Wild Hogs in the Sipsey

[jbassplayer]

I'm planning my first overnighter in a long time on the 21st of this month. How concerned should I be with wild hogs?

[Joshua Szulecki]

25%?

They're there. They're mean. You probably won't see them, but you might see signs of them. I'd keep food safe, but I wouldn't be paranoid about running into them. I've yet to actually see one in Bankhead, but I've seen tons of rooting damage.

[jbassplayer]

Thanks Bro

[shhQuiet]

Do you think pepper spray would divert a wild boar?

[Joshua Szulecki]

I really have no clue. I would expect so, but I've never heard either way. You probably don't need it in Bankhead, I haven't encountered anyone carrying it, and I don't myself. My understanding us that they generally aren't an issue unless you run into a sow with offspring in tow, anyway.

[Cuffs]

As a hog hunter they can be mean. Sow with piglets will try to run but will charge if cornered. Do not get a boar boxed in. I've seen em gut a dog or two on the spot. Four inch tusks can do some serious damage.

Their evidence is prominent in Sipsey but I've only seen them twice.

Hang your food and don't camp near marshy ground.

[Don Newcomb]

I've seen em gut a dog or two on the spot. Four inch tusks can do some serious damage.

Do the still make dog's doublets?

[jbassplayer]

Thanks ya'll. I'll just use my noggin and bring my cold steel bushman. I'm tempted to set up camp and hit the holler with my recurve and a hog call.

[Woody]

25%?

They're there. They're mean. You probably won't see them, but you might see signs of them. I'd keep food safe, but I wouldn't be paranoid about running into them. I've yet to actually see one in Bankhead, but I've seen tons of rooting damage.

Same here. I have seen a lot of sign but I too have never actually seen the pigs. I agree that if food is hung away from your sleeping area you probably won't have any issues.

[weathermansam]

In all my treks and camps in Sipsey and Bankhead I've only ever seen two hogs, one at the junction of Bee Branch and Sipsey who was busy cooling himself in summer heat, and another off the Randolph trail that bolted when it saw me.  I've never hung my food out there, and until I recently starting hammock camping, kept the pack and food inside my tent with no trouble whatsoever. 

[jbassplayer]

In all my treks and camps in Sipsey and Bankhead I've only ever seen two hogs, one at the junction of Bee Branch and Sipsey who was busy cooling himself in summer heat, and another off the Randolph trail that bolted when it saw me.  I've never hung my food out there, and until I recently starting hammock camping, kept the pack and food inside my tent with no trouble whatsoever. 

Thanks Weatherman!

[camel]

Saw substantial hog sign on White Oak Hollow - few hundreds yards past turn off to big tree- all the way to end near horsetrail -
12-10-11

Camel

[jokrswylde]

Disclaimer! This rant is long and rambling but neccessary (according to my therapist)

Hogs in the sypsey you ask? Well let me tell you a story about hogs in the wilderness

October 5th, 2010 was a cool, brisk autumn day as I drove down interstate 65 from my home in franklin, tn. I had a week off of work and decided to take a two night solo to my favorite wilderness. (I had just moved to tn, but was born and raised in sweet home ala.) I had chosen to do a little hiking/exploring/meditation/soul searching in the thompson Creek area of the sypsey and struck out from my truck with a song in my heart and a bounce in my step.

 And then............ .

As I mosied along (I am very adept at mosying) I came across a dry creek bed that looked like it had been tilled up and was ready to be planted. Couldn't be hogs, I thought, because this area seemed to be a square mile in size!  I mean it was torn up. Well I still had that song in my heart and some mosying left to do, si I set out looking for a campsite.

And then......I made the dumbest move I have ever made.....

See, I had just gotten a shiny new droid x with a memory card big enough to store the entire library of congress, and since it was october and i am a huge horror movie fan, I decided to download a couple of horror movies on my new pocket computer. One of those movies just happened to be the masterpiece entitled The Blair Witch Project, about a trio of dumbass college kids chased around the woods and being harrassed by a witch-ghost, or a very lonley/horny clan of hillbillies...ei ther way I had seen the movie numerous times and always watch it around halloween. Well I had brought along some of Lynchburg's finest (to use as an emergency antiseptic  of course) and I settled in for a nice warm fire and a toddy....minus the fire since it was during a no-burn time. Stupid drought. Well since I didnt have a roaring campfire to gaze into and solve the world's problems, I decided to watch a movie.

Well about halfway through the movie i got the first inkling that drinking whisky and watching The Blair Witch: a) alone,  and b) IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAMN WILDERNESS, might not have been the brightest idea. But in fairness to me that damn hoot owl must have had a sore throat because it sounded like a dadgum banshee when it screamed RIGHT IN MY EAR. Well when I stopped running blindly through the woods and my pulse returned to normal, I returned to camp, feeling more than a little foolish, and climbed back in my sleeping bag. I checked to make sure I had adequate means to defend myself from all sorts of boogers and goblins, and fell into a fitful sleep.

