Just got off the phone with Curtis and Dave S.
Man I wish I was there , to much fun .
Curtis has two hogs and 2 Javelina, Stinson with two hogs. Shaun Web shot a coyote that came in to his water hole. Dr. John has a big 400#er that has been close two nights in a row and Andy's father seems to have shot a whopper of a Javi.
Curtis said that this is the last night and most of the guys have it wired now so critters are goin down!
Cant wait till they all get home and we get to hear the stories

All heading home , shouldnt be long now , here come the stories.

Dave and I just got to Kansas City and am checking in.  I have one Javelina and one Coyote in the bag.  Had a nice boar at 4 yards last night, but he no shot.   Everyone had a great time.  Going to bed, will check back in the AM.

I want to THANK EVERYONE that hunted with me on this years Sweat. I, personally had a Great Time... Game was Plentyful, Food was Great, and above all the Company was the Best. I cannot wait for next years. I had to leave a day early, but I left knowing I would be back. To all my new Friends..... Thank You  Tu Compadres, Suty

Surely there's more to come?
     

Oh Yeah, the Canadian road jockey, should be home _________ Now  

I imagine they'll need a bit of UN-wined and HUGGIN time for the stories start..ceptin for the little African.  

Stinson called me as he drove by my place here in Illinois, missing me by about 90 miles.
Said he'd be home about 8 pm.
Probably won't hear from him till Monday.

I hunted hard this week and had little to show for it,  but had a great time anyway.  I stopped overnight in Topeka and made it home this afternoon.  I had a truckload of stuff to take to Texas with me including this elk rack sitting on the floor leaning against the wall.  I took this along with some elk meat, and hunting gear to my hunting buddy in Texas.  We met in Abilene for dinner and I made it to camp about noon on Sunday.  I took far less pictures than I would like but I saw lots of other guys taking pictures so I figure there will be plenty more to give you a good idea of what we were doing.
   


Here is a powerline pole that Robert Holloway is posing next too.  It takes a tall hog to make a rub this tall.  This is where I hunted most of the week.  There were giant hogs frequenting this area.  I only saw 5 hogs all week and the smallest was probably 200 pounds or more.  I would have loved to bag one of these big old smart hogs.  They are nocturnal and I hunted for them at every hour of the day and night.  I saw them only at night and was unable to loose an arrow at them.  They are very skittish and will bug out at the slightest sight, sound or smell that isn't right for them.  They have a great nose and you have to play the wind for sure.  On the windiest of days I did not see any hogs and the corn would go untouched.
   

I put up a tree stand and corned between some powerline poles.  The corn would be cleaned up overnight.  I sat this stand for hours and hours the first couple of days and saw nothing.  Lots of tracks, excrement and disappearing corn, but no hogs.
   

This is one of the views from my platform.  I could see for a half mile in every direction.  Texas is dry this year but has considerably more grass than was here last year.  Last year this country looked like the surface of the moon, but is somewhat visually more appealing this year.

   

Sunset from the platform.
   

In the midst of this background of tans and brown there were a few splashes of green, but not leafy green.  Upon closer inspection these were thorn bushes.  The thorns have thorns on them here.
   


   

Another green shrub with red berries.




I saw several Javelina this year and was able to stalk them several times.  I launched a couple of arrows but the Javies were always on the move.  I was hunting them on a well traveled oil road and more than once I had good stalking opportunities dashed by vehicular traffic.

While exploring the vicinity looking for these little buggers I found their den.  Just a small hole in the limestone wall.  The dust was full of Javy hairs.  The inside of the den that I could see was about the size of a pickup bed.  I smoothed the sandstone dust in front of the den so I could tell when they tracked it up and could tell they were using this den every day but no pattern to when.  Sometimes there would be evidence of their presence in the morning, or afternoon or middle of the night.  I will want to hunt this area again some day and will be carefull not to corn such a long stretch of road next time.

 

I saw these white owls in the cattle barn last year and was looking for them again this year. They were in one of the hangers where we were camped this year.  I never did see them down at the cattle pens this year.  I nearly stepped on a rattlesnake while looking for them.  I was sneaking into the doorway of the barn with my camera and my gaze was fixed on the rafters looking for owls.  I sensed movement with my peripheral vision on the ground next to my leg.  A large rattler had just coiled up and started to buzz.  To say I was more than a little startled is major understatement.
 

 

 

A deadly snake is like watching a train wreck.  It is fascinating and horrific all at the same time if you are close enough to get bitten.  I was only a couple of feet away.   This snake was over 5 feet long.

