Chestnut Hunting Lodge
Jerry Rushing
525 Chestnut Hunting Lodge Dr.
Taylorsville, NC 28681
(828) 632-3916
jrushing@chestnuthuntinglodge.com

Impressions:
     This is a first class hunting outfit.  The lodge is comfortable, well built, and sleeps 18 hunters.  While food is not provided, there is a kitchen and large dining area, and hunters are welcome to bring their own grub and cook for themselves.  Hunters are expected to clean up any mess they make while cooking.  Sleeping quarters consist of three bedrooms, each of which have at least two bunk bed sets.

There is a large den for hunters to lounge around in for the evening.  There is a table for playing cards or checkers, and a TV where sportsmen can watch videos of previous hunts at Chestnut.  Alcohol is strictly prohibited, and hunters caught drinking will be ejected from the grounds.

How the hunt is conducted:
     Plan to arrive the evening before your scheduled hunt.  Jerry Rushing, the proprietor, is an old actor  upon whose live the Dukes of Hazzard was based.  The evening before the hunt, you'll sit around and laugh with Jerry as he tells you stories about hunting or about some of the movies he's been in.  Before turning in, hunters are required to view a video that explains the rules of the lodge.  The two important ones are:  no alcohol, and stay in your stand.  You must also sign the standard wavier stating that the outfit is not responsible for death or injury during your stay.

On the first morning of the hunt, you will be taken out onto the mountain just before sunrise.  The guide will put you in a stand, which might be either a box blind or a low ladder.  If no boar show up during the first hour or so of your hunt, the guides will begin a man drive through the mountains trying to push the hogs to you.  Once you shoot your boar, you are instructed to stay put until a guide shows up.  These pigs are dangerous.

If you do not get a boar on the first morning, you'll try again that afternoon.  If you still don't get one, you are given a second day to hunt.  If you fail to score on the second day, your deposit is refunded, and your hunt is over at no cost to you.  If you do kill a pig, you pay the fee.  Remember to tip your guide.

Once you have a pig on the ground, the guide will first make sure that any other hunters have tagged out.  Once everyone has tagged out (or it gets close to lunchtime), the guide loads your animal up and takes it back to the lodge where it is hung to be skinned and quartered.  Limited taxidermy is available onsite, but be prepared with a backup plan in case they are not able to take you.