We just got back from our 2014 Pig-Gigs the night before last. I think I can speak for everyone saying we had a great time. The tally ended up at a total of 49 javelina and 23 hogs on two different ranches in a total of 15 hunting days. I know that sounds impressive but more importantly many memories were made (including a close mountain lion encounter, several bobcats and a huge boar at seven feet)and a ton of great laughter and friendships. On another note, I wanted to mention I returned to find several cancellations in my last two whitetail bootcamps. If anyone is interested, there's a few slots presently open for April 3-4-5th and April 10-11-12th. Just email me at barrywensel@hotmail.com or go to our www.brothersofthebow.com (http://www.brothersofthebow.com) website (sponsor) for details. Thanks and best regards to all. BW
:wavey: :thumbsup: :archer:
That's a lot of javelina! Texas this winter would have been one of my smarter moves. I am so sick of the snow and cold.
QuoteOriginally posted by Steve O:
That's a lot of javelina! Texas this winter would have been one of my smarter moves. I am so sick of the snow and cold.
I hear ya there Steve it seems like it's never gonna end!
I saw the picture of the mountain lion. Greg is the guy that introduced me to trad. ;)
:campfire: :coffee:
Where'd you see the picture of the mountain lion? I didn't even know he had a photo. Super. bw
Yeah but did Hogdancer kill 20 of those 23? That boy was born to end life.
Sounds like a great hunt!
Congrats to all the hunters.
Bisch
Naw, Thomas only got three hogs. Of course that was just one night and he didn't stay the whole week.
It was a hoot of a hunt at Lambshead. As usual Gene's and Barry's stories made the whole thing worthwhile. Great group of guys.
talk about a fun week of hunting! had a ball.
:bigsmyl:
:campfire:
Brad have you figured out how to post some of your photos on here? I did post a few on the *********** last week. My grandson thinks that the big black hog has to be a wolf because pigs are pink. Was great hunting with you and hope we can do it again some day soon.
The "huge boar at 7 feet" that uncle Barry mentioned was, well, those were MY FEET! You can read about that and must more from the pig gig in an upcoming issue of TradArchers Wrold. Look for the Texas landscape on the cover.
NOTE to 2014 Pig Giggers. I am penning an article on the pig gig for an upcoming issue of TradArchers World. I've already shot the cover, however I'm still going through photos to accompany the story. I need good quality images, original photos with 150dpi or higher resolution for clear magazine reproduction. If you have an image that will work I'd like to take a look at it. You can email it to me using this address: gary@logsdonstudios.com. Thanks!
gary, im on nights right now but ill get ya some pics pronto
I'm so bummed we missed this year due to other obligations etc. Seriously the best time....
Matty, we missed having you there. Sorry you couldn't make it.
Chasin Hogs & Javies with Uncle G & B is always a blast.Wish I could have made PG this year !!
BUT signing up for BARRY's BOOT Camp will ease the pain a bit,really looking forward to BOOT CAMP in a couple weeks. !! Still a couple openings
(http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i133/habujohn777/3f4e5277-9509-4dc5-8e9d-281cbd1da7cd_zps0a899360.jpg) (http://s71.photobucket.com/user/habujohn777/media/3f4e5277-9509-4dc5-8e9d-281cbd1da7cd_zps0a899360.jpg.html)
I have not sure if I have figured out how to post a picture here from photobucket but going to try. this was from week two of the Wensel javelina hunt
Wow it worked. Guess I should also pay attention to what I am writing, sorry about the sentence structure.
John
(http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i133/habujohn777/Texashoghung017_zpscf4cf5b6.jpg) (http://s71.photobucket.com/user/habujohn777/media/Texashoghung017_zpscf4cf5b6.jpg.html)
Ok I have this figured out. This picture is of Brad (huntnmuleys) and I on our first day out together. This first day has a good story behind it too!
(http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i133/habujohn777/Texashoghung024_zps21fd2f12.jpg) (http://s71.photobucket.com/user/habujohn777/media/Texashoghung024_zps21fd2f12.jpg.html)
Here is what the country looked like we were hunting in. We actually stalked down this long draw for about a half mile before cutting up a high ridge to the right and to get into the javelina. Brad commented that it was like walking on river rocks all the time and I sure had to agree.
