2009-2010 News Archives

The Nebraska trip report is finally here. Click to see. We'll have regular updates returning in late September.

The season ended in Alabama with very little gobbling activity from our turkeys the final two weeks of the season. Normally our turkeys gobble well to finish out the season and historically I have killed several gobblers the last two weeks of April but it did not happen this time, not in Alabama anyway. Last week I took my first turkey hunting trip outside of the state. Seven NWTF volunteers went to Nebraska. We had a great time, a great hunt, and killed 11 turkeys. I'll have the full story complete with many photos posted to this site by the weekend. Please stop by to see that as well as the remainder of the submissions by our readers.

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It has been an uneventful week for me in the turkey woods. I've heard a little gobbling some mornings and very little on others. Nothing gobbled for long after getting on the ground. One bird most likely was spooked by a coyote before he flew down. It only takes a slight weather change, like a few clouds, to make our turkeys become completely silent.
We had a great crappie tournament on Saturday with 261 anglers competing in the one day, big fish tournament. I dare say there's a larger crappie tournament in the state. If there is, I have not heard of it. We kicked off the 30-day derby with 8 tagged fish caught so far. You can follow the progress and see all the photos from that event at www.wilcoxareachamber.org .

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A week ago on Tuesday I finally heard a few turkeys gobble in the swamp. By Wednesday the air was warmer and much more humid and they returned to their silence. A nice rain came through Thursday and cleared the air.
Friday morning I again heard some gobbling in a different area that where I had heard the birds on Wednesday. I headed their way and did not reach them until they were on the ground. Three birds, all together, and I imagine all 2-year old birds. I sat down in a pine plantation, having gotten a little closer to them than I had intended. They quickly answered and were just across a small food plot from me. A few moments later I saw them in the plot and they again answered me and headed right my way. I was about 50 yards deep in the pines and a few minutes later they were right in front of me and I had my first bird of the season.

      Saturday morning I began the day in the area where I had heard the birds on Tuesday. Finally, after getting a late start, one of the gobblers started gobbling. I set up and waited and when he hit the ground I offered some seductive yelps. He answered a time or two and then shut up. I never heard him again. About forty five minutes later I got impatient and decided to go look for another bird.
       I got on the golf cart and circled the property. The wind was calm and it was a gorgeous day. Though the woods have thickened with new growth a bird can still be heard quite a distance in most areas, especially on those calm days. By 8:30 I had made the loop and returned to the shed where I sometimes leave the cart. I yelped once more from there and got an answer. I quickly headed toward the bird. A answer at this time of the morning from a bird that I don't believe gobbled at daybreak was a good sign.
       He was in an area on the north side of the property where several stands of pines converge. The thickest area of pines were planted in an old field and these are the youngest, about 12 years old. Adjacent to them is another stand of pines that was thinned a few years ago but have some undergrowth returning underneath them. Next to them is the property line and across it another, larger and more open, stand of pines. I finally settled on the best spot I knew of, right on the edge of our thinned pines and the planted field pines. I expected that if the area was not too thick for him, this spot was my best opportunity.
      I yelped again with my Fatal Attraxion slate call and he answered. Ten minutes later he answered me again and I could hear his drumming. At 9:00 I finally saw him. He was walking along, feeding on grass, in no particular hurry. The woods were so thick that my first glance of him was at about 20 yards and moments later I shot him at 15 steps. My second bird in as many days was down, another 2 year-old.

      I can attribute my knowledge of the property as much as anything to the success with this bird. Knowing what timber and cover lies between you and the turkey is a great advantage. In turkey hunting, it is nice to have as many tools as possible.
      I've said it before, but I really enjoy getting a photo of the bird right where he was killed. Just by looking at the photo years later I can recall details of the hunt remembering the woods where the bird was killed. This is so easy to do, even when you are hunting alone. I carry a compact camera in my vest along with a gorilla pod, a small tripod with flexible arms that is perfect for wrapping around a small sapling and holding your camera while you get in the shot. These gorilla pods can be had for around $20 and can be found on many internet sites. I highly recommend you put one in your vest as soon as possible.
        We've reach the point of the season I really enjoy, the second half. Actually, we are almost into the final third of the season. Though it will soon be winding down, I look forward to some more good hunts before it ends. The weather is currently perfect for turkey hunting and our birds, what few there are of them this season, should continue to gobble as long as the nights continue to be cool.

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      We have now reached that part of the season that will find me in the woods most mornings. The days are longer now and there is more time to hunt before work. So far my adventures have been very unproductive. The last few times in the woods I have failed to hear a single bird gobble. Hopefully that will improve very soon.
       Three weeks ago, on opening day, the high was a cold 48 degrees and it appeared winter would not release its grip on us anytime soon. Just a short time later the mercury is reaching the mid 80s and the woods of full of green. The pecan trees, usually the last trees to proclaim that winter is over, are now budding and the dogwoods were in full color, just in time for Easter weekend.
        Most reports from the area are that turkeys are gobbling pretty well. Some hunters did not have much luck over the weekend in the humid air and foggy mornings, however, some had lots of luck.
        Here are a few more photos from our readers.

Charles Estes, of Dothan, killed this big bird while
hunting with his step-father, Mark Coffman.
1 1/4" spurs, 13" beard, 21.5 lbs.

