Week 3 of the Pig Gig has come and gone. It was another week with difficult weather conditions for pig hunting to say the least. We had snow on Tuesday, high winds and cold for most of the week. There were some hogs taken however. I'll be back with the story and pictures from my hunt soon.
not the snow the week 1 gang had, but it was enough to cause the pigs to hunker down.
(http://www.burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/wesgallery/texassnow01.jpg)
:campfire:
:coffee:
Looking forward to stories and pics.
Wait is that a hog I see in your pic?
Having been there for week 2, I watched the weather and saw it coming. Not the usual winter for sure. Glad to hear that some pigs were taken, tho. A little snow shouldn't stop some of the Yanks.
Seriously What was with the weather this year??? It would have Been really Great hunting had the weather been more favorable..
(http://inlinethumb07.webshots.com/45062/2461899620085968352S600x600Q85.jpg) (http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2461899620085968352kFkLnB)
(http://inlinethumb08.webshots.com/46471/2889297950085968352S600x600Q85.jpg) (http://outdoors.webshots.com/photo/2889297950085968352OtAhdk)
Lookin' forward to this one unwinding.
Can't wait! Bring on the stories!
:campfire: :coffee: Thank for sharing.
I'm wishing I was back in Texas already.... anyway I'll spare you the details on the travel to Texas, same old stuff when trying to fly any where these days. Somehow I missed the notice from said airway informing it's passengers of the new baggage size policy. Old rule was 72" length new rule 60". Needless to say I was 1# over weight so I had to removed some items and stuff them in my carry on. Nothing I could do however on my duffel bag that measured 63". Cost $49. extra.
Not to ruin my trip, I paid the fee with a smile on my face and continued on. We arrived in camp just as the sun was sitting.
(http://www.burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/_rwb9454.jpg)
Not long after we arrived the Twins (Barry & Gene) showed and they gave us our assigned area and told of the plans to meet in the a.m. to get a quick tour of the area. Sharing camp for this hunt: Ron Tandy from Florida, Bill Terry from Connecticut, Bo Slaughter & his son Buddy and myself. The rest of the hunters had been scattered around the ranch due to the previous weeks weather. John Nash did join us on the final night.
The rest of the evening was spent unpacking and getting our gear ready for the first day of hunting. Some where in there we gulped down some chow. If memory serves me we had Chicken & Dumplings.
Day 1
we meet with Barry & Gene around 7:30 and followed them out to our hunting area. They showed us some bait sites and we helped them pull some tree stands and freshened up all of the active baits that had been started in the weeks before. Due to all the snow and rain in the previous weeks many of the areas had not had very much hunting pressure. We didn't see any hogs while getting our tour of the hunting area but there was plenty of good sign and spirits were high and we were all chomping at the bit to get in the bush.
After our tour of the area Bo, Buddy and I hiked to the top of the highest point in our assigned area to get a better look at the terrain and lay of the land. The peak you see in the background is where we hiked. The base of this hill runs right down to the base of the Brazos River.
(http://burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/_rwb9501.jpg)
After glassing for close to an hour we started down on the west side of the hill where I found the first of several sheds. Then we headed back to camp for some lunch and to prepare for the evening hunt. Next time we will have topos of the hunting area. The maps provided by the ranch were, well let's just say not worth the paper they were printed on.
Back in our hunting area Buddy was dropped off first. He was hunting a site across from Stone House that the Twins had showed us. It was very active and the wind was right for it to be hunted. After dropping off Buddy, Bo and I headed towards the river crossing (we named it that). As we were coming up on a cattle gate Bo said "Pigs". I stopped the vehicle and we watched as the made their way down into a draw, crossed the bottom and headed up the opposite side. The wind was wrong for us to follow and even if we had, I doubt we could have caught up to them.
We quickly crossed the cattle guard and made our way up on tip of a ridge that parallel to the direction the hogs were traveling. Once on top we were able to see them just for a second as they dissapeared into a thicket. Looking at the terrain we decided if they continued in the same direction they would most likely cut through a saddle about 300 yards to our North West. So grabbed our bows and beat feet behind the ridge that separated us, down through the bottom then we had to climb over the barbed wire fence and travel along the edge of the thicket just below the crest of the ridge.
As we made our way around the ridge to the saddle there were several well used game or cattle trails that were used by game to exit the thicket. Bo took up a position behind some brush at the first trail and I went about 50 yards farther just past the next game trail. The wind was perfect blowing from the draw up to us. If the pigs were coming this way we would have the advantage.
:coffee: :coffee: :coffee:
Now the wait began. There were an infinite number of directions these hogs could take, but I was holding my position. Something inside told me this was right so I tucked in behind a clump of brush and waited. The wait wouldn't be long.