(http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i133/habujohn777/Texashoghung058_zps47492cb9.jpg) (http://s71.photobucket.com/user/habujohn777/media/Texashoghung058_zps47492cb9.jpg.html)
Group photo with hog; John,Barry,Gene,Fred,Brad.
Gene and Barry deserve all the credit for getting me a shot at this hog. They built a little blind out of cedar bows and Gene dug a 2 foot hole and placed corn it so the hog offered a perfect broadside shot as he dug out the corn. I also got very lucky to have clear skies and a quarter moon so I could see the hog in the low light for the shot.
(http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i133/habujohn777/Texashoghung061_zps3eca25a1.jpg) (http://s71.photobucket.com/user/habujohn777/media/Texashoghung061_zps3eca25a1.jpg.html)
Here is the pig hanging in the butchering shed, check out the canines on this old boar. Thanks again Barry and Gene, I had a great time.
John
Great Hog and Javies.
Sounds like a Grand trip!
Good job John. You did good! It was a pleasure hunting with all you guys. Thanks. bw
Up top for some more stories and pictures.
A story of Javelina and Hogs: My hunt started in my mind several months before I pointed my truck south from the far north of the Yooper, and I can tell you that I did not dream big enough. I just love the anticipation of a hunt, don't you?
For a number of years I have been wanting to do a bowhunt with the Wensel bros. and now I had my chance. There was going to be 17 of us at the west Texas ranch and we were to arrive on Sunday afternoon and start our hunting on Monday morning. I arrived a bit late and missed the orientation, turned out to be a good thing too. Soon after I arrived I had Barry come up to me and tell me to not worry, there were still lots of places for me to go out hunting in the morning. Monday morning arrived and we were all up at the crack of dawn for a bite and a cup of joe. Barry and Gene grabbed me and another stickbow shooter by the name of Brad. He let us know we were going to be hunting partners today and where we could do our hunt. 45 minutes later Brad and I were at our area and pulling on our packs and grabbing the bows. After a short discussion we decided we wanted to head up hill to a good viewing spot and glass for javelina. Brad turned out to very good at spotting game and it did not take him long to pick out a mule deer buck. We watched the buck move about a hillside about a half mile away for some time. Brad then hissed at me he had javelina spotted. The little pigs were working their way towards the mule deer and you could clearly see he was watching the javelina too. We watched them all for about a half hour and could tell they were not going anywhere soon. The discussion soon turned to how we could get in on them. Having never hunted pigs or javelina before I was not too sure on how good their senses were going to be but brad assured me they would not see us approach from below them and so off we went. As we stood at the base of the draw looking up the hill where we knew the javelina were bedded we made our final plans. As we cut the distance to about 40 yards I saw a big javelina stand up and then bed back down under a small tree. Signaling Brad of what I saw we crept further and soon we were inside of 30 yards. Nocking arrows we both were ready for our first chance. Pressing forward a very slowly a small step at a time we cut the distance to 20 yards. Now my heart was pumping very fast and I kept saying to myself to keep calm, the shot was going to happen.
Today I was caring a 57# habu VyperKhan long bow. My arrows were axis 340's cut to 30.5" and tipped with 165 grain snuffers. This set up should have no issue shooting through the shoulders of a javelina and that is where I planned to shoot.