Wint Smith caught up with this bird on an afternoon hunt in the Wiregrass.
Wint matched wits with this bird for the past two seasons and could
recognize him due to this case of beard rot. The bird weighed 22 lbs. and
had 1 ¼” and 1 5/16" spurs.

      I finally got to the woods last Wednesday and Thursday mornings and heard nothing. Wednesday was a beautiful day and Thursday was cloudy. Saturday morning Barnett Serio and I returned to the Swamp and did find a bird that gobbled well to begin the day and then flew down and got quiet. He never answered me and after some time we eventually gave up on him and went in search of another bird. We found tracks in the road but nothing that would gobble.
     Sunday was not quite the bluebird day that Saturday was, but the wind was calm and the clouds came and went and ample sunshine broke through later in the morning. We heard one distant gobble but could not pinpoint exactly where it was.
      Overall the Wilcox Academy Benefit Turkey Hunt went quite well. In its 39th year, this fundraiser is the longest running fundraiser in Alabama Independent School History. It was our largest to date as well with 30 hunters attending from various areas of the country. Ten turkeys were killed and 5 missed over during the weekend's hunt, which includes a Saturday morning hunt, Saturday afternoon hunt, and Sunday morning hunt.
      Some hunters/guides reported a lot of gobbling from their birds. Other say their birds are gobbling well a few times a week and are silent on other seemingly good days. A few of us were in the category of having birds gobbling very little. I do believe the birds in the Swamp are a good two weeks behind their normal schedule and this week of warm and sunny weather will move them along nicely. We saw hogs on each outing in the Swamp over the weekend and managed to kill 2 more bringing the total to 87 for the season.
      Here are some pictures from our reader submissions...

Wells Deloney killed his first turkey near Ozark while
hunting with his uncle Bryan Deloney. The bird was
killed on the Youth Hunt.

Rhett Hollon, 13 years old from Prattville, AL, killed
his first turkey on March 19th. His father, Hugh, also killed a
turkey on the same hunt, giving them a double kill and a very
memorable hunt.

Jason Collingsworth killed this bird on 3/25 in Clarke County.
The bird came to a tom decoy set up in a grown up field.
He never gobbled.

George Alford of Camden killed this bird with
his grandson, Hayes, alongside.

John Doggett of Thomasville killed this Wilcox County
bird that was called by G. Alford.

We'll have a lot more pictures next week so y'all keep the photos coming. On a side note, I'm being told the crappie fishing is picking up on the river here. I'll remind you about the Wilcox Area Chamber of Commerce's Big Fish Crappie Tournament on April 17th and the Jackpot Derby kicks off the same day and runs for 30 days. We'll have over $84,000 worth of tagged crappie in the lake worth from a $100 bill to a 2010 Chevy pickup. See all the details at www.wilcoxareachamber.org and get your entry ticket soon. They are now on sale.
I hope you have a good Easter weekend and make it to church on Sunday.

      The season began last Monday and found me at home with the stomach bug. Opening on a Monday morning I had not planned to hunt anyway, but the bug took me out for a few more days of the woods. The backwaters of the river had again backed into the swamp with the river gauges showing 74 feet. This marked the fifth time this hunting season that significant water had covered parts of the property, including some of our favorite turkey woods. The river crested on Monday and Tuesday and then quickly fell.
      Rarely does a season start with our birds showing much gobbling activity. Their action tends to pick up as April nears and arrives. On the cold and dreary days of mid March you can just about forget finding much action. For that reason I never made it to the woods the remainder of the week and was out of town for the weekend. My father heard no birds on his one hunt in the swamp over the weekend.
      This slow hunting start will come to an end as I finally get in the woods in the morning. Warmer days beginning today should help get our birds get going and I look forward to finding out what they are going to do on Wednesday. Our private school benefit hunt is this weekend so I certainly hope to locate a bird of two for us to chase on Saturday. We're expecting our largest group of hunters since the hunt began in the early 1970s.
       Elsewhere around the area I'm hearing reports from hunters indicating some birds have started the season gobbling well but many hunters are not hearing much and are looking forward to warmer and better days. The two day youth season, the weekend before last, was a big success in our area with many youth killing turkeys.
       Keep the photos coming of your successful hunts. I'll have them all posted next week along with a complete report from the school benefit hunt and my first week in the turkey woods.

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      On a short trip to the swamp on Saturday afternoon with my father and oldest son Alexander, we found a group of hogs feeding in a greenfield. A short sneak later I had killed two of the three sows and four of the shoats. One sow and about 8 shoats escaped. That brings our total to 85 hogs this season. I expect we will go over a hundred in the near future.
       Turkey season opens Monday morning with the youth season happening this coming Saturday and Sunday. I know a lot of area hunters will be guiding youth hunters this weekend. I'm all in favor of letting the youth start a little early, but I hope the adults will not forget the youth later in the season when the action really picks up.
      Our birds never seem to open the season with much gobbling activity. For that reason I am rarely chomping at the bit to get out there on opening day and shoot a turkey. I would rather hunt him when he's gobbling well and putting on a show. The game is much more fun than the kill and at this point in March the birds we hunt are not playing much of a "game."
       Elsewhere around the county I have heard tales of a some birds gobbling a good bit and other hunters that have said their birds have been pretty close lipped so far. There has been much discussion in regards to how this winter, the coldest in quite some time, will affect the birds this spring. I have wondered myself in the woods will be a little later in greening up and if the birds might be a week or two behind in their peak gobbling times.
      For us we enter the season will all the low areas of the property full of water. Such can work in your favor and at times against you in the chess match often played with the gobblers. It has been quite a few years since there was this much water on the ground. And you can be certain that the cold winter has no effect on the mosquitoes. They will be thick and bothersome. Thank goodness for the Thermocell.

