Well, we've wrapped up another season. We might see a hunt or two this summer, but for the most part, it's over until early fall. Excellent year at Yellow Bluff Adventure Society. Last year we added a new wing onto the cabin with a large kitchen and living room with a tile floor. I painted the cabin singlehandedly and put flower beds all the way around it.

We slaughtered the deer this year. The pictures are up on the deer photos page. In one hunt, we killed two massive trophy bucks, one with incredible mass and a thick basket rack. It looks like the trunk of a 20-year-old crepe myrtle. The other one had a 21 inch spread and really long tines.

The hogs as usual were plentiful. We killed a slew of big boars--several in the 300 pound range. Francis and Hank came down again. Marty Thompson and Greg Dailey, as well. George Smith couldn't make it this year, but he called several times to check in with us. We're looking forward to next year already, and we're hoping the river stays full so we can get in a little fishing.

No one killed the deranged deer murderer from last year, so we can only assume that he's still out there.

March 7, 2006
Well, it has been over a year since I posted--no real reason, other than the fact that we've been too busy to do anything other than hunt--no time for web surfing. At any rate, it has been a successful season. Some of the same guys have come down: Francis and his friends, Hank and his friends, Greg Dailey, George Smith--the usual suspects.

We've had a lot of misses since the first of the year, and we haven't gotten as many hogs as we would like to, but deer season this year was phenomenal--trophy bucks were coming out the woodwork. We had one buck KILL another one during the rut. He raked and ruthlessly stabbed an eight point to death. What's more? No one killed him. This murderous, deranged monster is still roaming our land, and he will be available next year.

Another bizarre tale--my uncle Scott caught a 10 point on a trot line. That's right. He went to check his lines and found a drowned deer caught in the line. Earlier in the year, he killed an excellent buck with his bow. Now he claims he has given up hunting with a gun altogether.

We've got a brief reprieve the last few weeks with no hunters. The hogs should be raring to go for the next bunch that rolls in.

That's all for now. Until next time, I'm Michael Williams.

Well, Francis and his group just left early Monday morning. This is his 6th or 7th year coming to Yellow Bluff Adventure Society. He is one of our most valued customers. Last spring he finally killed his first trophy boar, which he plans to mount at the base of his staircase with the front legs justting out of the wall.

This weekend, however, was one of the most successful hunts we've ever had. For some reason, our place is filled with huge hogs this year. During the course of the weekend, 7 hunters killed 4 trophy boars (over 200 pounds). Several of them had very impressive tusks. Francis got his second, Kenny got one, Jim got one, and Brian killed a hog that was borderline. He decided not to mount it, but we cut the head off and sent his home with that. I think he's going to bury it in the ground, let the flesh rot off, and keep the skull (European mount). Everyone saw plenty of hogs and we had several meat hogs killed as well. Francis even saw a "flying bobcat." (Don't ask).We had a great time. I've never seen men eat that much.

It was an extremely cold weekend, even for these Pennsylvania natives, and they had to drive back in a blizzard. Well, I hope you guys had a safe ride home and I look forward to seeing you next year. That's all for now. I'm off to the grocery store to prepare for the next hunt. We have five guys coming in this weekend. Until next time, I'm Michael Williams (El Capitan).

Well, deer season is officially over, but that doesn't mean that we are slowing down a bit. Greg Dailey has come down countless times over the last two months. The guy has really fallen in love with our place and he consistently kills trophy boars. Between he and his friends, I estimate the total for the year to be around 6?--all wallhangers. Greg says he has space for at least 10 himself and he's not stopping anytime soon. He killed another one a few days ago that had 3 inch tusks. My brother says it's luck, my Dad says he's just sitting in the right places, but I say the man is a skilled hunter. I live on this place and I don't see as many trophy boars as he does. I would equate what he has done this year with killing 5, 10 point Boone and Crockett bucks in the same year. He deserves his own space in _Field and Stream_, or at least _Georgia Outdoors_!

January 1st, we had the pleasure of hosting Pat and Elaine Dupras from extreme upstate New York--very near the Canadian border. They are seasoned hunters and have traveled all over the world in search of big game. They also brought along their wonderful grandson Zack, whom I am confident had an excellent time. He sat with his grandfather Pat in the cutover plot one evening and they killed two hogs with ease. Meanwhile, Elaine killed the trophy of the hunt in the two story stand. The hogs were a little wary that weekend, but all in all, I believe it was a good hunt. We spotted a couple of REAL trophies at different times, but no one got a shot on one.

George Smith from Chickamagua, Georgia showed up the second day in, and got a nice meat hog. His last evening, he got a good shot on a trophy. According to George, it looked like a bear. Unfortunately he missed. He was also a great guy and we hope to have both groups down again next year.

Friendship, comraderie, and the love of the hunt is what it is all about and we've had plenty of that. I can only look forward now to all the exciting hog hunts in January, February, and March, as well as the approach of turkey season. I'm stil working out the kinks on the pontoon boat, and I finally have my wooden skiff registered. The Ocmulgee River is full, inviting, and stretches its brown current all the way to the ocean. We'll soon find out if it has any fish in it, especially if this warm weather keeps up. Until next time, I'm Michael Williams, cook, counselor, guide, professor, and soon to be El Capitan (if my boat gets fixed) in short: jack of all trades!

last weekend
Andy Bell and Bruce Mercer came down from Maryland last weekend for their first hog hunt and had a real blast, both maxing out with three hogs. We had a lot of fun. I felt like I had known these guys for years from the moment they drove up. We rode around the place Thursday evening and they hunted Friday and Saturday. Andy has already called and left a message, saying that he is coming back in the spring and bringing his entire family.