Back to the stalk: As I stared down the bedded javelina and thought of how I was going to get the shot I heard soft grunting type sounds coming from my right. Slowly I turned my head and saw a javelina moving out from under some heavy brush. It looked like a good one and if he kept moving he was going to walk right into an opening at less than 15 yards. As luck would have it the javelina did just what I needed and not only did he step into the opening but he stopped as I hit full draw. Bearing down on my spot the shaft was soon on it's way and I could now see the arrow right where I had been looking. The javelina spun back the way he had come and ran only about 30 yards hiding under a small tree. The fun was not over yet though as the other javelina were now on their feet and not very happy. Brad was next to me and it was now his turn. Having forgot to bring the rabbit call I started making some squealing sounds by using the back of my hand. Can this possible work was racing through my mind? Soon I had my answer as the javelina we first started to stalk made his way towards me. I had an arrow nocked but I wanted Brad to get a crack at this one and so I knelt down so he could shoot around me. As I looked back I could see Brad was looking behind him as he had another javelina approaching from the opposite direction. It was a very exciting time and I did my best to get the javelina in as close as possible but it soon turned sour and we failed to get another shot. The good news was I had one down and I was eager to go see a javelina up close. As Brad and I approached the spot where we had seen him go down I was surprised to hear Brad say to me he was still alive. Having a arrow ready I moved up to the cover and at 10 yards the javelina came up from under the brush and offered me a perfect broadside shot. I sent another snuffer through him just behind the shoulder and to my surprise he just jumped high in the air and came down popping his canines at us. Brad hissed to shot him again and soon my last arrow was on it's way, passing through the pig a bit far back. He did not go 25 yards and was down for the count. I could not believe that I had to shoot three times with two shots in the boiler room to put the javelina down for good. Having shot a lot of big game in 40 years with the bow I was thinking that these little guys were tougher than anything I had hunted before. Since we knew where the javelina went down we just walked over to pick up my two arrows and go see a javelina up close. This time the javelina was right were we last saw him and was not going anywhere. High fives were now in order as well as a few pictures. We both were on a pretty good high at this time and we decided to carry our game back to the truck and then go see if we could find Brad a javelina. After taking only a few steps with our hard earned prize I was surprised to hear Brad say that there was a javelina at the bottom of the draw about 150 yards away. We dropped our quarry and I said to Brad that he should go after him and I would watch from the hillside. Brad grabbed his binoculars to get a good look and soon said that the javelina was bleeding pretty hard from a shoulder wound. I then looked at him with my binoculars and it was obvious that he was hurt real bad. Was it possible I had shot two javelina? Brad and I talked about it for a minute and even though we both believed I had only shot one it was evident this javelina had also been shot. "count the holes John", I can still hear Brad say this to me. Sure enough I counted only two holes and not three. We then watched as the javelina staggered under a cedar tree and laid down. Sliding down the hill I walked up on the javelina and put another snuffer through him ( I had picked up two of my previous arrows). The shot hit him in the vitals and he went about five steps and was down for the count. Never have I seen an animal take a broadhead through the vitals like that and go so long. When I skinned him out later I half expected that my shot did not go where I thought it had but that was not the case. My arrow had busted through both his shoulders at midline, taking out both lungs. The little pig had survived at least 15 minutes after the shot.
My javelina hunting was done the first morning and now it was time for me to help out my new hunting partner. Maybe Brad can give you his story of his good fortune later in the hunt.
Good stuff John!!
I hope I was not to long winded, I got caught up in telling the story. By the way if you even get the chance to go on a hunt with the Wensel brothers, do not pass it up. They made us all feel like we were family, so much so I thought I was hunting with my brothers.
:campfire: :archer: :coffee:
WOW!! Quite a story John. You got your moneys worth and then some on that first hunt. Thanks for sharing.
Anyone who doesn't know John He's a great guy and a remarkable shot ! It was great to share a camp with him and Brad along with the other hunters , not to mention our hosts , the Wensels . I have been fortunate to hunt with them separately over the years but this was my first pig-gig and I can assure you they are more then twice the fun together . I had a memorable hunt , met some really great guys and even added to my small collection of neat but useless artifacts . does anyone know if Ray scored on the last day ? I had to leave a day early with tire trouble . Hope to do this again , thanks Gene and Barry !
Fred
Hi Fred! Thanks for the nice words. I want you to know that I would share a camp with you and Brad at anytime. Do you have any pictures to share? For those following these posts Fred shot two javelina the first day too and one he ..... Fred you will have to tell that story.
