NC Hogs

[0802]

Anyone know any good places for hog hunting in NC? I'm not familiar with the state, but can work a map.

Likewise for waterfowl. I'll be in/around Jacksonville.

I know I'll have to go all the way to the west end of the state for the hogs, but I'd like to narrow down my directions a little more than "Drive west until you can see mountains."

Josh

[Bigscot]

The hogs are mostly in the SW mountains and towards the SE coast. These are the wild Boar of Russian decent which are regulated and have seasons and bag limits.


I understand that in the east central part of the state there are feral hogs which
are not regulated.


Bigscot

[DanWalker]

Only hogs around jacksonville are in the bars.
I was staioned at Lejeune from 1989 to 1994. Hunted all over that area, and never saw a hog. Deer hunting sucks there, as all the locals chase the deer with hounds and blast them from the side of the road(completely legal there).
A much shorter drive that will put you into some hogs is to head south. Head for South Carolina. A friend of mine that grew up there always raved about how good the hog hunting was around the Francis Marion Wildlife area.

Bow hunting deer in the Jacksonville area can be done, but the mosquitos and heat make it pretty miserable. The hotter it is, the later the deer come out to feed.
Bait piles are pretty much a fact of life down there. A jar of peanut butter is a secret weapon there. Buy a jar, remove the lid. Nail the lid to a tree by your bait pile, with the top of the lid against the tree, and the threaded part facing out. Screw the jar of peanut butter back onto the lid, and cut off the bottom of the jar.
The scent from the peanut butter will carry a long way, and nailing the lid to the tree keeps the coons from running off with it.

Don't waste your money or time on doe in heat scents unless you'll be hunting in November. I killed all my bucks during the first week of November, and they all came in like lovesick puppies. (about the same size as a large dog too)

All you need for hunting big game in that area is a good iron sighted 30/30. Most deer there will barely break 100lb live weight, and fully 99% of the deer you'll see will be at ranges UNDER 35 yards.

[EWOK]

Thanks DW, always nice to have leathernecks running down redneck traditions. Guess you never went very far off the road while there, if you did you would understand why they use hounds to run the deer out of some of the thickest briar patches of the US. And you are right, the deer around Camp Luenetics are small because of over population, guess those rednecks with the hounds just don't kill enough off the side of the rode. I live about 50 miles from there and have a few 200+ pound deer mounted on the wall and last year kill a 6 point that weighted 210. And if all you got is a 30-30 then you'll just have to watch alot of nice bucks walk across the end of big beanfields here, killed a fair 8 point, 150 pounds, at 590 yards with a custom 280AI last year.
But you are right on about one thing, no hogs around here, guess they all went back to Wyoming.

[DanWalker]

Thanks DW, always nice to have leathernecks running down redneck traditions. Guess you never went very far off the road while there, if you did you would understand why they use hounds to run the deer out of some of the thickest briar patches of the US. And you are right, the deer around Camp Luenetics are small because of over population, guess those rednecks with the hounds just don't kill enough off the side of the rode. I live about 50 miles from there and have a few 200+ pound deer mounted on the wall and last year kill a 6 point that weighted 210. And if all you got is a 30-30 then you'll just have to watch alot of nice bucks walk across the end of big beanfields here, killed a fair 8 point, 150 pounds, at 590 yards with a custom 280AI last year.
But you are right on about one thing, no hogs around here, guess they all went back to Wyoming.

Sory pard,
Didn't mean to touch a sore nerve.

Faison, huh? Where they make pickles? Yeah, I KNOW where you live. I lived in Maple Hill while I was stationed at Lejeune. I also lived there while I went to School at UNCW after I was discharged.
As far as the crack about not getting far from the road, let me just say that in 8 years of living there and hunting, I NEVER participated in that tradition. All my deer were one shot kills, and 99% of them were from 50 yards or less. Most of my stands were between 1/2 to 1 1/2 miles away from the road. As a result, I saw WAY more hounds and deer than I ever saw other hunters.
I do understand why they use hounds to hunt deer there. After stomping through MANY thousands of acres of pulpwood pine forest, pocosin swamps and oak ridges, it became quite apparent. 75% of them are too damned lazy to get off their sorry behinds and hunt, and the other 25% are just out there to socialize.
My favorite tactic of theirs was to pour out 2 or 3 dozen hounds immediately adjacent to posted property, then act completely innocent when their dogs cross the line and run all over your property, chasing deer all over and ruining any chance an ethical hunter might have at cleanly harvesting a deer.
The new thing down there I hear is for everyone to rip and tear around on their four wheelers.
You seem to have taken my criticisms rather personally. You've apparently appointed yourself the designated defender of Coastal Carolina's hunting reputation.
I'm sorry, but you're not going to be able to convince me that the unethical, unsportsmanlike, behavior which, in my experience has become the norm rather than the exception, is anything other than a bunch of lazy slobs ruining the image of decent sportsmen.
I'm sure the guys you hunt with are probably pretty good ol' boys, but they're in the minority.
For every example you can give me of how fine it all is, i can cite examples of how sickening it has really become.
Like how during the hunting seasons by my house there, they run dogs 7 days a week. Often you hear hounds running when no one is even hunting. They were just too damned lazy to catch their dogs when they were done for the day.
Or the swarms of circling buzzards after every organized hunt, just watching and waiting for the deer ,crippled by idiots with buckshot, to die.
My most vivid memory of that was seeing the blinded deer and the ones missing their lower jaws after having been shot in the face with buckshot at long range.
As for your 500+ yard kill, bravo.(sincerely...that's a helluva shot)
Now, how many guys there can do it? I know a bit about shooting over beanfields.
I really loved it when the "Hunters" would come screeching up in their pickups, right next to our house and shoot at deer that were being chased accross OUR beanfield. Hmm...shooting at a running deer at 250 yards....Sound ethical to anyone here?
Seriously, I didn't mean to ruffle your feathers. I sincerely apologize. I meant no offence to you or the great state of North Carolina.
I just refuse to let anyone try to make what they do down there seem like it's right.
It may be tradition, but for a long time so was lynching, racism, and inbreeding.
Those things were wrong and they've shed themselves of them, why not cut out this immoral crap too?

[waksupi]

Enough on that issue, guys. I've also observed the hunting methods there, and have my opinions, but that is all they are, mine. Let that part rest.

[Jim]

Concerning hogs in the Francis Marion National Forest, yup, they're in there. I grew up and spent most of my life in Charleston and heard more than a few stories about some pretty good size hogs comin' outa' there.