Tampa Bay Fishing Report December 2012

By Captain Woody Gore 

“Let’s Go Fishing in December”

Tampa Bay is Florida’s largest open-water estuary covering 400 square miles, with a watershed more than five times that large, encompassing  a massive 2,200 square miles. With an average, depth of 12 feet Tampa Bay is considered one of the most exclusive estuaries in Florida with a wide diversity of sea life. For those unfamiliar with what and estuary actually is; it’s a semi-enclosed body of water where freshwater from the rivers and creeks meets and mixes with the saltwater from the ocean or in the case of Tampa Bay, the Gulf of Mexico. Estuaries are considered one of the most productive environments in the world and are often referred to as a nursery for fish, and shellfishes, and a place where young marine animals can hide from predators. If angling is your recreational pleasure and something you enjoy, then Tampa Bay and the inter-coastal waters of the gulf coast certainly offer some awesome fishing opportunities especially with www.captainwoodygore.com.

While fishing in Florida can be done comfortably year round, fall offers some excellent opportunities on a variety of species. On fishing excursions some species you’re likely catch include snook, redfish, cobia, tarpon, trout, grouper, kingfish, and mackerel.

As we approach the cool water temperatures of winter, shallow water fishing definitely improves. The fish start feeding fairly aggressively for winter and become more active as they search for food. They’ll take an assortment of baits from live to dead. And since they will have large appetites anglers will have greater success using a wider range of artificial lures.

Snook:  Snook are usually tops on the list as the fall transition has started and we are catching Snook on just about every shoreline. They are still on the protected list but are still fun to catch and release. The best bite has been at the beginning and end of either incoming or outgoing tides. Snook normally respond live baits as well as top water lures, jerk baits and shallow diving lures. However, we’ve been have good success on dead baits on the bottom.

Spotted Sea Trout:  NO CLOSED SEASON! Sea trout are found inshore and near shore in and around sea grass flats, mangrove shorelines, deep holes and channels and above oyster bars. Free-line live shrimp or small pinfish near the bottom to entice trout out of grass-bed holes. Attaching a float will allow these baits to drift over the grass beds. Casting with soft-bodied jigs and top-water poppers can also be effective. Trout are very delicate, so returning unwanted or illegal fish promptly to the water is necessary to maintain a healthy population. Spotted sea trout are a good eating fish. Otherwise winter’s a great time for the big gator trout especially as they start working their way into the back-country and deeper grass flats.

Redfish: The reds are still biting and some are still schooled up biting everything tossed in their direction. They should continue to be consistent on the flats and around the mangroves. A variety of artificial lures are catching their share along with live shrimp, sardines, and pinfish. The key to finding redfish, is fishing dark patchy bottoms, especially around schools of larger mullet. Although chumming with live bait works, tossing dead cut bait around the mangroves on flooding tides usually brings them out to investigate. Most are holding close to the shoreline. Also found near docks and pilings, deeper holes and channels during warmest and coolest months; around grass beds and oyster bars. Use live shrimp fished on bottom or free-lined, or use soft-bodied jigs bounced slowly on bottom, or use small gold spoons.

Flounder :

Found near channel edges on sandy bottoms, near tidal passes and docks. Use live shrimp, small sardines/greenbacks, sand fleas, sardines, pinfish, or jigs bounced along bottom as you drift.

Inshore Gag Grouper: The inshore grouper bite will pick up especially as the water temperatures cool down. However, you cannot keep any fish caught after October 31. Recreational Gag Grouper season is only open from July 1 through October 31 each year. It seems ridiculous to me but we let them do it to us so it’s hard to complain about it. Fishing should be good when we can avoid the northerly cold fronts and high winds. Lots of fish near shore and Tampa Bay fish coming up with a few really nice ones but they’ve got to go back.

Kingfish, Spanish Mackerel, Bonito, Bluefish:  December cold fronts are here and so are the traditionally high winds that follow. As the water temps fall with each passing front the near beach kingfish bite should improve. Tons of bait should bring the kings, Spanish mackerel, bluefish and bonito within a mile or so of the beach or inside the bay. We’ve been having great success on huge Spanish mackerel inside Tampa Bay.

“Give Me a Call & Let’s Go Fishing” – 813-477-3814 Captain Woody Gore is the areas top outdoor fishing guide. Guiding and fishing the Tampa, Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Tarpon Springs, Bradenton, and Sarasota areas for over fifty years; he offers world class fishing adventures and a lifetime of memories.

