Labor Day 2009 hunt

[12-GAUGE]

Several of my buddies made plans to meet at my house at 5:00 AM. We waited on Herb, but he had overslept due to a late night of shrimping. After a call to wake him up, we got the ok to go on without him. Kris and I headed out to the woods around 5:20 AM. We were going to meet Jody and his son Tye at the club around 7:25 AM or so. Kris and I drove around the South portion of the 22,000 acre hunting club for about an hour in search of a hog track. We found several, but always came up with a reason to keep searching. Most of the tracks were made from hogs that would go between 100 pounds to 160 pounds.

At 7:25 AM, Jody and Tye showed up. This was the first time that they were going to hunt this property with me. Both were excited about the possibilities. They had double bayed just 2 days prior in their own club. They were able to get both hogs caught. We decided that because the hogs in my club are runners, we would let one pack get them up. Then, when the race was going, we would pull that pack off as they crossed a road. We would then repack the track with fresh hounds. It seemed like a good plan, and better on the dogs in the long run. The Florida heat mixed with the Florida humidity can really run a toll on a dog.

After driving to the Southern part of the club, we found several tracks moving between 2 swamps. I offered Jody the option to have the first turnout. He told me that he would let my dogs have first go round with the track. I found a single track that went down into a ditch that was 3 foot deep. I could see the grass pushed down going into the game trail. I told Kris to dump his redbone Dixie with my blueticks Beulah, Zeke, and Ramsey if he wanted to. Dixie is around a year old, and has been doing good working with my hounds. I placed Ramsey on the track. She seemed like it was good enough for her to take. As she entered the path, Beulah, Zeke, and Dixie followed suit. Within 10 feet, the Cutter Bay Bawl had begun. Shortly after, Dixie began her chop. We watched on the Garmin Astro as the dogs made about a 200 yard loop. We all just watched as the dogs re-entered the woods road about 30 yards beyond the trucks.

As they entered the road, I noticed Ramsey swim back across the ditch, and re-enter the swamp. Within seconds, she found where the hidden treasure was hunkered down. That is where the true race began. All four hounds now were churning the track like they had seen their prey. The dense swamp vegetation seemed like an open field to the Cutter Bay pack. Within minutes the quarry was bayed. According to the Astro, 650 yards out, stood our reward. I really did not want to try to conquer this swamp. It was nasty to say the least. We tried talking ourselves into it, but figured if we waited long enough, the prize would break. Sure enough, after about 10 minutes the baying ceased. It was off to the races again.

We went down to the Canal Grade which is also the boundary for our club. We were within 500 yards of the dogs. They were pouring it on moving through the thick swamp. They worked their way towards the canal. Jody and Tye drove down the grade to keep them honest. Once I felt that they were working back towards where we turned out at, I headed for the intersection. As I turned on the road, a solid black hog poured out into the damp road. We slid the truck up right behind it, as it swam the deep ditch on the other side of the road. I told Jody over the CB to come to me, and dump his dogs. As my hounds came out, I told them to load up. We had boxed all 3, when Jody got there. It was at that time, that we heard Dixie coming to the road. Kris boxed her as well.

Jody dumped his treeing walker Buford on the track. He then threw his 2 blueticks Kimber and Smoke into the race. The 3 of them swam the ditch. When they hit the timber, they were moving with a great desire. The terrain was swampy in some parts, with pines in others. There was a lot of water on the ground. It was close to 1 foot deep in a lot of spots. We knew it was going to be a task that a lesser hound would not handle. Luckily, Jody's dogs have their "A" game together. They covered ground quickly, and bayed up within 10 minutes. In this kind of terrain, I was proud of them. We were now parked on the Canal Grade again. The Astro read 450 yards. Looking at the canal, our eager minds were battling to decide a better alternative.

The hog made our minds up for us. Away it broke again. Now I had seen this hog cross the road. I had guessed it to be somewhere around 125 pounds. At this point, it had bayed several times, and left each time. I knew it had to have a bad attitude based off of the dogs that had tried it. Now, I was beginning to wonder where it got the will power it was demonstrating. Within minutes, the 3 hounds began to bog down. It was like the hog vanished. We all grew worried, and started second guessing our reluctance to "dive in" so to say. As we analyzed the GPS screen, we thought it may be better if one of the trucks headed for the next woods road. Even though Jody's hunting truck is much better suited for "woods" traveling, I decided I would give it a try.

As Kris and I entered the submerged road, I had a bad feeling about getting stuck. It seemed hard-bottomed, but it was deep in several spots. I never could see the ruts. There was just swamp grass growing out of the water everywhere. It showed it as a road on the GPS so we pressed on. We hoped it would go up onto a hill. However, that was not the case. It only got deeper as I drove into the block. We arrived to a location that was perpendicular to Jody's dogs. Knowing that my boots were not waterproof, I sucked it up, and stepped out of the Chevy. The water was actually pleasant to the touch. It was beginning to get hot, and it felt good as it cooled the skin.

