Turkey Season Ends With A Bang-Two of them!

At sunset on Saturday, the 2010 South Carolina turkey season officially ended for us after 6 weeks of hard hunting, but not before producing two more big, mature gobblers for our last two turkey hunters Kendyl and her dad Gary.

Down from NC for their second attempt in just two weeks, the father and daughter team  joined us again for the last two days of the season in hopes that they could harvest a big bird together. And after two full mornings of hunting with Justin, they had come close but still not sealed the deal. So their chances at getting a turkey were pretty much over as everyone drove out of the woods and back towards the lodge – when 7 big gobblers walked across the dirt road in front of them and towards a small watering hole full of tall grass. That small brake gave them a chance to get out of the van and circle around in front of them for a couple of calls and a shot as they came up and out of the small depression… two shots to be exact, which produced two nice longbeards! So congratulations to Kendyl and Gary on two nice birds, and to Justin for helping us and our guests to finish up the season on such a high note.

And since we were winding up the season this week and only had two hunters left, Justin and I also had a chance to hit the woods to see if we couldn’t get a gobbler too. And after some hard hunting and a few close calls, we each were able to harvest a nice bird a piece. So after calling and hunting without a gun in hand most of the season, it was a nice change for us to hit the woods ready to do business ourselves.

Our only other hunters this past week were two down from Greenville, SC to bow hunt some hogs. And while they didn’t take any pork home, one was able to get a good opportunity at a big hog right behind the lodge. Unfortunately he couldn’t capitalize on his chance after his arrow fell off of his rest and spooked the pig. But as we always say, that is real hunting; and if it was always easy, it really wouldn’t be as much fun 🙂

And I don’t know if it was the same hog or not that was missed, but I just got a text message from Justin that one of the hog hunters here today just shot a HUGE 400 pound boar on the power line right behind the lodge this morning! Just check that massive sucker out in the camera-phone pic! I promise to have the full story and better pictures of the monster for next week’s posting, so make sure and check back to see more.

Now after 6 weeks of almost non-stop hunting, we have a few days to do some work around the lodge to get caught up on all of the to-do list items that have been put off. Then it is time to start moving stands and trimming shooting lanes in preparation for the deer season that starts in just over 3 months. However while we will not have near as many hog hunters joining us during these hot, buggy summer months, we will also be working hard to keep the pigs fat, healthy and undisturbed so that on the days (mostly weekends) when we do have hog hunters, we can make their time in the woods as productive as possible. And when our hunters are dropping 400 pounders and the trailcams are catching big packs of meat hogs running around in the middle of the afternoon as well as other giant pigs hiding in the night, we will be eagerly awaiting  you for some great hunting!