piggin again

[weekender]

Our hunt started the 28th, we unloaded the bikes and wiped the frost from the seats, put on our packs with bows strapped on and headed out. A distant gobbler announced he was excited about the first rays of light. I hope I don’t live long enough to see the day when the sound of a wild turkey gobble doesn’t give me a thrill. Recent rains have the water in the swamps rising making the path muddy and in a couple spots it’s a stream to ford. The soft mud tries to suck the tires right off the rims and makes our thighs burn as we push on. There will be no coasting today, only hard peddling. After several miles, we ditch the bikes and go into stalk mode. We travel less than 15 minutes when I see a dandy boar head sticking out of the brush. He’s only 25 yards and his beady eyes are locked on us. The forecasted 10-15 NE wind is a soft 5 out of the SW and we are headed east. We’re busted. A wild hog’s nose is as good as any deer walking. In less time than it takes to knock and arrow, the swamp has swallowed this 200+ lb. sandy colored boar completely, poof he’s gone. We press on and as the sun starts to warm, the winds come around to the NE as predicted and we are now reaching our honey hole, prime time and nose in the wind. Something is about to bleed. At 8:50, I catch a movement to our left. It’s a fine brown and black spotted boar. He is traveling, nose to the ground like a buck after a hot doe. He’s 75 yards out and is headed to cross up wind of us around 30 yards. Getting within 30 yards of Kay’s bow is sorta like slapping a rattle snake. You can do it, but it’s not real smart. The video camera is still in my pack and there is no time for that. I will be working the range finder as it is Kay’s turn to shoot. The boar is moving quick, like he is on a mission. 55, 45, 40, then 32. Kay draws and the boar turns quartering away. The arrow makes a thump like hitting a ripe water melon. The hog makes a loud grunt but doesn’t have a clue what just happened. He walks slowly away, back the way he came and disappears after about 60 yards. We can see in spots past that and remain still, both of us using our binos to scan for the boar. In a few short minutes Kay has him spotted, he is still only sixty five yards away. He stands for a few minutes, then beds. We can see him clearly when he lays down. He looks dead, but we wait, we agree on an hour. We keep watching, trying to fight the urge to move in too soon. A big wounded boar like this can hurt you, and stopping a charging tusker with a bow is not likely. After the hour passes, we start to slowly move in. Kay catches the twitch of an ear, he’s not dead. He comes to his feet but only moves a short distance before bedding again.



With the way the hog is facing combining the wind and the layout of the swamp/brush, we can’t get in position to get an arrow to the vitals so we decide to leave him and come back later. We move on and find good looking sign, lots of it. We come up on a large oak blow down, the depression they leave seem to be a magnet for hogs, seems every one is wallowed out. Mud on the trees surrounding the depression show some 3ft high markings, there have been some niceuns pass through here.






We haven’t gone 50 yards past the wallow when a nest of pigs explodes, some skirt to the right, some to the left. A big sow pauses, I guess it for thirty, it’s only 27, my shot is a couple inches high. “High on a hog” may be better eating, but a high shot with a bow usually winds up being disappointing. This one was. We work the blood trail for about 400 yards. Twice Kay has to take her boots off, roll her pants up above her knees and wade thru the freezing water bare foot. SHE’S tough, I mean TOUGH. The blood trail ended in water over our knee high boots going on as far as we could see. The sow will have a scar, nothing more. We stop for lunch, nabs and a Sprite, before heading back to deal with Kay’s boar. We arrive back in the vicinity of the boar about 2:30. More careful glassing and Kay spots him again. We close to within about 50 yards and he must have heard us. He gets up but can only take a couple steps before flopping back down. He’s weak but not dead. Kay slips up to 25 yards and puts another arrow in him, it’s a done deal. We estimate the weight at 225, no doubt that he will bend the needle backwards on a 200 lb scale. His cutters are 2 ½” and razor sharp. Humping this bad boy to the truck, even in pieces will take some grit.



We love it. We are about to start the skinning when I catch movement in the swamp. A nice sow is feeding around the bases of trees. I knew that I had lost the mole skin from one of the prongs of my rest, something that had never happened to me before. What I did not know was how it would affect my shot. I felt the wind hit the back of my neck when the range finder said 38 yards. Showtime.





My shot was just low. A lesson learned. Afterwards, checking my sites by shooting revealed that I was now hitting 4 inches low. I won’t make that mistake again.

Day 2, the 29th, starts with a kick in the teeth. We had left our bows in the woods the night before to lighten the load a little but we took our quivers out to restock with arrows. It wasn’t suppose to rain and where they were, odds of somebody finding them at night in that swamp was about like hitting lotto 5 times in a row. We had ridden in about ¾ of the way in when I ducted to make sure my arrows would clear an over hanging limb. Only problem was, there were no arrows to catch the limb. Both our quivers were still in the truck. We had started out in the predawn darkness a little too hasty I guess. I tell Kay to wait and make the trek out and back. My legs were sore from hauling hog the evening before, I won’t forget this trip. Hog movement was slow for us on day two, but Kay did spot and stalk another nice hog. Unfortunately right after she shot, I slipped in the mud and did a juggling act with the camera which landed in the water.


We are not videographers, we are bowhunters.

[WAHOONBOX]

JUST WHEN YOU THINK IT IS YELLOWFIN SEASON THE WEEKENDERS GO BACK AT IT!!!


ANOTHER WHOLE NEW DEMINSION HAS BEEN ADDED TO HOG HUNTING....LOOKS LIKE ONE NEEDS PACKERS TO GO IN ON THESE HUNTS!!!

CONGRATS KAY....THAT IS ONE RANK HOG!!

[seavee capt]

Wow, what a pig! Great shot. that's bringing home the bacon. Congrats.
I gottta get me some of that action!

[Jared D]

Unbelievable! WHAT a tusker!
Man, this deserves 5 stars if I have ever seen it. I am not an expert, but I am guessing that pig is well above 250, or my pigs are grossly over estimated.

Fantastic. It must be a great thing to have a wife who hunts with you! PLEASE keep the stories coming!
(if I knew how to do the 5 stars thing, I would do it!)

[BTH284]

GOOD GOD AL MIGHTY!!! What a nice pig. Congratulations to you and your bride on fine hunt and even nicer kill!

WOW! That is a monster right there.

[brandon558]

Now thats a hog for sure...nicely done!

[sailman]

Nice hog!!!!!