After what seemed like an eternity of the dogs working a huge circle, I got on the CB, and told Jody to come on around. We really felt like the hog had never left. It was our belief that it just went into the brush and squatted. It was so wet in the block, that it seemed like we may have to start a different track. I could hear the hounds opening occasionally as they made different sized circles again and again. As Jody was driving around, I asked Kris what he thought. He said that even though it was not a trophy hog, he would hate to loose it. I felt the same way. I told him I was going to send my dogs in for some back up. I hunt this club often, and it has really been wet. They seem to do fine in the watered down conditions, so I felt it would not do any harm. Kris cut Dixie when I cut Beulah. I was hoping that they would head to Smoke's bawls. That did not work out as planned. Off to trailing they went. The only thing working in our favor, was they were traveling somewhat in the direction of the overall circle that Jody's dogs were making.

With that, I decided to send Zeke and Ramsey directly to Smoke. They entered the pine flat that had about 8 inches of standing water speedily. Zeke was heading directly for Smoke who was 142 yards out. Ramsey decided to follow her kennel-mate into the timber. Jody and Tye pulled up, as we watched the dogs get together on the Astro screen. We told the guys what we did, and began to get a new game plan together. Kris and I were going to head back to the trail head to keep a closer eye on Beulah and Dixie. We found a good spot to park. I killed the engine. After watching the Astro, it was evident that Beulah was working towards the larger pack. Dixie was only about 100 yards out, so I recommended to Kris to call her in. As he got out to gather her up, I could hear the dogs becoming louder. I knew they were coming our way. After Kris boxed her, the pack exploded. I told Kris that they had just jumped. Over the CB, I relayed to Jody my thoughts. Tye was quick to say that they heard it too.

I could tell that whatever was going on in the woods, it was out of the ordinary. Buford's bark did not sound 100% right. I was beginning to wonder if they had all stumbled on trash, or if there was other shenanigans going on. We now had 5 blueticks and one treeing walker selling it out on who knows what. After about 5 minutes, I told Kris to grab a bulldog, and we would go in. He grabbed Nitro, and off he went. I was telling Jody and Tye on the CB that we would be on foot, when I saw Kris and Nitro fade out of sight into the trail head. I grabbed the Astro, and off I went. I came to a fork in the trail, and decided to take it to the left. As I went about 100 yards, I noticed that there was an old fire break that was about 1 foot deep with water. It had the old mound on the right side all the way down. I walked towards the war cries of 6 hounds. I had covered about 40 yards of the firebreak when it took a bend. As I rounded the corner, I saw Zeke flying off the mound. He looked like an "air it out dog" that you see on some Animal Planet show. As he landed, his nose stuck to the mud like a linebacker hitting a quarterback. He sounded great as he yelled in celebration. Within seconds the other 5 poured in behind him. They were fanned out moving through the timber. 5 yards could not have separated them all. Then, they disappeared. It was at that time, I saw Nitro. He was lagging behind, but was desperate to catch the pack. He too, faded into the timber laced with thick palmettos.

Kris, said that he had got within 15 yards of the hog. He said he heard it grunt a few times. Kris said only two dogs had it bayed, while the others were in a frantic search for it. He cut Nitro in hopes to end the race. However, the hog had no desire to be caught. As Nitro grew closer, the hog broke. I was not worried too much about him, as he too had a DC-30 GPS collar on. I could tell that he had not gone far before he stopped. I called him several times before I started back to the truck.

As I looked at my Garmin screen, I could tell we were running out of time. They were close to the canal, and the road that lines it is our boundary. I called Jody on the cell phone. I explained that he needed to put the pedal to the metal and try to stop the race. He indicated that he would do his best. Kris and I jumped in the truck and followed suit. Jody and Tye were ahead of us by about 3 minutes. They had reached the Canal Grade, but it was too late. All 6 hounds had crossed. As Kris and I rounded the intersection, a solid black hog appeared in the road. I could not believe our luck. The hog had gone out of the club, only to come back in within minutes. I believe the hog realized it could not distance itself from the savage pack of hounds in the dryer planted pines. The hog had no other choice but to retreat back to the water in hopes of an escape. As the truck came to a sliding stop, Kris jumped out to dump Dixie on the track. The hog bailed into the canal, and off it went. As Kris grabbed the door handle on the dog box, the other hounds entered the road. Off they all went sailing through the sky before entering the water. Ramsey, Beulah, Zeke, Dixie, Smoke and Buford were literally swimming through this swamp that lines the edge of the canal. Kimber was still in the timber coming to the road strong. I could hear the hog giving it everything it had to try to distance itself from the relentless, savage pack of hounds.