One final day of hog hunting in the Swamp by Richard and Jason Cole took out eight more hogs, bringing our season total to 79. Jason had to stalk into a thick area to find 6 of those. Overall the hogs are still on the move but laying quite low during the daylight hours. After several months of being shot at they have gotten a bit wise.
We are two weeks away from turkey season though the weather outside does not feel like the edge of the season. With us currently experiencing one of the coldest winters on record, and the coldest in 25 years or so, it will be interesting to see how the turkeys respond as we eventually move into spring. So often at this point on the calendar we have had plenty of warm days and hunters are fearing the birds will "gobble out" before the season even gets here. I think we'll likely see peak gobbling and maybe even the budding of the trees backed up a week or two this spring. Our birds have never opened the season gobbling well and it is usually near the end of March before the action really picks up. I expect this spring to be no different.

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February is always a catch up month for me with a lot to do after spending most of my January free time in a tree. With turkey season approaching there are things to do to get ready for that season's month and a half run. Time for the small game opportunities like squirrel and rabbit hunting seems so short, though February is a fine time for that. I have always wanted to hone my coyote hunting skills and there is no better month for that than this one. But again, the shortest month of the year only allows for so much.
We have done a little hog hunting this month. Bob Kaufman, uncle of a friend of mine Dale Cole of Tuscaloosa, made a rare shot last weekend and took out two grown hogs with one shot from his 30-06. It was not by accident as he was consciously making the attempt, however, I've tried that myself in the past with no success. It is much more difficult done than merely attempted. We got a total of five hogs last weekend bringing the season total to 71. We are going to do a little more hunting on Saturday and will hopefully bring that total a bit higher.

We are in the midst of the coldest winter in 25 or more years. February has been pure winter with no sign of spring yet. Often during this month the warming weather and resulting gobbling of the turkeys will have hunters pondering if the birds might "gobble out" by the time the season starts. I have never seen that to be the case and if anything this year will see a later and slower start for the birds as winter is not likely to release its grip anytime soon.
This past weekend my friend "Big Daddy" Lawler and I were crappie fishing on the lake here and spotted a bald eagle in a tree. Quite a few eagles now reside in the area thanks to a restocking effort that began some years ago. I never take for granted anytime I see one of these majestic birds. A symbol of our nation, they were almost gone from the earth. These are the best photos I have gotten of one of our area's eagles.

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Another big rain has passed through the area and if things could get any wetter they indeed have. We got over 3 inches from the last round and the river is backed into portions of the swamp for the fourth time this hunting season. I suspect this isn't the last time either.
Special thanks to all who have sent photos in recent days. I'll be taking a little break from the weekly posts for the rest of February. We are going to be doing some hog hunting this month and I'll update you on the results of that in early March as I pick back up with the updates as turkey season approaches.

Brad Dagostin killed the bucks above and below near Troy
in January of 2010.

Killed by Brad Dagostin near Troy

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Pree Middleton sent the next three photos. Pree says they had
their best season ever at their club near Tensaw, Alabama.

Jerry Middleton

Vince Hawkins

Pree Middleton
2nd nice buck he killed this season

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     Stevie Anderson writes that their club in Choctaw County killed 65 hogs and 16 bucks this season. He says they saw a lot of bucks and killed some nice ones.   He says the more hogs they shoot the more seem to come from out of the swamp. The photo below is his son, Madison, and a 6 point with a 19.5" inside spread, along with Mark Allen and two bucks he killed the last of the season.

Madison Anderson (L) and Mark Allen

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Chris McKinley killed this buck the last
weekend in Monroe County.

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     Andre Thionville of New Orleans killed this next buck in Wilcox County on the last Friday of the season. The buck was chasing a doe just after lunch that Friday as the rain was closing in. The buck grosses near 130 and was Andre's best buck to date.

Andre Thionville and a Wilcox County buck

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These bucks were killed on the Marengo Academy school benefit hunt.
Photo submitted by Shawn Jordan

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      I spent most of the final two days of deer season--the daylight hours--in a tree. On Saturday I sat for 7 hours, coming down at mid day for lunch. On Sunday I climbed into the stand at 6:30 AM and climbed down at 5:45 PM. That was the first time I believe I have ever sat for eleven straight hours in a climber. I saw about 8 deer each day including one fair 8-point and several spikes. The wind that blew on Saturday and early Sunday morning chilled me to the bone and froze my feet. A welcome sight it was when the sun emerged about 10 AM on Sunday and warmed me up.
      I hunted one stand both days, where I have had recent success killing the wide 5 point and seeing the huge 8 point. Recent rains had raised the water level in the little bottom I have to cross to get to the stand so this time I had to use waders to cross the water, then change back to my hunting boots before climbing the tree. The ground around my stand itself was covered in about 4 inches of water. Despite great effort during the weekend I left without a shot at a big buck. I was surprised to not even see a buck chasing any of the does that I saw. Nevertheless I left the woods Sunday evening confident that I had given it my best attempt.

