The Citrus Opener Hog

I've hunted Chassahowitzka and Richloam during their archery seasons this year without much anticipation. But what I have really been excited about is the archery season of Citrus WMA. A few years ago I found a little honey hole at Citrus that is teeming with game and nearly void of other hunters. This year I went up early and put up trail cams and began tracking the game in the area. I have a few different bucks on camera and a bunch of big hogs. Many of these pictures are during daylight hours as well. That got me really excited!

Jonny's Citrus Archery Buck

Well the opening day for Citrus' archery season came Nov. 3rd and I was laid up in bed with a nasty virus: Fever, chills, sweats, swollen glands and extreme fatigue; I felt like garbage. Later in the morning I received a text from my brother Jonny that he had shot a buck that morning. That got me out of bed. I got my gear together, assured my wife that I would take it easy and hit the road. I thought Jonny was staying the whole day but as I was half-way there he called and said he was heading home. I would be in the woods sick and solo. I asked him if there was a crowd and he told me that there were just two guys at that area with longbows stalking around, not much competition. 

I arrived and decided to take my game cart with me to the stand just in case because I was too weak to make an extra trip back to the truck if I was to shoot something. I slowly made my way to one of my two stands and carefully climbed in. I made sure to bring along plenty of Tylenol and Ibuprofen because a steady cycle of these was the only thing keeping my fever under control. I attached my safety strap to the tree, put my bow on the bow hanger, hung up my pack and sat down.

In Life

No sooner had I settled into the stand when I heard something running through the woods behind me. I peaked over my left shoulder to see a large hog running zig-zags through the woods behind me. He would run about 20 yards, stop, and then run a little further before stopping again. I stood up and grabbed my bow. His next sprint brought him directly behind me. I had to do a spin around to the right side of the tree and then he stopped in an opening at about 30 yards. I drew my bow, lined him up between my 20 and 30 yard pins and released the arrow. I could see that I drilled him with a perfect quartering away shot that got plenty of penetration. I couldn't believe I shot a nice hog at 2:45 p.m. on Public Land. I wondered if one of those guys wandering around with longbows had jumped him out of his bed. 

In Death

I waited an hour and got down to look for him. It didn't take long to find a steady blood trail thanks to my T3 broadheads. He ran maybe 80 yards and piled up under a large palmetto. I retrieved my game cart and began gutting him where he lay to get rid of some weight for the long cart back to the truck. As I was field dressing him, three small pigs came walking right by me. I put my release on and knocked an arrow. I had a shot but decided to pass since I was feeling horrible and I already had my work cut out for me for the evening. 

I was sure relieved to finally see my 4Runner. There was only one other vehicle there, a young guy in a mini van who was just arriving for the evening hunt. He helped me lift the hog onto my hitch & hall and after stopping to fill the hog's cavity with ice I was back on the highway heading to St. Pete. I love driving through St. Pete with a large dead animal on my hitch & haul. You would think I just murdered someone and paraded their body through town judging by some of the looks I get. I called my wife and had her bring my kids to my parent's house where I hoisted the hog on my gambrel. After showing him off a bit I butchered him and put him on ice. After a hot shower I was back in bed with a fever. I continued to be sick for over a week. There's still another week and a half left for the archery season but I'm having a real tough time finding a day to get back. The last week of season I have my anniversary, Thanksgiving, my baby's birthday and my wife's birthday, all in one week! Even If I do find a morning to slip away I don't think I will have money left for the tolls.

Muzzle Loader Double

I haven't posted anything in a while but it hasn't been for lack of outdoor adventures. True, I haven't been hunting much lately, mostly just killing. This season has actually been ridiculously good so far. In this post I'm going to go back to the opening weekend of general gun season in Georgia.

Carey's 2010 Opener Buck

I brought a friend of mine, Carey, with me for the opener. The last time I brought him as a guest he killed a monster buck from my stand on opening morning; so his expectations were real high. We arrived to camp about Noon on Friday and since it was still muzzle loader season we sighted in our muzzle loaders for the evening hunt. I have an old in-line muzzle loader that was given me by a friend. The spring in the hammer is kind of worn out and usually the cap doesn't pop until the second try. I just haven't done enough muzzle loader hunting to justify buying a new one, yet.

Muzzle Loader Double

We headed to my lease and after dropping Carey off at my "five acre stand" I headed back to my "swamp stand" where I shot a doe the opening morning of archery. About 5 p.m. I heard a deer coming out of the thicket in front of me. It was a button buck that proceeded to pick up acorns right in front of my stand. I was sitting there watching him expecting his mommy to come out at any moment. After a few minutes it became obvious that he was by himself. The more I watched him the tastier he looked. At this property the land owner specifically told us he doesn't want us trophy hunting but to shoot as many deer as legally possible. Also, I had never shot anything with my muzzle loader. It didn't take too long to convince myself that I was going to put some tasty, tender meat in the freezer for the family. I lined him up, pulled the trigger and click; the cap didn't go off. I quickly pulled the hammer back again and gave it another try, "Kaboom!" He was down for the count.

Since it was so early I reloaded and remained in the stand. About 15 minutes later a nice fat doe came feeding her way in front of me. Once again I lined her up and click. She was smart enough to know that that sound wasn't normal. She retreated behind a tree and curiously stuck her neck out trying to see what was going on. Second try did the trick again and I made a perfect neck shot, dropping her in her tracks. I decided I better get down and start dragging before I was tempted to make the deer pile any higher.

As I began dragging them out along the creek I spooked another deer. It's a good little spot back there. I cleaned the button buck in the woods and put the doe on my hitch & haul. I'm not ashamed of shooting a small deer because my family eats venison instead of beef when I have it. We can easily eat six deer a year; but there are a lot of guys at our hunt club who don't even eat deer. When a small yearling is brought to the cleaning station it is sometimes met with curses muttered under their breath. They're hunting a different property with different rules. I'm hunting a small property that historically has had a much higher buck ratio to doe. There is very little hunting pressure on the surrounding properties and the reason the farmer leased us the property in the first place was to keep the deer population down. He's even got on us in years past because we didn't kill enough deer. Put all these factors together and I slept just fine after shooting that button buck. I slept even better after I experienced his back-straps on the grille. After all, on my Ga deer harvest record he's just another one of ten antlerless deer I'm allowed for the season.