Single or Multi-boat Group Charters are all the same. With years of organizational experience and access to the areas most experienced captains, Woody can arrange and coordinate any outing or tournament. Just tell him what you need and it’s done.  Visit his website at: WWW.CAPTAINWOODYGORE.COM, send an email to wgore@ix.netcom.com or give him a call at 813-477-3814.

Tampa Bay Fishing Report January 2013

“Let’s Go Fishing” – “CaptainWoodyGore.Com”

Snook (Closed) – You can still catch snook however, if the water temperatures are lower than normal you might want to fish areas like creeks, rivers, and rivers; especially those with muddy bottoms and inshore canals, and deep water docks. Another location where snook like to hang out on cool or cold days is a sunny sandy bottom along a shallow shoreline where the sun quickly warms the water.

Redfish – You can usually find redfish during the winter and sometimes cut bait, shrimp and artificial lures are your best bet. Many times they’re not going to be the larger fish but many rats can make a good fishing trip especially for the kids. Don’t forget canal, creeks, deeper oyster bars and docks.

Spotted Sea Trout – Tampa Bay seems to be full of nice sea trout especially around broken bottom grass flats with nice pot holes. Plenty of trout should show up through the winter months. Most grass flats with moving water seem to produce the best bite using shrimp free-lined or under a popping cork and artificial lures. However some deeper rivers, channels, canals, and creeks will hold nice fish and often plenty of silver trout.

Mackerel, Cobia, Sharks – When trout fishing the flats it’s not unusual to a decent mackerel bite going. They like hanging around the chasing the schools of glass minnows. Also many times we’ve landed certain really nice pompano off the same trout flats. When running the flats looking for your favorite spot be sure to watch the wake behind your boat checking for pompano skipping in the wake. The power plants are the place to look for cobia and sharks during the winter months. But be alert as other species frequent the warm water discharges. During the winter months on the flats we still get the occasional mackerel and plenty of bluefish, ladyfish and jacks.

Sheepshead – Sheepshead should start moving in for the spawn and we should begin to see some nice sized fish on the rock piles throughout the bay. Look for them around bridges, pilings, docks, oyster bars and artificial reefs.

“Give Me a Call & Let’s Go Fishing” – 813-477-3814 Captain Woody Gore is the area’s top outdoor fishing guide. Guiding and fishing the Tampa, Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Tarpon Springs, Bradenton, and Sarasota areas for over fifty years; he offers world class fishing adventures and a lifetime of memories.

Single or Multi-boat Group Charters are all the same. With years of organizational experience and access to the areas most experienced captains, Woody can arrange and coordinate any outing or tournament. Just tell him what you need and it’s done.  Visit his website at: WWW.CAPTAINWOODYGORE.COM, send an email to wgore@ix.netcom.com or give him a call at 813-477-3814.

Almost Everyone is Susceptible to Motion Sickness

If you’ve ever been sick to your stomach on a rocking boat or a bumpy airplane ride, you know the discomfort of motion sickness. Although it doesn’t cause long-term problems, motion sickness can make life miserable, especially for people who travel a lot.

People can feel sick from the motion in cars, airplanes, trains, amusement park rides, or on boats or ships. Motion sickness is sometimes called air sickness or seasickness. Video games, flight simulators, and looking through a microscope also can cause motion sickness. In these cases, the eyes see motion, but the body does not sense it. Children from 5 to 12 years old, women, and the elderly seem to be more susceptible to motion sickness, while it is rare in children younger than age 2.

What are the symptoms of motions sickness?

Motion sickness may cause:

·A general feeling of being un-well (malaise).

·Nausea or vomiting, or both.

·Headache

·A pale appearance.

Symptoms usually go away soon after the motion stops. Sometimes it can take a few days for symptoms to go away. You may become used to motion during extended trips, such as on a cruise. If that happens, your symptoms may subside. But when you are back on land, the lack of motion can cause symptoms to return for a short time.

What causes motion sickness?

Motion sickness occurs when the inner ear, the eyes, and other areas of the body that detect motion send unexpected or conflicting messages to the brain. One part of your balance-sensing system (your inner ear, vision, and sensory nerves that help you keep your balance) may sense that your body is moving, while the other parts do not sense motion. For example, if you are in the cabin of a moving ship, your inner ear may sense the motion of big waves, but your eyes don’t see any movement. This leads to a conflict between the senses and results in motion sickness.

What are Motion Sickness Treatments?

