Fellow blogger Moose over at Moosedroppings has had an apparent anti-hunter drop a comment on his blog claiming that hunters are responsible for the extinction of certain animals in the 21st century. Hats off to Moose for stepping up and taking the challenge that “Craig” put on the table. Be sure to check out the post and it’ll be interesting to see if/how “Craig” responds to this one. Click here for the post from Moosedroppings.Â
Once again, our friend Doug has submitted another great trapping story to Southern Adventures. Doug has been sending us photos and stories since trapping season began here in North Carolina. Along with the following photos and story, you can read other trapping post at Southern Adventures here.
I Didn’t plan on trapping beavers this year due to the drought. The creeks were dry where I usually trapped them and I figured they had headed to the big river(Cape Fear). After the Christmas holidays I was contacted by a member of a forum I’m a regular on and asked if I could get the beavers for him. I jumped at the chance cause my normal areas were void of beavers. We set a date and I met him and we scouted out the property.Right away I found a few dams and some feed beds and could see the destruction the beavers had caused. He said the land had never been trapped as far as he knew and that made the situation even better. I set four traps,1 at a break in the dam we made,1 at a slide where they were crossing the dam,1 at a castor mound I made and 1 on an area they were traveling through. So far I’ve managed to get 4 beavers from this area,3 were caught at the dam break,(beavers hate running water) and 1 at the cross over. I got a feeling a few more are in here and I’ll keep at them. The best part about all this, I introduced someone new to the world of trapping. He seems to really enjoy checking the traps and seeing what we got. This week I”ll be setting land traps on the property. Doug
The above photo was sent in to Southern Adventures by Dave who is an avid squirrel hunter here in North Carolina. The hunt took place along the swamps of the Pee Dee River and as you can see, it appears there was no shortage of squirrels this day. I’m sure this hunt made for some great video footage for Randy Gary of Furs and Fangs video series. Here’s the story as it was sent into us. Thank you for your submission!!!
Randy Gary of “Fur & Fangs†video series traveled from his home in Louisiana to Marion County South Carolina to tape a squirrel hunt with Darrell Moran, Tim Cope and myself, Dave Inman. Matt Simms of Arkansas traveled with Randy as they made other hunts with hunters along their 16 day trip.
We hunted the swamps along the Pee Dee River which holds plenty of game. The first hunt we had 3 Original Mountain Curs doing the work. Darrell’s dog Gator, Tim’s dog Grizz and my Cash dog . After lunch we made another round with Darrell rotating his Gator dog out and using his young male Max.
At the end of the day we had plenty of meat and some good video footage to boot. We made a round the next morning hunting Max and Cash and added 13 more to the pot.
Randy seemed very happy with the footage he shot and plans on using some of it on his Fur and Fangs 9 DVD.
When folks mention feral hogs the first places to come to mind would be Texas, California and then followed by the southern most states. I’ve covered many stories about feral hogs, wild boar, or whatever you choose to call them but I must say I was a little surprised to find out that North Dakota is not immune to the swine that inhabit other areas of the country. The article is reporting that North Dakota officials are not wasting any time with eradication efforts.
Well, it appears North Dakota is not immune to wild hog problems. It seems two areas of the state have been found to harbor at least small groups of wild, feral hogs. Last summer, state and federal wildlife officials learned there was a group of feral hogs in the southwestern part of the state near Grassy Butte. The other population is in the northern part of the state, in and around the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation.Dr. Susan Keller, North Dakota state veterinarian and the Board of Animal Health issued an eradication order against the two groups of hogs.
I’d venture to say that these hogs are escapees or transplants by hunters wishing to create a local herd for hunting purposes. North Dakota will be very lucky to totally eradicate the population though, but their efforts should be applauded at stepping up and at least trying to get a hold on the hog numbers before it gets really out of hand. I’m a firm believer that total eradication of feral hogs is almost next to impossible and while North Dakota isn’t dragging their feet on the issue, they’ll play hell killing that “last pig”. I’ll try my best to keep up with this developing hog problem and if anyone happens to find additional information in the future of the success or lack there of that this program is having please send it my way. You can read more of the article here.
