in the end. Those same principles apply to life as well. Work hard, have a dogged work ethic, keep your face set towards the purpose, and the reward is at the end. 

Thanks for reading guys and gals. Remember, when deer season ends, stop moping around and sitting by the fire watching football and dreaming about spring crappies and turkeys. There are still two more full months to hunt hogs. Up here, I find them much more of a challenge to hunt than deer. They're a fun game to hunt, and give you much more time in the woods each year than you would otherwise have. Get out, be active, hunt the winter, and help control this great tasting and environmentally destructive species. 
Best of luck to you all, and happy hunting!


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## Bucky T (Feb 23, 2016)

Awesome!!  Lose the power belts and get some Hornady SST sabots. 250gr and 100grains (2 pellets of Trip 7)


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## jbogg (Feb 23, 2016)

Nice job Kyle!  Great hunt story and cool pic.  I have never seen a wild hog, but hope that changes with me hunting public mountain land this year.


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## Killer Kyle (Feb 23, 2016)

Thanks! I'm happy with the combo I'm shooting now. I really just like shooting full bore conicals. I may piddle with some sabots this year, but I doubt I'll stick with them just for the sake of simplicity. I also like the white hots I'm shooting now. I bought some Blackhorn 209 to try, but most likely I'll just be sticking with the white hots and powerbelts. They shoot accurately out of my gun out to 100 yds, and that's all I want and need. If I had a more expensive, and higher quality rifle that I could shoot further with, I might give the sabots a try, but I just want a simple, 100 yard gun, and two white hots and a powerbelt gets you just that. Can't get any simpler than that.


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## Bucky T (Feb 23, 2016)

I never was happy with with the power belts performance on deer. 

The Hornadys perform much better. Much more accurate too. 

Nice Pig!  Congrats Again!


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## Bucky T (Feb 23, 2016)

My rifle is an 11yr old CVA Kodiak Pro.


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## Killer Kyle (Feb 23, 2016)

jbogg said:


> Nice job Kyle!  Great hunt story and cool pic.  I have never seen a wild hog, but hope that changes with me hunting public mountain land this year.



John, hunt Chattahoochee for a couple years, and you'll start figuring the hogs out and seeing them often. No questions asked. You cannot hunt there regularly without running into hogs! They'll get more active as spring comes on. You'll see! Hope you smoke one during turkey season. I'll be carrying some Hevi-Shot #4's this year with me as my hog rounds that  I can switch to if I find some sign worth sitting on.


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## model88_308 (Feb 23, 2016)

Congratulations on a great hunt! A very enjoyable read as well!


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## mark-7mag (Feb 23, 2016)

Congrats! Great story and thanks for sharing


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## jbogg (Feb 23, 2016)

Killer Kyle said:


> John, hunt Chattahoochee for a couple years, and you'll start figuring the hogs out and seeing them often. No questions asked. You cannot hunt there regularly without running into hogs! They'll get more active as spring comes on. You'll see! Hope you smoke one during turkey season. I'll be carrying some Hevi-Shot #4's this year with me as my hog rounds that  I can switch to if I find some sign worth sitting on.



I will be up there this weekend again exploring some new ground.  Planning on using my Excal crossbow for turkey and would love to have a hog come by.  The fresh hog sign I saw two weeks ago was on a high saddle. Once again, well done.  Can't believe how long the snout is on that thing.  Looks nothing like a domestic pig.  Like an entirely different animal.


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## fullstrut (Feb 23, 2016)

Great story and hunt Kyle. Congrats on the hard work it does pay off.


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## Killer Kyle (Feb 23, 2016)

Thanks for the kind words guys! That ol' girl did have a snout on her! Looks like she doesn't have much feral blood in her. She might have some, but if she doesn't, I can't tell!


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## FMBear (Feb 23, 2016)

There you go, Kyle!!  Great hog and gonna be some darn fine eating to reward yourself for your efforts!!  No doubt you're going to be enjoying some fine BBQ sandwiches this fishing season.

I am shooting the same combo, White Hots and Power Belts.  Easy, fast loading and the White Hots sure are clean over the other powders I've tried.


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## 35 Whelen (Feb 23, 2016)

Congrats on a nice mountain hog!  If you like full bore conicals and not sabots you may want to try these instead of powerbelts:

http://www.hornady.com/store/50-Cal-350-gr-FPB/


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## antharper (Feb 23, 2016)

Congrats on a well deserved pig !


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## tree cutter 08 (Feb 23, 2016)

Congrats on a fine mountain pig kyle! Lots of hard work but its always worth it! Enjoyed the story as well.


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## Clipper (Feb 23, 2016)

That is a good sized hog.  Congratulations on making it happen.


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## ronniegarrison (Feb 24, 2016)

great read!


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## Killer Kyle (Feb 24, 2016)

Thanks fellas! Can't wait to get her in the smoker!


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## Killer Kyle (Feb 24, 2016)

35 Whelen said:


> Congrats on a nice mountain hog!  If you like full bore conicals and not sabots you may want to try these instead of powerbelts:
> 
> http://www.hornady.com/store/50-Cal-350-gr-FPB/



I have actually seen these just recently. I've read mixed reviews on them. Pretty much from what I gather, most agree they are very accurate. Some guys said they almost fell down the barrel, and some said they could not ram the bullet down the barrel to save their life. I guess in part due to the flared base. I need to do some research on recommended bore diameter. I'm not even sure what the bore diameter is on my rifle, so I need to look that up too. I will say I am interested though. I have plenty of powder to burn, so I'd love to see how they shoot!


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## Unicoidawg (Feb 24, 2016)

Nice pig Kyle, now shoot about a 100 more.


