Hog Wild in the Palmetto State

One of the growing problems in the natural world is the presence of non native invasive species. These animals compete for food and habitat with native animals. These invasive animals often do not have a nature enemy to keep them in check. The list of invasive species includes Asian carp, European Starlings, Constrictor Snakes, and various exotic reptiles. Feral hogs have risen to the top of this list. This graph illustrates the problem level as of 2015. Four years later these wild beasts are pushing their way north.

There is much speculation as to how these hogs got here. They have been genetically linked to both European and Russian descendants. No doubt some escaped farming pens and game preserves. It has been rumored that others were released to give hunters another quarry to pursue. What ever the case, hogs are here to stay. These animals are omnivorous. They survive on acorns, grubs, standing corn, squirrels and deer fawns among other things. Wild hogs are the bane of farmers. They root up the ground and can easily consume and destroy thousands of dollars in standing corn. They will then move on before being captured or eradicated.

Opportunities abound for hunters to help farmers and fill their freezer with wild pork. My dad and I recently headed to Lodge, South Carolina to try our luck at harvesting a wild hog. We booked a hunt with Mike and Kelly Perez, the owners and operators of the deer and hog hunting division of Williams Hunting. After a nine long hours on the road we arrived in the humble town of Lodge that boasts a population of 83. We were quickly greeted by Mike Perez. He gave us a tour of our cabin and the Mess Hall. We unloaded our gear into the cabin. We were soon invited to Mess Hall for the first of many great meals that were cooked by Mike's wife Kelly and his daughter.

We took time to check our gun accuracy. My choice for this hunt was a Winchester XPR chambered in 350 Legend. This gun will fire a 170 grain Hornady factory load sub moa at 100 yards.

Mike gave us a a quick lesson on hog anatomy and what we could expect in the next couple of days. He instructed us to meet him at the Mess Hall at 545 the next morning so that we could be in our stands by blue dawn. Morning came quickly. We met another father son hunting team at the mess hall. We downed some breakfast and gulped a fresh hot cup of coffee. The sound of a Polaris Ranger UTV broke the morning silence. We loaded our gear and set off to our stands. I climbed up into my stand in the predawn darkness and Mike handed my gun to me. He climbed down and drove off into the darkness.

I was serenaded by frogs, owls, whippoorwills and turkeys in the predawn moments. I had never been here before, but I felt at home.

As the sky grew lighter I could see a feeder in a clear cut a mere 87 yards in front of me. To the left and right of the stand I could see the path that the UTV have taken when I was dropped off.

Hogs didn't show in the four hours of hunting the first morning. The sights and sounds of the southern pines and palmettos didn't disappoint.

The hot fresh coffee and steaming breakfast buffet were a perfect ending to the cooler than expected damp southern morning. We opted to fore go the afternoon of hunting due to the weather prediction. It was good to just relax and watch tv with my dad in the comfy confines of our cabin.

The second morning found me back in the same stand by choice. About an hour after sunup I heard the sound of hogs approaching the feeder from my right. I stayed at the ready but nothing showed except for a small piglet. This small animal slipped out of the brush, ate quickly, and disappeared again.

The evening hunt took my dad and I to new stands. My dad was dropped off first. I had no sooner settled into my stand when I heard the familiar sound of a Savage .270 Remington sound off in my dad's direction.

My dad's 191 pound sow. What a hog!

It wasn't long until I began to see a sounder (family unit) making its way in front of my stand. My goal was to harvest a black haired male. I watched as this animal unit rooted for food, postured, fought and intermingled. After some time I identified a black hog with the tale-tail tuft of hair hanging from its abdomen. It seemed like it took forever for the target hog to separate from the others so that I could safely shoot at it. The moment finally came. I slowly squeezed the trigger.

When the recoil and the smoke settled I looked and discover that all the hogs had scattered. There was a black lifeless lump in the spot where my target once stood.

The perfect sized meat hog!

We stayed in our stands until Mike made his rounds to pick us up. What a feeling!

We headed back to the camp where Mike's son Joe gutted, cleaned, skinned and split the hogs in half. They were placed in our coolers for the journey home a short while later.

I will never forget those moments I shared with my dad in the southern lowlands. I will be forever grateful for the hospitality of the Perez family!