I know this is an outdoor related blog, but who out there doesn’t enjoy some good, down home, southern music?!!!?!!!? Whether it’s around the campfire after the hunt, in the work van during the day, or just hanging out around the house, there’s nothing like good music. I thought you guys and gals would really enjoy this band here. I’ve included a player for you all to have a little taste of what The Jeremy Graham Band is all about. They come from Augusta, Ga. and these fellas can flat out play some good music!!! Be sure to check out the show dates on their website. They will be touring several places in Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina in 2008, and they have an entire years schedule up already!! Plenty of time to take a road trip to hear some great music!! Enjoy one of their hits “Deer Huntin’ Club” by clicking play below.
With deer season over here in the Carolinas, local hunters are taking advantage of the small game opportunities across the southeast. This story comes from Ned over in Waynesville, NC. Ned gives us a short story on how sometimes what you plan on happening, doesn’t always pan out. What started out as one rabbit in the bag, ended up as a day full of fox squirrels. Here’s Ned’s story about their hunt in Wythe County, Virginia.
After having a hard time running any rabbits on Saturday, my buddy and I decided to try our luck with the local fox squirrels. Now I have never killed or hunted them before, but my grandpa had given me some tips before he passed. We headed to some open oaks within a pasture. Fox squirrels seem to like more open woods. There was plenty of squirrel sign, nest, tracks in the snow, etc., and it wasn’t long before we missed our first. The squirrels were very active given the cold temps. I was carrying my grandpa’s old marlin .22 and eventually took my first ever fox squirrel with it. Made the day a little extra special for me at least. We hunted for about 4 hours killing 4, missing 3 more, and seeing about 3-4 more. Those things are tough as nails, and could carry some lead before dropping. They are smart too, it didn’t take but one miss before you were unable to sneak up on them a second time. It sure was a great day, and I am now hooked on hunting fox squirrels. It looks like I will be making a yearly trip back to Wythe County Va. from now on.
Ned
These photos were sent into us from Larry R. showing a nice mess of rabbits they were able to jump up from the briar thickets yesterday in the western part of the state. There were no dogs involved in this hunt, just some old fashioned briar stomping, and as you can see it sure looks like it paid off. Congrats on a fine rabbit hunt and thanks for the photos!!
A few days ago I did a post showing a video that I ran across over at TBones Blog revealing two nice bucks fighting it out in a creek bed . A few folks had chimed in asking if I knew what had happened to the other buck in the video. Well, it appears our friend Jeff over at Lowcountry Hunting has tracked down the truth behind this video. The complete story can be read by clicking on this link. A special thanks to Jeff for sending us the story.
Almost anywhere you may live in the south chances are, you’re being hit with one of the coldest nights of the winter so far this year. With temperatures dropping into the single digits overnight and into the early morning, it’s very important to not forget about the dogs outside. The forecast around my area is calling for a low of 8 degrees. It doesn’t take a genius to know that most of us here in the south are not used to the cold weather like this, neither are the dogs in this area.
Ensuring your dog has plenty of straw or cedar in the doghouse will make the cold nights much more bearable for our 4 legged friends. Or you could always do what I’ve done and fire up the woodstove in the house and fix them a nice warm blanket to lay on one night this week. All joking aside, just take a few extra minutes to make sure your dog(s) have enough bedding in the house and most importantly don’t forget to break the ice out the water bowls in the morning.
I was out making my rounds through the blogs that I read daily when I across a post back from December 12th 2007 over at Tbones blog that somehow I missed. (How I missed this one, I don’t know). Anyhow, this is some absolute crazy footage of two MONSTER bucks throwing down in the creekbed. Shot placement wasn’t too bad either. Heres the video, enjoy!!
All joking aside, just take a few extra minutes to make sure your dog(s) have enough bedding in the house and most importantly don’t forget to break the ice out the water bowls in the morning.