2010 Mims, FL Hogs

[Land_Owner]

It has been a long time since we've seen a hog at my place.  Others on GBO that have hunted here can attest to the (former) abundance of sign.  They had been nocturnal for some time too. 

There is a current Michelin tire commercial on TV that discusses a stretch of rural roadway where cars with bad tires run over a lot of the local critters.  I suppose that stretch of highway runs by my acreage. The vultures never had to fly very far for a meal.

In March this year I learned that the State had already hired trappers on the 14,000 acres surrounding me.  In particular, the trappers worked the 4,000 acres immediately south and west of me real hard with dogs and traps.  I am told that over the past 4 months they took out more than 400 hogs.  It has cut them back real well to the point that they don't come to my place any more - right now.

I tend to see this as temporary, probably for two or three years before they explode again onto the scene.  Kind of a cyclical thing.  Man harvesting a renewable resource, which gives the forest a chance to regrow and restore some of the damage the hogs do. 

I am seeing a LOT more snakes now than I have over the past 15 years!  Hogs had been pretty good about eating all they could find.  Now I am seeing Pigmy rattlers and Garter snakes in abundance, and a red rat snake or two.  I suspect we will start seeing diamondback rattlers again before too long.

The "Silver Lining" is the abundance of deer...specifically the out of proportion Does.  If the deer will just participate when I am hunting, that will make up for the immediate lack of hogs to shoot.

At least my tractor is happier...

[gstewart44]

Hey LO,
I saw that you hail from Merritt Isl. Florida.    My wife's family are from there - went to MIHS and have businesses there and Cocoa Beach.  I live over west in Orlando.    Most of my hog hunting is done up in Ga on our lease.   The State management you refer to -  is that the Farmton area east of Osteen?

[Land_Owner]

Negative to Farmton WMA. 

I refer to the 28,000 acre Seminole Ranch immediately to the south and west of me (only 12,000 acres on the other side, the west side, of the St Johns River are WMA and hunted, the remainder is Conservation Land and No Hunting). 

Also surrounding me are the Buck Lake WMA of 9,300 acres (+/-) tothe north and Salt Lake WMA of 6,700 acres (+/-) to the east

[gstewart44]

Well LO we are practically neighbors!    you are about 30 minutes from me .    I have hunted the Tosohatchee area quite a bit in the past but as I said above most of my hunting now is up in GA, about 10 miles west of Waycross.    Plenty of Hog, Deer, Turkey, Coyote, quail, rattlers and moccasins.  are you experiencing an increase in all snakes with the hog population getting smaller?

[Land_Owner]

Not seeing the rattlers and moccasins yet.  Just Pigmy, red rat, and garter mostly.  But in an abundance not seen for 15 years. 

I have taken the wife and kids through the Tosh on many many occasions when they were smaller, we had less "disposable" income, the 17 mile ride was free.  Set them up in the back of the truck, drive slowly like the Ranger, have a cold drink and sammich, watch the birds, saw hogs milling about, saw the deer cross the roads in front of the truck, and once about four years ago watched a FL Panther run the road in front of us and behind another driver for about 400 yards before it disappeared into the saw grass marsh near Fish Hole Road.  Got a real good look.  Reported it to the Ranger.  He confirmed it was there. 

Thought about hunting the Tosh a time or two, but decided that others probably had it better scoped out than me and I didn't want to intrude or possibly get shot.  Besides, i have my own place that has offered many opportunities, so I stay out of the WMA's.

What has been your experience in the Tosh?  Good deer there?  Plentiful opportunities?

[gstewart44]

I hunted it every year from 90 to 97 with good results.   Could always count on a good hog or two.   We took 3 smallish deer out of there over the same time period.   But it did seem to get more and more crowded each subsequent year.   That's the main reason I stopped hunting on any public land in Florida....just getting too dangerous.   The last year I hunted public FL land was in 97 down at Three Lakes.   We had hiked about 4 miles into the southern area and set up our climber tree stands on an well used game trail.   after about two hours of sitting and watching I saw a good sized deer coming through about 200 yds away.  I was settling my scope on him when all of a sudden semi auto fire starts up and the bullets were ricocheting toward me - one actually hit the tree next to me and I saw bark fly.  I thought I had counted well over 8 shots fired in rapid succession.   When I heard the ricochets I turned my climber very rapidly around to the back end of the tree and huddled up as tight as possible. 