John
Let me start by saying Texas is one big place . I left Jersey and drove 16 hours to Florida to visit with my Son and Daughter and left my Goodwife there and headed for Texas . Two days of hard driving brought me to my destination : the Shurely ranch in Marfa . After two days of driving 12 hours I stumbled into the ranch house and got introduced to everyone and Gene and Barry went over the rules of engagement . It was all a blur to me , I needed sleep so I crawled into my crib early and passed out . Next morning Gene paired me up with Ray , a great guy , and took us out about 8 miles from camp and showed us a promising looking drainage and turned us loose . There was a feeder between two small drainages with a popup blind set up close by . Ray and I decided to split up and climb some of the ridges and glass till about noon then meet up and compare notes . Early afternoon we met up and planned the afternoon assault . Ray wanted to continue glassing an area he some javalinas going into when we first arrived and I opted to check around a distant windmill and then if nothing happened I would sit the feeder .
After a half hour walk towards the windmill I came upon a fenceline which I thought might be the property line so I slowly headed back to the feeder . I still hunted one of the drainages back to the blind and even though I saw a lot of fresh sign I didn't see any javies . I got to the blind about 4:00 and settled in . Not getting enough sleep or the heat from the sun or just as likely from getting older whatever the reason I started to nod off when I heard something popping it's jaws hard to my left .
A small group of javies came cautiously into the feeder . It seemed like a large sow with 2 young came in and a larger one circled around further out . He was slowly walking by about 15 yards out and I wasn't sure if he would continue on or turn and come in . I shifted my weight on the stool as I turned to my left to catch him before he got out of range , doing so I scraped the hard ground ever so lightly but the 3 javies in the feeder bolted and the big one turned and faced me head on . Remembering seeing Howard Hill shoot a running pig in the head in one of his videos I got caught up in the moment and shot the javalina right between the eyes dropping him in his tracks . I paid a price for my excitement as he quickly broke my arrow , bummer . As I didn't have to spend any time tracking I got out of the blind noting the time 5:10 , I dragged the javie off to the side and went to find Ray and get him into the blind as there was still a couple hours of daylight left . I climbed the ridge I thought he was on but couldn't find him . I crossed over to a couple other likely spots but no luck . Not being sure what direction he went I sat down and glassed . After awhile I put my binos on the feeder and blind and saw 6 dark spots milling around . I gave another look around and not seeing Ray I decided to head back to the feeder and see how close I could get . The wind was gusting pretty good so I circled around till it was blowing in my face and putting the blind between me and the javies I started to jog back . When I got a couple of hundred yards away I slowed down and at 100 yards I only moved when the wind blew and when it stopped for a moment I would hold tight . Where I hunt back home most places you can't see 20 yards so this was very different and exciting . I got to about 15 yards from the blind and they were on the other side feeding without a care in the world . I slowly moved around the blind and had 5 of them within 15 yards . I could have shot at any of them but decided they were all on the smaller side . After about 2 minutes of watching them feed one of the smaller ones got rousted out of the pack and ran over towards me . I don't know who was more surprised . When he realized I might be a threat he squealed and bolted taking the herd with him . It was now about 7:00 . They ran off to my left about 50 yards and then just walked off feeding as if nothing had happened . With about an hour of daylight left I decided to get back in the blind and wait for Ray to show up . I had dragged the Javalina I had shot behind some brush close by the blind where I could see him . Remembering that someone had seen a mountain lion the previous week got me thinking . I got out of the blind and moved the dead javie out in front of me about 15 yards up close to a bush , that way if a hungry cat showed up I could get a shot . Always be optimistic .
As was enjoying a beautiful sunset I heard noise off to my right . 8 Javalinas were downwind of me and acting nervous . They slowly circled around till they were cross wind from me and I guess they thought it was safe as they couldn't smell me anymore so they came in . There was one in the group that was considerably larger then the rest but when they came in they bunched up in a group not giving me a clear shot without the fear of hitting the wrong one as they swirled around pushing each other out of the way as they fed . After about 5 minutes of this I leaned back in my stool to stretch my back when I again made a scraping noise on the rocky floor . They all jumped back about 10 feet and stood still looking towards the blind . a minute later they were back in the feed . So I scraped the ground with my foot and they did the same thing only it was like musical chairs , they were all in a different position but stood still for a few moments . Thinking myself pretty slick I raised my bow and scraped again , it took about 6 times before the big one was caught facing broadside under 10 yards . I was ready for him and even I can sometimes hit something this close . My arrow hit low right behind the shoulder and he took off like a scaled cat . I couldn't believe it , my first Javalina hunt and I shot 2 the first day ! Getting out of the blind I saw Ray driving up and showed him my first one and told him about the second oone that I had just shot 5 minutes before he drove up . There was a small sandy ravine about 100 yards off in the direction the javie ran and I thought I would look there for sign of him crossing it . We weren't half way there when Ray spotted him piled up about forty yards from where I hit him .