The wind was blowing in gust and then would settle down for a bit then gust again. During a lull a flock(does flock work with doves)of doves got up about 75 yards from my position. They had erupted from the thicket as if startled by something. Knowing the hogs had been traveling in this direction I felt certain the doves had been spooked by the group of pigs. Then I heard a few sticks pop and I went on red alert. I could hear them coming up from the bottom headed right to us. If they stayed on course they would exit the thicket right between Bo and I and we would both most likely have shots.
My eyes raced peering into the tangle trying to make out the animals. Then suddenly there was the first pig, only he had side hilled and was now paralleling us moving to my left. I hunkered down and frantically tried to signal Bo to move to my location. He had been watching the commotion below and hadn't seen me yet waving him on. At this point I made a move to try and flank the hogs and Bo saw my move and he headed my way.
I was about half way between my current position behind cover and the next available cover when a large white pig with back spots popped out into the open about 30 yards below me. All I could do is drop to my knees and hope he hadn't seen me. By now Bo had made his way to my previous location, but I was caught in the open with nothing more than a clump of tall grass about knee high between me and the group of hogs.
I was peering from under my boonie cap watching the top of the white pigs back when I noticed he had turned and was moving straight towards my location. I slowly laid my upper body over forward so that I was now lying flat on my stomach with my knees tucked under me. I was locked in on this pig watching it's every move now from behind the small clump of grass that was all that separated us. At 20 yards it stopped and I could hear it sucking in air trying to get a whiff of danger. Then it grunted and started to move forward towards me again. At 15 yards it stopped again to take in the air currents.
The pig knew there was danger or did it. Again it moved forward getting to within 10 to 12 yards of me. I could sense the shot but I was not in the best position to shoot and I knew I needed to sit upright at some point in order to get above the clump of grass for a shot. As the hog started to turn to it's left i began to draw my bow while lying flat. I made it to about half draw then slowly started to raise my upper body for the shot. I was almost at anchor the hog had had enough and it wheeled around swapping ends and in an instant was out of sight taking the rest of the pigs with it in a wild display of grunts and squeals. I stood trying to catch a glimpse of the retreating swine, but all I could see was the dust they left behind and hear the crashing and breaking of branches.
I looked over towards Bo with a big smile on my face, my heart still pounding from the close encounter. That was cool! That is exactly what I live for, those moments when it's just me and my quarry one on one. The pigs won this round, but it was only the first evening of a 5 day hunt and I would get my chance for redemption. Bo and I made our way back to the vehicle talking about the stalk and how we had done just about everything perfect except making the shot. There were no what if's, the pigs had survived thanks to the awesome senses god gave em.
I now had a score to settle with this white pig and it was game on. Pig 1 / bowhunter 0
Changed my mind....I don't know Rob that well 8-)
Good story, you have us captivated keep it up! :thumbsup:
QuoteOriginally posted by Biggie Hoffman:
Changed my mind....I don't know Rob that well 8-)
:scared:
good story so far Rob.
By the time we got back to the vehicle it was getting late in the afternoon and with only a few hours of daylight left we decided to forgo taking the chance of running hogs off of one of the bait sites and instead we would make a drive through our area hoping to catch some pigs out cruising.
Buddy had been sitting a bait that was just 2 draws over from where we had made the stalk so we were hoping they might be making their way past him. To keep from running them out of the area we circled around and then cleared the area. The rest of the afternoon came and went with no more pigs sighted. Buddy had seen hogs but no shots were presented. Back at camp dinner was on the stove and we were reliving the days events. The weather forecast for Tuesday was not looking all that good, but we kept a positive out look.
Don't forget, Thursday night is all you can eat shrimp night in town. Guess where the twins will be that evening?
John you are correct, Thursday night we did hit the Bee Hive for all the shrimp we could eat. We closed the place down.
Any way Monday was all but over, everyone was asleep before their heads even hit the pillow. When we awoke at 0' dark-thirty Tuesday morning the white stuff was already covering the ground. There was about an inch on the ground by the time we rolled out of camp headed to our hunting area.
(http://burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/_rwb9457.jpg)
We checked on the 6 different sites we had going we decided that with the wind blowing 20 knots and snowing a blizzard that the pigs were probably smarter than us and hunkered down for the duration. Well being the die hard bowhunters that we are we decided to climb back up to the top of the mound and do some glassing. If I remember right it was about 24 degrees with the snow blowing side ways. Perfect weather!
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We made our way up to the top which was well worth the effort, the view with the snow covered terrain was beautiful. While glassing on the western side of the hill (the only place the wind was not hammering us), Bo found the match to the shed I had recovered the previous day. The buck had dropped both within about 20 yards of each other.
(http://www.burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/img00370-20100223-1043-2.jpg)
We were able to tolerate the wind and snow for about an hour and then we had had enough so we decided to seek warmer surroundings and headed for the vehicle.
Buddy making his way back down off the mound with the Brazos river in the background.
