This past weekend, my girlfriend and I went to Brady to practice a little social distancing. We did a good job of limited to no stops along the way and were happy to be in the woods. The plan was to do a little work, a little pig hunting, and a little firearms fun. We recently acquired two new pieces, the Springfield Armory HellCat and The Springfield Armory Saint. It was a wet and wild one, but we checked the boxes on all three.
The work - Aside from checking all of the protein and corn sets, the main goal was to remove a huge pile of miscellaneous metal as well as other items like old ac unit, ladder, feeder, wire, etc. that accumulated and needed to be cleaned up. We successfully loaded up all of the items prior to the rain hitting.
The firearms - Candace has been running a Glock 43 for awhile now but the new Hellcat is intriguing with its round count and we were both interested in her having one. It's a fine piece and she liked it alot and shot it well.
One gun is good, but two guns are great, right!!!
I went into the shop with the intention of picking up just the Hellcat but the Saint really caught my eye and after holding it, it was all over. The gun is extremely light, shoulders well with the brace, and offers alot of firepower in a small package.
The Hunt - The pigs did Candace dirty all weekend and no showed her.
After reviewing the trail camera pictures, I elected to choose a spot we call the big tank. It had a good sized group of random pigs with an occasional big boar. The setup is a 1000 pound corn feeder and a Krivoman about 25 yards out buried in the brush. Rather than sit in the Krivoman, I was in the mood to just sit on the ground nestled in some brush in my leafy wear.
As the evening eased by, I enjoyed the cool breeze, the sights and sounds of the birds and the comfort of knowing I was far away from anyone. For a short time, the crazy state of our current world was forgotten about, and even if not for long, it was both needed and appreciated.
While sitting, I caught a flash about 70 yards out that got my attention. I quickly dismissed it as I thought it was a cow or a deer due to the height and color. As it moved through the brush, I picked it up again and realized it was neither but a huge boar that was a mix of black and white. The huge boar was about 70 yards out making his way in a large circle around the entire setup. I knew as he continued wide around the set, he would eventually catch my scent as it had drifted from in my face to across my shoulders and drifting left. I jumped up and started moving to the left quick to try and get outside of what I thought his circle would be. I moved wide and back across the road as quick and quietly as I could only to meet him face to face at 12 yards, this big boar had covered some ground quick.
I froze and did my best tree impersonation in my ASAT leafy wear suit. He stared at me for a few seconds, sticking his nose up in the air; raising and lowering his head. I had gotten far enough back and the wind was still good. I knew if I breathed, much less attempted to draw, he would bolt faster than lighting and be gone forever. After an particularly intense stare down, he lowered his head and started walking into the feeder setup. I let him enter the setup and I stalked towards the feeder as quietly as I could with the wind now perfect. As I inched closer with the brush between us, I started to believe I just might actually be able to pull this off.
For some unknown reason, other than that sixth sense that all mature animals possess, he turned around out of the setup after only a few kernels of corn and started making a hastily exit. I immediately went to full draw and followed him with my bow as he made his escape. This seems to never happen, but amazingly he stopped in an opening. Usually, in times like these, they stop in the only brush, limb, tree, etc. in the way. But now, less than 30 yards between us, he stopped in an opening long enough for me to send an arrow on its way. The SEVR broadhead hit home and I felt the shot was good.
It was getting dark quick so I made the decision to take up the track sooner than later. Short story, I followed a very good blood trail to a pig still alive. As I got close, he jumped up and started moving off. At this point, slow and uneasy as he was hurting. I don't think he knew I was following him. We played cat and mouse for a few minutes and all I had for a shot was his rear hams. I elected to wait for a better angle. Unfortunately, rather the wind or noise on my part, he figured out I was behind him and took off. Luckily, severely wounded he was not able to move at normal big boar pace and I was able to keep up with him by running after him. I did not want to lose this big boar. I ran full speed ahead to close the distance, bow in hand. As I got close, he stopped, turned and charged....talk about a surge of adrenaline. Luckily, wounded and with a lot of brush between us I was safe as he stopped short.
He then disappeared into an abyss of thick brush. I was determined not to lose this pig and began running around the huge circle trying to hear or see him. He popped out to the right and I quickly sent another arrow on its way which deflected off some brush but still managed to make contact but not penetrating very deeply.
Still in immensely thick brush, he turned and was slightly quartering towards me but I immediately sent another arrow on its way. It was better than the last but still not what I needed to put him down for good.
By this time, it was starting to look like an Apache war tribe had wandered by and I knew I needed to get close enough to get through the thick brush and put him down for good. I closed the distance and was about to try and shoot, only to turn tail and run as he came in a full charge towards me. Again, his injuries and the extremely thick brush between us helped me put some space between us. However, I now had a perfectly clear angle free from obstruction and I put one right in the boilermaker to finish him off.
Truly intense.... is the only way I can describe that hunt and experience. I will remember it many long years from now for sure.
I went back and got Candace and we loaded him into the suburban (not exactly easy I might add as I forgot to add the rack before we went out and yes, I put him in the suburban). We took him back and weighed him at camp and honestly was not overly surprised he was 200+ as he felt every bit of it. At 220.5 or 221 pounds, he is my new personal best.