      My cousin Curtis and his hunting buddies had some success in the Horn Swamp, killing a 9-point, a doe, and 4 hogs. For the third time this hunting season the river had backed into the property and caused some problems getting to a few areas of the property.

      I am compiling the remaining photos sent to me and will post them all by the weekend. If you or your friends have had recent success, email those photos to me at hornswamp@yahoo.com and I'll get them posted.

*** The count.......66 hogs, 5 does, 3 bucks from the Horn Swamp this season.

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Monday afternoon, a week ago, I had a close encounter with a real big eight point at the bow club. At 2:40 in the afternoon I heard a deer walking through the shallow water near me, headed my way. I reached for my bow and got ready but did not get a glimpse of the approaching deer until the right side of its rack emerged around a tree at about 20 yards. The deer was headed directly towards me and a few seconds later was standing at 15 yards. He looked at the base of my tree and seemed to follow the trunk with his stare right up to me. Our stare down lasted about a minute and then he turned to walk across my only shooting lane. I attempted to draw my bow and either the movement or some sound that I did not detect spooked the buck and he bolted for cover. He was a big one, an eight point about 20 inches wide with good tines and mass. I was sick.

The dark blue line shows his approach when he was not yet visible. He became
visible to me in the light blue line, crossed my shooting lane and bolted when I tried to draw.

The weekend's hunts went a little better. I first returned to the location where I had seen the big eight point. I doubted he would return but felt it was a good spot for any buck and he certainly was not likely the only one using this trail. At mid morning Saturday a 3 x 2 buck passed through the area and I got off a shot as he crossed the outer reaches of my shooting lane at 27 yards. He was quartering away at a sharp angle. The arrow hit in the hindquarter and lodged in his chest cavity. He ran 75 yards, stopped, and through the timber I saw him fall over.

Later in the weekend I was hunting another hardwood drain when I saw a buck cross it about 200 yards away. I pulled out my Knight & Hale Rack Pack, a little plastic rattling device. After a little rattling simulation the buck headed right my way, stopping every 50 yards to scan the woods. He stopped at 15 yards and deciding he was yet another buck that needed culling, I drew and fired. The arrow hit him a bit closer to the shoulder than I had intended but he dropped right on the spot. Both of the bucks were at least 3 years old and possibly 4 years old.

My cousin Tommy and his friends Randy, Billy, and Robert hunted the Swamp for a long weekend. They found the hunting pretty slow but did kill five more hogs, bringing our season total to 62.
Less than a week remains of the season and after the rain passes through Friday it appears the final weekend will have some good weather to close us out. I'm looking forward to returning to the spots where I have had some success in recent days.

Clay and a buck from the Horn Swamp from one weekend ago.
Killed on a rainy Saturday.

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      My cousin Josh, his friends Clay and Jess, and his step-father Lanier hunted the swamp for a long weekend hunt. They took down four more hogs and one 8 point. Some photos of their adventures will be forthcoming. Saturday was close to wash-out with a rain that persisted all day long, however, that is the day the buck was killed.
      I got back to the woods myself on Sunday and stuck with them for much of the day. I saw several bucks on each hunt, all in "January mode." I did not see any big chases but am headed back out for an all day Monday hunt and hope to have a better buck come through today. The wind seemed to keep the quality bucks bedded down on Sunday.
      I've heard from many readers in the past week since my call for "field reports." Thanks to all who responded. Here's what I've heard from you.

George Chapman, of Satsuma, called up his boss on a cold January 8th Friday and got permission to take a half day off. It paid off for him when he bagged a 20" 8-point in Washington County.

Pree Middleton hunts the Tensaw area of south Alabama at the Gin Mill Hunting Club. Pree says they are in the midst of their best season ever and have been watching good bucks all season. When he sent this email on Jan. 11th, he was expecting the action to kick up a few notches beginning any day. Here's a few of the good bucks they have taken this season (shown below).

Dalton Morgan and his dad Josh with Dalton's first buck!
Gin Mill Hunting Club, Tensaw, AL

Ed Reaves, a Camden native and present Georgia resident, sent the photo shown below of his son Land's first racked buck. Land is 10 years old and this buck was killed in Georgia.

Shawn Jordan of Thomaston, Alabama emailed two photos of two fine bucks killed by he and his brother in Marengo County. His brother Danny's buck scored 154 3/8" as an eight point. The deer were killed on the 2nd and 4th of January.

Stevie Anderson of McIntosh says they have killed 47 hogs so far this season. He sent photos of two of those kills and also a buck his son Madison downed with a .270 at about 125 yards.

