* This piece was written for a non-existent guidebook in Okeechobee, Fla.
In previous chapters we discussed the fine cuisine at Marybelle’s Good Eats and the $1 draughts at Shenanigans biker bar, but something that West Okeechobee is particularly known for deserves our No. 3 spot in top things to do: hog hunting.
Just past the Landing Strip Gentleman’s Club (No. 5 in this book) is a dirt road heading west. Follow the dirt road for about 15 miles and you’ll find yourself in hog heaven. Okee Hunt Club sits atop 7, 000 acres of hog country and churns about 250 members per year. There, a man named Lenny and a dog named Fizzle will take you on a buggy ride through the dry, rugged terrain to hunt for wild hogs. Forty-five pound Fizzle will do what hunters call “baiting the hog,” where she charges it out from the brush and takes it down by the ears so the hunter can get a clean shot. Hogs can be very temperamental so this is not always an easy feat. Fizzle is covered in scars from past hog fights and wears a bright orange collar so the hunter won’t shoot her. Guests are allowed to shoot with a bow and arrow, crossbow or shotgun, but if a hunter feels adventurous, it can be done with a knife on the ground while Fizzle has it pinned. Once the hog is dead and a few beers are cracked to celebrate the conquest, Lenny and his friend Jimmy will skin the hog meat as part of the overall fee of $200.
Hog hunting is available year-round but is not the only hunting provided at Okee Hunt Club; The land is also used for bobcat, rabbit, raccoon, dove, quail, turkey, deer, and Spanish goat hunting which can be hunted during season. Though it may not be for the weak-hearted or animal rights activist, the Okee Hunt Club is a hunter’s paradise in this tucked away slice of real backwoods livin’.
Tags: Florida, Guidebook, hog hunting, hunting, Okeechobee