Walking out of the woods later I ran into another hunter who said a similar thing happened to him and busted his hunt that afternoon.   We reported it to the GW at the checkin, and evidently this duo had done the same thing in several areas.       The GW caught them...it was a father and his 16 yr old son.  Both had semi auto 308's  and they would walk through the woods at a fast clip....when they would jump something they would both unleash 10 rds at it.   I decided to look for some private land to do my hunting after that.   I ended up in Southern Ga and have been there since 1998.   

[Land_Owner]

Never hunter Public Land myself, FL or otherwise.  I was the lucky one to have a unique family friend as the Regional Wildlife Biologist in the Western Piedmont of SC and have hunted his 325 acre place for 17 straight seasons, 10-days at a time, at no fee to me except licenses and my own deer processing.  Of course, I provide sweat equity as much and as often as my Host will permit.  Going back too in October '10 for #18. 

Hauled a LOT of frozen venison cube steaks, tenderloins, and hamburger out of SC.  Local SC Processor, his son, and wife have adopted me as one of their own. 

Hauled a few hundred pounds of venison out of Mims too over 20 years of hunting there.  Hauled many TONS of hog meat out of Mims in that same time.

I am not so discouraged by the lack of hogs now in Mims.  It is hoped that the deer will be plentiful this season in the hog's absence.

[bremraf]

Sounds like you have a rare and good thing going over there on your own property.  Hogs will come back sure as shootin, you won't miss them long. 
Hope your season goes well, I too have all but given up on public land.  Too many people not enough game in the wma's down near me.  I live in Polk county and have hunted 3lakes several years with no real success.  Hunted gardner cobb marsh too with some success.  Might try the marsh again this year, but we'll see.
Good to see some other FL natives!  Post up some success pics later in the year!

[yukondog]

I live in N.W. fl and have to hunt wma's and its a real PITA.

[Land_Owner]

I don't know if hunting WMA's is a PITA because there are too many hunters in one place.  But I do know it is about an attitude from some hunters of "I've hunted here all my life" (I get that on Private Land too), along with another attitude of "Me first, 'my' deer, 'my' stand, go away", as well as a basic lack of respect for one's fellow man when going armed into the night (at dawn). 

There is a hugh amount of attitude from grown men who pass it on to boys, who sometimes are the worst as they act impulsively. Every hunter I have meet on Public Land before hunting season has told me to "stay out" of this or that area as it is "theirs" and they "don't take kindly to strangers".  At which point I call the Ranger and have a little chat with him about "those guys".  If the Ranger doesn't sort it out and nip that crap in the bud, then it may get ugly for someone on opening day.  There is NO SUCH THING ON PUBLIC LAND as RESERVED.

What has happened to basic manners, respect for one another, camaraderie, fair chase, first come first served?  Yeah it sucks when someone comes trudging through your hunting "territory" on Public Land (and Private Land too) or is in "your spot" when you attempt to take residence to hunt, or "sets up" within spitting distance and doesn't care to acknowledge that you are already there. 

But challenging someone?  Someone that is also armed?  And talking "retribution" against someone who is there legally and maybe in a spot the other had picked for themselves?  That stuff just doesn't cut it.  In reality, that is a THREAT and one to be resolved by the Law.

As always, the EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM.  Trying to fluff up, posture, and aggravate a situation is a good way to get yourself shot, which is why I do not hunt Public Land.

[gstewart44]

I don't know if hunting WMA's is a PITA because there are too many hunters in one place.  But I do know it is about an attitude from some hunters of "I've hunted here all my life" (I get that on Private Land too), along with another attitude of "Me first, 'my' deer, 'my' stand, go away", as well as a basic lack of respect for one's fellow man when going armed into the night (at dawn). 

There is a hugh amount of attitude from grown men who pass it on to boys, who sometimes are the worst as they act impulsively. Every hunter I have meet on Public Land before hunting season has told me to "stay out" of this or that area as it is "theirs" and they "don't take kindly to strangers".  At which point I call the Ranger and have a little chat with him about "those guys".  If the Ranger doesn't sort it out and nip that crap in the bud, then it may get ugly for someone on opening day.  There is NO SUCH THING ON PUBLIC LAND as RESERVED.

What has happened to basic manners, respect for one another, camaraderie, fair chase, first come first served?  Yeah it sucks when someone comes trudging through your hunting "territory" on Public Land (and Private Land too) or is in "your spot" when you attempt to take residence to hunt, or "sets up" within spitting distance and doesn't care to acknowledge that you are already there. 

But challenging someone?  Someone that is also armed?  And talking "retribution" against someone who is there legally and maybe in a spot the other had picked for themselves?  That stuff just doesn't cut it.  In reality, that is a THREAT and one to be resolved by the Law.