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      The school benefit hunt went well over the weekend with about 85 hunters in attendance and close to 90 deer and 9 hogs killed. A half dozen nice bucks were brought in but overall this was not a good year for quality bucks. The frigid weather seemed to keep the deer in the woods and out of the greenfields where much of the hunting takes place.
      I had suspected this would be the case but was holding out for better results. We had lows between 17 and 19 and highs around the freezing mark. The cold and icy food plots do not seem to entice the deer in these conditions and you will find them in the woods eating what browse remains there.
       My hunters took home meat but no antlers. They ended the hunt with 4 does, a button buck, and three hogs, plus one more hog that I had killed. They were pleased. Overall I killed 5 hogs myself during the weekend's Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon hunts, giving us 8 dead hogs for the weekend's efforts.
      One of my hunters, Jim, had scope problems after a screw from his rear mount went missing and the scope shifted in the bases. When he discovered this Friday afternoon after reaching his stand, he tried to line it up the best he could and press on with the hunt. Unfortunately, this caused him to miss what he said was a very big hog that walked right through his field. I had seen that hog myself a few weeks ago and knew it was a good one.
     Sunday afternoon I scouted a little for deer sign and also for hogs. Slipping along in the piney woods I heard a grunt in front of me and seconds later along came a doe with a decent buck right on her tail. They stopped at less than 20 yards and eventually winded me and left the scene.
      I stepped into the edge of a field and there was a lone boar feeding. I shot him before he saw me. I had decided to head home before dark but stopped to check one last greenfield. A group of grown hogs were there feeding on the wheat and this time I had my .270 in hand. I got two of them before they reached the woods, both in the 125 to 150 pound class. I decided maybe I should check one more field that often has hogs and that I did. I saw nothing, then remembered I needed to go back to the cabin and drop off a few supplies that were in my truck. That meant I had to drive back through the field where I had just killed the two hogs and where Jim and I had both seen the big hog.
      Approaching the field from the western side you can begin to see into the field while you are still 75 yards from its edge. I instantly saw something moving in the field and stopped the truck, got my gun and slipped closer. I saw one big hog in the other end, 220 yards away. He was walking towards the woods and at first I was expecting to making a running shot on him until he suddenly stopped. On my knees and using a pine tree as a rest I pulled the trigger on the .270 and he ran the remaining 20 yards into the woods, visibly hit.
      It was beginning to get dark so I got my flashlight and went to the edge of the woods and searched for blood, finding nothing. I then stepped into the edge of the woods and spotted the dead hog just inside the trees. I was shocked at how big he was.
      The largest boar I've killed on the place weighed 225 pounds. The average sows we kill are 100 to 150 pounds and sometimes as high as 175 pounds. This hog was much larger and longer. Though I did not weigh him I have no doubt he was 250 to 275 pounds and had the frame to have been much heavier if he only had a better food source.

These teeth were long and sharp and could
inflict major damage on any adversary.

I stepped into the edge of this field Sunday afternoon and spotted a 100 pound boar rooting in the center of the picture. The black dot in the photo is the hog, after the shot.

      The month I have been waiting for in which to deer hunt has now arrived. The four weekends of January are just ahead and on one day in the next week or so the switch will flip in the deer woods, bringing the mature bucks out of their secure hiding spots and into view of us hunters. Without a doubt the last two weeks of the month are the best, but don't discount the first two weeks if the weather is cold.
      Over twenty six or so years of deer hunting, most of which saw me in the woods much more than the present, some of the best bucks I have ever seen came in the last week of the season. The biggest I believe I ever saw on the hoof was on the last day of January and I can tell you he was a monster, just a bit out of range of my rifle.
      Typically we have weekly fronts this time of year that bring cold weather. A day or so of wind comes after the front and then there are a couple of days of prime hunting weather before it tends to warm back up prior to the next front's arrival. If you can get in the woods on those two or three days per week when the weather is coldest, it can make all the difference in your seeing the good bucks or not.
      We have begun January with the coldest weather we have seen in quite a few years. I remember as a youngster going on duck hunts in the swamp when we had to break ice to reach our location, sometimes two inches or more thick. One winter some of the shallow ponds in the woods froze over completely and one could walk along the ice without making a sound. I sneaked up on a quite a few deer in that cold stretch using that tactic. With our lows well below freezing (in the teens) and highs just over freezing at best, I wonder if some of these shallow ponds might freeze in the same fashion once again.
      Our private school benefit hunt is this weekend for all those that can bear this bitter cold. We are thankful to have around 90 hunters attending the hunt. With the dismal economy we are in, it is great to have a strong hunt once again this year. Over the years we have seen some rain, some hot weather, and some favorable weather as well for the hunt. There is little doubt we will be remembering this one for the cold temperatures.
       I have not had any buck photos show up in my email box in recent weeks. To all the readers: Let me hear from you in January. Good luck.

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      The December lull of deer hunting in south Alabama is almost past us and the rut will be here in just a few weeks. Though the weather has been seemingly preferable for hunting with enough cold days and heavy frosts to require animals to move more and eat more to stay warm, I have not heard of many quality bucks killed in recent weeks. The pictures have certainly not shown up in my email box.
     I could not get excited about sitting in a climber this weekend and instead made two stalks in the swamp in search of hogs. I was overall not very successful in my hunts. I came upon three big groups of sows and pigs and in my greed each time I failed to kill a single hog. My usual routine of sneaking close in order to kill as many as possible backfired each time. The shifting wind or a wary eye from a hog busted me each time and each time they scampered to safety before I could shoot.
     My two kills came on single boars that I jumped in thick cover and shot as they stood up from their beds. I killed both at less than fifteen yards. Both boars were in the neighborhood of 150 to 175 pounds each by my guess.
      The backwaters of the river had receded from the swamp by the time the weekend had arrived. I surveyed the many areas where it had stood as much as 4 feet or more over some of our roads. It left water in some low areas that will now make it difficult to reach a few of the stands in the coming month. With the way this fall and winter has gone so far, I expect to see the river on the property again between now and the spring.
     I have tallied about 74 inches of rain this year in my gauge with yet one more system to go before the new year. That is approximately 20 inches above normal and quite a bit more than the 31 inches that fell in 2007.

