Pearl River Stalk?

Wanted to try a new approach this year and was curious if anyone else does it or if im crazy for even trying...I was thinking about stalk hunting deer and hogs on pearl river but i know pearl is thick and nasty as ive already been hunting there with a climber. Any spot and stalk guys out there? Using my .35 whelen so i wont need to get right up on em.

Quietly sneaking through the woods on public land sounds like a good way to catch a bullet. You'd better be wearing orange from head to toe and it's still a dangerous proposition.

Gonna have orange on for sure but this has been a thought..plenty guys out there shoot every time something moves.

Reelywant2fish,I would offer this suggestion-might be great idea,just do that style of hunting during week when pressure minimal at best.If you cover your scent and are extremely skillful at stalking,might sneak up on family or two of hogs,doubtful you would stalk a deer but years ago,while stalking squirrels,had a huge 6 point stand his ground and stomp his front hooves trying to get me to budge and I stood my ground and he finally decided I might be more of a threat than he initially imagined and he trotted off.Had I had a slug gun,dat woulda been nice 6 point on Public Land and I forget the exact trail I was on but most likely long trail off Oil Well Road!!Give it a shot,make sure you are head-to-toe Hunter Orange and ya might take yaself a nice trophy,get out there and do some serious stalking!!I tried stalking squirrels today but with this strong front and stiff N/NNE wind,trees were a-shaking and only saw one small squirrel and it was no where near me to try to sneak up on him!Good luck!!

Mandevillian

appreciate it,was thinking the weekdays were my best bet as well,unfortunately the way the dates fall for primitive, my Pearl River hunts will almost always be on the weekend,may do a combo of stalk and use my ground blind....my days off from work during the week are reserved for the rut on Sherburne ;)

Reelywant2fish,Gotta tell you amusing story that just happened yesterday when I ran into James Madison in Honey Island Swamp(he is Hunting safety Instructor).He and I had happenstance meeting a few weeks ago and we joked about some of what he has seen in Honey Island Swamp(someone actually set up ground blind directly on a trail)and we got a laugh out of that.I certainly understand the reluctance of folks to venture too far off trails and I used to be that way til I started scouting and walking the numerous sloughs that get you off the beaten path and away from the wary eyes and ears of critters out there.I did find a nice climbing stand that someone left not too far off one of the many cleared paths and I was not about to remove this hunter's stand,just thought it was kinda foolish to leave a nice climbing stand not too far from where folks could easily find it and someone not as ethical as me might take it with them!There are tons of trails all through that hardwood forest and I saw a ton of hog tracks and could see that I musta missed bunch of rooting-up hogs by not that much and saw ton of cutting from cypress balls and know where my next squirrel hunt gonna be.Love my mid-week hunts and James and I agree that just getting out into those gorgeous woods worth it and we both avoid week ends like the plague!!For someone wanting to take a little time and effort to not only scout but also put in some effort and take a canoe or pirogue,you would have the woods all to yourself.I might start taking my Chapman pirogue and paddle some of the deeper sloughs and pound the squirrels!!!Never know,ya might stumble upon nice deer/hog hunting spot or two.

Mandevillian

thats too funny! i know the honey island swamp area can be intimidating,but you gotta get in there! I have a kayak and often wondered about taking it back there and paddling around,im just too nervous to leave it behind when i get where im going,now days,someone will see it and think its their birthday and help themselves to it.

Yep,and the guy that left the climbing stand needs to probably use a chain and padlock to avoid possibly loosing nice stand.Think if ya chained yak to tree you would be ok,just maybe try ya best to hide it!!

Mandevillian

Stalking works. The key is to move slow and watch at a distance. On opening weekend you will do better to slip off in the deep woods and let other hunters spook the deer in your direction. I wouldn't get too excited about the Pearl River WMA though. There was only 4 reported deer kills for 2016-2017. I'm not sure how many were not reported. Hunting by pirogue is very effective in certain areas. You can slip right up on deer pretty easily. I would advise bring two paddles. When you see your game just lay it down in the water to avoid hitting the boat.

I seriously doubt the accuracy of the reported deer kill in Pearl River WMA and have spooked plenty of deer while stalking squirrels. That hardwood forest is loaded with plenty of game just gotta be extremely quiet and stealthy and try mid-week hunts when pressure much lighter. Taking a pirogue would be awesome idea and I might have to take my own advice. Going tomorrow but going duck hunting in S portion of Swamp off Hwy 90.

Mandevillian

There are deer in the South marsh portion as well. I've seen several hit on HWY 90.

The Pearl River WMA used to have some very good hunting years ago. The area was heavily managed by game wardens which helped prevent poaching. Katrina really hurt the area as well. The area lost a large number of mature hardwoods and the underbrush went wild. I don't hunt that WMA much as it appears over ran by hunters. I hunted it a few times last year by boat and there were stands everywhere I looked.

i hunted over the weekend...no deer. I could hear a group of hogs most of the morning while stalking along Indian bayou but i could not cross over to where they were. I saw very little deer sign anywhere but saw tons of hog sign. I will say that last year i bow hunted Pearl hard,was out there alot and only saw 1 deer..the couple of times i hunted Sherburne i saw a few deer..i know pearl has deer somewhere they just in there deep.

Reelywant2fish,I spooked a few does a couple of weeks ago driving with brights on going down Oil Well Road and have spooked a few hogs while stalking squirrels.One problem is that it gets a ton of pressure and mid-week hunts probably ya best bet and I should start taking my pirogue to get way away from crowds.James Madison,the guy I run into quite frequently,was telling me he knows of some very nice ponds but they are hikes and he used to see plenty of wood ducks in some of those ponds but not lately and ya would think there should be woodies galore!!