And then....the Hogs.....

At 2 am ( I know this because I am a firm believer that when some unseen, unholy being wakes you from a dead sleep, it is crucial to glance at your watch before you do ANYTHING else) I heard a sound. At the time I was one hundred percent sure that it is the EXACT SOUND the Blair witch makes before she eats your face. It turns out it was much worse! Here it is again! A squeal! First thought, Sh!t! The Blair Witch brought her pet pig! Second thought, Sh!t! There is a toothless hillbilly out there anal raping a short pudgy dude!

It is at this point that I knew, with every fiber of my being , that yes indeed it was a stupid idea to drink whisky and watch the blair witch project, ALONE IN THE DAMN WOODS! Well, like I have been taught to do by every blond haired bimbo in a slasher flick, I decided to investigate this weird sound. I slowly unzip the tent, grab my hiking staff because, hell,  I don't know what good it was going to do, but I was not going out of that tent empty handed. click on the flashlight... and come face to face with....the biggest, ugliest, smelliest, most evil and terrifying creation on God's green earth! And it wasn't just one pig! There were thousands of the bastards! You could have fed Cullman for a year on the bacon that was rooting around outside my tent!

What did I do in that situation, you ask? I did what every red blooded grown man would I have done! I screamed like my seven year old daughter at a Justin Beiber concert and ran straight up the blown down oak that I had been camping next to. Unfortunately, my display of bravado caused what I can only describe as a pig stampede. Apparently the sight of a grown man pissing himself and screaming like a little girl is terrifying to pork, and is a reliable means of pig deterrance. As I watched this mass exodus of squealing, grunting bacon, I had time to come to a few conclusions about life:

1. Solo Hiking/camping is overrated. Highly overrated.
2. Wild pigs will one day overtake kudzu as the most invasive living organism in the south. Why? Because they breed like rabbits and we don't have tigers here to eat the bastards.
3. If God  wanted you to watch scary movies ALONE IN THE DAMN WOODS, he would have put red box kiosks at trailheads.
4. Sleeping in a tree branch is impossible.

Now I have since been told by friends of mine who know about pigs that it is impossible for there to be that many pigs, and that it was probably a group of no more than 15-20. To them I say, Screw you dude. I was there. I survived. It took me over a year to get to a place where I could talk about the events that occurred on 10/05/2010, but that squeal still haunts me. I now watch horror movies and just laugh my ass off, because I have seen true evil up close and lived to tell about it. I have yet to return to the Sypsey to face the beast again. Will I? Maybe. But I can promise you this....I will not do it ALONE IN THE DAMN WOODS!

[jbassplayer]

Lol. my friends and I are doing an overnighter this weekend. we are going to bowhunt hogs as well. it sounds like it wont be to hard. thanks for all your posts

[canyonman]

You're not going to see many hogs if you stick to the trails. Plenty of hogs up on Mattox Creek and downstream on Thompson Creek from the mouth of Mattox. Upper reaches of Hagood Creek is another likely place. Please do kill some of the blighters.

[jbassplayer]

I thnk we're gonna get on the old 205 trail on the briartech map. pic a spot to camp then spread out and hunt. Thanks for ur help. I plan on taking everyone I can. not from an indiscriminate killing standpoint,, but an ecological one

[Homebrew]

May be to late for this, but if you are hunting in the SWA you can only camp at the designated hunters camps. I have killed several pigs from the SWA.  It is not an easy hunt, and getting them back out is just as difficult.  We just quarter them up and carry out the hams and loins.  You will see tons of sign in areas where people have heavy use. Most if not all of that sign will be done at night.  You will find them active up on the higher benches in the first few hours and last few hours of light.

Good luck and be safe.

[BecomeTheChange]

Disclaimer! This rant is long and rambling but neccessary (according to my therapist)

Hogs in the sypsey you ask? Well let me tell you a story about hogs in the wilderness

October 5th, 2010 was a cool, brisk autumn day as I drove down interstate 65 from my home in franklin, tn. I had a week off of work and decided to take a two night solo to my favorite wilderness. (I had just moved to tn, but was born and raised in sweet home ala.) I had chosen to do a little hiking/exploring/meditation/soul searching in the thompson Creek area of the sypsey and struck out from my truck with a song in my heart and a bounce in my step.

 And then............ .

As I mosied along (I am very adept at mosying) I came across a dry creek bed that looked like it had been tilled up and was ready to be planted. Couldn't be hogs, I thought, because this area seemed to be a square mile in size!  I mean it was torn up. Well I still had that song in my heart and some mosying left to do, si I set out looking for a campsite.

And then......I made the dumbest move I have ever made.....