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12/22/2009

      Access to some areas of the property this past weekend was impossible due to the backwaters of the Alabama River. The river is expected to crest at a level of near 74 feet today, two feet higher than the high water from last month, and then begin a gradual fall. Three feet higher than this level and the water comes over the access road well before you reach the swamp.
      We are fortunate that it takes a pretty high river to prevent access to the property and even in high waters like we are experiencing now we have plenty of dry ground in which to hunt. The river backs into the hardwood bottoms, coming from a downstream direction from the property, and then spills over into the pine plantations as it rises.
      I spent Saturday morning on a long, slow stalk in hopes of finding hogs that had been pushed out by the rising waters. I found very few and managed to kill just one sow. Dale and Matthew Cole were my guests for the day and Dale killed a boar that crossed a greenfield early Saturday morning.
      Sunday afternoon my friend Judd and his son Judson accompanied my son Alexander and I to the swamp for an overnight stay at the cabin. Judd and Judson spent the last hour of the afternoon in a shooting house and Judd connected on two hogs, bringing our total for the weekend to four and the season's total to 43.

Judson and Alexander pose with the hogs
we located the following frosty morning.

Clay's impressive kills from the Red Field the prior weekend in the rain.
Five in one sitting is fine shooting indeed.

      I have spent the past two weekends away from the woods and water. I was out of town the weekend before last and then a busy weekend that just concluded was accompanied by plenty of rain that kept me away. But with us in the normal December lull of deer hunting, I have my sights set on the excitement that January brings. I may not take my bow back to the woods until the new year.
      My cousin Josh and friends Clay and Jess hunted the Swamp this past soggy weekend and killed nine hogs but no deer. Pictures should be forthcoming of their successful swine shooting.
      The rain continues to fall outside my door this morning. The rivers and creeks are full throughout the southern portion of the state and Wilcox County is no different. With the official start of winter coming in a few days, we enter the season the wettest I can remember in some years. After reporting large rainfall deficits here for several years we are now sixteen inches above average for the year. Time will tell if we have a really big flooding event to deal with between now and the spring.

I got in one deer hunt over the Thanksgiving weekend but had no luck. By Saturday I had changed gears to try my luck with the crappie that fellow fishermen were catching in the river. I am still learning in that arena but managed to catch enough to stay interested. The change of pace was refreshing before heading back to the deer woods in the coming days.

The weather continues to be pretty reasonable for deer hunting and the woods keep getting wetter and wetter. Jimmy Lawler of Camden killed the buck shown below this past weekend just south of Camden in Wilcox County.

Jim Lawler poses with a fine Wilcox County buck killed
by his father, Jimmy Lawler.

      The backwaters of the recently swollen Alabama River have receded from the property leaving many low areas filled with water. The "Dry Pond" area where I had killed so many hogs this fall is now filled with water (see photo below). The overcup acorns are now floating and the hogs have dispersed to the piney woods and the hardwood ridges.
       My one hunt of the weekend on Sunday afternoon came amid some rainfall that I was not expected when I left home. I had plenty of waterproof clothing tucked away in my closet where it stayed dry. Luckily the rainfall was light and I managed to come away only a bit damp. Unfortunately I saw no deer during the hunt. So far my three deer hunts of the season have been very uneventful.
      I always look forward to Thanksgiving and it has normally been a great time to be in the woods. Our window of opportunity to kill or see a mature buck is closing. In most areas by the time December arrives the scent of humans is widely spread through the woods and the mature bucks are holding tight. They will do that until the rut arrives in January and sends them into their annual frenzy.

The above photo shows one of the hog scratching posts that cousin Josh and I installed around some of our most hunted stands in the swamp. Hogs love the creosote of the old railroad crossties and are drawn to them to scratch and rub. Our hopes are to draw a few extra hogs to deer hunters this fall. So far this one is being well used and it appears our experiment will yield some results.

The "Dry Pond" area, now waterlogged, was a prime hog
hunting spot before the river filled it with water.

My cousin Curtis and his friends Walt, Bill, and Jeff hog hunted in the Swamp this weekend with no success. The 4+ inches of rain that fell across the central portion of the state from TS Ida backed the river into the hardwood bottoms where I had been having much luck killing hogs. With most of the hardwoods and acorns standing in water, the hogs apparently scattered through the piney woods and though the hunters did see some they did not get any confirmed kills.
My lone hunt of the weekend was a Sunday morning deer hunt. The fog persisted until mid-morning when my time was up, but that did not deter a beautiful morning in the woods. Unfortunately, I did not see a single deer. Maybe next weekend.

There is no news from my woods this week as I did not get out this past weekend and have received no reports from area hunters. We have a big hog hunting weekend coming up so hopefully we'll have a hog kill report for the next update. We have received 2.8 inches of rain so far from TS Ida with more continuing to fall.

