Hillcrest Rams 2019 C Team Spring Practice

So you want to be a predator hunter......

                               WHEN THE PREDATOR BUG GRABS AHOLD OF YOU

           

             I got into night hunting by watching Pig Man on TV when an episode featured night vision 

by ATN. The spark created by that show began my chase for North America's toughest animal, the wild hog.I began a journey to find out everything I could about an animal that is rarely seen in the daylight hours. My first few hunts, I was only able to hear hogs but that only added to my drive to become successful. I kept at the hunt and soon found a few key tricks that got me onto the hogs year round. The rest is history and my desire to hunt wild hogs has remained the same while my numbers continue to increase each year. I also take the time to try and help others get onto more hogs. Pointing others in the right direction grows our ranks as sportsman and allows others to enjoy the sport we love.

      The predator hunting bug was similar in some ways but without the TV show. While I had hunted foxes with a Johnny Stewart tape player caller as a young man in Pennsylvania, I had never chased coyotes. Now, as a hog hunter, we are out during the night, sometimes all night, and you can't help but hear the coyotes. Also an animal that is rarely seen by the masses during daylight hours, they almost taunt you with their calls. The first few hunts you only hear them but just like with the swine, it only drives you to try and become more successful.

   Now a statement that will cause a stir but once explained , I believe it will make sense.

Coyote hunting is easier, there I said it.....now the explanation. I believe the learning curve is easier in coyote hunting only because so many more hunters do it and you will find more that will share their knowledge with you making learning to become successful in staying on coyotes all year easier.

I am not saying coyote hunting is easier than hog hunting, please don't misunderstand. Hogs are pretty simple but to stay on hogs all year, every week of the year laying down swine, takes some tricks and techniques for the average hunter. Coyotes are exactly the same. I just believe that right now there are far more coyote hunters that will give you advice than hog hunters. Some states do not have hogs so I believe this is the reason.

   The reason I write this is to try and give the newbie coyote hunter some hope to join the ranks. I am a newbie, merely just over two years into this obsession but have received a lot of advice from friends and companies. This is just a little advice on where to look for the advice to get you onto more predators.

    First off, social media has exploded in predator hunting and there is a lot of good information on some pages. Unfortunately you have to sort through so much bad info that this way takes time.

Groups that encourage helping newbie coyote hunters, in my opinion are the places to look here. Predator Central is a nationwide page that answers questions in a respectable way. You will begin to see the hunters that are successful all year and can be pointed in the right direction with strategies and equipment. You can become friends with these guys and gals and in turn learn a lot from them.

Some create products and will do videos that give you tips and tactics on how to raise your numbers. This year alone, James Bostock of Boss Predator Acoustics has taken the time to answer some questions as well as make some fantastic videos explaining coyote sounds. This advice along with advice from friends I have met in these groups has put me on more and vocal coyotes.

     Youtube may be the most under-used tool in any area of life. You cannot watch an MFK video of  Torry Cook and the MFK crew demonstrating exactly what to do with their product and seeing the results and not walk away with knowledge of the coyote. Tooth and Claw TV with Jon Collins is exactly the same and I encourage any new hunter wanting to become more successful to subscribe and follow these series for great info. Go to people that know what they are doing and you will become more successful,period.

    Equipment matters.....  I have been fortunate enough to have friends to lean on for advice on equipment for coyote hunting. Asking is the key here. Ask buddies that have specialized equipment, what works and what doesn't. Ask what sounds to use and when and you will increase your numbers. Post questions, not the same questions everyone asks but specific questions on your situations. Lastly, be willing to try these things and see what works for you. Predator Tactics is a great place to start. 

   I will end with a warning, you will become hooked on this sport if you start doing these things . There are many, many more people that I did not mention and you can find good info in many other spots. While there are also many jealous, childish individuals that cause drama and try and destroy people, find the good guys and gals in our industry and learn from them.

585 Yard Full Moon Bare Field Stalk

LONG STALK

             A call from a farmer informed me of three large boars that were tearing up a clear field that was to be planted soon. The great thing about farmers is that they know their land well and he put me right on this hog down to the hour.

          I spotted this hog at 534 yards just thirty minutes later than the landowner had spotted three just the morning before. A check of the wind and a strategy was formed to get me into a safe shooting direction as this lone boar tore holes in the farmer's field. A full moon slowed the process as I constantly was checking the direction the hog was facing. Any time the hog had his tail toward me I made fast time. As he fed toward me I would wait. The times on the video show a stalk over thirty minutes long and Hunt Stand shows a distance total of 585 yards to circle this boar and put one in him.

      The shot was a little back but the sound of the hit made me not even chamber another round. As the hogs back legs began to bounce in the air as he ran I knew it wouldn't be long and I waited for the big flop. The damage in the field was bad and two more must be dealt with soon.

   Check out this video entitled The Long Stalk ATN THOR Boar at my Youtube channel

https://www.youtube.com/user/Mailman29680

Saddle Stand First Set, First Encounter

SADDLE STAND

          Oct 21, 2018 - Today was our first set on the Saddle Stand, a ridge on one of my properties that reminds me a lot of my most productive spot from West Virginia many years ago. A depression in a long oak ridge maybe 60 yards in length where it seems any animal that wants to cross over this particular ridge funnels everything into this section. It sits way back off any road and is a hassle to get to but has produced day after day as trail camera pictures show. I have been standing at my camera and deer will funnel through and pay me zero attention. Daylight pictures of the largest buck on the ridge in the 2, 3 and 5 O'clock hours show the animals have no worries during daylight hours here.