This hog did not now a little secret though. Ramsey is an exceptional swimmer. She has won her share of water race heats at coonhound events. I swim my hounds several times a week behind the house. After swimming my pond, Ramsey's muscles are conditioned for long distance swimming. This poor hog never had a chance. It was not long, and the fight began. We knew that Beulah and Dixie would not catch. However, Buford, Smoke, Zeke, and Ramsey live to feel the struggle of a hogs hairy skin wedging itself between their upper and lower jaws. Within seconds the squealing began.

Kris made the decision to swim the canal first. As he went down the bank, his dry shirt changed to a dark grey in color. Kris has me by several inches, so I knew what destiny had in store for me. After throwing my electronic items into the front seat of the truck, I too slipped down into the brown water up to my neck. With that I heard Jody enter the abyss. All I could hear as I came up the other side of the canal was Tye yell out that he would call us out. "How generous", I thought. Kris got to the skirmish first. He legged the hog. As I arrived, I began pulling dogs off. Buford was locked on an ear. Zeke was on the other. Smoke had a jaw. Ramsey let go of hide when I told her to. I leashed them to trees that made up the swampy maze. The swamp was about waist deep with water. The only thing that kept the dogs from drowning was as they would pull on the tethered leashes, it would cause them to stand vertical on their back feet. As Jody arrived, we had to work together to get the crazed treeing walker to release his grip on the hog.

It was then that Jody realized that Buford still had a no-bark collar on. He had put it on him while my dogs were initially out by themselves. Buford was relentless on his quest to join in. It now made sense to me why he did not sound right during the race. I will add, he was still barking with it on. That is how intense his desire is to get the job done. We now had all the dogs tied back.

I could tell Kris was getting wore down as he was trying to keep the hog on a downed tree so that it would not drown. I grabbed a leg, and took over those responsibilities. I now examined the piggy sow that would go around 120 pounds. She was exhausted, but she was not damaged. I made sure that everyone was clear including the dogs, and I lined her away from us. With a little shove through the water, she looked like a canoe. Off she went, just a doggy paddling like her life depended on it. Within 30 seconds, she was gone.

It was a surreal moment for all of us. I have been to plenty of bays before. I had spent many hours in Florida swamps verifying dogs of their truthfulness. However, for some reason, this one moment in time stuck out as one I will remember for years to come. She was not the biggest hog. Even though she was determined to get away, I doubt she was the baddest my hounds have encountered. Yet, I respected her for the opportunity she gave our dogs to get better. They were able to hoan their skills with great tenacity, while truly demonstrating adversity at it's finest. Jody commented that it was a shame to not have a camera on us to snap a picture for the scrapbooks. We had the perfect backdrop with beautiful hounds by our side. They were quivering while they were still bawling to be released. Drenched, worn, and tied back to swamp trees, the hounds looked outstanding. That picture would have surely hung on my wall for years to come. However, God had things planned differently for us.

Knowing that the sow would be having pigs in the upcoming weeks, was enough to get me excited. With her genes flowing through her progeny in these woods, there will be many hunting adventures for years to come. As we swam the dogs back to the trucks, it was a joyful time. We had all been blessed to have a day off of work, and we had spent it with good friends and great hounds.

Here are a few pictures of the canal entranc where we crossed to enter the final battle ground.

[Whinecountryhounds]

WOW what a great, well wrote, story. Glad them dogs are keeping ya happy.

[chilcotin hillbilly]

Mthat sounds like a riot. Great story.

[12-GAUGE]

It was a very fun hunt.

[Bow]

good story and ill get you some photos of the dogs we talked about the other day just havent had time

[Brady Davis]

Great story. Thanks for taking the time to write it up like that, well written and fun to read.

[bob baldwin jr]

BORING WHAT DO YOU GUYS DO FOR EXCITEMENT IN YOUR LIVES Great story Wish I had been there

[jeff]

That sounded like a awesome day 12-GAUGE, I really enjoyed your adventure with the hounds, thanks for sharing it

[12-GAUGE]

Bow,
I look forward to seeing the pics.

[Bow]

my bitch out of jh one of her pups maleill get some more for you to look at right off

[12-GAUGE]

That dude is fat free ain't he? He is one in shape looking hound. I can't wait to see different angles of him.

[artrodex]

hi let me introduce myself i am new in this country i live in miami i like hunting and i want know where i can start hunting, in public land is this possible, i dont know all the laws here, about hunting, let me know any if you can.

[12-GAUGE]