Jacob's 2nd Seven Point Buck

After that first evening I didn't see another deer and Carey didn't see a thing the entire weekend. My brother Jacob however was hunting his big lease and put down two seven pointers and a doe. I was very happy for him because until that point he was just having to watch me haul deer back to camp. I've yet to kill a deer with my rifle this season but I have four in the freezer thanks to my bow and muzzle loader... stupid old muzzle loader, I think I might get a new one.

Chassahowitzka Archery Hunt: High Waters and Deep Frustrations

My final set-up

"This is just ridiculous!" I thought to myself after letting an arrow fly at a doe at Chassahowitzka WMA. It felt like if I was in a tree with a bow in my hand I could do no wrong this archery season. I started the season with a Georgia hunt and successfully harvested a doe and a buck. Now in Florida it seemed I was off to the same kind of start.

From the beginning the hunt seemed destined for failure. I have hunted Chassahowitzka many times and am well familiar with the amount of hunting pressure and the low success rates. Me and my brother Jonny planned on scouting Citrus for it's November archery season, then do an evening hunt at  Chassahowitzka  just to get in a tree. With the ridiculously high water levels I knew that my old spots would require a boat to get to so my only scouting involved Google maps.

We arrived at the area late afternoon and I climbed a pine tree at the edge of a Cyprus swamp that formed a horseshoe around me. Jonny set up about 100 yards further down the edge. After sitting 20 minutes I just wasn't feeling it. I got down, walked pass Jonny, and after wandering around like an idiot for a half hour without finding a place that interested me, I climbed a Cyprus tree overlooking a main road. A half an hour later I could take the lameness of that set-up no more and I once again set out to move my climber stand.

Finally, I found a Cyprus swamp that surrounded a beautiful oak hammock. It looked like a place I would actually enjoy sitting. Once again I climbed a pine tree with my back to the swamp and peered into the oak hammock. A pair of bald eagles flew by me shrieking like crazy, I don't see that everyday. About 6 p.m. Jonny text me saying that there was a doe feeding right where I had originally set up. That's what I get for moving so much.

About 6:30 p.m. I heard something splashing loudly in the swamp behind me. I stood up and readied my bow as the anticipation grew. Soon I could see the visitors, two does coming toward the edge of the swamp. The first one stopped broadside quartering away at about 35 yards and there was a hole in the foliage giving me a clear shot. I released the arrow and the shot looked and felt good. She ran off about 30 yards along the edge and began splashing around in the water, then she stopped and all was silent. I assumed she was down for the count. The other doe ran deep into the swamp from where they came. After waiting a few minutes I called Jonny and told him I shot a doe. As I was talking she got up and ran off along the edge and out of sight.

After waiting a little longer I got down to look for my arrow and blood. When I got to where I shot her I was wading in water up to the top of my boots. If it was a pass through shot my arrow was somewhere in the mud under the dark brown water. I walked the edge of the swamp looking for blood till after dark with no success. Finally I had to call it quits. I am freshly reminded how frustrating bowhunting can be at times. After playing the whole situation over in my mind a hundred times I have to conclude that the high water levels were to blame. I had a clear shot, I practice shooting a lot and am confident at that range, I just can't blood trail a deer through knee deep water in the dark.

While the high water didn't seem to change the deer's travel patterns, it should be considered when bow hunting this season. Blood trailing a deer can be tough enough, add water and you've got a very frustrating experience.

Opening Week Buck 2012

A warm and muggy opening weekend of archery season in South Georgia gave way to a crisp, cool Monday morning. This was my last morning of the hunt and I was already more than satisfied as I had smoked a nice doe on opening morning. When my alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. I flirted with the idea of staying in bed; but that thought wouldn't last for long. After walking outside and feeling the cool air that had come in during the night I quickly gathered my gear and jumped into the truck.

Jacob and Noah were going to hunt the big club so I headed solo to the small lease we affectionately refer to as "Wayne's Property". The day before I had carved a trail with hedge trimmers to an area we call "the watering hole" and hung a lock-on stand in an oak tree. We used to access this area from the opposite side until Wayne's sister died and the family sold off the west side of our lease. So for the past year and a half we were cut off from this area by a 200 yard thick wall of brambles and underbrush. Carving a trail was not the easiest task and I'm sure I dropped a couple gallons of sweat in the process. I had sat the same stand in a thick creek bottom all weekend and I was ready for a change in scenery; but my expectations of seeing a deer near the watering hole that morning were not very high.

I was glad I brought my jacket as I enjoyed a beautiful sunrise in the stand on this cool morning. About an hour after sunlight I heard something crashing around in a thick hedge row in front of me. Picking up my bow I waited and continued to listen. After nothing showed itself I wrote it off for a bird or something. I did catch a little movement of branches but didn't want to raise my hopes too high.

Then, to my amazement, out popped a deer's head complete with dark chocolate colored antlers! I could see three nice tines coming off both sides and I assumed that with brow tines he was a nice eight pointer. Carefully grabbing my bow and standing up I kept my eyes on him as he emerged from the hedge row. Behind him was a smaller buck that I didn't look at twice. I had tunnel vision on the first buck. He began quickly walking right towards me. I drew my bow and followed him with my top pin. By the time he stopped he was nearly under my stand quartering sharply towards me.

Aiming between the buck's shoulder blades I released the arrow. To my amazement he simply dropped! I had clipped his spine leaving him paralyzed beneath me. After two more carefully placed shots (I don't like watching anything suffer) he was expired. For the second time on opening week I was blessed with a clean bow kill with no blood trailing required. When I climbed down and examined him I found that he was a beautiful six point, being that he lacked brow tines. While no monster, I was proud to take him with a bow.

