Deer

2023 Fall Hunting Season Underway

Here is the CPHC team on opening weekend of the fall deer season. We had a great opening day harvest with nine deer. You can see photos in the album.

Conditions were just about perfect. Sunny, cool and dry. We saw more than one buck following does and harvested a mix. So, there is venison in the coolers and we enjoyed spending time in the woods and camp. It was relaxing but there is also quite a bit of work that goes with it. We skin/de-bone the deer and put the meat in coolers with salt and ice. As that melts we drain them and add more salt and ice. It’s a good brine and we usually keep it in there for a week or more before cutting up for packing and processing. That’s my next job this week!

So, there are lots more opportunities for the CPHC this season. Hope to see you from there again soon.

2023-24 Deer Season Photo Album

2022 Hunt Success

The only time I got to hunt during the 2022-23 season was opening weekend and a couple days. However, it was successful. This was a late day buck I harvested from a ground blind. He was a big body, making me think he was not young. However, he did have a nice rack and it had a lot of red color in it, although that doesn’t show well in the photo.

We not more deer on this first hunt and when other team members were on site. We’re preparing for the 2023-24 season already and hoping for an another great and safe time in the woods on the Pig.

Here are some photos from our hunt: 2022-23 CPHC Photo Album

Opening Weekend 2022

It’s a new season, deer season that is. The founders of the Crystal Pig Hunt Club have been hunting together continuously for over 30 years. We’ve used a wide variety of vehicles to work on the property and camps to get ready each year as well as getting to our stands and bringing our harvest back to camp. That’s what we have put this loaner from Can-Am to work with on opening weekend of deer season.

It was a very successful hunt. We harvested three does and two bucks between the five of us who were able to be there last weekend. We’ll be back soon though since the annual rut for deer is at its peak during the first couple weeks of November.

The Can-Am Defender made the whole experience even more enjoyable. This unit has a cab with ac/heat, automatic windows and more great features. I’ll be writing about our experience on AgWired soon. Thank you Can-Am.

Here’s how the Defender looks in the woods: 2022 Hunting with a Can-Am Photo Album

2021 Opening Weekend Was Fantastic

The opening days of the 2021 deer season were beautiful and successful. Eli bagged a monster buck on opening day. This is the best rack we’ve brought to camp yet.

We harvested a few more deer including some does and a large body spike.

Most of the team was on hand for all or part of our first hunt of the season. We spent more time cleaning up our camp area, fixing and filling feeders and the continuous job of mowing trails and roads. The Pig is in good shape and we’ll be back out at the next opportunity.

2021-22 CPHC Photo Album

Opening Weekend Success

We had the best weather for opening days of the season at the Crystal Pig Hunt Club that we’ve had yet and took advantage of it to harvest a few deer. Paul and I got these bucks on the same afternoon. We have seen some much larger racks and will be back, hopefully during the rut.

We saw a lot of deer and mostly does. I had a spike buck walk up underneath me while sitting in my stand. He literally sniffed the foot of the ladder. I let him go since we have lots of better choices and maybe he’ll be back nest year.

A couple of us were on site before opening day and glad we did that. Basically, all our feeders were not working for different reasons. We had to change motors, batteries, re-program and refill. Of course, it’s a good workout. But the property is in the best shape for hunting since we leased it.

One of the most significant improvements to our camp is the installation of electricity. We’re run a lot of hours on generators over the years and now everything is quiet and we have lots of outlets to handle everything we need electricity for.

Big thanks go out to John Deere for the use of a new Gator which we’re test driving, making notes and will be writing about soon.

I’ve got updated photos from our hunt. 2020 Crystal Pig Hunt Club Photo Album

2019 Season off to Productive Start

Opening day for the 2019 Georgia firearms deer season was wet. I mean it rained all day. But the southeast needed that rain in a big way and it did not stop deer activity. The next day we had sunshine as you can see in this photo of our Can-Am Defender from my stand. Right after that I harvested a spike buck. Opening day I harvested two does. So I’ve got a lot of venison I’ll be freezing this week while taking a large portion to a local processor for summer sausage and hamburger.

Now let’s talk feral hogs. I am happy to report that my brother Paul deleted their number by seven on opening day. Here’s a Can-Am Defender load of five of them. It sounds like a lot but we’ve got one group of them numbering almost forty and another that it is a little less. For the first time in the years I’ve been hunting in Georgia I’m seeing hogs on the sides of the roads that have been hit by cars. I counted five in just one hour long drive one morning. They are a serious problem. We’re doing our part but it’s not enough.

Georgia’s season continues through mid-January so the Crystal Pig Hunt Club members will be out several times trying to reduce hog numbers and hopefully seeing some of the large bucks which are showing up on our cameras. If you hunt deer let me know how things are going for you. I’ve seen some great photos on social media already which include children who are getting their first opportunity to hunt with Mom or Dad.

Photos from this year’s season, including pre-season work days are here: 2019 CPHC Photo Album

Retrieving a Buck From the Thickets with a Can-Am

Although the 2018 deer season in central Georgia was not the best we’ve ever had it was not the worst. We harvested deer. Saw more deer and got a lot of work done to make a growing pine forest easier to hunt in.