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It was about 11am by the time we made it back to the car and we were feeling some hunger pains. Since we had not packed our lunch we decided to head back to camp to see what Ron & Bill had up their sleeve for the afternoon.
Back at camp we found the grocery list gone a long with Ron & Bill. We needed some supplies so I tried to give Ron a call but the cell service is shoty at best. I did manage to get him on the phone and he said they had just finished at the grocery store and would be back in a bit. Thinking they were bringing back stuff to make lunch we started to just hang around until they got back, but at the last minute decided we needed some secret items for out hog baits as well as some gas so we took off for town.
Rolling through town who's vehicle do we see parked out in front of the DQ? yup our camp mates were chowing down on a hot meal before bringing us back cold cuts. Well we spoiled their plan cause we rolled right up in there and ordered us up some Texas size DQ burgers.
By the time we had finished lunch and making our other stops the snow had ended and we could see some breaks in the clouds. We hurried back to camp and gathered our gear then headed for the hunting area.
Hard to believe but the snow had completely melted when we arrived back in our hunting area even though the temp was hovering about 38 degrees.
(http://www.burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/_rwb9501.jpg)
Since it was still fairly early and we didn't expect to see any action until late afternoon we spent some time driving around the area to better familiarize ourselves. We saw some game but no pigs showed.
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(http://www.burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/_rwb9528.jpg)
(http://www.burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/_rwb9433.jpg)
Did I mention the cows? They were every where in our area. We even had to shoe them away on several occasions. I wouldn't want this big boy to get an attitude with me:
(http://www.burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/_rwb9450.jpg)
This is getting good.
Jack
We dropped Buddy off then headed down towards the river. As we came around past Stone House we spotted some hogs in the distance.
(http://burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/_rwb9515.jpg)
(the hogs were about half way between the smallest building and the top of the picture in the open area)
It appeared they had already been by the bait located at Stone House and were now headed towards the river. The wind was wrong blowing from us to them so we quickly made a wide loop around them to the east loosing sight of them. We parked the vehicle a long the top of a ridge that runs east to west and headed out on foot circling around through the thicket attempting to get down wind of the last location we had seen them.
We quickly made our way down the ridge to a creek bottom where we could see well out into the open landscape. NO PIGS! We both glassed for a few minutes then decided that they must have beat us to the crossing at the creek bottom. At this point we side hilled back to the east hoping that we might catch some more pigs down in the bottom.
Bo was about 75 to 100 yards of me and higher up on the ridge when the entire group of hogs busted out of the thicket to his rear. They had turned and worked they way up hill into the thicket that we had just come through and some how had not caught our wind. The only problem now was we were now up wind and in the open. It didn't take them long to figure out we were there and the headed back south towards Stone House.
I made a wide loop and tried to cut them off but they were just to fast for me. They made it back across the road and up into the draw that ran parallel to Buddy's bait so we backed off. The sun was just sitting on the horizon when I got back to the vehicle. Bo had worked his way on down towards the river, so I just slipped into the brush a few hundred yards from the truck and waited until dark. It was a beautiful sunset and the wind had just about died completely.\\
(http://burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/_rwb9487.jpg)
Day 2 had ended with yet another close call with the same hogs from the previous days stalk. The white pig had now beaten me twice in as many days. It was time to turn it up a notch.
Pigs 2 / Bowhunters 0
Day 3 coming soon to a computer near you.... Stay Tuned gotta fix some vittles for the young man....
Biggie, i forgot to mention that Gene has your workout spoon... how the heck you can eat with that thing is beyond me. :biglaugh:
Jack you need to join us for this hunt next year, it's a blast. This made my 6th trip to Texas. The 1st was with you back in 2004.
Beautiful pix Rob...I'd hope to have another "shot" at Lambhead(under "normal" conditions would be nice)
I hear ya Curt. You guys really did have it rough for hunting. The hogs were still locked down for us until Wednesday. Speaking of it's time for Day 3!
Day 3 dawned clear with the promise of warmer temps and sunshine. The wind however would still be a factor with the weather man predicting 10 to 15 mph. We had meet up with Gene & Barry the night before. Mark Mitten hopefully will chime in at some point with his story and maybe even a few pics. Regardless things were looking up as the rest of the weeks forecast was for clear and dry weather.
We made the rounds freshening up the bait sites and looking for hogs then we decided to check on a new area known only as the green wheat field. Least that's what the Twins were calling it. We had attempted to locate this field the day before without any luck. Finally after driving around for what seemed the entire day we located the wheat field.
There were numerous places where hogs and probably deer had crossed under the barbed wire leaving clumps of hair. We looked the area over and decided that we needed to stick with the area we had started with. Since we were not going to set up any new baits here we decided to still hunt between the field and the base of the hill which ran parallel to each other.
Right off the bat i picked up this handsome pair of bone.