I still have one buck left in Georgia that must have at least 4 points on one side and I am going to hold out for a true monster buck. I was hoping to catch up with a couple giants we had on camera last year but when I checked my camera I discovered it had a bad SD card. So I'll have to wait for next time to see who else is on the property this year.

I arrived back at camp before Jacob and Noah and I quickly hid my buck behind the cleaning station. When they returned I waited a bit to tell them. Finally I said, "My hunt sucked; look, I ruined another new broad-head." I Showed Jacob an arrow with a busted broad-head covered in flesh and blood. The look on his face was great! Then the showing off began. As I cleaned my buck Jacob and Noah cleaned up camp and before Noon we were on the road and heading home. Hunting season has barely started and it is looking to be an epic season for me. I hope my good fortune continues, but even if it doesn't I can't complain. I'm a blessed man!

Opening Morning Doe

I've been trekking up to South Georgia for the opening weekend of archery season for the past seven years or so, and until this year, I've never even seen a deer from the stand on the opening weekend. My wife would wonder out loud why I keep going just to sit in a tree with my bow and get bit by mosquitoes. My answer was simple, "If I keep at it, sooner or later things will turn my way."

Well, this past weekend it payed off. This year I dropped my membership to the big lease and kept a small 60 acre lease with my brother Jacob. I decided to take a less is more mentality to the property and pretty much just left it alone all off-season. Opening morning I slipped into a stand I hung in a thick creek bottom last Spring. After sitting for an hour and a half, it seemed to be shaping up to be a pretty uneventful morning. To pass time I began studying the topo map on my iPhone when I caught movement to my left. I looked over to see a doe at 20 yards standing broadside. As I slowly reached over to grab my bow, another doe that I hadn't seen caught my movement and ran off into the thicket, this put the first doe on high alert. She began to stomp the ground as I slowly drew my bow. Just when I reached full draw and began to settle my pin behind her shoulder, she busted off. I was bummed!

I was sitting there thinking how I had blown a perfect opportunity. Ten minutes later I again caught movement to my left. This time I was ready. A big fat doe began to walk across the creek at 24 yards. As her head went behind a branch I drew my bow. She took one more step and stopped. I placed my top pin right behind her shoulder and let it fly. "Thwack!" She jumped up, kicked out her back legs and crashed into the thicket from whence she came.

After waiting 40 minutes I decided to get down and look for blood. When I got to where I shot her at all it took was one look into the thicket to see her white belly. She didn't run more than 25 yards! It was a perfect slightly quartering away shot that went in right behind her shoulder and broke her other shoulder on exit. I am very please with my new T3 mechanical broad-heads by G5.

Jacob and his son Noah were hunting the big lease so I had a long drag back to the truck with a fat 130 pound Georgia doe. After a really tough season last year it felt great to open this season with a successful bow hunt and get some good eatin' in the cooler.    

Ready For Archery Season!

I can almost feel the cool breeze against my face and smell the clean crisp air as I think about sitting in a tree stand overlooking an overgrown clear-cut, crisscrossed with deer trails on my Georgia hunting lease. But before I experience cool breezes over big clear-cuts I will first have to earn the right of passage with sweaty-butt sits in the mosquito infested creek bottoms. Yeah, I'm talking about archery season.

It's almost here and I couldn't be more ready! True it's hot, the mosquitoes are terrible and the deer don't really move during daylight hours; but it's hunting season! It's the start of something great! Sure, I usually come home empty handed but I will never succeed if I don't keep trying. This time next week, Lord willing, I'll be sitting in a lock-on with my Therma-cell purring, hoping a deer comes wandering through a thick creek bottom on my little 60 acre lease in South Georgia.

Since the deer don't move much at all during daylight hours in September where I hunt, I'm planning on sticking to a really thick area along a creek bottom. I've never hunted this area of the lease, actually never even explored it in the six years I've had the property. It wasn't till turkey season that I hacked a path into the creek bottom and hung a lock on. As I was screwing in steps, a big bodied buck came walking right to my tree at 1 p.m. in the afternoon. It's one of those spots that is so hard to get to that people just haven't set foot there in years. I'm hoping to catch a deer unawares and have an opportunity to try out my new T3 broad-heads.

Last year's trail cam pics on small lease

I did get a chance to visit the property last week by way of a detour on my family vacation to North Georgia. While my wife and kids waited in the mini-van, I quickly filled my two feeders located in areas I will be gun hunting later in the season and set up a couple trail cams. I'm very interested to see what shows up. Last year we had about five bucks frequenting the feeders and two of them were monsters. The biggest was a heavy ten point that broke off his right main beam in front of his G2 early in the season. The second was a tall main frame eight with split G2's. I know the big ten survived the season because one of the farm workers found his shed antler in the Spring. Besides the two big boys, there were two young seven pointers, one of which was very wide and also a fork buck. I'm hoping to catch these guys on camera and see how they have progressed.

I have been shooting my Matthews Switchback XT a lot the past few days and I think I've scraped off all the rust! I picked up some new arrows and broad-heads at the archery shop and a jumbo size Therma-cell refill pack and cleared out the light tags in my local Wal-Mart. Just one more week of work before I meet up with my brother Jacob and head up to Georgia to start the season off! Stay tuned as I have a feeling it's going to be a killer year!

Spearfishing Vlog July 30th, 2012

I did a couple dives this morning in about 45 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico. I took my GoPro HD camera down for the first dive and here are the results. Enjoy!

Judah and Ellie love to show off the catch

The Mid-Day Hog Hunt

Dennis and Willy from Cracker Heritage Hunting Preserve

My brother Jacob booked a hog hunt at Cracker Heritage Hunting Preserve for July 9. The plan was to do a little spot and stalk archery hog hunting early in the morning. As the date neared I tried to back out due to a money shortage; but Jacob, being the generous big brother he is, offered to pay for me and convinced me to stick with the plan.

July 9th came and my alarm went off at 3:30 a.m. It took me a minute to figure out why the heck I was supposed to get up. When I realized I was supposed to be at Jacob's house by 4 a.m. I quickly got dressed and prepared to bring my gear to my truck. As I grabbed my phone off the charger I noticed I had missed a text from Jacob. He had a cut on his finger that got infected and had been at the E.R. for most of the night. The hunt was canceled, or so I thought.