As always, the EARLY BIRD GETS THE WORM.  Trying to fluff up, posture, and aggravate a situation is a good way to get yourself shot, which is why I do not hunt Public Land.

Couldn't have said it better myself LO.   

[kingj]

hi! All you FL guys from Columbia County.Moved here from 'O' town in '98.We hunt 46,000 acres in Madison and LaFayette counties. Hogs out the wazooo! The timber company that owns the land has mentioned trappers due to the excessive numbers on the lease.We have held them off for now.

[Swampman]

I live in N.W. fl and have to hunt wma's and its a real PITA.

Me too! and it is.

[swordfish]

Richard,
I was thinking of you this weekend when I came across a Pigmy Rattler. I hunted with an outfit in Okeechobee, never saw a single hog and when I saw the rattler I knew the hogs weren't around. They gobble 'em up like candy.
Hope all is well, and hope your fishing trip in the Keys was a good one. I haven't been able to get much fishin in this season, for one reason or another, but been glad to be bussy at the office.

Catch 'em up

PS. I drew a tag for Jones/Hungryland WMA this season. Heard it's a wet area, but it's close and can't be any worse than the hunt last weekend. Good hunting to all.

[Land_Owner]

Stewart, glad you posted.  I didn't get to the Keys or Ft Lauderdale for that fishing trip.  Too much other stuff to do (busy at the office too).  Fixed my golf cart though so am soon to be applying roundup and seed again in anticipation of another deer hunting season.  Still no hogs around the Mims property.   Interesting that with an abundance of hogs the snakes are kept in check, but certainly not wiped out.  When the hogs are depleted the snakes rebound.  There have to be "survivor snakes" when the hogs are thick, but we rarely see a snake in that instance.  Good "Data Point".  Too bad it proved to be correct for your recent outfitted "hunt". 

Another "Data Point" is the abundance of deer ticks as an indicator of wildlife, since both hogs and deer carry them.  When ticks are prevalent at my place, the wildlife is abundant there.  When there are no ticks, the wildlife is scarce.  Right now, no ticks.  Right now, no hogs, no food plots, and no deer either.  Soon though, very soon, I will replant my food plots and the outlook will change...

[swordfish]

Stewart, glad you posted. 

I don't post much after getting band by GB for 30 days, for getting into a pizzing match with a bonehead on the potbelly forum. Don't really think much of GB for siding with that idiot that just posts to antagonize everyone he can.
I guess I shouldn't have taken his bait. I only really check into your hog forum here, classifides, and lever action section on occasion.

Soon though, very soon, I will replant my food plots and the outlook will change...

That's what I'm talking about! Plant and they will come. 
Hope those bucks swarm your plots this season.

[Land_Owner]

I have a "strategy" that may work this season.  Historically, the deer wait for the new germination to just peek over the soil line, then slam the new plants staying on them until they eat all of them to the dirt.

This season, I am going to plant crossing strips one week, other strips the next and so on until the fields are planted.  Then every week another set of strips is germinating.  I can also over seed strips that have been eaten.  should be interesting to see if that keeps the deer in the neighborhood.

I just got back last weekend from preparing 40 acres of fields in the western Piedmont of South Carolina.  I go there for ten days in the middle of October this year.  18th straight season.  Interestingly, the Low Country of SC began its nearly 6 month long hunting season on August 14th with NO size restriction and NO daily or season bag limit.  That's a LOTTA deer.

[gstewart44]

I have a "strategy" that may work this season.  Historically, the deer wait for the new germination to just peek over the soil line, then slam the new plants staying on them until they eat all of them to the dirt.

This season, I am going to plant crossing strips one week, other strips the next and so on until the fields are planted.  Then every week another set of strips is germinating.  I can also over seed strips that have been eaten.  should be interesting to see if that keeps the deer in the neighborhood.

I just got back last weekend from preparing 40 acres of fields in the western Piedmont of South Carolina.  I go there for ten days in the middle of October this year.  18th straight season.  Interestingly, the Low Country of SC began its nearly 6 month long hunting season on August 14th with NO size restriction and NO daily or season bag limit.  That's a LOTTA deer.

Best of luck and a good season for you up in SC  Landowner.   I had several very good years up there on a friends small lease.   the deer are all over the place up there  fo sho!

[qajaq59]

We had hogs on the land I hunt over in the middle of the state last winter when I was stuck in my wheel chair and couldn't hunt. Of course now that I can walk a little again, they've all disappeared. I think they are all trying to stay cool in the heavy swamp where I don't have access. Hopefully they'll come back once it gets cold?