Appalachia, humidity, hog hunting

[jamesp]

This is a morning photo from Dahlonega Georgia. A dry day at 8am and the clouds will be burning off within an hour or two.
For distance perception you are looking at mountains 10 miles away and averaging 3000 feet elevation. About 8 miles of high ridge on horizon.

Back in my 30's and 40's this was a typical 25 mile hog hunt hike starting where the photo was taken and returning to same point.
We used no trails and brought 2 to 5 dogs. In winter starting in the dark at about 4am and ~5F so cold.
Ridges were attempted to and from. Once 10 miles out to top of ridge we walked the dogs on the high ridge about 5 miles and returned back on a different 10 mile return trek.
We brought trash bags to wear over our lower body to cross larger creeks to avoid getting wet and freezing. Waterproof boots too heavy for such a long hike.
Hogs were prepped in the field and the meat back packed to return point.
I was the only city boy and was an avid bicyclist with good lungs. The rest were mountain folks, some 20 years my senior and could flat out climb those hills.
Long retired from such feats, only memories the past.



This is about an hour later, clouds cooked off, dry.
10 miles away on slope facing you in above photo at 2400 feet at about 1/3 over horizon from left side of above photo.
Horizon at 3000 feet and a 'gap' called Cooper's Gap.
A crossing for the ridge running Appalachian Trail.
My property is about 4 miles further over the gap and down to the Toccoa River Valley at 2300 feet.



This is same morning photo from Dahlonega a day later after serious storms the night before. Humidity/fog down low and beginning to rise.



And this is the same point at about 9am at 2400 feet with fog rising well over ridge. If the truck was reversed it would disappear off a very steep slope covered in wild raspberries.



Most of the forests in this 90k acre section of rugged National Forest have not been cut in 2 centuries and are lush. Vegetation spectacular and diverse.
The forest service maintains a plethora of steep and windy gravel and clay roads and most are rarely travelled.

Geology of interest - garnet mines for abrasives, mica books(just like it sounds, chunks of mica as big as books), staurolite, ruby, copper ores, and of coarse world class upland gold mines.
Most of the gold was obtained be mining and crushing white quartz. And panning or small dredge.

[hummingbirdstones2]

Yep, looks like my "back yard" did where I grew up near Blacksburg, VA.

The most dense parts of the "woods" out here in AZ look like parks compared to where you are. I still remember how all the briars, brambles, rhodedendrons and such grow there. Lots of "lush" undergrowth to pick yer' way through. Was always nice to pick wild berries and fruits as we wandered around when they were in season, though.

[jamesp]

Jun 28, 2019 8:22:24 GMT -5 hummingbirdstones2 said:

Yep, looks like my "back yard" did where I grew up near Blacksburg, VA.

The most dense parts of the "woods" out here in AZ look like parks compared to where you are. I still remember how all the briars, brambles, rhodedendrons and such grow there. Lots of "lush" undergrowth to pick yer' way through. Was always nice to pick wild berries and fruits as we wandered around when they were in season, though.

The herbalists like the copious variety of perennial woodland shade undergrowth to make their brews with hummingbirdstones2.
Many 'remedy' concoctions so they claim.

Thankfully they have not cut the forests in many years to shed light on bramble growth. The woodland herbaceous plants easier to trek thru.

I suppose Aridzona was a serious change in habitat from super humid to super arid. It is rock collecting paradise out that way and lucky you.

[Rockoonz]

Looks like a deciduous version of the mostly evergreen forests we have around here. Of course your mountains are a bit more weathered down as well, and we don't have hogs to hunt, just black tails, elk, and bears, plus an occasional mt sheep for the hardy ones lucky enough to get the rare tags.

[jamesp]

Jun 28, 2019 9:53:22 GMT -5 Rockoonz said:

Looks like a deciduous version of the mostly evergreen forests we have around here. Of course your mountains are a bit more weathered down as well, and we don't have hogs to hunt, just black tails, elk, and bears, plus an occasional mt sheep for the hardy ones lucky enough to get the rare tags.

The mountain hogs become formidable beasts apparently due to the compressed steep terrain Lee. And a rich food supply.
Somewhere back when they released the Russian strain with the long hair, thick neck and big tusks.
Even a small Russian hog was about all several dogs could handle.
The wild hogs have a disastrous impact on vegetation and native animal's habitat so it is always open season on those monsters.
It is hard to figure how they lower their head and plow thru root rich hard soil as if powered by a diesel.