I went back to bed and enjoyed sleeping in. Late in the morning Jacob called saying that his finger was doing better and that he was going to do a mid-day hunt. My first thought, "Are you crazy? A mid-day hog hunt? In July? With bows? Let me see if it's alright with my wife."

Soon we were on the road heading to the ranch with his daughter Shea and his son Noah. We arrived about 11:30 a.m. and met the ranch owner, Dennis, at a piece of the property he calls the heifer pasture. The property is a 600 acre working cattle ranch owned by a real cowboy named Dennis who is a sixth generation Florida Cracker. On the side he runs hunts with the help of his two sons and their crew of friends.

Jacob and his kids started stalking through a swamp at the front of the heifer pasture while I worked a creek on the back side. Dennis and his sons are the go-to guys to remove hogs with dogs and traps from nearby properties; they release them on the ranch, so there always seems to be plenty of hogs, if you can find them.

Me and Big Red

I had hunted this particular part of the ranch a lot and I knew some spots where I had found hogs bedding before. My plan was to walk very slowly and look for bedded hogs under brush piles and downed logs. It took a while to find one but eventually I came upon a brush pile where I saw a big red hog lying underneath. It took a minute to figure out which end was the front and decide the best way to take a bow shot at a bedded hog. I don't think there is a best way personally as the only shot at the vitals is a high shot to the lungs which are protected by a boars thick shield. I moved a little to the left to get a better angle and as I began to draw my bow his ears shot up and he busted out of there.

After spooking a few more bedded hogs without a chance at a bow shot I went to the van and traded my Mathews Switchback for my 12 gauge pump with a slug barrel. I went back to the spot where I first saw the big red boar and sure enough he was back with a couple of buddies. As he ran away I took a quick shot and rolled him into a ditch. As he rolled around I fired my last two slugs, missing once and grazing his skull a second time. As I approached him I saw that my first shot had gone through his ear and into his upper neck. I whipped out my iPhone and began taking pictures of the downed hog as I waited for it to expire.

Big Red's cutters

After about 5 minutes it got up and began slowly walking off. I walked alongside expecting it to fall back down. Its walk turned into a trot and I began jogging. Finally it broke out in a full blown run and I starting yelling for my brother to bring something with ammo in it. I watched it run across a pasture and into another swamp. After giving it a bit I walked into the spot I saw it go and nearly stepped on it before it took off deep in the woods. It was time to call Dennis to bring the dogs.

Dennis arrived with his son Sid who brought along his friend Willy to help work the dogs. They were training three puppies who found the big red boar in no time. When we heard the barking and the grunting we ran through the spiderweb infested swamp to catch up to the fight. Those puppies were doing their masters proud with this big red boar who had revived from being shot through the neck with a 12 gauge slug. Sid grabbed it by the tail and started playing ring around the rosy with it until Willy jumped in and grabbed the back legs, flipping and pinning it. Once we got the dogs off I used Jacob's 9mm handgun to put the hog down for good. My first shot was just behind the brain and just above the spine, enough to knock it out for five minutes but that's about it. Thanks to the dogs, that hog was down for good.

Noah with his feisty sow 

After giving the dogs a good rest Sid and Willy released them to find another one for Noah who wanted to get his first bow kill. The dogs found a few more hogs but the puppy in them came out as they kept getting distracted from the chase. Finally they bayed a fierce skinny sow that had given them a run for their money. As Sid called the dogs off, Noah had time for a quick broadside shot and flung his arrow right over its back. The chase was back on! The dogs caught up to it again in a creek bottom and Sid and I were the first ones on the scene. Once again he grabbed its tail and this time I jumped in, grabbed the back legs, flipped and pinned it. When the rest of the crew arrived Jacob carefully handed the pistol to Noah. A close shot behind the ear sent mud splattering across Noah's face and instantly expired the feisty sow.

The mid-day heat and Florida humidity had worn us out and from the look on the dogs face, they were thinking the same thing, time to call it a day. We brought the hogs to the barn and being that Jacob's finger was infected, butchering responsibilities were on my shoulders. It was the least I could do for such a generous big brother. Willy was surprised that we did all of the butchering ourselves, but for me it's a vital part of the hunting experience. What started out sounding like a crazy notion actually worked out pretty good, thanks in a big part to the dogs.

While I doubt  I'll ever again go on a mid-day hog hunt, here's a little advice for anyone who finds themself in a similar situation:

1. Stalk bedding areas. It's amazing how a bedded hog will lie still under a bush just yards away from an unsuspecting hunter. Go slow and look carefully under downed trees, palmetto heads, brush piles and tall marsh grasses. I've come upon a lot of hogs in this way. Just be ready for action and bring some extra toilet paper because they will scare the crap out of you when they bust off!

2. Get a hog dog.

While success on a mid-day hog hunt is possible, I wouldn't recommend it.

Gag Grouper: Back in Season

After many months of throwing big Gag Grouper back in the water and watching them swim past my spear gun without being able to pull the trigger, they have finally come back in season! Danny, Jonny, Dustin and myself left the dock early this morning in hopes of filling the cooler with grouper slabs. I went to take the pinfish out of a bait hotel I had filled up and left at the Marina on Friday only to find that someone else got a lot of nice baits without much effort yesterday. So for about the next hour and a half we worked on trying to fill the bait well, you can never have too much bait.

Dustin showing off our catch

It was a flat calm morning and the water is finally starting to clean up after Tropical Storm Debbie made a mess of things in the Gulf. We tried a few ledges in 50 - 60 feet of water only to catch the typical 18" Red Grouper. But after going to a ledge in 85 feet of water we quickly dug seven big Gags off the bottom and into the cooler. It feels a lot better throwing a fat Gag into the cooler than it does throwing one back into the water! Just when we were about to leave, a school of small Mahi Mahi showed up and mixed the action up. We ended up catching eight of them on jigs and small pieces of sardines. We would leave one in the water until someone else hooked up, in this way we were able to keep the school at the boat. After the last few took off we moved on to a mitigation area near the pipeline for our last stop.