(http://burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/_rwb9493.jpg)
I had was working the base of the hill with Bo in the middle and Buddy out close to the edge of the field. It took me a little over an hour to cover the entire distance and as came to a draw at the far end I had just stopped to glass the terrain in front of me when I caught movement. I quickly slid my binocs around to my side and eased an arrow out of my stalker quiver and on to the string.
The coyote was trotting down of the side hill on a game/cattle trail. If he continued a long this trail he would pass by me at about 15 to 18 yards. Perfect! I've not taken a coyote and was really hoping to get my first chance. As he dropped down into the bottom of the draw and just out of sight I tightened my grip on the bow string and went to a kneeling position. Just seconds later he emerged headed straight towards me. My heart rate quickened :jumper: .
It was one of those times when I was just dead positive I was going to loose an arrow. As he closed to within 30 yards he hit a place on the trail where it forked. I hadn't noticed the fork at this point, if I had I would have re positioned myself. Any way the gods were with the coyote as he veered off to the left and just out of range. He trotted on off and out of sight unknown to him he came very close to meeting his maker.
I just sat there with my chin on my hand and took it all in. That was cool. "Close Encounters of the Coyote Kind". Sorry no picture this time, I was in bowhunter mode with the camera securely in my pack. I made may on around the base of the ridge then cut back across towards the wheat field where I met up with Bo. He hadn't seen any hogs and we were getting a little hungry so we headed out towards the road looking for Buddy.
After packing some lunch back at camp we headed back towards Stone House. I hiked up to the top of this ridge just south of Stone House to do a little glassing.
(http://burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/_rwb9505.jpg)
Bo would be hunting the bait we started down a long the river and Buddy was back at his spot just to the west of the above ridge. I hadn't yet decided where I was going for the afternoon, but looking down on Stone House and checking the wind I made the decision to hunt the corral bait.
(http://burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/_rwb9465.jpg)
This bait had been getting hit on a regular basis but the wind had been wrong each day up until now. The Twins had been getting set camera pictures of lots of hogs during daylight hours. We had cleared some brush on the opposite side of the stone wall and trimmed in a shooting lane to the bait.
Around 3:00 I made my way down to the corral and got everything set up. I downed a bottle of water and some cashews then took my vest out of my pack and rolled it up for a pillow then I sprawled out on the ground and took me a little cat nap. Being inside the corral and out of the wind with the sun shinning on my face I dozed right off.
(http://burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/_rwb9521a.jpg)
I had been snoozing for about 45 minutes when I was awoken by a herd of cows that felt the need to interrupt my nap with their loud and obnoxious mews... Sitting back down on my seat made from several of the rocks that had fallen off the wall I put on my game face and readied myself for the wait ahead.
(http://burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/_rwb9525-edit.jpg)
I had a good feeling don't ask me why just something told me that this afternoon was going to be good.
This is a photo taken the day before of Bo & Buddy adding the magic ingredients to the bait site. Something about pig liquor and kool aid with with corn and other favorite hog mixtures.
(http://burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/_rwb9468.jpg)
Great photographs. Especially the hawk. That's a shot tougher than hogs in snow.
Really enjoying the story. Hope we have it that exciting next week.
great stuff
Looking at my watch it was now almost 5:30 and I hadn't seen a thing with the exception of those pesky cows, especially a calf. At a distance they can fool you for a minute into to thinking they just might be a hog. Any way the wind had died down nicely and the temp had fallen enough that I slipped my vest back on and zipped it up.
I had just glassed off to the east when I heard the distinctive sound of a pig squealing coming from behind me to the south. I eased over to the rock wall to a point where I could see back up across the road and there they were. Two solid black hogs running down off the hillside across the road. At this point they were about 300 yards to my west and paralleling my position.
When they got even with me they stopped at which point I noticed there were several more hogs in tow. I slid back down onto my rock seat and settled in on them with my binoculars. I was sure they were going to keep heading North towards the river when they suddenly turned and were headed right to me. Holy $#!^ they are coming my way. I quickly set my binoc's down and grabbed my bow nocking an arrow.
As they closed the distance I noticed THE HOG. Yep it was the same hog that I had had the close encounter with on the previous 2 days. Thinking to myself 3 strikes and your out. Just who was going to be out was the question. Would this pig give me the slip again or would redemption be my fate? At 100 yards the white hog had taken over the lead and was almost on a dead run coming right to me. As the group crossed down through the creek bottom my heart started pounding in my chest.
I melted into the background as they made their way closer. 50 yards then 40, then 30 and now at 20 yards they had stopped and were checking the wind. Come on, the wind is perfect I was thinking to myself they can't possibly smell me. I not only have the wind in my favor at this point which is blowing steady at about 5 mph, but I also have the rock wall keeping my human shape totally concealed from them. Then the pigs started to move again coming closer still. I sat back on the rock seat so that all I could see at this point was the bait site. I was waiting for them to arrive. The adrenaline had kicked in and I was ready and concentrating.