They are brilliant animals. The strategy was to walk ridges to allow the dogs to pick up their scent from cross wind.
Once the dogs scent them it is downhill to bottom land where they rest during the day giving the hunter a bit of an easier fast downhill approach.
Hopefully the dogs bay in the bottom land. If not those rascals know to bolt up the steepest slope to foil dog and hunter.
Once to the top of the ridge they pick the steepest slope to descend to the next low area.
This roller coaster cycle may repeat several times depending on how rested the hogs were.
The dogs have no issues in keeping up with them but us hunters get exhausted. Thick pants helps in sliding on your bum down the leaf covered slopes.

And if the hogs decide to stand their ground the dogs were often injured.
So it was mandatory for the hunters to stay as close as possible to shoot hogs before the dogs get mauled.
The hogs always stood their ground in the bottoms, their 1st choice was a big creek where the water would slow the dog's attack.
Hog's stand their ground in low areas and bears stand their ground on hill tops.
Most often the bear goes up a tree instead of attacking the dogs. If not the dogs are in grave danger.

The mountain's boys had a complicated relationship with their dogs. They loved them but they also risked the dog's life in these hunts.

These worn down mountains are composed of mostly granitoids. No where near the fine geology your mountains offer.
No beauty surpasses the western mountain ranges.

[greig]

Beautiful pictures. Life is good when you can be in places like that. I have never hunted hogs but did see one when bow hunting for deer. It was probably an escapee from a preserve. Wild ones are not in this area. I should have "sent it", but I was not sure at first what I was looking at. It was raining and and starting to get dark. I can tell you that they are even uglier when soaking wet. It probably thought the same about me. LOL

[jamesp]

Jun 30, 2019 9:45:19 GMT -5 greig said:

Beautiful pictures. Life is good when you can be in places like that. I have never hunted hogs but did see one when bow hunting for deer. It was probably and escapee from a preserve. Wild ones are not in this area. I should have "sent it", but I was not sure at first what I was looking at. It was raining and and starting to get dark. I can tell you that they are even uglier when soaking wet. It probably thought the same about me. LOL

Your not at all ugly greig. Maybe the hog's opinion lol.
They sure are butt ugly. Surprisingly smart and unusually unpredictable.
Best to tell him he is ugly when you are up in a stand though.

I must say that the gov't did a great job in beautifying this mountain area by simply terminating logging operations many years ago.
One draw 50 miles north on the north slope of Lake Fontana is lined with massive virgin poplars, a sight to behold.

[1dave]

The forest service maintains a plethora of steep and windy gravel and clay roads and most are rarely traveled.

Around here the Forest Service doesn't want to be bothered by those old roads. They are putting big boulders across the entrance - you re out of luck if trapped by a forest fire.

[jamesp]

Jul 23, 2019 10:01:24 GMT -5 1dave said:

The forest service maintains a plethora of steep and windy gravel and clay roads and most are rarely traveled.

Around here the Forest Service doesn't want to be bothered by those old roads. They are putting big boulders across the entrance - you re out of luck if trapped by a forest fire.

Ridge roads and access to the many small patches of private settlements speckled over the National forest makes up a large percentage of the roads.
They have closed off many steeper roads close to creeks and springs that present high erosion issues or that simply wash out easily.
They do a good job of keeping silt out of the streams to protect trout waters.

The millennial age group has become active in 4WD activities and have began clearing brush and deadfalls off of old logging trails.
Most of then have shiny newer vehicles that have been well modified for off roading. They don't seem to like scratches on their vehicles and do a great job clearing old roads.

[bobby1]

A few years back when I was still working I had the job decommissioning a 600,000sq.ft. biotech R&D building. After we eliminated the onsite security staff and there were few people around the feral hogs took over and during the night they rooted all of the manicured lawns into shreds. We were trying to keep the landscaping looking good because we were trying to rent out the property. I couldn't hire hunters with guns to take care of them because the property was in the city limits. (San Jose, CA pop 1 million). I was allowed to get bow hunters to come in but they were marginally successful. Those hogs were very resourceful and wary. The bow hunters got maybe 6 or 7 little ones over a period of a few weeks but the fact that they were hunted drove them away for quite a while. Long enough for us to get it rented. When there was a 24-hour presence of people the hogs stayed away permanently.
Bob