My Cobia and cool sunglasses

On the way I chunked up a bonita and a bunch of threadfins for chum. When we arrived we were happy to see that we had the spot to ourselves. That's the benefit of having Mondays off. We began chumming in hopes of rising the snapper. I don't know if it was the full moon or what, but we could not get the snapper bite going. Our chumming efforts weren't in vain though. Dustin yelled, "Look, two sharks!" and I quickly corrected him, "Cobia!" I scambled to put a threadfin on my free-line set-up. One of them was huge, at least 6 feet long and man was he thick! The smaller one grabbed my threadfin, spit it out and then swallowed it again, the fight was on. I was expecting the big one to stick with him but unfortunately it took off, not to be seen again. After a nice fight that broke in a new heavy spinning rod set-up I put together over the weekend we gaffed a beautiful 40" cobia and put it in the cooler to join the other fish.

Huge American Red Snapper

After a few more fish we decided it was time for the last effort of the day. I brought a dive tank along for insurance. I suited up and because I knew that the big Cobia was still lurking somewhere out there, I elected to use a line shaft with my spear gun; I'm glad I did. When I reached the bottom that was littered with rock piles at 95 feet, I was greeted by a big Gag Grouper. He watched me swim down above him and as I neared shooting range he began to retreat. I took a long shot and missed. As I was retrieving my spear a huge American Red Snapper came swimming up beside me to see what the action was about. In a panic I put the shaft back in the gun and tried to load my band. In my haste I didn't lock the shaft in right and it came back out. I tried to calm my nerves as I carefully locked the shaft, loaded the band and without rewinding my line, shot the snapper as he quartered away. The shot went through it's stomach and it took off, taking me for a ride. I thought for sure it was going to rip off as snapper do so often when shot through the soft belly. I managed the get to it and grabbing the end of the shaft, I pinned it to the sand as I wrestled to put my kill ring through it's eyes. When it was secured I let out a Turtle Man holler under the water. I think I was the most excited I have ever been spearfishing. I continued on to shoot a Gag, a red grouper and two mangrove snapper. It was amazing how many huge fish were down there but at 95 feet a tank burns up quick and soon it was time to make my ascent.

Jonny with some small Mahi Mahi

When I got to the boat I was congratulated and we snapped a couple pictures of the 30" Red Snapper that was the icing on the cake for our day. Red snapper go out of season next week and due to the unusually windy June we've had it will most likely be the only one we have the privilege of eating this year. Red Snapper are my favorite eating fish in the Gulf and I am going to savoir every bite of it. But Gag Grouper are going to remain in season for a couple months to give us something to look forward to. At the end of the day we had a limit of 8 Gags, 2 Red Grouper, a Flounder, a Cobia, 8 Mahi Mahi, and a giant American Red Snapper. Not too shabby; now the hardest decision for us is what's for dinner: blackened Mahi Mahi, grilled Cobia? Grouper sandwiches? There's a lot of possibilities.

June Flats Fishing in Tampa Bay

The full moon was still hanging low in the western sky on an early June morning as I left the dock in my Carolina Skiff J16 to fish the flats of Tampa Bay. I took a quick run to the Terra Verde bridge and with a few casts of my Cracker bait net I filled the baitwell with threadfins and pilchards. Just in time for the first light of morning to begin illuminating the horizon.

I headed to an immense grass flat, keeping my eyes pealed for schools of mullet. It didn't take long to see them. Covering an area nearly the size of a football field was a huge school of mullet. I motored upwind and drifted through the school casting a gold jig that resembles a shrimp. The first two casts landed two large trout. Lately I've been killing the trout first thing in the morning when I can find the schools of mullet out on the open flats in three to four feet of water. The trout will follow the mullet feeding on shrimp and baitfish the mullet stir up. The sun was just starting to rise by the time I had three fat trout in the cooler.

Next stop, redfish. I cruised around a mangrove island to a deep channel that runs against a mangrove edge with a dock house that looks completely out of place on this remote stretch. I cut up a ladyfish I had caught while trout fishing and put a chunk on my jig head. Tossing it up under the shade of the dock it was only a matter of minutes before I was wrestling a big fat redfish around the dock pilings. Thanks to PowerPro line I was able to pull it around a piling and into the boat, a beautiful 24 inch redfish. I would have stayed for more but I had ambitious thoughts of keeping a limit of trout and redfish and then going for a grandslam with a snook and a tarpon.

Earlier in the week I had hooked a big snook on a ladyfish while fishing a small jetty near the Skyway bridge. I motored back out to the deeper flat to catch a fourth trout and hopefully a small ladyfish for snook bait. The trout came easy enough but I couldn't find a ladyfish to save my life. It's funny how that works, usually I catch them all day long but when I'm trying for them they are illusive. After catching a bunch more trout, I decided I would have to settle for threadfins and pilchards in my quest for a snook and tarpon. I burnt the rest of the morning fishing the Skyway with only a shark to show for my efforts. So much for the vision of completing my first grandslam. I realized I was having more fun on the flats so I went back.


The tide was now all the way in so I started at the dock where I had caught the redfish and pulled my way along the mangroves, throwing a white jig against the line of submerged roots. It wasn't long before I connected with a pretty little redfish. As I came around a corner I realized that I wasn't the only one working this edge. A group of dolphins were coming towards me, ambushing mullet stacked up against the mangroves on the high tide. They would explode on the fish, often throwing mullet ten feet in the air before eating them. It was cool to watch but didn't help the fishing much.

The sun was now high and the wind was kicking up so I decided it was time to go home and see what the family was up to. My little boys were excited to see my catch, Judah always likes handing me each fish before I filet it. After getting everything cleaned up I asked what they wanted to do, "Go fishing!" was their reply. Not feeling up to hooking the boat back up, I took them down to Joe's Creek and helped them dig up a bucket of worms. They slayed the little bass, catching well over a dozen of em' along with some bluegills. Like father like sons!

