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.

Dog Days of Summer

                                                           Dog Days of Summer

     
                 The hog's diet is changing as soft mass fruits are falling everywhere and the outdoors is beginning to be filled with the noise of vocal young coyotes at night. My notes from last year indicated that my hog numbers fell slightly last August but my coyote numbers started growing again so I threw my CS24C in the truck just in case.


             The hogs were scattered and my trail cameras proved that and I started hearing vocal coyotes at multiple sights so I headed to a large field I had called coyotes into before. I had spent most of the night after swine so a quick hunt was worth the chance and it didn't take long to howl in two young coyotes, one of which fell to the 308 Hog Hunter from Savage topped with an ATN THOR 4 1.5-5x 384 which is ATN's entry level thermal. I scan with the ATN OTS THOR-HD 2-8 and it's really all you need for these young coyotes that charge right in to the call.

        On this set I used the Swagger Bipod which mounts to the gun rather than carry my big set up.
Young , dumb coyotes are my favorite and I heard more as I was loading the truck up at the end of the night.

      Now may be a good time in SC to switch up to the plentiful numbers of coyotes. Another great advantage of keeping up with last years totals to remind you of patterns from the past.

Please check out my hunt videos at https://www.youtube.com/user/Mailman29680

Lucky Numer 7 for Alisha

                 
                                                              Lucky number 7

           As the seasons start to change and more food sources are popping up, persistence is key and tonight it was needed. The seventh spot was the lucky one as Brad and Alisha Moody traveled along with the Mailman after watching the videos and pictures on GOAT productions. Alisha wanted a stalk hunt and we made it happen.

        We started the night off earlier than normal going after a problem group of young pigs that I got a complaint on but they did not show. Their pattern is  changing so we moved to the next spot.

       The second spot we heard a boar I believe was chasing a sow and moved into a feeding spot for a short sit. We again heard the boar grunting and crossing a creek but he never showed himself to us.
We moved again and again and got more aggressive.

     The seventh location, four deer were bedded in a field and I caught heat far behind the deer,
We stalked past the deer and rounded a curve and there they were , eating at the V stand. We slid back into position 80 yards away from the group and set up the tripod.

     The group was close together but as soon as Alisha identified the largest pig she dropped the big sow with the Palmetto State Armory 223 Wylde using Night Ops LLC 55 grain NBT .
The rest of the group ran directly at us and I directed her to one standing in the wide open. She dropped the second, I believe bouncing off the head and dropping it immediately. As we looked for the third, the second was kicking and got up and took off into the woods. Hogs are tough and Alisha did everything right this night. We stuck at it and it paid off.

     Check out Alisha's hunt as well as others from the GOAT, his son and triggermen and women at https://www.youtube.com/user/Mailman29680

Palmetto State Armory Boar

Palmetto State Armory 223 Boar

    

                Another fine boar off of a small parcel of property that hogs travel through often called E's stand. This 245# boar was cruising through the area and fell to the Palmetto State Armory 223 Wylde SS 1:7 twist 18" barrel topped with ATN's Thor-HD 640 5-50x 100 MM thermal scope. The PSA AR-15 teamed with Night Ops LLC 223 55 grain NBT bullets to drop this boar in his tracks.

          The hunt was actually for a group of small pigs that were hitting the property early and started as a baiting run which included checking cameras. The sounder of small hogs had already moved through but I noticed one picture of a boar that told me one was in the area. I was waiting on a friend that was hunting down the road and decided to just put an hour in this property just in case something came through.

      I caught heat on my ATN OTS 384 2-8X Thor - HD thermal scanner and quickly jumped to my PSA AR-15. I caught the boar just as he past a pile of dead root systems as he cruised through looking for food or love. One shot from the PSA in the Palmetto State and another big boar falls to the Mailman.

    View the full video here  https://www.youtube.com/user/Mailman29680 under the title 

"Palmetto State Armory SS 223 Wylde in the Palmetto State hog hunt"

End of July Boar

                                          End of July Boar

          We are halfway through the hottest time of the year and the hog hunting is still hot here in South Carolina. Hogs are on the corn mostly as fields are high and the ground is hard from lack of rain. Bait spots near water are producing this time of year as these are the areas that give the hogs access to the things they want most now, water,mud and food. 

        My first set was on another stand that we had just taken a double off of and I really was just testing that area and checking the cameras to see how soon the hogs returned after a harvest. After a short set I pulled the card and saw 6AM was the hot time there so I went to plan B.