Fred... why do I get the feeling you type really fast? Thanks for posting this. It's always great sharing a camp with you. bw
Great stories guys. You really allowed me to visualize your hunts.
Sounds to me like you fellas had a great time. Of course, any time with the Wensels is a blast.
This was my first pig gig and I must say it met my expectations. Had a great hunt and managed to bring a couple Javelina home in the cooler. The Wensels reputation speaks for itself...super guys. Made some new friends and memories that will last forever. Happy hunting and thanks to all for making this opportunity happen.
This was a hunt I was looking forward to since last fall and was NOT a disappointment it was great meeting new friends and seeing some who I haven't seen in a while. John it was great meeting both you and Brad and hope you can make the shoot in Wausau Brad said he'd consider driving up for the weekend if everything would work out for him. FRED it was great seeing you again and hope you stay in touch and try and make it to Wisconsin for the whitetail season your always welcome at my place. Barry & Gene what can I say I'm still not sure you can have that much fun and still be legal.
Great reading....many thanks for sharing. Haven't been able to hunt since 1st week in Nov...nice to start ready about some hunts at least.
:campfire:
Jim I talked to my wife about the Wausau shoot and she is all for it. Would you PM me about details. Barry I still get a smile on my face when I think of Fred telling his stories, even writing this I crack up. Fred you are a hoot and I would love to do a gator hunt with you.
Great stories!! Attaboy Fred!!!!!
Barry , I wish I could type as fast as some people think I talk , I'm a 2 finger man but I feel comfortable with the term "hunt and peck "
Jim I would love to come out there and try my hand at those big Wisconsin whitetails . Finding the time might be tough but you never know .
And John I usually go alligator hunting with my Son , Grandson and Son-in-law but that doesn't mean I can't go for a second one ,I go down to Florida in mid October for my Grandson's birthday and hunt the last week of the season as it goes out Nov. 1st . I've taken 3 the last 3 years .
Great to hear from you Sean , you are all mended now I hope . I've got some really neat pictures on my camera but can't seem to get them to photobucket . I got this new computer and it's like I have to learn all over again .
The story I posted was only the first day of a Great trip . Second day I went back to the same area with the hopes of getting Ray onto some javies . I spent the morning glassing over an area I overlooked the day before and seen several javies before noon . Ray had gone into the blind late morning so I decided get on the highest point and watch the excitement when it happened . The sun was shining and the wind was blowing a steady breeze and I laid back to enjoy it and woke up an hour and a half later . I can gert my best naps in the woods or in this case on the prairie . Much invigorated I decided to do some exploring . I followed a dry gulch up to it's head then crossed a ridge and followed another for a ways . I kept this up for about 4 hours and found some really neat if not useless stuff . I found what the guys at camp thought was a fossilized bone , 3 shed antlers , 2 from whitetails and 1 from a mulie , nothing big but neat all the same . A couple of horseshoes which might have some history . a really neat rock that looked like it may have been used for grinding grain as it was bowl shaped . Regettably it was too heavy to carry around but I made notes where it can be found again .I did take pictures of it though . I would like to get a pair of jack-ass donkeys and spend a few days wandering around out there with my bow and just look the country over and carry back all the crap I find . With the sun going down I headed back to check on Ray . I was heading for a ridge to sit and overlook the blind but when I got about 200 yards from the blind I heard a sound like a grunt - growl mix and knew Ray had connected . Coming down the ridge there was a ravine between the blind and the ridge . I could see Ray motioning for me to be on the lookout as his javie had run into the ravine . The ravines are the only place where the cover is thick and this one was one of the thickest . From here on in this is Ray's story . just let me say that looking for his javie I stumbled onto the skull and horns of some kind of antelope . of course I brought it back . Gene said it was an " Addick " Apparently there were 2 on the ranch and this one went missing a year or so ago and the other one only had one horn so they culled it . but the ranch being 42,000 acres what's the chances of finding it . On the way back to the truck I found another whitetail shed . A truly remarkable place , I'd love to go again .