The best way to treat motion sickness is to stop the motion. If you can’t stop the motion, sit or lie down in an area with the least motion. In an airplane, try to sit near the wings. On a ship, stay on the deck and look at the horizon. Or, if you are inside, move to the center of the ship.

You also can take prescription and nonprescription medicine to prevent or reduce symptoms of nausea and vomiting. Most medicines work best if taken before travel. The medicines work in different ways. Some are sedatives that minimize the effect of motion. Others reduce nausea and vomiting.

The following medicines may help prevent symptoms of motion sickness:

·Scopolamine (Transderm Scop)

·Promethazine (Promethegan)

·Antihistamines, including dimenhydrinate (such as Dramamine). Do not give your child antihistamines unless your child’s doctor has told you to. If the doctor tells you to give your child medicine, be sure to follow the doctor’s advice on how to give it.

People often try alternative methods of preventing motion sickness such as taking ginger or wearing acupressure bands. There is little scientific evidence that these methods work. But there is no harm in trying them.

The nice thing about fishing with Captain Woody Gore is you don’t have to worry about this problem because I’ve suffered with this problem since childhood and I don’t fish where I or my client’s will get sick.

Folks wonder why I choose guiding as a profession. For me it’s only bad when I’m in rough offshore waters… that are why I fish mostly inshore; and only occasionally travel offshore on a calm day. Fortunately, I’m ok in planes and driving or in the passenger seat of cars, however amusement rides for me are out.

Here’s what’s worked for me in recent years. Having tried all the others with no positive results and hearing for years about cinnamon and ginger; I found a couple of companies that produced products I was able to tolerate. They were:

·Pirates’ Gold Cinnamon-Ginger Candy Pirates’ Gold Ginger Candy. Some further investigations revealed that cinnamon and ginger have been used for centuries as a natural remedy in the treatment of arthritis, sea sickness, nausea, taste stimulation, morning sickness and are known for their aphrodisiac properties. These spices were so highly prized that fortunes were made and lost and empires were built around their import and export. Once more valuable than gold, these were two of the most profitable spices in the Dutch East India Company

Instructions

Bring the water back to a boil and cover the saucepan. Reduce the flame to medium heat and allow the stone crab claws to simmer for about 10 minutes.

Remove the saucepan from heat and drain all of the water out. Rinse each stone crab claw with cold water for 1 minute each.

Use a crab cracker to open each stone crab claw, and use a crab fork to remove the meat from inside. Be careful not to rip or shred the meat while removing.

Serve the stone crab claw meat immediately to prevent it from drying. Accompany with dipping butter or cocktail sauce for dipping.

Dipping Butter – Combine 2 tbsp. of butter, some minced garlic, salt and other spices to taste and microwave for a minute or two, until mixture is evenly melted. 

Tips & Warnings 

Every 2½ pounds of stone crab claws will yield about 1 pound of stone crab meat. Keep this in mind when buying to ensure you purchase enough to serve everyone.

There are many strict laws regarding harvesting fresh stone crabs. Be sure to find out the specifics in your state before tampering with or handling any stone crabs.

Snook action has been fair, but still closed. You’ll find plenty of large fish around bridges and passes especially at night with free-lined baits like pinfish, greenbacks and jumbo shrimp. Fish the broken bottom grass flats and mangroves for some exciting action. Live bait or artificial lures should do the trick.

Mangrove Snapper: If you’re looking for some late summer fun particularly for the youngsters, take them snapper fishing. Not only are these fish fun to catch, but they are great eating. Small free-lined greenbacks or pieces of fresh shrimp around markers, bridges or rock piles will usually result in a limit of fish. If the tides are strong add enough weight (1/4 – 3/8 oz.); knocker rig to keep the bait down. Here’s a tip: Put them on ice immediately, this make them much easier to clean, because it gels the fat in their stomach keeping it from sticking to your knife.

Mackerel and Blue Fish: Tampa Bay is still be loaded with plenty of threadfins, so if you’re looking for awesome, light tackle action Mac’s and Blues are excellent targets this month. Threadfins are everywhere, but look around marker cans, range markers or shallow reefs. Anchor up current, toss out a few baits for chum, throw to the striking fish and hang onto your rod and reel.

Redfish action will be steady with fish moving around the area. If they’re grouped up always approach carefully; you don’t want to split them, it’s often difficult to get them back together. When approaching fish pole or slow troll to within casting distance, Power-Pole down and get off the bow, so as to present a low profile. Try to pick off fish at the outer edges; never cast into the middle of a school. Reds eat shrimp, greenbacks, pinfish and crabs. If they’re not looking for something natural remember cut bait always works.  