       Shamrock stand is a stand located in a wooded bottom just next to a creek that runs even at this time of year and the bait was placed in holes dug two foot deep and filled with sour corn. The holes make the hogs work for their meal and keep the hogs there a long time for us to catch them. Ditches running off the main creek hold rain water and are perfect wallows spots for the swine.

    Trail camera footage showed a large boar, huge sow and two black and white, small spotted boars were using the area. The multi-colors are off limits until they get bigger so I was targeting the two larger hogs. I  slipped into Shamrock a little after midnight for a short sit. I turned the corner to get to the blind and this 186 # boar was already digging at the holes.

    Tonight I had the 300 Blackout on top of the tripod with an ATN X-sight 4k 3-14 for optics. Predator Tactics Coyote Reaper XXL was mounted on the front of my AR to light up the target and the Night Ops LLC 300 Blackout 110 grain Controlled Chaos in the chamber.

   The steep incline called for a slightly lower aiming point and the equipment did it's job dropping the large boar in the hole it was eating from......

To check out all of my videos of my kills, please visit   

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

To follow me on Facebook , please join the group GOAT productions

Hunter's 100 mm double

                                                 
                                                      Hunter's 100mm Double


              As we hit the end of July and head into August, the hogs in the upstate of South Carolina are on the corn piles very heavy and often. Bait sites closest to water seem to be paying off the best with family groups visiting often and staying long. A new property with beautiful fields with an intersection of two creeks that create a V at the field edge where the hogs enter the lush green hay field got the name "The V stand". This stand produced pictures of 8 or more larger hogs, mostly sows and countless little hogs. Daylight camera video was present as well as midnight visits. The intersection of creeks is about 400 yards from the road with the possibility of a harvest on the walk in as the hogs feed on the hay fields in this beautiful bottom.

         We entered the property to find four resident deer bedded in the first field so we stalked past and made our way to the bait station scanning with our ATN OTS 384 2-8x. Once we got into view of the V stand sight itself I noticed four hogs in the bait with my scanner. We stalked the field edge in the shadows as a full moon was over-head. The long narrow field was perfect for stalking close as each side of the field was lined with tall leafy trees that cast many shadows.

       We got to the last stand of three large oaks about 83 yards from the bait pile and my son set up the tripod topped with a PSA AR-15 in 223 Wylde with a 1:7 twist and an 18" barrel.
On top of the PSA was my ATN 640 5-50x 100 mm Thor-HD. In the chamber was the Night Ops LLC 55 grain 223 Nosler Ballistic Tip bullets.

     The stage was set as my son put the cross-hairs on the largest of the four hogs and dropped the 160# sow immediately. Two hogs ran to the brush and a third hesitated a bit too long . My son waited for the perfect angle as the 115# boar turned and we had a double on the ground and two drop shots on video.

 View the video here https://youtu.be/eN8l-nTgOWQ and please subscribe to my Youtube channel to see more South Carolina hunting action from the Mailman.

318.8 pound delivery

318.8 DELIVERY

                                       
                                                           318.8 Pounds

      Check out the latest addition to the 300 club from GOAT productions. This beast was hitting a feeder on the neighboring property when I got a text message with a photo of him. I spoke and met with a great land owner and set out to hunt one night and saw him enter her property but could not get a shot. I registered her property and baited the property I already had permission on and left bait for one day. The camera showed he traveled through my property with a large group of sows, smaller boars and piglets.

    The live feed on Predator Central went pretty badly but I pieced together footage from the scouting and set up along with trail camera footage. It only took two short hunts to bag this 318.8 pound stud with the longest tusks I have ever taken.



    Please check out the video of this hunt and all my hunts at my youtube channel GOAT productions by Mailman29680.

https://youtu.be/XSqcGq3Yxhw

Slipped a hunt in

   
      A quick hunt to end a busy month before my trip to SHOT show.
I spotted this boar about 300 yards out close to the property line so I
got really aggressive on my stalk. I lost sight of boar as I went through
a small depression and was looking for him near the property line when
he appeared right  on top of me and came into an open field. He spotted
me and froze and all I had was an off hand shot. The sd card prevented
the recording as I had to format the card after the shot.

    The 300 Blackout shooting Night Ops LLC Custom Ammo in 110 grain
Controlled Chaos claimed yet another South Carolina boar. This bullet has
changed my entire thought on the 300 Blackout and I wouldn't be using
this caliber if it wasn't for round.

   Much more to come in 2018