Public Land Hog Hunting Strategies

Public Land Hog Taken at Citrus WMA

When it comes to still hunting hogs, the most common approach is to bait them up. I've shot a ton of hogs over corn feeders on private property and there is no arguing that it is a productive method; but affordable access to private hunting property in Florida can be hard to come by. The other option is public land. There are tons of Wildlife Management Areas throughout Florida that have unreal Hog habitat, but there is no baiting of wildlife allowed on any public land. This means finding an approach that requires a little more brain power than throwing out corn and hanging a stand. In this post I'm going to share some tactics that I have picked up on from listening to others and from my own experience of hunting public land.

Hogs basically have three things on their minds:

1. Feeding

2. Staying cool

3. Breeding

We all know that hogs eat like, well... pigs. I raised a couple little wild hogs and I was amazed by how much they really ate. They would let the whole neighborhood know when they were hungry with their squealing and grunting. When I would bring them their mush they would go crazy over it like they hadn't eaten in years. Hogs eat and they eat a lot!

When my hogs weren't eating, they were trying to stay cool by bedding up under hay or laying in muddy wallows.

I ate them before they reached breeding age so I never did see how that effected their behavior, but I do know that mature hogs breed year around whenever they have the opportunity. Since it's an ongoing thing we're not going to target the hog rut like we do deer.

The secret to a higher success rate is between the bedding area and the feeding area. For starters we need to learn to read their sign. The most common hog sign is rooting because it looks like a land clearing crew went through the property. In my early days of hunting hogs I would set up over a heavily rooted area but never had any success. The reason is that most rooting takes place at night and can be a long way from where the hogs are actually bedding. Also, when hogs root up an area they tend to move to new ground rather than looking for food where they have already rooted. Rooting areas are not a great place to hang a stand but they are a great place to start scouting.

Once I find a rooting area, I look for trails leading to it. Hog trails are well defined and are often marked by dried mud caked on the grass and leaves. Once I find a trail, I start following it. When I do this I usually find myself on a little hog highway with side trails and intersections going in different directions. When I find the most well defined trail that leads to water, I've found the highway to hog heaven.

Hogs don't sweat and they run a high body temperature, so they look for wet areas to stay cool during the day. As long as it's somewhat warm out, which is most of the year in Florida, hogs are going to be bedded in a wet area. For some WMA's this doesn't help narrow down a spot much because the entire property is under water. But for the WMA's that are relatively dry, find the pond or the marsh and the hogs will be concentrated there.

I look for wallows, muddy rubs on trees and droppings. Also I will follow my nose. I've been able to smell the stench of a musky boar bedded up from 50 yards away. These are a sure sign that I'm near their bedroom. Typically, hogs are much more active at night, so if I can find a spot right outside of their bedroom I will have a much better chance of catching one during legal shooting hours. Once I'm confident I'm close, I try to control my curiosity from tromping into their beds and spooking them, which will often cause them to find a new bedding area. I will set up my stand on a main trail leading out of their bedding area. With such a spot I've just upped my odds of catching a hog coming back from feeding in the morning or leaving for the evening.

Winter Hog Bed In The Palmettos

Now there are a couple months out of the year when the weather is cold and the hogs will stray from the water and move into the higher hardwoods and pine flats. They will feed on acorns and usually bed under mature palmettos. When I see sign of this I will set up right on the edge of the palmettos. In these areas their trails are less defined and it's more of a matter of hoping they come out of the thick palmettos close enough to get a shot. I usually hear them long before I see them and if I'm on the ground I try to follow my ears and find a spot to cut them off.

While facing a big boar on the ground is definitely a little more unnerving than being safe in a treestand, there are many benefits to hunting hogs from the ground. First is the benefit of maneuverability. If the hogs don't come right to me, they are much easier to put a stalk on than deer. Also if I am archery hunting a big boar I have a better shot angle from the ground than I do from a treestand. I have shot several big boar from a treestand that were protected by their thick armor plate that covers the upper part of their shoulders. I'm shooting a 70 lb. bow and I have shot boar at 15 yards behind the shoulder and they run off with my arrow sticking a few inches in. They don't bleed at all on the outside and I never find them. From the ground there is the benefit of being able to take a low heart shot right behind their armpit. This is the only bow shot that will make for consistently recovering big boar.

One thing about hogs, especially boar, is that they are a lot tougher than a deer and a lot meaner. Even a good shot on a big boar is no guarantee that he will be dead in 20 minutes. Give him plenty of time and be very careful tracking. I've had some really close calls tracking big boar that weren't even close to being dead. They will let you get within inches before they jump up and charge! I've learned that the hands and knees blood trailing method through palmettos at night is a really, really stupid idea! Be ready to shoot, run, or climb a tree; maybe all three in order! Happy hog hunting.

It's Always Hog Season

Turkey season is done and over and I've been trying to satisfy my passion for the outdoors with fishing and diving. But there's just something about being in the woods that's hard for me to lay down all summer long. When I start feeling the off season hunting bug biting I think of hogs. Here in Florida there's no season on private land for hogs; so if your brave enough to endure the heat, mosquitoes, snakes, gators and skunk apes; it's game on all year long.

I haven't been fortunate enough yet to find private land to hunt hogs free of charge; so my go to spot is a private cattle ranch in Zolfo Springs that runs half day hog hunts for $100. I've been doing hunts with the ranch owner, Dennis, a sixth generation Florida Cracker, for about 7 years now and we always have a great time. It's not a guaranteed kill and I've definitely been skunked my fair share of times; but there are plenty of hogs on the property, not to mention the pleasure of always seeing deer and turkey. More times than not I have brought home the bacon.

Last August I did a morning spot and stalk archery hog hunt with two of my brothers, my nephew and a friend. I dropped the first hog, a nice 150 pound bar hog, by 8 a.m. and was waiting to get picked up by the rancher while the others continued to hunt. I was sitting on the hog in the middle of a dirt road while talking to my wife on the cell phone. A big boar came out of the swamp and began trotting down a fence line right towards me. I quickly cut the conversation short and got an arrow ready. The hog didn't even notice me until he was about 20 yards away. He stopped at the fence line and I poked a pass through shot behind his shoulder. He came right at me as I jumped out of the way! He ran through a small pond and into a cow pasture. I flung my last arrow at him and then watched him run into a brush line.