Hopefully my Daughter will stop by tomorrow and load these pics for me . Hope I'm not boring you with my ramblings , Fred
I love the stories Fred. What a great hunt. I feel as though I'm walking with ya. Thanks for sharing.
Fred there sure were a lot of sheds out there in the desert. I found at least one a day in my travels including a mule deer shed that was very newly shed. Brad and I also found a full rack attached to a partial skull. For a desert it was sure full of life. Looking forward to seeing some of your pictures aka Howard Hill jr.
Congratulations on a fine javalina hunt and story Fred! Looking forward to seeing and hunting with you again in the future.
John,
I tried emailing you and it didn't go through the shoot dates are August 9-10 in Wausau at the Rib Mountain Bowmen email me at harvesterbows@yahoo.com and then we can talk more.
Jim
Jim not sure what happened but I did send you an email.
Jim I checked my profile page and see that I have not updated my email address since it was changed. habujohn777@hotmail.com
Great adventure!! Thanks for sharing with us!!! :thumbsup:
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/th_IMGP0012.jpg?t=1395864966 I think this is working , this is my first Javalina ever.
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/th_IMGP0012.jpg?t=1395864966
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/th_IMGP0012.jpg?t=1395864966I better post this before I get carried away
http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/th_IMGP0012.jpg?t=1395864966 I must be dumber than I think , I had no problems with my old computer with xp but now I have windows 8 and it seems slower and more steps involved . Sorry
Fred what happened to that broadhead? Is that the one you shot the javi in the head with?
John
Here ya go Fred.
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/IMGP0012-1.jpg)
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/IMGP0024.jpg)
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/IMGP0017.jpg)
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/IMGP0020.jpg)
Skitch how did you do that ?
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/IMGP0017.jpg) (http://s253.photobucket.com/user/dewalt1797/media/IMGP0017.jpg.html) I may have hit onto something
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/IMGP0020.jpg) (http://s253.photobucket.com/user/dewalt1797/media/IMGP0020.jpg.html) (http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/IMGP0020.jpg) (http://s253.photobucket.com/user/dewalt1797/media/IMGP0020.jpg.html) (http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/IMGP0020.jpg) (http://s253.photobucket.com/user/dewalt1797/media/IMGP0020.jpg.html) I still think my old computer was easier .
Those are better Fred. I have a good pic of you with the hog I shot.
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/IMGP0024.jpg) (http://s253.photobucket.com/user/dewalt1797/media/IMGP0024.jpg.html) Good deal .This is a neat birdnest I came across . As John said the place looks desolate but there is a lot going on . (http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/IMGP0010.jpg) (http://s253.photobucket.com/user/dewalt1797/media/IMGP0010.jpg.html)
This is a few pics of the bones I found , they feel like rock (http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/IMGP0052.jpg) (http://s253.photobucket.com/user/dewalt1797/media/IMGP0052.jpg.html) (http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/IMGP0051.jpg) (http://s253.photobucket.com/user/dewalt1797/media/IMGP0051.jpg.html) (http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/IMGP0049.jpg) (http://s253.photobucket.com/user/dewalt1797/media/IMGP0049.jpg.html)
Oops. Added a few more for ya.