    Well I saved this spot for my son Hunter and the first day did not disappoint.

We hit the ridge around 2:30 PM as most of the good action was from 3 PM until dark and not 20 minutes into the stand the first deer began to funnel through the area. The first deer sighted was a doe by my son and as we watched there were more and more behind coming through the tight brush side of the ridge straight through the funnel. My son began to reach for his 308 Hog Hunter as he told me he had spotted a buck. The deer were tight in on us so movement was slow so I did not reach for the weapon topped with my X Sight 4K to record. I got my binoculars up and confirmed it was the heavy beamed eight that ruled this particular ridge. According to our pictures, for the moment he was the ruler on this ridge and the buck picked by my son to be his and off limits to me. Broad daylight deer are skittish enough and the herds ears were constantly moving as we all listened to neighbors working in their yards.Three doe crested the ridge and one fed on their favorite oak with the buck scanning the area licking his nose constantly to check his closest girlfriend. Three times he creeped closer to the shooting lane until my son could see his head and neck entering . I held the binoculars just waiting for the shot as I knew there was no way this buck was leaving his girlfriends.

We had watched this buck ease toward our lane for close to ten minutes as his does fed 20 yards from us in our blind.

      Suddenly, the three does that crossed the ridge ran back at the buck and remaining doe. Something had spooked the three lead does and the herd ran off the way they came. Soon we knew the culprits that spooked the buck on our ridge, three hogs crested the hill and crossed in the saddle.

Irony hit the hog hunter as our usual quarry had thwarted our harvest of a buck that would have been Hunter's best to date. Hunter was able to capture the encounter on our ATN THOR 4 and it was a great lesson as we planned for our next set on this spot. The set up was rushed due to the distance from any access to the property and a simple choice on which side of the set up Hunter sat gave me a better look at the buck and cost  him this chance. We will always remember this first hunt in the SC saddle, a large buck, five total deer ,three hogs and three longbeards crossed that saddle that afternoon. Not a bad day in the SC woods after all. We look forward to meeting up with this deer again soon.

Check out this video and all our other videos at GOAT Productions by Mailman29680 on Youtube

POINT BLANK PIG

POINT BLANK

     

               Fall is here and with that brings colder temperatures and falling acorns.

Finding the swine can be a little tough especially with Night Vision equipment as the hogs are staying in the woods more. This hog fed along a field when I got a glimpse and saw the direction she was heading so I headed her off in some oaks a short distance away. She got too close but I got some great footage of the bullet, a Night Ops LLC 55 grain 223 NBT. The ATN X-Sight 4k 5-20 teamed up with the Predator Tactics Coyote Reaper XXL for some of my best footage yet.

      To view the video please visit my Youtube channel "GOAT PRODUCTIONS by Mailman 29680.

https://youtu.be/5D7Eg3LKcuA is this video but please check out all my harvests there also

HANDS DOWN

              Kill number 85 for 2018 is in the books and it's only September. This sow had a large group of vocal piglets with her. An approaching storm with changing winds caused me to spook three hogs I was watching destroy a round bale with oats so I made a decision to circle the fleeing hogs when I caught sight of two large sows with a group of piglets. I hustled to get close and normally slow down the pace once I can hear the hogs calling to one another. This group was feeding fairly fast for swine and I kept setting up in the high weeds only to lose them again and again. Finally I pinched them in a field intersection and got a shot at the bigger sow. Patience plays a big key in my scanning and stalking but also at times I have to get aggressive if they are getting away.

      Pig groups with a lead sow sometimes make constant grunting sounds sort of like turkeys purring, communicating to each other their location so they don't spread apart while feeding. This sound can help you determine when to get aggressive and which direction to move. If you hear these sounds and they are moving away from you... pursue quickly until you hear the sound again. It just could get you that extra kill or two.

     I took this sow with my Palmetto State Armory 223 shooting Night Ops LLC 223 55 grain NBT. My ATN X-Sight 4k 5-20 paired with the Predator Tactics Coyote Reaper XXL and got the job done on another SC swine.

     Check out this hunt at  https://youtu.be/K_6S1bt-388

Protect our sport

As we get close to deer season and it combines with our use of night vision for hunting night time critters, it is important to understand your state’s regulations. It is important to know legal shooting hours in you state for animals that can only be harvested during daylight hours.

      South Carolina has for instance a one hour before sunrise and one hour after sunset legal shooting times for deer. Times are posted in your regulation booklets as well as online. Dates and times need to be set on your units and a recording of any shot can be critical to determine if a hunter was legal or not in a court.

     When you pull that trigger at game, we must be responsible to know our game laws and follow them.

If we are walking out from deer hunting after hours and I see a coyote or hog on legally registered property, I will record if I shoot at that animal. I will make sure my time and date are correct so that if I arrive at my truck and DNR is waiting for me, I can prove through video what exactly I shot at after legal hours for deer.

     If I shot at a deer during legal hours, I will also record so that if I track and drag a deer after legal shooting hours, I can show the DNR in my scope the recorded shot. DNR will obviously go by the time they heard any shots so we must have evidence that we followed state laws. The recording capabilities will work in the lawful hunter’s favor.

    Lastly, if you are unsure, do not shoot. If you are not certain of your target or what is beyond, it is best not to take any shot. We are given something great right now in our ability to use equipment that hunters never dreamed about in the past and it is our job to protect it.