Mandevillian

I saw a ton of ducks along Indian bayou (not sure what kind,not a duck guy) I looked briefly for some launch spots for my kayak,that idea is still tempting..

That would most likely be wood ducks,filet mignon in my humble opinion,and James Madison was telling me he used to see plenty in ponds way deep in de Swamp.Going duck hunting this week end,hoping for better results than what I ended up with yesterday!!Love to stalk squirrels using pirogue not to shoot them from but to cross sloughs and get deeper into thicker woods with much less hunting pressure!!

Mandevillian

If you teach yourself how to stalk you can get the hogs on a regular basis. It is not easy at all and if you follow trails and sloughs you will probably have very limited success. If you seriously want to be successful get you a gps and learn how to use it well. Get a good backpack and go into the deepest unbroken blocks you can find on maps. Go between trails. The hog sign is all over but they head deep at crack of light when they hear the first trucks coming in, thats how they survive. Get a mile back for daylight and go crosswind and you’ll intercept them going bed up in a hole in deep swamp where they won’t encounter humans. Game used to be much closer to roads but almost all thickets have grown into sapling forest of invasive species like tallow. These invasive differ no browse and no secure bedding areas now that sunlight is removed. Be careful as I encounter more giant boars than any other deep. Often they will be pissed I’m in their bedroom and give a bunch of warning grunts from inside the thickets. You will need to know how to field clean a pig to hunt this method to get them out. I’m often between 1 and 3 miles deep no trails when I get them. There are very few deer anymore as they’re is very little browse or quality bedding. There are a few deer but they are big woods deer which are very hard to figure out. My friend and I have been trying for 3 years to catch up with 2 different mature bucks with no success yet. I did manage one buck last year. I did get 6 hogs and a coyote in 3 morning hunts the last 2 weekends with my bow and passed on a few giants. I only took pics of four. The coyote attacked one of hogs I arrowed while it was running away, I grabbed another arrow and smoked the yote in back of the head. There are not many places you can pick up sloughs big enough to pirogue deep enough to get to game unless it’s high water time. Good luck and be careful.

I totally agree that ya gotta get off the beaten path to find hogs but can’t tell ya how many I have spooked while very slowly and steadily traversing the many sloughs and game trails,not human trails. I have not spooked any deer or hogs lately but most likely more a factor of hunting pressure and also my lack of hunts out there as my schedule has not allowed me as much time as it used to. Taking a pirogue off any of the many branches off the Pearl should allow one to get way away from most hunting pressure and ya definitely right about using a GPS to get way back there. I musta been right behind a small herd of hogs on my last trip out there as droppings were extremely fresh as were their rooted up trails.

Mandevillian

Nice kills! i do have a GPS which has saved my butt more than once. I go deep and hear hogs just cant ever seem to get to em..i know theres a group on the other side of Indian bayou...Pearl is the closest to me which is why i usually end up there. I woudlnt mind bagging a few hogs there,i always seem to see them when im scouting and never when actually hunting.

No absolutes but willing to bet de ranch dat a mid-week hunt off Indian Bayou or any waterbody getting way away from tons of pressure de way to score just a hunch.

Mandevillian more of Duck hunter but stalks squirrels when free

I had been hunting the Pearl from my pirogue but the past few years just been stalking. I see plenty of game while stalking. Plenty of wood duck, squirrels, a few deer and plenty plenty hogs. My last hunt last season ended with a pack of ten hogs running up on me (scared the crap outta me). I killed a 4 point in 2016 by stalking. You definitely need to get away from the people but I do it and I drive in on old Hwy 11. And as much tromping around as I do in there I rarely see snakes, actually saw more gators than snakes. The stalking has gotten much better now years after Katrina, walking not bad at all. I cross water a lot but it's not bad. Had a few deer blow at me last year as I stalked. My daughter and I went for youth weekend 2017. It was her first hunt and I was happy that we jumped several animals. We weren't in the woods 15 minutes when the first large hog took off. Later that morning we jumped a deer and then not two minutes later another big hog. She is inexperienced and as slow on the trigger but I was happy we didn't just walk for hours and not see anything. Nothing harvested but I consider it a successful day in the woods with my daughter

I see tons of cotton mouths,some hogs, and no deer lol. Sigen, im having a girl due in may, how old was yours when you started taking her with you on public land?

My daughter is 15 this season but was probably 11 when we first hunted. All I hunt is public land. But my son, who is now 7, was only 5 when we first went. As far as people saying it's not safe on public land, I don't necessarily agree. You can be safe on public land, you just need common sense, use your head, stay away from other hunters, wear orange, be safe.

There are plenty of Public Land gems to be had,ya just gotta be smart and safe and stealthy.I walked up on a 6 pt quite a few years ago and he stood his ground,pounded his hooves and blew at me and wished I woulda had camera ready.I love getting way away from crowds and Wifey and I gonna do just that in Sherburne,using my Southfork and traversing Little Alabama Bayou to get way back in dem turkey woods.Honey Island definitely well worth a look-see,especially if ya got time during the week when pressure virtually nil,for what that is worth.Just make sure to not only have compass but GPS,batteries can and do fail,so back-up compass great idea and I-Phone reception not always reliable.Google Maps on my I-Phone incredibly accurate,when I find decent signal!!

Mandevillian