Yes!! Will be hunting this year.

[thebrasilian]

I refuse to pay large sums of money for a hunt club. I will be in the Sumter National Forrest this year. Went and paid for my hunting license and some new ammo. For deer: Hornady Custom 30-06 150 gr SP. For hog: Hornady Match .223 75 gr BTHP. I haven't hunted in about 4 years due to keeping my business going with the recession. I really need this for sanity. Anyone else hunting up there in Newberry and Fairfield counties? Any luck?

 

[Enjay]

Congratulations, both on keeping your company going during these hard times and on picking up hunting again.
I don't know anyone who hunts in those areas, but hopefully you can find a hunting buddy through the board and fill your freezer full.
If you don't mind my asking, is the .223 effective against hogs? I ask because when my son asked the DNR officers during hunters safety they told him that they recommended the round for coyotes, possums, coons and other medium/small game.

 

[thebrasilian]

Congratulations, both on keeping your company going during these hard times and on picking up hunting again.
I don't know anyone who hunts in those areas, but hopefully you can find a hunting buddy through the board and fill your freezer full.
If you don't mind my asking, is the .223 effective against hogs? I ask because when my son asked the DNR officers during hunters safety they told him that they recommended the round for coyotes, possums, coons and other medium/small game.

I read a lot of articles that it is effective. That's why I choose a heavier bullet vs the cheaper 55-65 gr. Plus you will also have the advantage of 30 rounds. My 30-06 only holds 4 and is heavy and harder to use for quick acquisition. Would love to hear anyone else chime in.

 

[fordnut]

I am no hunter...so I can't speak from first hand knoledge, but, I met a guy that is a guide for pay as you hunts on 3 plantations... They hunt at night with night vision glasses and use AR-15's....And, the only ammo they use is Wolf 55g. hollow points...

Steve

 

[Frost]

I thought it was against the rules to hunt at night.

 

[fordnut]

When you hunt on private land, you can do lots of things.....I guess if you can afford a Plantation....you get to do about whatever you want...

Steve

 

[HHB Guns]

I thought it was against the rules to hunt at night.

You can get a farm permit and kill them by any means. NO RULES APPLY. My uncle had one and we would pile in the mini van and shoot them from the open doors in the back with a spot light. If you have crops you can get a farm permit and kill anything anytime.

 

[Clicker]

Hogs can be hunted at night using a pistol and light. Iron sights only and 9" max barrel length. The flashlight must be hand held and not attached to the gun.

To be honest DNR wants the pigs gone and they really don't care what you use to harvest them. These regs exist to prevent the poaching of deer at night.

 

[SuperChuck]

Depredation permits are issued to farmers that demonstrate crop loss, etc due to hogs. same applies for Deer, the landowner usually has to fill out some forms, and demonstrate that earlier deterrent methods/efforts are not working.

Once the permits are issued, you can use any legal firearm to hunt them. I've hunted deer in July/early August at night (in the 90's), with a spotlight and high powered rifle riding in the back of a full sized truck, shooting across the cab. You drive into the field with the headlights off, get in position, flip on the spotlight, and have to shoot REALLY fast!

That time of year its WORK.. does not get dark until 9 pm, and you're not done skinning until after midnight most nights. You try to take multiple deer in an evening/minimize the damage as much as possible, so that means the skinning goes well into the AM.

The night vision would have improved the success tremendously, but back then, we were Low-Tech Red-Necks ;-)

After too much pressure, hogs go nocturnal, so the ONLY way to get them is to either trap them, or hunt them at night. On our farm today, the full moon must have had them a little off-timing, as a group of hogs came out in daylight and lost one of its porcine members.. One of the hunters managed to get it at 5:30, in the waning daylight.

If I were ever to shoot Depredation permits again... It would have to be NightVision, Suppressed... Those deer figured out the spotlight game WAY too fast...


SC