Big Slough Wilderness

[..Ambush..]

Group of us will be up there Thursday evening for a 4 day trip... bring your hiking boots if you intend to hunt in there, gotta put in the leg work if you wanna get to where the bigguns lay up

[Limbwalker]

^^^ This. A good pair of hiking boots, or maybe a mountain bike if some of the old roads are passable, but they were closing in 20 years ago.

[..Ambush..]

Haha... you aint kiddin! Closing in and riddled with laydowns and logs. From what ive heard though maybe a kayak would be more suitable this year with all the rain we've had lol.. I think itll be a good thing though, being that all the sloughs and stuff should be full it will limit where they travel and a good crossing could be dynamite! Fairly dry last year, we crossed the ditches pretty easy... just soggy mud for the most part so this should be a very different year at the Slough, looking forward to that first sit in that good ole Neches bottom land! !

[howie1968]

Walnut creek camp is a cool camp!!! got kind of a make shift shelter then just north of there gets to be some good hunting, i love big slough i hunt it quite a bit myself especially hogs if you have GPS set to nad 83 and using UTM i can give some waypoints as i have the whole trail from ratcliff to the neches bluff overlook i hike the 20 mile trail to and from about 3 times a year

[..Ambush..]

Ya we looked for that camp last year but couldnt find it even with directions from the GW.. maybe he was just bad at judging distances or we didn't go far enough. Im sure its primitive camping right or do they have water and stuff?

[howie1968]

to get to walnut creek camp take 1175 on the left hand side you should see a sign that says 4c hiking trail its about .58 miles from 1175 here are the coordinates to the actual camp from my gps and base camp program 15 R 295472 3484783 i park my truck here 15 R 296419 3484725

[howie1968]

i know all of that area from ratcliff to neches bluff through big slough like the back of my habnd, like i said i roam it 3 times a year the 4c hiking trail i hke the 40 miles in 3 days there and back, i cache water along the way me and another TBH member go and carrie our trad bows, alot of good hunting along hickory creek as well

[..Ambush..]

Oh ok so you gotta hike to it from the road or is it visible when you drive by?

[howie1968]

me getting ready to do the 40 mile round trip


catching some meat for lunch


getting water from hickory creek


campin


hickory creek bridge


long bridge that goes over the slough


getting drinking water


taking a break


hickory creek

[howie1968]

you have to hike in, it is not visible, there is a real good trail, but i assure you, you will be rewarded once you get to camp it is rustic beautiful and you can fish in the creek good deer hunting not far from there. ive taken alot of does along that trail in past years

[howie1968]

here is a pic of my map from my base camp program if you use the corrdinates i gave you and you get on 1175, 1175 turns into 511 its wierd but it does, there is a good parking spot just off the trail of course you will have to hike in, to me it just adds to the adventure

Map to get to walnut creek camp


i forgot to add the little hand cursor by the blue flag is the camp if you use the corrdinates and the map datumn i gave you can get right to the camp, it also has a shelter in case it rains

[..Ambush..]

Nice pics and thanks for the info brother... we'll have to check that camp out. A buddy of mine is coming with us and hes going to hog hunt exclusively. know ive seen plenty of hog sign and rooting down in the bottom so hopefully he'll get an opportunity at a big piney woods rooter!!

[Limbwalker]

Howie - awesome stuff. My kind of thing man. Love it!

[howie1968]

thanks men, if your buddy is hunting hogs tell him to head east and check the creek drainages, also on the southwest cornet of big slough it borders a hunting property they usually feed corn, so i get inside big slugh and hunt the major trails going toand from the hunting club, i stay about 300 yards on the inside of big slough, ive killed quite a few deer in that area namely does during archery season lots of hogs also
Limbwalker i do that trek 3 times a year. it is hard work but so rewarding i go alot when the mayhaws are out as ill gobble on mayhaws and fresh fish i catch, sometimes i rough it to cleanse my body and feed on gods natural resources. ill telly you you learn quick what to eat and not to as if you dont look for food or catch it you go hungry for 3 days lol

[woodsman]

Howie, what dates do you have open to take me on a survivalist adventure?

thanks for posting up pics, that looks like a blast. I think this would be an excellent late winter trek. To avoid the skeeters and sweaty nights