Spotted Trout fishing is always productive around lush grass flats. It takes moving water to get them eating, but when they start… its fish-on. Popping corks with artificial DOA of Gulp Shrimp or live shrimp and greenbacks will produce a mess of trout. Deeper water rocky bottoms and some markers are producing some really nice catches of larger silver trout.

Cobias are still hanging around the markers and can throughout the bay if you’re interested in using a lot of fuel chasing around and checking things out. 

“Give Me a Call & Let’s Go Fishing” – 813-477-3814Captain Woody Gore is the area’s top outdoor fishing guide. Guiding and fishing the Tampa, Clearwater, St. Petersburg, Tarpon Springs, Bradenton, and Sarasota areas for over fifty years; he offers world class fishing adventures and a lifetime of memories.WWW.CAPTAINWOODYGORE.COM

Single or Multi-boat Group Charters are all the same. With years of organizational experience and access to the areas most experienced captains, Woody can arrange and coordinate any outing or tournament. Just tell him what you need and it’s done.  Visit his website at: , send an email to wgore@ix.netcom.com or give him a call at 813-477-3814.

How much more of our “Freedom” to hunt and fish are we going to lose? When is enough going to be enough?

I Refuse to Surrender My Freedom!

This little diatribe got me started when I was told I could no longer fish an area I’ve fished for over fifty years. The conversation between me and the governmental authority challenging my right to fish the area quickly became futile. So I pulled up anchor and left, grumbling to myself that it wasn’t right and what ever happened to my freedom and civil liberties as an American citizen and the right to fish, where and when, that I’ve enjoyed for so many years.

Since the attacks on September 11, 2001, our government has adopted and repeatedly used the phrase “the war on terror” and supported and endorsed the Patriot Act which at best is somewhat problematic because it was initiated during the aftermath of nine-eleven when fear was at its highest. It was created with the impression that we are fighting against a “known enemy” instead of terrorism.

During times of war, our government has a seemingly natural tendency to ignore the secured liberties of the Constitution (Bill of Rights). Our freedom, especially during times of conflict should not be precluded by the endless loss of our personal and recreational liberties. Freedom was the very thing our country was founded on. I live inAmerica, the land of the free and I’m not ready to cower down and live in fear of terrorism or surrender my personal freedoms in the interest of national security.

While we can agree thatAmericahas a strong interest in national defense, it can also be said that Constitutional rights are not to be ignored for the sake of good intentions.Whenever legislation affecting our rights or civil liberties is enacted it must be looked at not only for its end, but also for its resources. The continued infringement on our personal and civil liberties can quickly become a way of life and certainly not one our fore-fathers would have agreed to. When such governmental legislation, regardless of its intentions, ignores and violates the long-standing fundamental principles of freedom, then our country has failed the test.

Since September eleventh we’ve seen an increasing number of security zones being put into place in the name of Homeland Security. These outdoor recreational, hunting, fishing and boating closures throughout the nation are restricting admission to the same areas we’ve had access to for many centuries.

Governmental authorities must begin to rethink their level of responsibility and begin relaxing the restrictions on security zones. The responsibility for securing water entrance must revert to the operations of the ports or business that are now being secured by restricted water security zones. I don’t know of a security area that does not have guards patrolling its grounds and if they don’t have guards they certainly should be required to have them simply because of the sensitive nature of their operations. They should also be required to have security camera’s monitored from the security facilities. It’s not the general public’s businesses that are creating the security problems, so why are we being restricted and penalized from enjoying the areas we’ve enjoyed for so many years.

Is the thinking of the governmental officials so shallow as to believe that a water security zone is going to stop someone from entering a facility from water landings? In actuality, the only thing it’s preventing is recreational anglers and boaters from enjoying areas they’ve enjoyed for centuries.

As citizens, we need to voice our objections to present and continued closures and begin reestablishing our freedoms. We also need to challenge our governmental representatives, and when it comes to elections find out how they stand on certain issues relating to your recreational freedoms.

The majorities of people spending time on or near the water generally understand what is normal and what is not and are well suited to notice suspicious activities. It’s also time for local anglers and boaters to become recognized as part of the security solution rather than identified and labeled as potential terrorist. It’s these people that ultimately increase the level of security. Who better than people fishing or boating to recognize when the behavior of visitors in and around area is inconsistent with what usually takes place? Who better than the port worker or longshoreman to identify a suspicious individual loitering near a restricted area video taping, photographing, or making sketches? Who better than a marina operator or dock master to recognize a customer or crew acting suspicious? “People are not suspicious”… it’s their behavior that is suspicious.