I got to do a little hunting as well. My wife and I went out Saturday morning and walked into the swamp down a road that deadends on a penisula that juts out into the Ocmulgee River. I initally intended to walk almost all of the way to the river itself and take a hard left into the swamp from there--just amble around a little bit, walk for a while and sit--that sort of thing. After we had walked about 200 yards down the road, a spike chased a doe across the road in front of us, so we went into the woods right there. We eased along and crossed a big slew. At one point a big hog came running right across our field of vision. He never saw us, but something had him spooked, possibly the deer, because he grunted the entire way until he was out of sight. I would have liked for my wife to shoot him, but he was moving too fast for her to even get her rifle up.
After about an hour, I spotted the spike and doe right along the edge of the riverbank. We had been creeping along the entire time and finally caught up to them. They were behind some trees and palmettoes, so it was hard to make them out, but all of a sudden, the spike ran off and a buck stepped into view. I couldn't see his rack very well. I called my wife up to where I was standing and she put her scope on him but apparently couldn't see anything. We sat still for about five minutes and crept forward a little farther. He kept coming in and out of vision, walking behind the trees on the riverbank. I could tell his body was huge and I thought he had a really decent rack, but I wasn't sure. I kept urging Jana (my wife) to shoot him, but she couldn't get a good view of him. Finally I saw his breath blowing behind some trees and asked to hold her rifle, which, unlike mine, had a scope. When I spotted the buck in the scope, I noticed that he was looking right back at me. On impulse, I shot him.

He turned out to be an 11 point buck with a few kicker points, an old deer who was going downhill. His rack really wasn't that impressive and had a very bizzare structure, but he would have been an incredible first kill for my wife, a fact of which she keeps reminding me. I doubt I'll ever be forgiven for shooting him out from under her and she's so disgusted with me, she says she'll never go hunting with me again.

Greg Dailey came back down on Sunday with a friend. His buddy saw two eight points but wasn't buck hunting. He wound up with a trophy boar---huge but lacking the tusk length of the one Greg killed earlier this fall.

Well, I've got to go, but we've got two groups of hunters coming in the next week. There has been a lot of action at Yellow Bluff this year, and I expect it to keep happening.

Michael Williams (cook, guide, website designer, and writer)

Last Two Hunts
Well, we just finished two hunts, one last week, and the other last weekend (Halloween). Greg Dailey, a boxer from Alabama, brought some friends down during the week and they scored an unbelievable trophy hog (250-300 pounds).

That weekend we had Don Latch and friends come in. They got here early on Thursday, and even though the hunt didn't officially start until Friday, we allowed them to go ahead and hunt that afternoon, since they were repeat customers. It was a slaughter. That afternoon alone they got 11 hogs between them. Their overall take for the weekend was a little hazy to me, but in Don's words, "James shot 2 pigs, Elton shot 2 pigs, Ed shot 2 pigs, Harry shot 4 pigs (on the first night there), and I shot 2 pigs, 1 doe, and 1 nice bobcat." We enjoyed comraderie and friendship all weekend, and I've never used a Weber grill so frequently in my life. We literally grilled chicken, boston butts, deer steaks, hamburgers, and sausage. By Sunday night I was sick of grilled food. I never thought I'd say those words, but I fried some deer steaks for supper that night.

The guys took off sometime during the wee hours of Monday morning. I didn't help them pack, and despite the massive homeade cooler they brought, I still doubted their ability to carry all that meat home with them, but apparently they were able to fit it all. Everyone seemed to have a great time. I'm still in touch with Don. He's sent me a lot of picture which I've put up on the website. So, James and Elton Pifer, Ed Beatson, Harry and Don Latch, I'll see you guys next year.

First Hunt of the Fall
Well, we just finished our first hunt of the season. Nelson Arrington and two friends came down from Greenville, South Carolina. They have been here before and they were welcome guests this time. Incredibly nice people who just enjoyed a terrific hunt. The place was a little wet the first day, but that didn't stop all three guys from scoring a hog Friday morning. That evening Nelson finally got a big one--a two hundred pound curly haired boar with a long snout. We've been seeing him around all summer and he had gotten so bold, he was eating seed out of the bags we left in the plot while we were planting. Nelson saw him in the Cravey Field and stalked him through the swamp for a few hundred yards before shooting him in the head, unfortunately ruining his chances for a mount. We skinned the head out anyway, and sent him home with a gruesome hog skull to decorate his office with and possibly freak out his wife and kids.
The swollen Ocmulgee River began to drop and they had more mobility Saturday. Everyone got two hogs and maxed out their limit. We watched a little football Saturday--the Bulldogs devastating loss to Tennessee, not to mention these Gamecocks fans' loss to Ole Miss, but a good time was had by all and we topped it off with a traditonal Southern meal Saturday night of Smoked picnic ham, purple hull peas, corn on the cob, rice and cornbread. These guys had the time of their life and so did I. I know they can't wait until next year.