My one outdoor adventure this weekend was a hog hunt, a less productive one than most have been in recent weeks. I made a walk around our Duck Pond woods early Sunday morning and found one group of hogs and killed two. I jumped two other boars along the way and attempted shots at them on the run and missed both.
This week's update features some nice bucks killed by area hunters. Keep the photos coming and thanks to those that have contributed.

Jason Ledbetter of Camden killed this buck in Dallas County, AL.
(Scored 155 gross)

Bubba Martens of Camden, AL killed this
buck on a recent bow hunt in Texas. (Scored 161 3/8 gross)

Saturday afternoon Rick Williams and his sons Ed and Rhyne joined me on a hog hunt. Eight year-old Ed was fired up to be on his first hog hunt. Having already killed deer and turkeys, I was confident Ed would make a good shot if the hogs would cooperate. Ed's gun of choice was his deer rifle, a scoped .243. His brother Rhyne provided back up with his BB gun and also promised to keep away any squirrels that threatened to give away our position.
No sooner than we stepped from the pines into the hardwoods I saw a big group of hogs working towards us. That group was huge, the largest I have seen this fall. They apparently caught wind of us and ran but we soon saw another group in the hardwoods and Ed readied for a shot. They too were moving towards us. Ed steadied his .243 on some shooting sticks and squeezed the trigger. His first hog was in the books.

      We moved another two hundred yards down the bottom and built a blind in the most frequently traveled area. I do not think fifteen minutes had passed when another group of hogs appeared in the distance, headed our way. This group angled off and was making its way to the nearby pines. Ed was able to get the crosshairs on one before they were gone and quickly had his second hog on the ground.
      We stayed another two hours until dark and not another one appeared. I was surprised that nothing came through in the final hour of the day but apparently we had already stirred up the herd.
      I was proud of Ed's marksmanship. We were far from the steady rest and comfort that a shooting house stand provides. We were on the move, in the woods, using hastily assembled shooting sticks and the hogs were steadily walking amongst the trees, feeding and wandering. Neither of the shots were very close. Ed was two for two on the day. It can't get any better than that!

      Had it not been for the wind that persisted, the weather for the opening weekend of bowseason would have scored a perfect ten. The lows in the upper 30s and low 40s and highs in the 60s were a far cry from the recent 80 and 90 degree weather we have witnessed. But the wind picked up each day and was quite gusty. The only deer hunt I attempted was Saturday afternoon and the deer I saw were very wary in the wind, especially considering it was the beginning of the season.
      The remainder of the weekend I spent hog hunting. On Saturday morning I walked a total of five and half miles around the swamp, checking hardwood bottoms and pine plantation for hogs and hog sign. I saw plenty of sign and quite a few hogs but did not have as productive of a morning as I had hoped. I did kill five but missed another easy shot and had the gun jam and also fail to fire once (military surplus ammo is not always reliable) that all cost me several more dead hogs.
      On Sunday morning and afternoon I attempted to bowhunt them from the ground, keying on an area where the big overcups are dropping acorns at a steady pace. I saw hogs on both hunts but failed to get a shot on the morning hunt and the shot I did get on Sunday afternoon was after I had been winded and the hogs had started to run.

Ground zero for where the hogs are right now,
a hardwood bottom with overcup acorns dropping.

      Assisted by my cousin Josh and his friends Clay and Jess, the weekend was spent cleaning roads, clearing out around stands, and planting food plots. Our ground is a bit sandy so we had no trouble planting our plots though rainfall has been plentiful in recent months and especially in the last few weeks. I have talked to quite a few hunters that are still hoping for drier weather to plant and others that have simply given up for this season.
       We also found some time to hog hunt. The tally for the weekend was 7 hogs and a few misses as well. We saw plenty more sign and the prospects of killing many more this fall and winter appear good.
       More times than not, opening weekend of bowseason coincides with a nice cool front. This year will be no different. With lows in the 40s and highs in the 60s forecasted, the first weekend of the season should be excellent. I hope to mix some bowhunting with another hog hunt. It should be fun.

      An hour into my two hour hog hunt Saturday morning, I questioned how a man could not find a hog in the midst of all the sign that was around me. I began the early morning hunt just after daybreak, slipping through a hardwood drain filled with gum and cypress trees. There were tracks, trails, droppings, and wallows in numbers I've not seen in the past. Eventually I made it through a pine plantation, past a good wallow that often has hogs hanging around, and into the big hardwoods of the property that we call the Duck Pond woods. Finally I saw three hogs.
      I used the tactic that has always worked well. Sneak as close as possible and then shoot one of the hogs at a distance, but no farther than you are assured of a kill, then work your way back to the closest hogs as they scramble for cover. In other words, save the close shots for when they go on the run.
      That worked well and I got all three of the first bunch of hogs, then moved forward and quickly saw two more. I got one of them. Farther along I found two more and again got one of them as the other escaped through a stand of palmettos.
      I then rounded the head of a long shallow pond we call the Duck Pond, and into another bottom that I would soon find were holding a great crop of overcup acorns that apparently have been falling for a week or two. I quickly jumped a hog that ran and then slowed up just long enough for me to take him down. This one was one of two white, spotted hogs I killed on the hunt. All the others, as are most, were black in color.
      I soon reached the area with the most acorns and there I found two hogs feeding along. The more distant one moved away quickly so I had to go ahead and take the closest one while the chance was available. Then another hundred yards farther I spotted three hogs working their way towards me. I sat down and waited. Two of them came within 15 yards of me as the other fed at 40 yards. Again I took the more distant hog and then downed the closer ones with the second and third shots. Farther ahead I spotted the largest hog I had seen all morning, a lone boar. With the wind in my favor I slipped within 50 yards of him and dropped him in one shot.
      Though the first hour of the hunt had been without a bit of action, the second hour had been the best hour of hog hunting I've ever experienced in the swamp. The bad news is that happened due to the sheer numbers of hogs we now have. But I can not say it was not fun shooting 11 hogs during the hunt.
      I think this coming weekend will see some similar results. Stay tuned...

