View Full Version : Finished the BMT
Stiffknee
07-30-2011, 15:03
Me and my wife thru-hiked the trail this summer and we loved it. We learned a lot about being thankful for food, water, safety, etc. We thank the Lord for getting to do it!
We were surprised by the lack of caution/info on hogs in the Smokies - we had one big, big boy charge at us but we got out of sight and make as big a racket as we could, and he didn't pursue us. One day by Fontana we saw about 15 hogs, piglets included.
Somewhere around Round Top and a couple miles before Rocky Top in TN there was some crazy bushwhacking, but after a while somebody had come in with a 4wheeler so we could walk where it had gone and blazed the trail.
Saw 2 timber rattlers, 1 hog of a diamondback by the Tellico River, a couple bears and tons of hogs.
Our favorite section was the Smokies, it being so lush and green. Being up high the last day with those Balsam firs was like being in another world.
The forum helped me a lot to get prepared so if anyone has any questions I'd be glad to help - and let me add my gratitude for Sgt. Rock's guide! So helpful and yet lets you discover the trail for yourself. We loved it.
I'd hike the BMT again in a heartbeat!
SGT Rock
07-31-2011, 06:52
Sounds like you had a great time. I'm glad I could help.
generoll
07-31-2011, 09:40
so any hogs not in the Smokies?
colonel r
07-31-2011, 12:22
I had a similar experience with a hog on a trail out of Tremont in the park. I have been hiking the park for 30 years and have seen lots of piglets over time but never have seen on this size (200-300lbs) and never had one to charge, until now. I just backed up (after finding no trees suitable for climbing) out of sight and he broke off. Every time I hike I see lots of sign of rooting where the hogs are feeding. However, it has always been at lower elevations and in moist soil. I know the rangers trap them from time to time. Someone has got to get hurt before something more serious is done. They are all feral.
However, glad you had a good hike. I plan on doing it myself sometime.
I saw some wild hogs just south of Ocoee River on the BMT. Mama Pig was giving me the stink eye and grunting very loudly when I stumbled upon her and piglets.
Purely by coincidence, I had pork to eat that night for dinner! :D
I loved the BMT. Truly a great way to see the southern Apps off the beaten path.
SGT Rock
07-31-2011, 15:01
In May I did the Smokies BMT again. While on the Lakeshore Trail I ran into about a dozen pigs over two days. They did some grunting and bluffing, but nothing serious.
generoll
07-31-2011, 17:46
it's open season on wild hogs in Georgia. not sure what the rules are in the Cohuttas or Big Frog. just idly wondering.
Violent Green
08-20-2011, 21:47
it's open season on wild hogs in Georgia. not sure what the rules are in the Cohuttas or Big Frog. just idly wondering.
I heard on the radio that there was a law soon going into effect in TN that classified wild hogs as a nuisance species, meaning no need for a permit to hunt them. Hopefully this means more people will get involved with their demise. Has nothing to do with GA rules, I'm just throwing that out there.
SGT Rock
08-22-2011, 14:27
I hadn't heard that. Can you point me to a link or a source. I'd love to start eliminating those things.
SGT Rock
08-23-2011, 19:20
Details for shooting wild hogs: http://www.tn.gov/twra/feralhog.html
(http://www.tn.gov/twra/feralhog.html)Apparently it isn't as easy as just going out with a gun and shooting them.
Tipi Walter
08-23-2011, 23:13
I say leave the hogs alone. They live in the woods, do we? Plus, they help to dig out the yellow jacket nests along the trail and eat the pit vipers. Some say they don't below in "our" ecosystem, but if so then what about the relatively new european arrivals, i.e. Us? I've been mocked charged several times by the beasts, but hey, it's called "wilderness" for a reason. You can't have wilderness without some amount of risk.
SGT Rock
08-24-2011, 06:03
Probably about the opinion that some Australians had about the cute bunnies. Now look at them. http://animal.discovery.com/videos/weird-true-freaky-outback-rabbit-invasion.html
I didn't see what the big deal was until I hiked the BMT between Hemp Top and Double Spring in 2008. That section was devastated by hogs. I've never seen anything close to it anywhere else - yet.
And yellow jackets and vipers are also part of the ecosystem, are natural, and make part of that wilderness risk you mention.
As far as getting rid of them you never will. All you can do is hope to control them. I know hunters here in Fl that take 10-20 every year and we still have plenty. They are good eating if you take the yearlings. Larger hogs make good sausage. Good hunting! BTW, I hardly ever see a snake anymore and I have no proof but I think it's because of the hogs.
Tipi Walter
08-24-2011, 10:26
As far as getting rid of them you never will. All you can do is hope to control them. I know hunters here in Fl that take 10-20 every year and we still have plenty. They are good eating if you take the yearlings. Larger hogs make good sausage. Good hunting! BTW, I hardly ever see a snake anymore and I have no proof but I think it's because of the hogs.
Where I backpack there are still plenty of hornets and plenty of snakes and plenty of pigs---we're all one big happy family. Now, let's talk about some real pests: Hunting dogs! These motards can really ruin a camp and steal my food, and for the time they are out they are ABANDONED and hard to shake. What kind of person would release his "pets" into the woods and then leave them? If I did this with my dog I would be cited, and yet the hunters just walk away and then their dogs glom onto me and sit in the snow shivering next to my tent for days on end until they eventually run off to god knows where. And yes, they ARE pets as an individual person owns them and so they are not pieces of inorganic matter to be discarded and left. Pet peeve of mine.
I'm with you on the loose dogs Tipi. They are used to hunt deer here and when I hear them coming I get a little nervous. Back to the OP's great post. I am from Happy Valley and when I retire I'm coming home to do nothing but walk in your mountains. Citico and Tellico were my playground when I was a kid. The BMT is drawing me in:)
Ladytrekker
08-24-2011, 11:56
I spent a week in the smokies this year and it is really green and lush it was so serene. I saw a some bears and saw where hogs had been lots of torn up ground. I talk to one of the rangers about seeing so many bears and cubs. The ranger said it has been a great few years for the bears because of rainfall and plant growth that the woods are full of food for them to eat so the bears are having better prenatal care from the plentiful bounty and that the bears are having multiple really healthy cubs. It was a great conversation and really uplifting to hear something so good.
Hunting dogs are a trip for sure.... They stay with you for miles and then *poof*, they're gone.
Tipi Walter
08-24-2011, 15:05
Hunting dogs are a trip for sure.... They stay with you for miles and then *poof*, they're gone.
If you're lucky.
The Cleaner
09-02-2011, 21:31
Last winter I met some bear hunters near Jerry's Cabin shelter on the AT riding 4-wheelers .They said some hikers had removed tracking collars from their dogs and left the gear at the table in the shelter.Big deal.After they left I lit a firecracker just to see how they would react.Jeez,the guy come roaring back questioning me about it like he was some kind of cop....What a bunch of Aholes....