Expedition Hog Heaven

[Ray Hammond]

Will do mi jefe!

[ALDO]

So I screwed up.  Drowned my sorrows Saturday afternoon, spent a lot of time shooting Ray H Dark Matter that he managed to get his hands on. Went back out Sunday with Ray Reid and stayed on the 11 acre field but no hogs showed up at all, so we headed back packed up and started the trip home.  That's it, don't have much more.  Looking forward to the next trip already.  
ALDO

[Biggamefish]

Aldo it happens to everybody.  I did it last year in the very same field as you.  Only I did worse I had a pig at a feeder and blew the shot.  Not mentioning names but at least you didn't throw your bow at the pig scream like a little girl and suck your thumb like Mike (whoops).  Sorry mike I thinks that is the story I heard.

[Biggamefish]

Here is some of the animals in the swamp.  

[Biggamefish]

So where was I?

 The release, So I dropped my string and the arrow was off.  I didn't move an inch as the arrow traveled towards the pig.  She was quartering slightly away and I watched the arrow hit where the elbow would be.  Then it just disappeared!  I thought for a split second I shot under her.  After the arrow disappeared I see her tense up.  It was like she just jumped straight up in the air and stretched her legs out as far as she could.  She came back down to the earth with a splash.  Then I see it, out of her neck like a faucet.

She wasted no time making her first 5 yards then she started turning to her left and slow.  She was turning towards me.  At about ten feet from me her front legs gave out and she slide to a stop.  She was dead on her feet before she even started running.

I knew right then I had just shot my first hog.
I couldn't have gotten her in a better place either.  I was dead in the middle of the South Carolina swamp

[Biggamefish]

[Biggamefish]

[Biggamefish]

This is where she lay.



 I was shooting a 165 grn Simmons treeshark on a 2117 alum.  The arrow is around 650 grn  out of a 50 @ 28 Martin Vision and I pull 29.5 for all you tech junkies.  lol  

I got a complete pass through on my shot.

[Biggamefish]

After I holly-wooded it for a few pics I had to decide how I was going to get her out.  I decided to head west to the right turkey leg (the way I came in) but only trying a straight shot to the road.  I didn't have any survey flagging  so I was going to use tissues I had in my bag.  After 100 yards and checking a reverse compass bearing so I could back to my hog I really felt uneasy about leaving the hog there.  I knew I was going to have a hard time finding it again.

Anybody that has been down in that swamp knows how it all looks the same.

 So I back tracked and decided that I had to drag her out.  So after 45 min of dragging I was near a logging road and knew I could find her again.  So off I walked to get Ray and the gator.

[Biggamefish]

[wapiti792]

Great story tellin' and photo support, too! I don't know about you but I am missin' the swamp this week. I am already thinkin' of going back sooner than next year if'n Ray will have me back.

Speaking of...Izzy if you need a camp full shout. I am a mere 12 hours away and would like to share a camp with you in that terrible place with no pigs, no turkeys, no game whatsoever...just rocks and palmettos    

[Biggamefish]

I wish I had video footage of Ray driving the gator down to get my hog.  I tried to clear some of the limbs away as I walked back but I didn't know that didn't matter.  
 
 I caught up with ray and we headed down for the pig.  Ray slowed down to about 50 MPH to hit a berm that we had to get over to get on the logging road.  After we came back down to the ground and all tires were grounded I climbed out of the back of the gator and back into the passenger seat.  We hurdled a brush pile on the rear two wheels and all the while Ray is just laughing at me.  I thought this might be my last ride.  We get to my hog and I peal my finger from the oh Sh@# handels provided by John Deer.  (sorry Ray they might permanently have my finger prints in them).  

We have her loaded and we are off Ray decides that he has a better trail for us to go back on.  We start up that trail at a mere 100 MPH and boom it happens.  We hit a stump and now we are stuck.  I kinda was pleased because at this point I am still alive.  I peel my knees from the dashboard and get out.  Little did I know the joke was on me.  I am out of the Gator and Ray is looking at me me like well aren't ya going to push me out.  So I get behind the Gator and heave.  NOTHING moves so now I find some logs to stuff under the tires. Now I am behind the Gator and I strain and NOTHING.  SO now its back to the basics.  I get a long stick to make a lever.  I stuff some more logs under the tires and use my lever as a hammer to really jam the logs under those tires.  

I jam the log under the rear of the Gator and I hear the engine rev.  I start to lift on the lever.  The tires are starting to spin and I hear them picking up speed.  I strain under the weight of the Gator but it feels like I am getting somewhere.  I look up but now I think I must have passed out.  Alls I can see is white then the smell hits me.  I know what is going on, Ray had this planned all along.  He is doing a burn out so he can get more traction for more speed.  I give it one last heave and we are clear of the stump.  Ray says man I musta not had enough speed to get over that one. lol  At this point I am thinking to myself I should walk the rest of the way home.  

 Ray musta seen the expression on my face because he only climbed one tree and put the Gator on two wheels one other time getting us back to the road.  After a few victory donuts in the middle of the dirt road we were on our way back to the cooler to hang up my pig.

[Biggamefish]

All kidding aside ray knows how to drive that Gator and the Gator needs a license plate saying
"THE BEAST".  
 That trip down to pick up my hog only made the trip better thanks Ray.

 Don't go away yet there is still one story you don't want to miss.

[Izzy]

Ahhhhhh,,,  awesome story!

[gregg dudley]

[bruinman]

Yep, been on one of those rides with Ray in that gator. Something special for sure, LOL. Congrats on the great hunt and hog.

[benny]

Congrats again Matt...really nice hog.
This weekend was a blast. A really great group of guys to hang out with. Hope our paths cross again. The afternoon winds worked against me hog hunting.  Still learning this game. I will    be back next year.

Benny

[BrushWolf]

Great story. I hope to go back to Rays someday. Reading this only made it worse.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Great Stuff Matt, Hope to  see you Saturday!

[kat]

Congratulations Matt.