The first pig to show was one of the medium black coats then a group of about 5 piglets charged in. Where was that big white hog that had busted me Monday night? It was whitey or none. Then suddenly there it was standing broadside at 12 yards. It was the closest hog to me and in a perfect position for the shot. What happened next seemed like it went down in slow motion.
I slowly drew my Kwyk Styk back reaching full draw then I eased up off my rock seat to clear the rock wall and zeroed in on a black spot just behind the white pigs front shoulder. Then the arrow slipped from my fingers and it was gone. I watched as my arrow connected just an inch above my aiming point and then the area around the bait site erupted in hog chaos. Grunts, snorts, squeals a long with hog butts and elbows as they tore out of there.
I watched as the group of about 12 hogs exited back the way they had come in. That's when I got a surprise. I don't know what happened but as the pigs were running away I noticed that a brown hog, not the one I had shot at mind you had my arrow sticking out of it's right side with only the fletching left inside. How could I have possible missed the hog I was aiming at and hit this slightly small hog. I watched in amazement as it circled around to the left away from the rest of the group and at about 60 yards fall over stone dead.
Don't get me wrong I was pumped, I had taken a pig with my bow. But what the heck happened. I was pretty sure of the shot but had this hog jumped in front of the white hog just as I released. Must have! I waited a few minutes then eased over the wall and took up the blood trail. That wasn't really necessary as I saw the pig fall over, but I like seeing how well my broadheads work. The wensel woodsman had done it's job well. The blood trail was awesome.
My brown hog taken with my Kwyk Styk, 53# @ 28" using gold tip arrows tipped with woodsman broadheads. The shot was 12 yards broadside and I got almost a full pass through.
(http://burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/_rwb9535.jpg)
I sat there with my hog thinking about what an awesome hunt this had been already and I thank our creator for this opportunity to match wits with one of his creatures. I snapped a few photos using my pack as a tripod of sorts. Then I just sat back I tried to replay the shot and what happened. I just couldn't get it out of my head that I had seen my sight picture, watched my arrow as it struck home and then watched as the pigs ran off.
What took place next will no doubt be a highlight in my bowhunting life. I walked back to the bait site and began looking at the sign around the bait. There was blood immediately and it was easy to follow. I walked a long the red swath down through the creek bottom just as I had done before only this time as I exited the bottom the blood trail split. One trail headed south west to the location of my brown pig and the other went more to the west. What the heck? Now my mind was really playing tricks on me, but I took up the trail any way.
I followed it about 80 to 100 yards when I noticed a big white form lying in the brush maybe 20 yards in front of me. Thinking to myself, "This can't be". Sure enough there was that white hog deader than a door knob. As I walked up on it I was still in shock. I rolled it over and sure enough I had hit right where I thought I had, just behind the front shoulder an inch above where I was looking when I loosed the arrow.
(http://burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/_rwb9531.jpg)
My arrow had passed completely through the white pig taking out both lungs in the process then entered the brown pig just a hair lower on the body right behind the shoulder taking out the top of the heart and almost completely passing through the opposite front leg. All that was left in pig number 2 was the fletching and nock.
I had not seen the second pig as I was so focused on whitey that everything else was a blur. If anyone has any doubts about the lethality of a sharp broadhead, this should be proof of the killing power. No question in my mind had my arrow not hit the off shoulder I would have had a double pass through.
Was this luck, You bet and I am one thankful bowhunter. I will most likely never have this happen again and even if I do ever have it happen to get two vitals with one arrow is nuts. I am still in awe of just how this happened.
lucky for me I was able to drive the vehicle right up to the hogs so I only had to drag whitey about 60 yards and that was enough.
(http://burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/_rwb9540.jpg)
Day 3 ended, Hogs 2 / Bowhunter 2
Well done Paleface :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Single bevel my arse! :D :D :D
Awesome story telling so far Rob!
I believe I spent a few hours playing around with that very same hog! Never close enough for a shot though.
A twofer like that is amazing! I would've put it down to a good campfire story if I hadn't seen the pictures :D
Very, very cool! And great photos!!! :thumbsup:
That's an awesome story Rob - glad you shared it.
I almost got two gropers like that once (two does) I had two non-trophy tags....shot one and the arrow went through and just about took out the one beside her - if they had a been side by side I think it would have worked.
Great shooting and great penetration too.
JB
Outstanding stuff. Great story and even better pics. Thanks for sharing.
That is absolutely incredible! Great story and pics Rob!
I hope you're not finished yet - this is too good to stop now!
GREAT PHOTOS and an even GREATER STORY Rob!
Thank you for sharing what would be a hunting experience of a lifetime for many.
The field photo of you with the speckled WHITE piece of pork is just *spectacular*!