About this time the rancher showed up and we began following a good blood trail. A little while later we came upon the boar bedded up under a head of palmettos. He looked dead still accept for his ears that would flicker from time to time. Since I was out of arrows and didn't bring a gun, the rancher decided to use the only gun he had with him to try and put this huge boar down. A 22 pistol with snake shot; bad idea. He snuck as close as he could and took a shot at the boar's head. The beast jumped up and trucked down a thickly brushed ditch line. My brother arrived to see what the commotion was about and I borrowed his son's 243 youth rifle. We slowly worked our way down the ditch line. It wasn't long before we came upon a black boar that stood up and began walking away through the brush. I lined him up in the scope and dropped him. When we got to the boar we found that he was a monster, weighing every bit of 300 pounds! We also found that he was a different hog than the one we were tracking; we never did find that one. I headed back to butcher my hogs while the others continued to hunt. By the time Noon rolled around they had put down three more nice hogs. We were sweaty and exhausted but it was well worth the effort.

I went there again in December with my sons Israel and Judah. After sitting in the stand with no luck we did some spot and stalk hunting and came upon a group of hogs going into a cypress swamp. Israel got his first pig, a fat bar hog, with a little help from Dad. A week later in December I shot at a huge boar while hunting Citrus WMA with a friend. We were looking for blood in thick palmettos when I came upon a very large sow bedded up with piglets. She charged me from about 10 yards and I shot her in the head with my 30-06 while falling backwards in surprise and fear! At the end of the day I had a huge sow and two tender piglets, which were very delicious roasted whole.

So here's my dilemma; I want to go hog hunting again but still have way too much pork in the freezer to justify spending the $100. I did however just take out two bags of backstraps to thaw and I'm going to try to try to shrink that dilemma on the grill this Memorial Day. If I can find enough family and friends who want to have a couple good cookouts, it shouldn't be long before I can pick up the phone and give Dennis a call. I've got a brand new batch of arrows and my Matthews Switchback XT is rearing to let one fly through a fat Florida hog. I think next time I'll bring a gun too, just in case.

Spearfishing 2012: Round 2

Some people go diving for a magical underwater experience; a peaceful escape from the loud and busy world above. Not me; if I wanted a magical underwater experience I would just watch The Little Mermaid with my daughter. I think diving is a hassle. All the awkward heavy equipment that needs constant maintenance and refills, the headaches, and the feeling of being plain tuckered for the rest of the day. I dive for one reason and one reason only; to put as many fish on my kill ring as possible.

Today I filled my kill ring with fish and soon after I filled my family's bellies with fresh fish tacos thanks to a successful day of spearfishing in the Gulf of Mexico. Hogfish, Mangrove Snapper and Scamp were on the menu. There's nothing tastier than bringing high quality fish straight from the water to the frying pan and in my opinion there's no quicker way to get a mess of high quality fish than spearfishing.

This was my second day of spearfishing this year and the results were close to last week; lots of Hogfish, some nice Mangrove Snapper and an occasional keeper Red Grouper and Scamp. There were also plenty of Gag Grouper but they are still closed for harvest.

My first dive was in 30 - 40 feet of water with lots of rock piles. At one point I had a Hogfish lined up and then a big Gag Grouper swam right in front of him and stopped. I had to wait for the Gag to clear before I popped the Hogfish. At the end of the dive I found myself staring face to face with a huge Gag that was every bit of 34 inches. I excercised restraint and watched him slowly turn and swim off into the blue.


My second dive was a mitigation area near the pipeline in 60 feet of water with large chunks of concrete littering the floor. The visibility was better than the first spot and the Snapper were also a notch bigger. The clear water allowed for some good footage with my GoPro HD camera mounted on my head. Here's the YouTube link that tells the whole story. Enjoy! 

Managing Your Deer Property: Sometimes Less is More

Over the years I've read a lot of articles about managing your hunting property to enhance its potential to hold more deer: Food plots, supplemental feeding, bedding areas, creating water sources, planting trees and even fertilizing the natural browse have been covered thoroughly. Usually these articles end like some kind of commercial; giving you the opportunity to purchase the newest secret to make your property teem with deer come Fall; but I have accidentally stumbled upon a land management system that has had proven results long before hunting became a major marketing industry.

For years my brother Jacob and I have taken great pride in trekking up to our hunting properties in Georgia before the season opens to work on the land: Food plots, feeders, trail cams, shooting lanes, fertilizer, etc. We share our bigger lease with 18 other members and many of them drive up throughout the year to work on the property. In recent years there have been more food plots, more feeders, more mineral licks, more stands and more shooting lanes, yet less deer seen. What is going on? Maybe we need to stop asking Bass Pro Shops what deer want and ask the deer. But that is not easy. Whenever I get close to a deer on my hunting properties  they blow and run away as fast as they can before I can ask them a question. It's almost like they don't want me there. What a lack of appreciation for all the work I've done for them!

It's time to burst our bubble as land managers; deer don't want us and they don't need us. The best hunting property we could acquire, at least in my neck of the woods, is not a property that has been extensively managed but a property that has never been hunted. Native Americans understood this and they would move their entire tribe to find the illusive, untouched "Happy Hunting Grounds" rather than start planting food plots and putting corn feeders up to attract more deer. Sometimes the best thing we can do to enhance our property is just leave it alone.

Bucked out in the early years of hunting small lease

Besides our big lease, my brother and I also share a small lease. It started out as 250 acres owned by a farmer and leased by 4 of us. The farmer had not allowed hunting on the property for many years before we acquired it and the first couple years it was banging. I took 5 - 6 deer every season for the first three years. One of the members lived near the lease and he would routinely walk the property, check out all the stand set-ups as well as fill feeders and check trail cams. The hunting quality of the property slowly declined. Last year the farmer sold off all but 60 acres of which my brother and I continued to lease. I hunted the property one evening in September but besides that we neglected it, didn't even touch it.