Regardless how many homeland security zones are in place we cannot be so naïve as to believe if a terrorist organization decides to invade an American coast, river, bridge, tunnel, port, ship, military base, or waterside industry that it’s not going to happen? TheUnited Stateshas more than 95,000 miles of shoreline, over 290,000 square miles of water. Given our current economic situations and continuous cutbacks on law enforcement personnel, why not take advantage of some of the 70 million recreational boaters in theUnited Statesto identify and report suspicious persons or behavior without taking away their recreational civil liberties and recreational freedoms.

Whether you agree or not we must understand and challenge those we vote into office to explain their stand on the issues that concern each and every one of us. Our vote counts but make certain you know who, what and where they stand on the issues that affect us all!

Sometimes anglers get tired of catching fish and look for something else to do. Over the last few years hunting hogs has become popular for many hunting enthusiast and it’s something you can do year round. For those who like hunting and are tired of the same old things you might be interested in trying something different. These are the big game wild hogs found in everycountyofFlorida. They are not your ordinary barnyard pig, they’re ugly, stinky and one the smartest wild animals you’ll ever match wits against. There is an air of mystery about hunting wild hogs and a certain amount of danger, but regardless it’s gaining in popularity everywhere.

Non-native to North America hogs originated inEurasiaand began showing up as early as 1539 with the Hernando Desoto expeditions. It’s believed the first feral or wild hogs escaped from those expeditions and quickly reverted to the wild hogs we have today. Although they started out as domestic throughout the centuries now they’ve become full-blooded wild boars.

Physically, wild boars look very different and are much more aggressive from domestic pigs. With smaller ears and much longer snouts; their tails are straight and tufted at the tip. Hair coloring is brown to black with long bristles running from the head along the center line of the back. It can be raised up in the air two to three inches from the body as a warning when the boar is excited or agitated. With their hind legs shorter than front legs, wild boars have an “uphill” appearance. A mature wild boar can measure up to 40 inches at the shoulder and weigh up to 450 pounds; females somewhat shorter weighing up to 370 pounds. Under ideal conditions a healthy female (sow) can breed when only 6 months old and continue breeding every six months, producing four to 14 piglets per litter. Young wild boars are born with yellowish-brown coats with distinct dark stripes along the back providing camouflage coloring.

Because of their high reproductive rates and voracious appetitesFlorida’s up to its elbows in this prolific porker and it’s getting worse. There is an estimated half a million hogs rooting their way around the state causing serious agricultural, residential and wildlife habitat destruction. Wild hogs are opportunistic omnivorous eating machines with appetites extending beyond nuts, fruits, roots and tubers. Stomach contents actually revealed remnants of young animals, carrion and eggs of ground-nesters like sea turtles, turkey and quail.

Wild Hog Hunting – Stalking wild hogs is an exciting adventure you’ll never forget and the culinary benefits aren’t bad either. If you’re interested in pitting your wits against this cunning opponent then learning to identify certain things like food sources, rubs, wallows, habitats and travel patterns can be important to your success.

Wild hogs are tough intelligent animals with an incredible sense of smell, reasonable hearing, and moderate eyesight. They readily adapt to changing conditions and if it benefits their survival may modify their reaction to humans. Like their domestic cousins wild hogs prefer dense cover that’s close to water, and food.

Whether you’re looking for a trophy or one for the smoker you must recognize where they spend their time. Hogs do not have sweat glands, which make them partial to dense cover and shade with access to water. These pools of water or mud holes allow them to wallow and keep cool. Find these water holes along with muddy trees used to rub off the mud and you’ve found where they spend a lot of daytime hours.

Pin pointing exact food sources is more difficult, because hogs eat just about anything and doing so cause incredible ground damage which makes it those specific areas easily identifiable. Other key feeding areas include hardwoods and conifers that produce nuts or berry producing vegetation.

Hog tracks will resemble small calves and are easy to identify in moist areas. Learning to read these tracks can reveal pig trails to and from food and water. Following them often leads to tunnels through the dense vegetation and straight to bedding areas that are easily identifiable by the unpleasant odors associated with hogs.

Hunting Methods and Techniques

Spotting and Stalking - in reasonably exposed terrain can be an effective and challenging method. Position yourself facing the wind keeping open areas in clear sight. When you locate them start moving slowly and quietly in their direction keeping yourself downwind. By using all available cover you can usually get close enough for a quality shot.