      I can not remember a time that I have shot doves in the rain and if asked I do not know that I could have answered a question of how well doves fly in the rain, at least not until Saturday afternoon. We had all just arrived in the dove field at 3pm Saturday on a pretty sizeable dove shoot when the dark clouds of the approaching front began to appear over the tree line. Thunder could be heard in the distance. The birds started flying as soon as we arrived and quite a bit of gunfire ensued. It was obvious that should the rain hold off this was going to be a great shoot.
      It was not the rain that drove the hunters from the field twenty minutes later but the impressive electrical storm that spread its splendor from cloud to cloud and to the earth below. I had killed two birds and should have had at least five when I grabbed my gear and headed for the refuge of my truck.
      As most of the hunters called it an afternoon and chose the dry camphouse nearby and the ballgame, some of us pulled our trucks to the edge of the field where we could keep watch in hopes the storm would pass quickly. Tripp, from Evergreen, hopped in with me after his ride had already left for the camp. He too wanted to sit the storm out and get back in the field when the rain quit.
       The worst of weather passed over and though the rain lingered the birds began to pour back into the field. Tripp could not stand it and grabbed his gun and sloshed back out in the field. It was tough walking in the plowed ground. The prairie soil makes your boots grow in size with each step. I listened to the ballgame from the truck and enjoyed watching Tripp put on quite show of shooting in the rain.
     Finally I decided to give it a try myself as the day was winding down and the birds were continuing to fly. In the next 20 minutes I picked up 7 more birds. The dozen or so folks that stayed to shoot in the rain had a good shoot and most got their limits. Indeed, doves do fly in the rain.

      Coyotes arrived in our area in the early 1980s as the deer population was exploding. The coyote population continued to grow each year even as the deer population began to fall rapidly in the late 1990s. At the present our deer numbers are at all time lows for my lifetime, in the Swamp, but the coyotes are still numerous.
     About the time we began to see the deer population begin a rapid decline, we noticed that does killed by hunters in the first few months of the season did not have milk, therefore did not have a fawn, at least 50% and as much as 70% of the time. Since most does do conceive and give birth, something was happening to the fawns at an alarming high rate. Coyotes were and remain the number one suspect.
      I've found remains of small deer in coyote scat I have observed. I've read articles and research studies that indicate the coyote's diet consists primarily of fawns during the time they are dropping. The best hope is that most does get bred around the same time and drop their fawns around the same time giving the coyotes more than enough to eat during that period. But if the deer herd is low and the coyote numbers high, the coyotes will certainly get a high percentage of the fawns.
     Jack Cropp captured these photos on his game camera south of Camden, Alabama earlier this month. As you will see this coyote has a young deer's head in his mouth. Now, we don't what killed the fawn and maybe this coyote just happened upon the spoils of a tragedy that had occurred without his involvement. But with coyotes, I tend to not to give them the benefit of the doubt. He's assumed to be guilty unless proven innocent. I think he did it.

Rain continues to be the story in this area this week. Hopefully the cool front projected by the computer models for the first of next week will materialize and bring us drier as well as cooler weather. I have heard from even more hunters in the past week that are concerned when they will be able to plant their food plots.
My son Alexander and I went on a short hog hunt Sunday afternoon right after a rainstorm. We stuck to the roads and did not venture off into the swamps where they were more numerous, but we saw lots of tracks and fresh rooting and I missed one boar that spooked from the edge of the road.

      We're now a month away from the start of bowseason and I'm looking forward to getting in the woods at the start of the season, something I did not do last season. The next month is filled with needed chores to accomplish so that time to sit and wait for a deer will be possible.
      The summer here has been a mild and mostly wet one. So many times at this point on the calendar we are begging for a slight chance of rain in hopes of planting a food plot or maybe looking for just enough moisture to actually break some ground. Many hunters I've spoken with lately are having opposite issues to deal with. There is simply too much moisture in some areas to break the ground without sticking the tractor.
      In the woods last Sunday afternoon I saw a tremendous amount of hog sign. There is little doubt we are going to kill another large number of pigs this fall and winter. On my short outing Sunday I killed three and misfired on another big sow. I hope to get back out there this weekend and surprise a few more. I'll likely have some pictures for you next week.
      I encourage each of you to keep the updates and photos coming from your next of the woods so they can also be featured here. Looking forward to seeing you back each week right here on the Horn Swamp Online. Stay tuned...