This is my last post from the season since I had to show what one of the most important benefits of having a good utility vehicle with the right accessories is. Besides getting you to and from your deer stand there’s the issue of bringing a large animal out of some of the worst conditions possible. In our case that was a buck in 6 to 10 feet high pricker vine thickets that are covering a hillside and across a creek bed. My bother Paul got the deer down the hill to the creek somehow. I got the Can-Am Defender we had the honor to be using as close to the creek bed as I could. From there we let the WARN winch do the rest. That last 40 yards may not have been possible without it!

I had hoped to shoot a lot more video this season but conditions were mostly rainy, windy, muddy and filled with scratches and learning how the pine growth and intense weed growth has changed patterns and paths for the deer. We learned a lot and have some very high hopes for the next season and sure hope we can do it with a Can-Am!

Photos from Crystal Pig Hunt Club 2018 Hunt

2018 Hunting Success Story

A couple of the members of the Crystal Pig Hunt Club are happy this season. My little tiny brother Paul harvested the nicest buck we’ve brought to camp last week. Of course there is a story to this because that’s just part of deer hunting.

In this case, Paul saw this 8 pt. buck from his stand about 200 yards or so across a creek and partially uphill in the middle of the nastiest mess of thorn vines and bushes you’ve ever seen. In fact, the whole hillside and a big part of our property is covered with this crap. Someday the pines will get big enough to shade them out. But from the time he went to find the deer with me in his stand guiding him by arm gestures to the time the deer was in the back of the Can-Am Defender we’re test driving it took almost 2 1/2 hours! I think I still have some splinters in my body. The last leg of the journey out of the thickets was over the creek and for that we used the Warn winch on the Can-Am. I don’t know if we would have been successful without it. And I would never get a utility vehicle without one for sure.

So, we got Paul’s buck back to camp and he had just started cleaning it when I walked back under our pole barn and saw another buck about 120 yards from camp! I had to run back to the Can-Am to get my rifle out of the case that’s mounted on the vehicle. Got back to the barn and he was still there. So, bam, I got a 5 pt. And let’s just say it was not hard getting him back to camp. LOL. All in all that’s what I call a happy deer hunt.

We’re going to be back at the Pig after Christmas when my nephews can be there and all of the CPHC team. We’ll continue putting this Can-Am Defender through its paces, especially since there has been so much rain and we’ve got some muddy places to drive through.

Photos from Crystal Pig Hunt Club 2018 Hunt

Hunting with a John Deere Gator

Howdy from The Pig. The CPHC team just continues to have good success early in the season. We’ve got a nice long season to go though since the Georgia season for firearms which started October 21 runs through January 14.

In this post I’m going to start letting you know how we are using a John Deere Gator XUV825i to test drive and evaluate its value to some serious deer hunting. John Deere has provided us with the use of this vehicle for most of the season and I have now had the opportunity to get some hours in and out of the woods and on the trails.

As you can see in the photo I have already harvested some deer and brought them out of the woods and back to our camp. My harvest so far consists of a 6pt buck, 2 does and a wild hog. They have all been bagged right near our trails fortunately for me. Speaking of trails, most of ours are freshly plowed by the U.S. Forest Service. They do a great job btw. But we’ve got some serious and deep sugar sand to run through and there are rough spots. You’ll be able to see that in the video below.

Some first impressions on using the Gator include:

All the power I need to climb steep hills on deep sand and with a load in the bed
Very simple controls and layout. Easy to switch between 2-wheel and 4-wheel
Suspension makes the bumps and pot holes almost painless compared to past vehicles I’ve driven
Plenty of light from headlights for night time on the trail
John Deere has some accessories I already know I’d like to add!

So, I’ll have more to say in upcoming episodes. I’m very satisfied with this unit and am not coming up with anything to complain about.

You can see photos of the Gator in the wild here: 2017 Deer Hunt – John Deere Gator Photo Album

Taking a Can-Am Out in the Woods

I’m a little behind updating here. The CPHC team has had a great start to the season.

Here’s my next episode in a series coming to you from the Crystal Pig Hunt Club (CPHC) in Georgia. In this episode the focus is going to be on a Can-Am Defender XT which has been provided to us to use and evaluate how well it is suited to some serious deer hunting.

CPHC member, Paul Zimmerman, my brother, has been doing most of the driving in this vehicle, although I have done some also. In the video below we chat about our first impressions while riding out of camp for a load of firewood. You might see in the bed of the Defender a short swivel seat stand that we strapped into it, making the Defender a mobile deer stand!

Some first impressions on using the Can-Am include:

It has lots of power but runs quiet
The suspension is amazing
The turning radius has made is easier to turn around on narrow trails than we expected
Some accessories like winch and side/back panels around bed have come in very handy

So, that’s a start. Paul has harvested two deer so far, one of them being the 8pt buck you see in the photo. So, in the points race (we don’t really have one) he’s in the lead. We’re liking the Can-Am but will have more to come.

You can see photos of the Can-Am Defender in the wild here: 2017 Deer Hunt – Can-Am Defender Photo Album