The LDP
Scale
Tusk
Apache War/Hunting Tribe that wandered by...
Loaded in the back of the suburban
It was a great weekend spent together and a nice break from it all!
The work - Aside from checking all of the protein and corn sets, the main goal was to remove a huge pile of miscellaneous metal as well as other items like old ac unit, ladder, feeder, wire, etc. that accumulated and needed to be cleaned up. We successfully loaded up all of the items prior to the rain hitting.
The firearms - Candace has been running a Glock 43 for awhile now but the new Hellcat is intriguing with its round count and we were both interested in her having one. It's a fine piece and she liked it alot and shot it well.
One gun is good, but two guns are great, right!!!
I went into the shop with the intention of picking up just the Hellcat but the Saint really caught my eye and after holding it, it was all over. The gun is extremely light, shoulders well with the brace, and offers alot of firepower in a small package. The Hunt - The pigs did Candace dirty all weekend and no showed her.
After reviewing the trail camera pictures, I elected to choose a spot we call the big tank. It had a good sized group of random pigs with an occasional big boar. The setup is a 1000 pound corn feeder and a Krivoman about 25 yards out buried in the brush. Rather than sit in the Krivoman, I was in the mood to just sit on the ground nestled in some brush in my leafy wear.
As the evening eased by, I enjoyed the cool breeze, the sights and sounds of the birds and the comfort of knowing I was far away from anyone. For a short time, the crazy state of our current world was forgotten about, and even if not for long, it was both needed and appreciated.
While sitting, I caught a flash about 70 yards out that got my attention. I quickly dismissed it as I thought it was a cow or a deer due to the height and color. As it moved through the brush, I picked it up again and realized it was neither but a huge boar that was a mix of black and white. The huge boar was about 70 yards out making his way in a large circle around the entire setup. I knew as he continued wide around the set, he would eventually catch my scent as it had drifted from in my face to across my shoulders and drifting left. I jumped up and started moving to the left quick to try and get outside of what I thought his circle would be. I moved wide and back across the road as quick and quietly as I could only to meet him face to face at 12 yards, this big boar had covered some ground quick.
I froze and did my best tree impersonation in my ASAT leafy wear suit. He stared at me for a few seconds, sticking his nose up in the air; raising and lowering his head. I had gotten far enough back and the wind was still good. I knew if I breathed, much less attempted to draw, he would bolt faster than lighting and be gone forever. After an particularly intense stare down, he lowered his head and started walking into the feeder setup. I let him enter the setup and I stalked towards the feeder as quietly as I could with the wind now perfect. As I inched closer with the brush between us, I started to believe I just might actually be able to pull this off.
For some unknown reason, other than that sixth sense that all mature animals possess, he turned around out of the setup after only a few kernels of corn and started making a hastily exit. I immediately went to full draw and followed him with my bow as he made his escape. This seems to never happen, but amazingly he stopped in an opening. Usually, in times like these, they stop in the only brush, limb, tree, etc. in the way. But now, less than 30 yards between us, he stopped in an opening long enough for me to send an arrow on its way. The SEVR broadhead hit home and I felt the shot was good.
It was getting dark quick so I made the decision to take up the track sooner than later. Short story, I followed a very good blood trail to a pig still alive. As I got close, he jumped up and started moving off. At this point, slow and uneasy as he was hurting. I don't think he knew I was following him. We played cat and mouse for a few minutes and all I had for a shot was his rear hams. I elected to wait for a better angle. Unfortunately, rather the wind or noise on my part, he figured out I was behind him and took off. Luckily, severely wounded he was not able to move at normal big boar pace and I was able to keep up with him by running after him. I did not want to lose this big boar. I ran full speed ahead to close the distance, bow in hand. As I got close, he stopped, turned and charged....talk about a surge of adrenaline. Luckily, wounded and with a lot of brush between us I was safe as he stopped short.
He then disappeared into an abyss of thick brush. I was determined not to lose this pig and began running around the huge circle trying to hear or see him. He popped out to the right and I quickly sent another arrow on its way which deflected off some brush but still managed to make contact but not penetrating very deeply.
Still in immensely thick brush, he turned and was slightly quartering towards me but I immediately sent another arrow on its way. It was better than the last but still not what I needed to put him down for good.
By this time, it was starting to look like an Apache war tribe had wandered by and I knew I needed to get close enough to get through the thick brush and put him down for good. I closed the distance and was about to try and shoot, only to turn tail and run as he came in a full charge towards me. Again, his injuries and the extremely thick brush between us helped me put some space between us. However, I now had a perfectly clear angle free from obstruction and I put one right in the boilermaker to finish him off.
Truly intense.... is the only way I can describe that hunt and experience. I will remember it many long years from now for sure.
I went back and got Candace and we loaded him into the suburban (not exactly easy I might add as I forgot to add the rack before we went out and yes, I put him in the suburban). We took him back and weighed him at camp and honestly was not overly surprised he was 200+ as he felt every bit of it. At 220.5 or 221 pounds, he is my new personal best.
The LDP
Scale
Tusk
Apache War/Hunting Tribe that wandered by...
Loaded in the back of the suburban
It was a great weekend spent together and a nice break from it all!
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