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## O-Country (Feb 24, 2016)

Good job Kyle, love to see them lean mountain pigs. DEAD


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## j_seph (Feb 24, 2016)

Nice and congrats.............next time put that bullet right behind the shoulder in the heart. That 50 will drop em DRT


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## Killer Kyle (Feb 24, 2016)

j_seph said:


> Nice and congrats.............next time put that bullet right behind the shoulder in the heart. That 50 will drop em DRT



Yep! That's where I normally shoot them. I call it the pit-pocket. I was just making a split second decision. I shot her free handed and running, and in that split second, I guess all I thought to do was aim for that big ol' head.


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## Killer Kyle (Feb 24, 2016)

Unicoidawg said:


> Nice pig Kyle, now shoot about a 100 more.



It ain't fer lack of tryin'! I kill every one I can. I have a love/hate feeling about hogs. They taste great, and they're fun to hunt, but boy they can ruin your hunting spots, and wreck the environment. Luckily, by the time December rolls around, they pretty well stay out of my deer spots. They more or less have moved off of the high ridges and mountains, and seem to be more in the creek bottoms by that time. That's just my personal observation, anyway. They seem to move off the high ridges by the time late season rolls around. Has anybody else noticed that, or is it just me?


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## NCHillbilly (Feb 25, 2016)

Good deal! Nice hog, and a pile of good meat. Sounds like you earned that one for sure.


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## ripplerider (Feb 25, 2016)

Great story! Congrats on youre success with these mtn. hogs, I have a hard time patterning them. Their movement seems pretty random to me, seems like Im usually a half-day behind them though I confess I havent put a whole lot of effort into chasing them. Killed a 200 lb. boar a couple of yrs. ago on the north (open Forest service) side of the Chattahoochee area and it had a strong musky taste that kinda turned me off of hunting them. Maybe I cooked it wrong, I dont know but you could smell the musk all through the house when it was in the crock pot. What kind of pack are you using?


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## bowhunterdavid (Feb 25, 2016)

congrats man great story and a very nice hog. You ever bow hunt them? Nothing like slipping up on one and putting a rage through one, I missed one up at Chattahoochee a few years ago , that is a beautiful place God created, Thanks for sharing.


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## Killer Kyle (Feb 25, 2016)

ripplerider said:


> Great story! Congrats on youre success with these mtn. hogs, I have a hard time patterning them. Their movement seems pretty random to me, seems like Im usually a half-day behind them though I confess I havent put a whole lot of effort into chasing them. Killed a 200 lb. boar a couple of yrs. ago on the north (open Forest service) side of the Chattahoochee area and it had a strong musky taste that kinda turned me off of hunting them. Maybe I cooked it wrong, I dont know but you could smell the musk all through the house when it was in the crock pot. What kind of pack are you using?



Sounds like you got one of the rare "tainted" hogs. Specific to boars, I believe. This was my 18th hog killed. I haven't had a bad one yet. When BBQ'd, mine always just turn out like store bought pork. I wouldn't shy away from them. You just got a bad apple. I even leaned over and smelled this hod in the pics, and she was virtually 100% odor neutral. She was clean as a whistle, and had literally no smell whatsoever. Don't hang it up just yet! Get out there and get some more!


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## Killer Kyle (Feb 25, 2016)

bowhunterdavid said:


> congrats man great story and a very nice hog. You ever bow hunt them? Nothing like slipping up on one and putting a rage through one, I missed one up at Chattahoochee a few years ago , that is a beautiful place God created, Thanks for sharing.



I do hunt them with a bow. Most of my hogs have been killed by bow. I find it pretty easy to get on them right as the white oaks start dropping. I shot two with my bow in one evening last September on Chattahoochee. Last week in September, I believe. Chattahoochee is special indeed. Not only do you get to hunt, you get beautiful hikes into your hunting spots. It's two great things in one!


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## Killer Kyle (Feb 25, 2016)

NCHillbilly said:


> Good deal! Nice hog, and a pile of good meat. Sounds like you earned that one for sure.



Worked up the meat today. Trimmed it, and purtied it up. Packaged, and got it in the freezer. I am headed out this evening and am taking some of the meat in a cooler with me to my sister's in-law's place. They feed us all the time and have been wanting some wild pork for a while, so I'm taking them a whole hindquarter, a shoulder, and a backs trap loin.Forgot how much room a big pig takes in the freezer. Most of the ones I've killed have been much smaller than her.


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## weekender (Feb 29, 2016)

Congrats on some well earned pork. Great read and nice hog.


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## Killer Kyle (Feb 29, 2016)

Thanks for the kind words guys!

Ripple Rider, my pack is an Army CFP-90 (Combat Field Pack) pack manufactured by ROTHCO. for the DOD. It was an Army issue, and very limited issue at that. It is much lesser known than our old ALICE packs. It was mainly issued somewhere between '95, and 2002. Kind of an experimental thing when the Army started messing around with  internal frame packs, as opposed to the external frame packs like ALLICE packs. Some guys love ALLICE packs and swear by them, but others, like me, wear eternal scars because of them and the way they wore. As a common name, a lot of guys refer to the pack as rhe "Ranger Pack", as most of the issue went to Army Rangers. The CFP-90 is a 3,800" CI pack with massive storage capabilities. She stands taller and narrower than today's military packs. Mine is woodland camo and ghillied out with lots of burlap strands I stripped myself. Nowadays, the hunting wear has taken it's toll on her, and the burlap ghillie is all but gone. Seems like the Army and Navy have adopted the idea that wider is better. Not so. I hope they will steer away from that packing philosophy soon. Relatively light, mostly water proof, tough as iron. Has hauled a lot of blood and meat for me, including packouts  in excess of 100 lbs. She has been my closest hunting companion. Here is a direct link to the manufacturer's website:

http://www.rothco.com/product-details/rothco-gi-type-cfp-90-combat-pack


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