:wavey: :thumbsup:
(http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i133/habujohn777/Texashoghung046_zps86cb9423.jpg) (http://s71.photobucket.com/user/habujohn777/media/Texashoghung046_zps86cb9423.jpg.html)
Here you go Fred
(http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/IMGP0033.jpg) (http://s253.photobucket.com/user/dewalt1797/media/IMGP0033.jpg.html) Heres one I got close to and a pic of their favorite food , prickly pear (http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/IMGP0028.jpg) (http://s253.photobucket.com/user/dewalt1797/media/IMGP0028.jpg.html)
This is the bowl shaped rock I found that was hollowed out about 4 inches deep (http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/IMGP0034.jpg) (http://s253.photobucket.com/user/dewalt1797/media/IMGP0034.jpg.html) And here's a pic of that Addick skull (http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/dewalt1797/IMGP0053.jpg) (http://s253.photobucket.com/user/dewalt1797/media/IMGP0053.jpg.html) Getting started posting these pics was only harder than it is to stop . I have to write this down so I can do it again . And thanks Terry for the Hushpuppies , I don't leave home without them .
And John that's a heck of a pig .
And thanks Skitch for the motivation .
Great story telling. Felt like I was there watching!!
ok, finally got a minute. been a long couple of weeks. want to say, this is possibly the most fun hunt ive been on. I love open country, and this place was beyond beautiful.
(http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h333/huntnmuleys/IMG_0369-1.jpg) (http://s1104.photobucket.com/user/huntnmuleys/media/IMG_0369-1.jpg.html)
lol that one kind of reminds of me of ol wiley coyote and the roadrunner. I ended up dealing with both...
cutting to the chase, John ended up watching me play cat and mouse with these three little fellas for a couple days. there was shooting involved. there was not blood....
(http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h333/huntnmuleys/IMG_0339.jpg) (http://s1104.photobucket.com/user/huntnmuleys/media/IMG_0339.jpg.html)
so after a pep talk with John, i learned that he had once bowhunted Africa with Rich Wormington, owner of Yellowstone longbows. now i had been hunting with my Stalker and leaving my longbow in camp but with the missed opportunity John mentioned that in hunting with someone that had hunted with my bowmaker, it was bad juju not to be toting the longbow. works for me, i love shooting both.
speaking of longbows, Jim im going to try to call ya this next week sometime and order one of yours.
anyway, i had hiked all over creation looking at scenery. the terrain was weird. like being in river rock every step up or down.
(http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h333/huntnmuleys/IMG_0370.jpg) (http://s1104.photobucket.com/user/huntnmuleys/media/IMG_0370.jpg.html)
i ended up one evening sitting an area that had a feeder nearby and a water hole as well. talk about a double whammy! someone had made a little natural blind along side a tank, and i was checking it out. sitting in it, i couldn't help but smell the STRONG smell of marijuana! oh great, some cat was in here smoking the reefer before i got here. i looked for buds on the ground but to no avail. the smell remained quite strong though and finally in leaning and looking i discovered that the yellow flowers on the plant that made the blind were the cause. it was like being at a concert!! kind of funny. ive never smoked it, but these leaves were hard and sharp like throwing stars, and had 7 or 8 points. not like any marijuana ive ever heard of. but it REALLY smelled like it.
(http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h333/huntnmuleys/IMG_0358.jpg) (http://s1104.photobucket.com/user/huntnmuleys/media/IMG_0358.jpg.html)
now concert aside, i had sat quite a while and not seen or heard anything and was getting restless. sitting my bow down and walking over to my pack, i began sorting stuff to cure boredom. see where this is going? yep. i was dinking around and heard something, which turned out to be a young javalina standing quite close. and my bow was not so much. nobody ever said i was smart. anyway the young porker went to the water and i crawled to my bow. no way to get a shot though, the javalina finished and turned to leave. the corn just wasn't doing it. hed have gotten away too but at one point he doubled back a bit and gave me a shot. nobody in camp shot a smaller one.
a REAL archer can hit a smaller target...
(http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h333/huntnmuleys/IMG_03652.jpg) (http://s1104.photobucket.com/user/huntnmuleys/media/IMG_03652.jpg.html)
after that i really enjoyed the trip, but didn't hunt as much for me. got to help trail John's big hog, hung out with new friends, listened to crazy tales from the Wensels, and listened to and tried to translate stories from Fred, our local auctioneer!! my last evening i was going to go hunt with a younger hunter, and be the camera man. sounded like fun. they had set a blind previously and were sure it would be a hit. it was, right away a big hog came in to about 20 yards but Gabe didn't feel right with the shot. sounds like a good decision to me. did get good film and a still pic or two though... he was a biggun!