:~)
Thanks again for takin' the Trad Gang along Rob!
Shoot straight, Shinken
Awesome story and pics. Wow, a 2fer. That's awesome!
Way cool, I really enjoyed that story !
Congrats on the twofer!
Geat story thanks for sharing...truly enjoyed it.
That's about as cool as it gets, Rob! Looking forward to hearing more in Nashville.
I'll take luck any day over skill, way to go!! :thumbsup: great story and pic's :clapper:
Great job Rob! Congrats on the double hog shot! and what a story you have told! thanks
Thanks for the beautyful pics and the nice story.
Superb photography, and well-done on the pigs!
Great story and pics. I really need to hunt hogs some day; looks like great fun!
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: Way to go, fantastic adventure.
Great story and super pictures! I hope there is more to come. Bob
After loading up the hogs in the truck we headed back to the main camp where the skinning shed and meat cooler were located. We got my hogs skinned and the innards removed then hung them in the cooler. By now there were a total of 11 pigs hanging. Still hoping some of the other bowhunters will pop in and tell their stories. Day 3 was coming to a close. It had been one awesome day in the field, one I won't forget.
Day 4 arrived cloudy and windy. The plan was to check on all the bait and freshen them up for the evenings hunt. There had been very few pigs seen during the morning hunts. We opted to use the morning hours to scout and try our luck at some still hunting. We knew where there were several groups of hogs, but they were most likely the same hogs that would be coming to our bait sites in the evenings so we made the decision early in the hunt to leave them alone so as not to run them out of the area.
The morning came and went with no hogs spotted. Thanks to gale force winds we figured the pigs were holding tight in the thickets spots they could find. Back at camp we enjoyed some friendly competition shooting at milk jugs, coke bottles and a shotgun shell. If memory serves me Bo was the dead in the group. After lunch we headed back out to the hunting area, specifically Stone House to get a group shot.
(http://burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/_rwb9544.jpg)
from left to right:
my smiling mug, Ron Tandy (Fla.), Bo Slaughter (Va.), Buddy Slaughter (Va.) and Bill Terry (Conn.)
What a bunch!
This is a shot of the blood trail. It was pretty cloudy so it's a little hard to see. O' and that dead pig at the end, that's Ron....
(http://burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/_rwb9589.jpg)
I didn't really mention much about the blood trail, but I can't ever remember having such a massive trail to follow. The hog was spraying from both sides. From what it looked like to me each time it's front legs wold hit the ground blood would gush out both sides leaving a trail that I could see 25 - 30 yards ahead of me. When we gutted those hogs there was very little blood left in them.
We took a little time before the afternoon hunt to read all the historic signs posted at Stone House. Here is another pic of the gang.
(http://burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/_rwb9593.jpg)
After touring the house and out buildings it was time to head into out stands for the evening hunt. Bill had a close call the evening before with the rodeo pigs so he was headed back to another corral to the east. Ron hadn't had much luck on the bait he had been sitting so he decided he would give the Stone House a try. Move right in on me didn't he. Not a problem, I actually offered up my spot since I had broken ice and wanted to share the wealth. Bo was headed back down to the river where we had built a ground blind earlier in the day hoping to catch several nice big red hogs that he had seen. Buddy was going to keep at his location since he was seeing pigs on every sit. That left the rest wide open.
I decided to try the site across from Stone House. It was really going to be up to the wind where I finally ended up. I got Bo to drop me off just past the cattle guard. I shouldered my pack and headed off up the ridge towards the spot where I had had the close encounter with "Whitey" the first evening. There was a lot of hog sign in this area and Buddy had seen several nice ones from this stand.
I positioned myself beside a large pile of bulldozed brush since the wind at the moment was not good for the bait site which was situated down in the draw. I sat there for a few hours and burned through a few chapters in Barry's new book. Great read by they way, if you don't have a copy it's a must for every bowhunters library.
It was around 4:30, I had just tucked the book back in my pack when I heard a commotion behind me. Across the ridge about 200 yards above me a single coyote crossed. As soon as he was out of sight he let out a yelp then they all started. I don't care how many times I hear coyotes howling, it stirs something up inside each time. Maybe if I lived out west where I could hear them on a regular basis it wouldn't be so special, but coming from the east coast I don't get to hear them so this is a treat for me.
(http://burnhamphotography.com/galleries/nature/photos/wildlife/dsc_0983coyote01.jpg)
As the afternoon wore on the wind had switched up a little so I decided to slip on down into the draw. The wind was not perfect but not bad. I climbed over the thorns and stickers into the ground blind then hunkered down till dark. With the wind still blowing steady I felt any movement would come in the last minutes of daylight.
Round about 6:30 a spell of Déjà vu hit me. If you have even been black bear hunting you know just how quiet they can be, almost ghost like. I was scanning the area looking down the numerous trails that led to the bait when out of no where appeared a huge black hog. I mean one second there was an empty trail the next it was standing there looking right at me. I froze hoping it hadn't seen me turn my head.