Last week we went up for a final turkey hunt and to move my stands off the big lease; as I am dropping it. When we arrived to set up my stands at the small lease we were amazed at the amount of deer tracks on the fields. It looked like they were using the fields as a race track. We talked to the farmer and his wife and they have been seeing deer everywhere. He had sweaty t-shirts hanging around his blueberry field to try and keep the deer out of them. We walked down a little creek bottom to hang a lock-on stand and as I was half-way up the tree screwing in steps, a big bodied buck with his first nubs of velvet came tromping down the creek bottom right towards us. It was 1 o'clock in the afternoon and he was walking like he had thrown caution to the wind. When he finally looked up and saw my brother and nephew standing at the base of the tree at 15 yards he about jumped out of his skin! He felt secure because this spot hadn't any human activity in years.

On the ride home we had time to reflect on how human activity effects deer activity. I do still believe there is a place for food plots and supplemental feed stations but the pros must be carefully weighed against the cons  of disturbing the deer's sense of security. I know there have been times where I find an awesome spot for a stand with plenty of deer sign and I try to enhance it only to ruin it. There was a reason the deer liked to frequent that spot and for me to put up a feeder, cut shooting lanes and set up trail cams might ruin the reason they felt safe to come there in the first place.

I realize that land management methods work differently around the country, but here in the Southeast I am dealing primarily with swamp deer that want above all else cover and solitude. The best stand set-up I can find is the place that is most untouched by human activity. With that in mind I will have a lot less work to do this year before the season starts as I am taking a less is more mentality on the little piece of property I have to hunt in Georgia this year. Besides that, I will be hunting Florida Public Land and the same mentality most certainly applies there as well. These are just some personal thoughts about land management that you can feel free to agree or disagree with. I can hardly wait for Fall to put this theory to the test!    

Gearing Up For Spearfishing

I was looking through some old files on my computer the other day and came across my spearfishing video folder containing many of my dives from last summer. Watching my head mounted GoPro HD camera capture my dives shooting Hogfish, Gag Grouper and Mangrove Snapper got me amped up for this season.

I've been spearfishing in one form or another since I was a kid. It started with a pole spear around the dock lines for sheepshead and continued to free diving the artificial reefs in the Gulf of Mexico. For a while it was an obsession. I would spearfish year round, wearing a hooded wetsuit in the winter. Early in my marriage I wanted to go spearfishing but my wife wanted to go on a date. I thought I could shoot two fish with one spear by taking her on a date to watch me spearfish from the seawall. Bad idea.

Seven years ago I fell from grace in the eyes of "true spearfishermen" and became Scuba certified. I became too fat for my wetsuit and haven't thrown down the money for a new one. Now spearfishing is more of a seasonal thing for me. My boss and pastor, Danny Hodges, tries to go offshore spearfishing every Monday in the Summer, weather permitting; and I am fortunate enough to be on his A-list of dive partners. With the water warming quickly it is time to get back on it!

One of the best perks of spearfishing the Gulf of Mexico is the Hogfish. They are really tough to catch on hook and line gear but are plentiful and super easy to spear. They seem to be genetically programmed to swim slowly in front of a speargun and turn broadside. Did I mention that they are killer table fare? The whitest, flakiest fillet you will ever eat. There is one small ledge we call Marilyn's Birthday that is our go to spot for Hogfish. I can usually hang in one spot and limit out in a matter of minutes. As I shoot one I keep my eye on the next victim as they wait in line to swim in front of my spear; stupid, delicious fish!

One thing that I am bummed about is the fact that Gag Grouper harvest is closed till July this year. One of my favorite parts of spearfishing the Gulf is sticking a big Gag hanging in the sand off the ledge. This winter and spring we have caught more big Gag Grouper than I have ever seen in 30 years of fishing the Gulf, but according to the tree huggers at NOAA they are over fished and very scarce. So until July I will have to pass on the Gag. It will feel like passing on a big buck while doe hunting.

But I need to stay positive and think about Mangrove Snapper, Hogfish, Scamp and Red grouper. Not to mention Amberjack, Cobia, and others that can be taken with a speargun. So it's time to inspect the gear, fill the tanks and clean the grille for the best eating the Gulf has to offer.

April Inshore Report

Buka with a secret spot bass

I've had a few nice inshore fishing experiences this April. I'll start with Joe's Creek. My brother Buka discovered earlier this month that juvenile tarpon are stacked thick from the 71st Street bridge to the 54th Ave. bridge. Using a small gold jig and live shrimp I jumped four fish in the 2 - 3 foot range; all of which threw my hook. My brother Johnny did manage to land one at night using a live sand perch on the bottom. They should still be there for a bit. On high tide they spread out, but low tide they tend to hold in a hole where a side ditch runs into Joe's Creek just South of 54th Ave. Evenings seem to be the best time to get them to bite as they're pretty finicky.

Bass fishing has been crazy at a secret spot where I have been blessed with opportunity from the only person with access to the lake. I got my second invite to the lake last Friday evening and brought Buka along. We caught about 40 bass in a couple hours of fishing; all in the 2 - 8 pound range. The gators were a little hairy though. We had to bring a bucket of rocks to keep from getting eaten. Not a place I would bring my kids. I went through 2 packs of purple rubber worms and a pack of dark blue rubber lizards. Buka was using a spinner bait. I think a hot dog would work well in this lake; they were hitting everything!

I hit the flats of Boca Ciega Bay yesterday evening after work. It was a very low tide so I focused on sandy potholes in the grass flats that were holding a lot of trout. I caught a limit of keepers including a nice 23 incher.  After securing dinner in the cooler I left the trout to seek redfish with no success. Did have a couple hit and misses using a jig by Mirror Lure I've been stuck on called Lil' John. Gold seems to be the color for me right now, as it has been out fishing everything else I've been throwing. Low tide is a great time to get to know the flats better. The skinny water reveals the flat's secrets: deeper cuts and holes where fish hold up. Keeping some spots I found in mind, I'm looking forward to getting back after this weekend weather blows through.