Still hunting - is commonly used in thick or dense brush, find an area with fresh signs, then maintain soft/quiet footing and begin moving slowly stopping often to look, listen and smell. Stay alert as you move and keep your face into the wind.

Stationary Tree Stands or Blinds - is primarily an early morning technique so plan to arrive before sunrise. Pigs continually use certain areas or trails so choose a downwind location with good cover and a clear view. Now it’s a waiting game.

Taking the Shot - When you finally squeeze off the expected kill shot at a wild hog, remember they are surprisingly intelligent, physically adapt and mentally tough and horrifying thing you’ve ever heard about wounded hogs is true.

Head Shot – Not always the best: As a rule, a well placed head shot will drop the pig instantly and you’ve got an instant kill; especially if the bullet enters at or just behind the ear cutting the spinal cord or going through the brain. On the other hand, since animals are constantly moving their heads making this shot can be risky business unless perfectly executed. Virtually nothing in the head or neck area is vital to life except the central nervous system and the slightest miscue often leaves the charged up on adrenaline, blinded, with a possible broken jaw or some other mortal wound.

For that reason shot placement is especially important for a quick clean kill. Ideally, a shot on a broadside should be placed in the lower shoulder area. If the animal is quartering towards or away from you, you’ll want to place the shot so the bullet ends up in the vital organs between the shoulders a couple of inches above the front elbow, where the bullet should pass through the lungs and possibly the heart. Keep in mind that any unplaced broadside or shoulder shot that does sever the spinal cord seldom results in an instant kill leaving the animal mortally wounded and often un-recovered. Nevertheless, once you shoot any animal, it is your responsibility to recover it and depending on the wound it can take hours of hard work over rough terrain.

Much talk has been put forth about the head shot, and that can definitely be a kill shot, provided you hit the brain. Make note of the fact that a hog’s brain is well protected by its thick skull and a small target. Here again, a tough bullet with good penetration is key.

A broken shoulder certainly puts a hog down on the spot, allowing for a fast follow-up shot if it’s necessary; this ideal if you don’t want to have to trail the animal, but would rather kill it quickly and efficiently. Also in the case of a mature hog, you don’t want it coming after you with those nasty sharp tusks.

How Much Gun – One important thing to remember is take enough guns to do the job. I would not hunt hogs with any rim fire cartridge; unless I was dealing with very small young pigs. So, how much gun is enough? That depends on the hog and bullet placement. For normal hogs you might start with any cartridge in the class of a 30-30. Especially with 170-grain bullets you’ll get plenty of penetration. Smaller hogs can be killed with lesser cartridges, and larger boars would best be approached with something much heavier. Overall, you want to use enough gun and ammo to penetrate with enough depth to do the job efficiently, while allowing for a margin of error.

Everyone tries to make a clean kill, but it does not always happen and because pigs have thick hides with the inherent ability to seal a wound they often have a tendency to leave little or no blood. Therefore, after you take your shot try to determine whether you hit the animal and if it’s no longer visible, make a mental mark of where it was when you shot. Go to that spot and hopefully you’ll a have a dead animal; if not mark the spot, so you can return later. Now begin searching the immediate area for signs that help determine what type of wound you’re dealing with. Frothy blood indicates a lung shot which usually causes the animal to succumb rather quickly. On the other hand, stomach contents indicate a stomach wound which seldom drops one quickly. A stomach wounded animal will usually lie down after a short run and expire, so it’s often better to wait a little while before tracking.

Wild hogs are especially strong, hard to kill and capable of inflicting serious injury; they often backtrack charging from behind or lie in wait for an ambush When you think you are close to finding or have located the animal you shot always approach with caution. Stunned animals can also recover quickly attacking without warning; so be alert and prepared for a second shot until you’ve confirmed the animal is dead.

Field Dressing – Like most wild animals, hogs carry parasites and diseases that can transmit to humans. Several possibilities are brucellosis, tuberculosis, anthrax and trichinosis. When handling any carcass take every precaution to protect against disease and pest exposure and most importantly always avoid any blood to blood contact. At all times wear latex or rubber gloves, wear safety glasses or goggles, don’t eat or drink will dressing the animal, wear long sleeve shirts and pants, wash and disinfect hands and clothing and always cook the meat to a least 185 degrees.

The next time you pull your chair up to the dinner table for a wild hog roast pork dinner with brown rice and gravy, buttermilk biscuits, green beans and cold iced tea, you might find yourself wondering why more people don’t hunt hogs.