The hog was maybe 50 to 60 yards out at this point and just standing there like a statue. For what seemed like an hour it didn't move. Then finally it crossed the trail moving down into the bottom. I knew exactly what it was doing, it was working around to get the wind in it's favor so it could check out the bait before coming in. Smart little rascal! I could catch brief glimpses of this black hog as it worked through the thicket. I pulled out my puffer bottle and checked the wind real quick. If it didn't swirl on me I might be able to avoid detection.
When blacky got directly opposite the bait from me he locked up and started with the loud grunts. I couldn't see him at this point but I could hear him sucking in air testing the wind. He wasn't to be fooled, he must have caught a whiff of something he didn't like. Probably me, and he took off up the opposite side of the draw. I could hear him grunting all the way up the draw. He sounded pissed. I think I spoiled his free meal.
By now the sun had dropped blow the horizon and it was getting darker by the minute so I gathered up my gear, slipped my arrow back in the quiver and made my way back up to the top of the ridge. Day 4 provided yet another encounter with Texas hogs. I must say I think I am addicted to this hog hunting. I could see the headlights on the vehicle coming down the road, we were all in a hurry to get back to camp and change. Tonight was Thursday night and that meant dinner at the Bee Hive a restaurant in Albany that does an all you can eat shrimp night.
Dinner was great! Got to listen to stories from Gene & Barry, ate way more shrimp than I should have and even downed a few cold Corona's. Life is good. Good friends, food and hog hunting to boot. what more can a bowhunter ask for.
Great stories and pic's....congrats on the double.
Come on Rob! Getting a little greedy aren't you? I mean really....2 hogs with one arrow? Excellent pics as usual. You really are good with the camera....and with the bow too!
Great stories & fine hunting! Especially the 2-fer. Thanks for the pix.
Great shooting Rob. :thumbsup:
Jack
:thumbsup:
Great story & Photos.
Tell us about the equipment you used when taking the coyote's photo. How far was he!
Awesome story and pics Rob. I leave for Hunt #5 next week.
Great shooting Rob, that is awesome, pictures are great ! as usual ! I hope you are going to be in Nashville , love to talk some !
my camera while hunting consist of my Nikon D3 body, 12-24mm nikor, 24-120mm nikor, 60mm macro nikor and 80-200mm nikor lens. Most of the animal shots were taken with the 80-200.
Thomas if I heard correctly you had a double as well. the funny is Barry had just told me about your double the night before. He must have jinxed me huh! I wish I was going to make it to Nashville, I booked a job over a year ago before I had the dates for the banquet. If the clients hadn't already paid I would have canceled for sure.
Buckster you should have a really great week of hunting. The Twins will put you on hogs for sure. There were at least 12 hogs taken on week 3 and possibly a few more. This week they were hunting a different area so it should give the pigs some time to settle back down for your hunt.
Day 5 coming shortly.
Great shot and fantastic story and pics.Thanks.
Great Story and pictures! I've had the same thing happen with hunting in texas, the hog came in and circled to get the wind before hitting the bait. Next time I am going to sprinkle a little trail of corn on both sides of the bait into the brush. This way maybe if the hog starts to circle and then hits this little trail of corn he will be a real "pig" and follow it into the bait and hopefully an arrow.
Congrats on two nice looking hogs!
:notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy: Outstanding on all counts Rob. Ha! I killed one pig with two arrows- you guys kill two pigs with one arrow- I've gotta start reading the instructions, LOL. Maybe I can eavesdrop on you and Thomas in Nashville. Congratulations! Grant
Great pictures and story. Looks like fun was had by all... but the pigs. :bigsmyl:
Kevin Shea killed the double hunting with Thomas...
Guru is right, it was My buddy Kevin Shea, somebody was heard around the fire later saying that it "must have been a bad shot that turned lucky because you can't make a good shot and have that happen" or something like that but looks like you proved that wrong, looked like an awesome shot to me !
Will definantly miss you at the PBS, let's keep in touch and hunt together again sometime.
Great hunt and story Rob! And the pictures are awesome as always.
-Mac
Great story!!! This would be a great one for the St. Judes book. :readit: http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=084980;p=6#000076
Congrats on the double!!! That's just Awesome!! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
Awesome story and the pictures are fantastic!! The hawk and coyote photos are exceptional. Thanks for sharing your adventure with us! Two birds with one stone, I mean two hogs with one arrow! I think it will be an new saying!!! :notworthy: :clapper:
Yeah, great pics and story. Hopefully I can make this hunt next year. Just sounds like too much fun to miss. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :notworthy:
congratulations Rob! Sounds like week 3 had a great time...I got a 2 for 1 on Hogs last year. Heart shot on the intended target and behind the ear on number 2....Wensel Woodsman and 50 lbs..GREAT Pics Also!
