Joice Island Results...

[84toyota]

Results are in! My brother and I drew the opening weekend, and my niece and nephew drew the jr. weekend. Looking forward to trying to find some pork. My dad drew about 4 years ago, but we didn't see any fresh sign. Hopefully we'll find some sign this time around...

Ken

 

[jerryt]

Congrats. What are you going to hunt with?

 

[84toyota]

870's with fully rifled slug barrels... Have never shot an animal with a slug - that would be sweet!

 

[Shmave23]

My buddy & I got drawn for the April 11th-12th hunt weekend. Can't wait to hear how you guys do.

 

[84toyota]

I'll keep you posted... My only advice from having tagged along on my dad's hunt four years ago - prepare to get muddy to find a pig!

 

[Shmave23]

I'm looking at some hip waders

 

[Shmave23]

I'm ready!!!

 

[84toyota]

Save your ammo - I'm hoping to have the pig problem handled before your hunt starts!

 

[84toyota]

1 pig seen and 1 pig down! What a muddy mess! View attachment 84697

 

[Bossbrott]

Nice job.
I bet it was a muddy mess. Lots of sticky at Joice.

 

[MGDeer]

Lots of mud for sure; the pic tells all. First great job- congrats! tell me about the difficulty cutting sign in all the muck. Was the hunt ruled to be a spot & stalk due to the muck? My career has taken me to Florida and high ground in the glades for spotting is rare to find, also I wonder the challenge about determining fresh from old sign in that muck. Thanks in advance for the reply.

 

[84toyota]

My niece doubled up on two sows right before dark - my brother and I just now got them back to the truck... These two were IN THE MUD! What a mess! 3 pigs in one day! Mgdeer - there is so much sign, it can be hard to tell the fresh sign... We pretty much pick a tunnel and go in after them! View attachment 84710

 

[baco]

Congrats to you and your niece

 

[thewolfman]

Now that's just total awesomeness... Big o Congrats... Only thing is... Can we get the story behind the success

 

[Bubblehide]

Congratulations!

 

[THE ROMAN ARCHER]

Super congrats to you all! Nice hogs, anyways pigs luv mud right.......tra

 

[hntndux]

Very awesome, great job! What a trip to remember!! By the way, how many ticks did you take home with ya?

 

[84toyota]

Hntndux - no ticks attached, but certainly a bunch crawling on us... Not a whole lot to the story... The pigs were in unit 'a' where the pond is. I think you are wasting time staying on the levee roads - pigs can certainly be found crossing the road, but the odds seemed slim. We bailed off into the marsh, mud, and tule patches. The tule were 9 ft tall in places! You start cutting pig trails immediately, and fresh tracks and wallows everywhere. A little scary wading into Hogzilla's lair without a weapon in my hands... The pigs will hear you coming, and you'll see tule patches moving 10 yards in front of you... You kind of just keep pushing and bumping them, with the hopes of finally seeing one in an opening. Don't let our success fool you into thinking it is easy. We were lucky! My nephew's pig boiled out of the thick stuff right in front of my brother and niece and ran straight at me and my nephew... He shot it on a dead run at 30 yards... He lead it like a pheasant, touched off on his nose, and hit it behind the shoulder! Dead pig! Later that evening, my brother and niece were following some pigs through the thick stuff. One popped out of the thick stuff right in front of her at 15 yards. She t-boned it... Pigs erupted in all directions, she swung on another and shot it in the butt, breaking it down. A 3rd shot finished it. If hunting there, take a game cart or wheelbarrow for retrieval off the levee road. Take some rope or parachute cord to drag the pig out of the marsh to the levee road. Absolutely take a partner to assist in recovery. Consider working with the other hunters to work the marsh together - just like pheasant hunting. I hate 'drive' hunting, but that damn marsh is tough. You can't easily sneak, and you really have to roust them. I out of the thick stuff. I was just fine in knee high rubber boots - I think waders would be too hot and too difficult to walk in... You will walk many miles... It is so muddy, it is difficult to skin, quarter and bone out your pig without getting the meat dirty - we managed the first one just fine. The last two we gutted, hauled back to the truck, left out over night with ice in the cavity - we rolled both in a tarp, stuffed in the truck, and drove home to Redding so that we could hose the off before skinning and quartering. That's how bad the mud is if you drop one out there.

 

[84toyota]

I forgot add - I hope I make one of your days - my brother and I opted out of the hunt next weekend (we drew the 1st adult weekend). We figured 3 pigs were enough for our overly stuffed freezers, coupled with some difficult work schedules. So thank me later if you were one of the lucky alternates!

 

[thewolfman]

Thats just an awesome hunt... Thanks for sharing the story...When dragging thru those thick marsh... Use a snow sled... Tie the animal on it and sled it out