 

I shot him through the lower jaw with my shrew.  He was far from being dispatched and was quite agitated.  I caught him and defanged him with a pair of pliers.  I called Robert up from the waterhole and he helped my put the snake in a corn sack.  I wanted to keep him alive and fresh until I could skin him and freeze the meat.
 


I went to pick up Andy, Dave Stinson and his big hog that evening and they took this picture of me with the snake.  He was still quite agitated.  I have a death grip on him.  Even though I know he can't bite me I am cautious about handling this fellow.
 

I wish I had some dead hog pictures to show you but I don't.  We ate good and I am sure everyone gained a couple of pounds this week.  Curtis fixed some fine hog BBQ including ribs and sausage, excellent.  We had venison backstraps, deer chili, red beans and rice, pork and chicken fahitas and oven baked chicken breasts with stuffing.  Plenty of variety to eat and drink.  Even had some cheesecake one night. Thanks Charlie it was divine.  We had fair days and cool nights.  Sometimes almost cold but tolerable.  I didn't have to shovel any snow all week so that is an improvement over where I live.  I enjoyed visiting with old friends and was pleased to meet Frank and Suty as well as Andy's Dad Allan.  Nice to meet you all, and hope to do it again.

I'm home. I'm also completely numb from the experience. This was hands-down the most fun I've had in years. Thanks to all you guys who pushed to hold this event again. I wish we'd have organized things like this year long ago. It worked out flawlessly!

Upon arrival at the ranch there seemed to be hogs and javelina around every turn. It didn't seem to matter what time of day it was there were hogs at every turn. After a few days of chase and shoot they seem to have gotten educated. There were more javelina than I've ever seen on the ranch. It was great fun. My shooting fingers are certainly sore.

Glad you guys are getting home safe and sound. I want to see you all again next year. I did manage to run into the neighbor rancher while I was out tracking my final few hogs the morning you all left. He offered another 23 sections of land that no-one hunts. He says it has twice the game due to his cattle feeding program. For those interested, I'll be headed back out that way in about 6 weeks to hunt for 5-7 days. I'd be happy to take a small group with me at that time.

Time to go unload the truck and trailer now. I'll try and download a few pics later today. Shaun is still on the ranch with a small group of hunters. He'll post pics in a few days. CK

There should be some Top Shelf Photos and Stories comin from this event...Strap Down  

Those are barn owls.      Just like the one in my avatar.    

Got home late last night, 28 hrs drivin time and 2200 miles one way! Had a great rest at Mel's place and then northward bound (thanks Mel). Half way between St. Louis and Chicago I had an interesting road rage incident with the Miami Cartel.

This years hunt was just as Curtis stated, all worked perfectly and alot of game was sighted. Temperatures were much colder this year than we have ever had for Sweat Hunt. The cold temps I believe were the reason the big groups of hogs were not moving around as much. I seen countless numbers of havies and bagged two big hog boars. Pictures and stories will follow in next few days.

I had major truck problems once we arrived in camp. An electrical short caused truck to shut down on bumpy camp roads. Had to tow truck to Odessa twice and problem was finnaly diagnosed and fixed on second last day of hunt. I'd like to thank everyone for their help with this. Ken, Allan and Curtis allowed me to make all the phone calls to roadside assistance and the shop to work through this (my phone would not call out of camp). Both Allan and Shaun drove me to Odessa to retrieve truck. Larry, Doc and Shaun gave me rides around ranch. A big thanks to everyone of you for your help, it was much appreaciated. This man feels naked without his truck on a hunting trip. You guys shure helped me forget about it best I could and enjoy the hunt.

It was great to see old friends and make new ones as well. It was a pleasure to meet Allan, Ken and Frank the new sweat members. A fine bunch that told many fireside stories and had a great time. This was Sweat Hunt number 5 for me and it just keeps getting better. 4400 miles is a long round trip but I`d drive twice as far to share camp with all of you. Thanks Curtis for making it all possible and I`m already for Sweat 6.

Pop`s was missed dearly and we know he would have been there if health permitted.

im back got a lot to catch up with. need to go unpack the car there's some bloody arrows in there    

Curtis I maybe interested a little later in bringing a small group down.  I'll keep in touch.  Need to ern a few dollars to keep the wife at bay for awhile.Still trying to get better. Hope to see you soon.

Here is the 2009 Sweat Gang, missing in action is Ken - Suty as he had to leave one day early.

This is the first of the two good hawgs I arrowed this year. This one fell to a 300xtreme through the vitals. He made it 80yrds or so. Thanks to Andy and Mel for helping me find it next morning. We had searched way out and Andy tripped on him 80yrds from waterhole.