Thomas I must have head Barry wrong, but you are still the hog man. Whitey was on purpose but the brown hog was just plain lucky. I never even saw that hog there until it was running away with my arrow hanging out of it's side.
The fact that the shot went through both chest cavities was again all luck. I should probably change my thinking and say I waited until they were perfectly lined up and that I was trying for the double. Nah, it is what is and I just had the gods of the hunt with me.
I will finish up the hunt from my view tomorrow evening... thanks to everyone for the kinds words and for reading my story.
Great pics and wonderful story! Good shooting.
I would say that is the highlight of anyones bowhunting career.
Chris
Ok I would say this "WE ARE ALL JEALOUS"
I can't wait to get down there and chase some around..
Jer Bear
Kwyk Styk "magic" :thumbsup:
Great story Rob-enjoyed the read and pics. Congrats!
Great story Rob-enjoyed the read and pics. Congrats!
great story, great pics, very enjoyable read. congrats on the double.
paleFace- Can you post some pictures of my brother Mark Mitten's boar. He said it had good tusks, but I'm not so sure. Ha! Also, Mark said you wore a nice arrow head around your neck, do you have any photos of that? Nice stories! Mike
Great story and adventures. A double is fantastic and certainly a rare event . Congratulations.
Hey Rob, Congrats man... I guess practicing at Denton Hill on ground hogs was just the ticket:
<<<<<
>>>>>
Give me a Yell when you BBQ some that Texas Piggy... Really wish I could have made the Pig
Gig with All Y'All..
Jeff
Wow!!! That is some dang fine shooting and a testament to what a good setup can do!
Congratulations on a feat very few bowhunters have experienced! :clapper:
Very nice story, and great pics as usual. Congrats on the double!!
Mike I can post a pic, it was taken in the meat locker so it's not a nice field photo. It did have some really nice tusk. As for the arrow head necklace, I'll get that up as well. I started making them a few years ago.
Jeff yep Denton Hill was the ticket. I need a copy of that picture for my scrap book. As for BBQ'n up them pigs, I am having a processor there in Albany hook me up good. Getting some summer sausage, breakfast sausage, ribs, chops, steaks, loin, links a couple of cured and smoked hams. will probably break the bank, but I'll at least have some meat in the freezer.
Curt you got that right. Kwyk Styk magic do doubt. I can't thank you enough for putting me in touch with Jack. I hope to meet him some day soon.
Ok working on Day 5...
Mike here is the picture of your Bro's nice boar and another of his tusk... wish I had a better picture to show you but they were in a hurry to skin him up...
(http://www.burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/_rwb9490.jpg)
(http://www.burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/tusk.jpg)
here is the stone point necklace i made.
(http://www.burnhamphotography.com/galleries/events/photos/texas2010/stonepoint.jpg)
Rob, excellent pictorial and story. I'll be there on hunt #5 and hope to have as a good a time as you seemed to have. Plus, I have a score to settle on a big boar from last years PigGig!!!
Great necklace! Do you sell those? I would love to have one.. Steve (Stafford VA)
Thanks. It looks like a tough boar. The necklace is very nice. Mike
I saw a big 'ol boar last time I was out at the Stone House during the summer.
Good pig!
That looks to be a nice pair o' cutters on that Mitten boar!
It would make a dandy skull mount!
Shoot straight, Shinken
OK day 5 finally....
After a wild night eating all the shrimp we could stuff in our guts and a few cold drinks to wash them down, sleep came quick but not as quick as the morning wake up call. The last day of the hunt for some reason always has it's issues. The only thing I don't hate about the last day of a hunt is getting to look forward to the next hunt.
Any way we were up and out the door in short order headed for the hunting area. We followed routine making our way around to all the bait sites all the while looking for hogs in the bush in hopes of getting in an early morning stalk. Again the weather was not helping. Cloudy, even spitting some rain on occasion as well as stiff winds. Just not what one would expect or want while pig hunting.
The morning was pretty uneventful to say the least and we decided to make one last run to town. Not wanting to buy more groceries since we would be pulling out of camp in the morning we decided to check out this little Mexican restaurant. Yummy!
After filling out bellies we made a quick pit stop at camp to empty our tanks (Mexican food will do that to you)and gather out gear for the afternoon hunt. Back out in our area we were all at a loss as to which locations to hunt. The wind has switched again preventing several from being hunted. Unless your wearing that stuff that allows you to forget the wind and just hunt. Yeah right!
Awesome Finally got caught up
Thanks for the pics Rob
great stuff! :thumbsup:
Just getting around to catching up on my reading. Good stuff Rob. Hope you finish it out and don't leave us hanging on the last evening.
Great stuff ! a good story well told with beautiful pics . Thanks for sharing .
Ben