(http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h333/huntnmuleys/IMG_0372.jpg) (http://s1104.photobucket.com/user/huntnmuleys/media/IMG_0372.jpg.html)
and then things got chaotic. i ended up spotting a herd of javalina a LONG ways out, bedded and milling around. we made a last ditch effort stalk right before dark, and i thought i put Gabe in the right spot for a shot, right in front of the herd. i skirted the hill to hopefully get a shot after he did, i knew theyd scatter around. getting around the hill i saw a different group coming in and made a move. long story short, i got a 12 yard shot at a BIG javalina and drilled him. but it was right at dark. nobody had any problems with coyotes so far so we figured coming back in the morning was a good idea.
not so much, the song dogs had their way with my javalina. crazy end to a crazy trip. ill close with a few more pics. i like this one of John, good pic!
(http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h333/huntnmuleys/IMG_0336.jpg) (http://s1104.photobucket.com/user/huntnmuleys/media/IMG_0336.jpg.html)
there were some dandy muleys around! this was a small one.
(http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h333/huntnmuleys/IMG_0350.jpg) (http://s1104.photobucket.com/user/huntnmuleys/media/IMG_0350.jpg.html)
(http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h333/huntnmuleys/IMG_0347.jpg) (http://s1104.photobucket.com/user/huntnmuleys/media/IMG_0347.jpg.html)
(http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h333/huntnmuleys/IMG_0362.jpg) (http://s1104.photobucket.com/user/huntnmuleys/media/IMG_0362.jpg.html)
Thank you guys for sharing the stories and pics with us. This is what it is all about! This sounds like you guys had the time of your life. This will be a hunt I will do, hopefully sooner rather than later. Thanks again, i really enjoyed it.
Kole
I'm not sure how to post pictures without photo bucket...if someone could give me a hand I have a few pictures from this hunt. Thx
Here ya go!
(http://i.imgur.com/m9nlV6M.jpg)
(http://i.imgur.com/CM1AI0y.jpg)
:thumbsup:
Oops. Triple post!! Sorry bout that
Thx a lot...I appreciate the help!!
:bigsmyl:
Nice pictures guys, thanks for sharing them.
John
Congrats to all!!!
Hey Brad you have some great pictures there ! And heck anybody can hit a big Javalina , I proved that , it takes skill to bring down a smaller one ! Auctioneer ? You have to practically drag the words out of me .
Congrats to you Kentucky Boys , sorry not to have spent more time with you guys , after this hunt I'm sure you're not going back to compounds anytime soon , good deal !
+
Thank you for the congrats. I do wish we would have spent a little more time socializing, everyone seemed like a great bunch of guys. But by the time we got done hunting in the evening and got ourselves fed we were ready to sleep. t was a good time for sure. As far as the compounds go we have both sold ours, well Brian traded for a sweet looking Zipper bow that I couldn't manage to trade him out of. Anyways we are both so obsessed with this style of hunting there will definitely be no turning back.
Sold your compounds, makes me smile :bigsmyl: I am sure you will have a lot of fun with the stickbows for years to come, including the challenges they place on us. Perseverance is the key!
great pics guys. wish I could have chatted with ya more. kinda glad ya gave me your spot one evening though, someones gotta shoot the little ones to let you guys trophy hunt!
Great stories! I'm glad you all shared. I've been kicking around the idea of making a trip to Texas with a couple of buddies to try for hogs & Javies. You are motivating me to try to make it happen!
Great, great, great experience... Totally worth the long haul from Rhode Island. Although I didn't harvest an animal (miss), I did survive 5300 miles in the truck with Mr. Bill... he is nominating me for sportsman of the year at our club!
Man I thought I had a long drive from the Yooper! I was lucky in that I got to stop in Austin for a few days to visit my daughter and son in law. Would love to do another of these one day.
Have to make one of these group hunts soon. Not getting any younger.
:thumbsup: