Hogs, dogs, sticky things, and 2 legged critters

[centaur]

Myself and 4 buddies did 3 days in S. Tejas after hogs. I will tell the story from my perspective since I was the only one packing a longbow. Over the days, I probably saw over 100 hogs, from little bitty piglets to a sow that looked more like a cow...huge!
Almost all the pigs stayed out of bow range, but I did manage to get shots at three. First pig was a good sized boar that I did not pick a spot on, and watched the arrow fly over his back. The second was the aforementioned sow. This time, on advice from the ranch folks and what I have read here, I aimed low on her, and watched the arrow pass just under the 'sweet spot'; couldn't have missed by more than an inch.  #3 was a medium sized boar; the arrow hit him too far back, and he took off squealing 'like a stuck hog', and into the thick stuff he went. With help from the rancher, we trailed good blood into the most gawd awful thickets, following hog trails until it became impenetrable for a human. Like an idiot, I was on hands and knees, wearing shorts and a tee shirt. Needless to say, I was pulling thorns and prickly pear spines for quite a while after that little foray was finished.
No hog was found by that method, so the rancher turned two tracking dogs on the trail, and we listened, watched and followed as best we could as they tracked the wounded pig. The dogs actually barked 'treed' one one occasion, but after a 2 hour track the hog was still in the lead and the dogs were worn out. I can only believe that the hog expired, but we never found him in the thick cover. These pigs are tough!
One of my buddies was in a stand on the morning of the second day's hunt when he heard a commotion behind him (thick brush). Waiting for the approaching hogs, he instead watched three obviously non legal humans carrying backpacks and water bottles walk directly under his stand, go to a sendero, and keep on trucking (much to his relief). Shortly thereafter, numerous Border Patrol vehicles were seen cruising the ranch roads, but we never found out if they captured their prey.
Although no 'trad' hogs were recovered, I had a great time and learned that only an idiot hunts in shorts in S. Texas, even if the temps are in the mid 80s with humidity to match. I plan on doing another trip for hogs sometime in the future; maybe the next trip will have me bringing a porker home.

[JAG]

           

[Frenchymanny]

Pat, this is a great story, great adventure!

         

F-Manny

[joe ashton]

thanks for sharing..

[Doc Nock]

TWEEZERS: Never leave home without them!

Sounds like a good hunt... sorry for not getting your hog, but nothing goes to waste in nature...and you did the right thing to persevere!

[TxAg]

Cool story. Thanks for sharing.


Those illegals are all too common. Most aren't dangerous, but you never know.

[Roadkill]

Mercurochrome and tweezers!  Oh, just showed my age.....

[JamesKerr]

Cool story!

[BWD]

Originally posted by Roadkill:
Mercurochrome and tweezers!  Oh, just showed my age.....

Merthiolate for those really embedded stickers. Burn em out by the roots. Showing my age too.

[flungonin]

Centaur
Sounds like you had fun. I can relate with you on the thorns. My problem I had a perfectly broken in pair of light weight hiking boots. Thorns camo'd perfectly with the ground I was hunting(west texas). On numerous occassions I had to unlace the boots to get my foot out,and the thorns and to pull the thorns back thru the boot.