See, I had just gotten a shiny new droid x with a memory card big enough to store the entire library of congress, and since it was october and i am a huge horror movie fan, I decided to download a couple of horror movies on my new pocket computer. One of those movies just happened to be the masterpiece entitled The Blair Witch Project, about a trio of dumbass college kids chased around the woods and being harrassed by a witch-ghost, or a very lonley/horny clan of hillbillies...ei ther way I had seen the movie numerous times and always watch it around halloween. Well I had brought along some of Lynchburg's finest (to use as an emergency antiseptic  of course) and I settled in for a nice warm fire and a toddy....minus the fire since it was during a no-burn time. Stupid drought. Well since I didnt have a roaring campfire to gaze into and solve the world's problems, I decided to watch a movie.

Well about halfway through the movie i got the first inkling that drinking whisky and watching The Blair Witch: a) alone,  and b) IN THE MIDDLE OF THE DAMN WILDERNESS, might not have been the brightest idea. But in fairness to me that damn hoot owl must have had a sore throat because it sounded like a dadgum banshee when it screamed RIGHT IN MY EAR. Well when I stopped running blindly through the woods and my pulse returned to normal, I returned to camp, feeling more than a little foolish, and climbed back in my sleeping bag. I checked to make sure I had adequate means to defend myself from all sorts of boogers and goblins, and fell into a fitful sleep.

And then....the Hogs.....

At 2 am ( I know this because I am a firm believer that when some unseen, unholy being wakes you from a dead sleep, it is crucial to glance at your watch before you do ANYTHING else) I heard a sound. At the time I was one hundred percent sure that it is the EXACT SOUND the Blair witch makes before she eats your face. It turns out it was much worse! Here it is again! A squeal! First thought, Sh!t! The Blair Witch brought her pet pig! Second thought, Sh!t! There is a toothless hillbilly out there anal raping a short pudgy dude!

It is at this point that I knew, with every fiber of my being , that yes indeed it was a stupid idea to drink whisky and watch the blair witch project, ALONE IN THE DAMN WOODS! Well, like I have been taught to do by every blond haired bimbo in a slasher flick, I decided to investigate this weird sound. I slowly unzip the tent, grab my hiking staff because, hell,  I don't know what good it was going to do, but I was not going out of that tent empty handed. click on the flashlight... and come face to face with....the biggest, ugliest, smelliest, most evil and terrifying creation on God's green earth! And it wasn't just one pig! There were thousands of the bastards! You could have fed Cullman for a year on the bacon that was rooting around outside my tent!

What did I do in that situation, you ask? I did what every red blooded grown man would I have done! I screamed like my seven year old daughter at a Justin Beiber concert and ran straight up the blown down oak that I had been camping next to. Unfortunately, my display of bravado caused what I can only describe as a pig stampede. Apparently the sight of a grown man pissing himself and screaming like a little girl is terrifying to pork, and is a reliable means of pig deterrance. As I watched this mass exodus of squealing, grunting bacon, I had time to come to a few conclusions about life:

1. Solo Hiking/camping is overrated. Highly overrated.
2. Wild pigs will one day overtake kudzu as the most invasive living organism in the south. Why? Because they breed like rabbits and we don't have tigers here to eat the bastards.
3. If God  wanted you to watch scary movies ALONE IN THE DAMN WOODS, he would have put red box kiosks at trailheads.
4. Sleeping in a tree branch is impossible.

Now I have since been told by friends of mine who know about pigs that it is impossible for there to be that many pigs, and that it was probably a group of no more than 15-20. To them I say, Screw you dude. I was there. I survived. It took me over a year to get to a place where I could talk about the events that occurred on 10/05/2010, but that squeal still haunts me. I now watch horror movies and just laugh my ass off, because I have seen true evil up close and lived to tell about it. I have yet to return to the Sypsey to face the beast again. Will I? Maybe. But I can promise you this....I will not do it ALONE IN THE DAMN WOODS!

I can't stop laughing at this! This was seriously the funniest thing I've ever read, and trying to picture myself in that situation is just hilarious. Thank you for this, still lol'ing.

[jbassplayer]

Well we went in search of a squatch and hogs. we saw neither. we went up 201,crossed over to 209, went north on the old 205 until it ran into the trail from west bee branch. the entire time we were on 205, there was hog sign everywhere. the entire  top of the ridge looks like someone went over it with a mantis tiller. I was amazed it. I only saw one old deer scrape. The system looks like it could already be out of balance due to the hogs. the state really needs to send out a biologist.
  as for 205, unless you like climbing over hundreds blow downs putting your nav skills to the test, I don't recommend it. im in above average shape for my age. I lift heavy free weights three times a week and do at least three sessions of high intensity interval training cardio as well. 205 almost kicked my a**.
   We were well received, as hunters, by half of the hikers we encountered. the other half acted like we were committing some sort of crime. I actually had a lady say"oh I thought ya'll were good people." I just chuckled and said "no" 

[buttermilkmeeks]

Hey jbassplayer -

I believe I ran into you and your party just after you turned off 205 onto the trail down into West Bee Canyon. I was running sweep with the slower portion of a group of BAG hikers returning from the Big Tree.

We all thought that y'all looked more like mercenaries than hunters!