[Graybeard]

in Clarkrange, TN will be the site of my next hog hunt. I have made arrangements with owner Ken Moody to swap a hog hunt for some advertising on my site.

Dave Quick aka Ironknees and I will arrive on the afternoon of April 14, hunt April 15 and 16 and depart on the 17th. Dave will be using his Marlin .45-70 I believe doing a product test of some new Barnes X bullets loaded over Hodgdon powder. I hope to take both the FA97 and the Taurus Raging Bull .480 Ruger and give them both some time to see which is in hand when I see hog. The FA97 will be first up most likely.

I've seen a couple of videos made at Clarkrange and it would appear they have some seriously tough terrain. Seems I recall Ted Nugent and Dave Watson the guy from Secrets of the Hunt were bow hunting on one or both of the videos using dogs to roust out the hogs. Looked a lot more like work than fun in that tough terrain. Clarkrange claims over 1000 acres of some of the toughest ground in TN.

They offer hunts using dogs, ground blinds or stands. I suspect Dave and I will both forego the dogs and have a more sedentary hunt befitting our advanced age and deteriorated heath. I know dang well this fat boy ain't chasing dogs all over those mountains.

So look for both our stories here on this forum most likely. Dave's will also be on his site and in his online e-zine. I'll post mine to the Campfire Tales also.

GB

 

[Mad Dog]

Graybeard, I haven't hunted there since about 1984, when the guy who is now the taxidermist was then the owner[John Gilbert]. You are right, that is some real serious terrain at Clarkrange[especially the "gorge"]. You both should have a great hunt. I hope you both get a biggun. :lol:

Mad Dog

 

[IronKnees]

Just FYI guys, I finished testing the Barnes XFN 300 grainers I am using on this hunt. Using H4198 powder, they are 1650 fps at the muzzle, and at 50 yards, they are very accurate... each bullet hole touching the next... I figure about 1500 fps at 50 yards, and of the two I recovered, one shed just a little bit of one petal for a retained weight percentage of 97% if I remember correctly, and the other retained 99.8%... MAN! I'Z READY TO GO!!! :lol:

 

[castaway]

Hey GB, check out the post I made under the thread about "semi autos legal in TN." We only went twice, once with Rob, once with Rob's ashes. The first year, the dogs bayed up a hog under a rock ledge. There was a path either side of the ledge, four men were at the right side, Larry and I were on the left . About that time I made up my mind there wasn't room for a hog and me, let alone Larry and me and a hog, I climbed up the rock face. Just as I started up, Mr. Hog came our way. By good fortune, Larry fell back on a fence post (it must be 300' straight down there) and I was up about three feet, the hog passed between us. In the lodge, it took more than one sip of Tennessee's best for each of us to steady our nerves!

 

[Mad Dog]

Hey GB and IronKnees, you guys might ask Ken about his presidential boars, and what he gets for them. Those are some SERIOUSLY big hogs with BIG teeth! Also, if anything gets said about going down in the "gorge", take some oxygen and a MASH unit with you!

 

[IronKnees]

Mad Dog, there is nothing on Ken's website or brochure about them except just a mention of them... Do you know what the cost difference is, and the degree of difficulty involved with them over his "normal" offerings?

 

[Mad Dog]

Dave, I can only tell you what I have read about them on other forums, plus what a taxidermist friend of mine said about hunting them when he took a group down hunting a few years back. These are supposedly hogs weighing at least 300 lbs. with 3" cutters or bigger. Somewhere on the property there is a large "**** hole" they hunt them in, mostly with dogs, and not for the faint of heart! I think the cost is somewhere between $900-$1,000. Probably the reason Ken doesn't advertise them in his brochure, is because he probably can't find enough of that kind of hog to meet the demand. If you are interested, you might email him, and get the details.

 

[boartuff]

GB,hi.Not to be too corrective,but the fella I think you mentioned from Secrets of the Hunt,is actually Dave Watson.Nice man and very helpful.He gave me a number for hog huntin in TX.An aquaintance of his,offering hunts for 75$ a day.Unlimmited piggies.Darn it if I don't have the number away in storage somewhere!I'm lookin forward to hearing how you do at Moody's.I've considered his place a destination too.

Bagger

 

[Graybeard]

Bagger, I blieve you are 100% correct. I am horrible on names and wasn't sure I had that right but it was as close as I could come. Thanks. I've corrected above.

GB

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I hunted boar at Clarksrange in 1979. John owned and ran the place back than. His wife ran a little shop where we bought T-shirts, honey, belt buckles and I can't remember what else. I still have the original belt buckle to go along with the photos that I saved.
I wouldn't say who we bought the moonshine from, but out of the 10 hunters that drank the stuff, only a few were capable of hunting the next morning. Powerful stuff!
We hunted with two packs of dogs with their handlers and the action was hot and heavy. In two days we easily took 11 boar. Everyone had a lot of fun. I was amazed to run into Ken Moody at the Harrisburg Show and to learn that the same facility was still in full swing.
The boys and I have a Pa hog hunt already planned but will be making plans to go to Clarksrange next year.
VH[/b]