There are usually a few pigs hanging around the Hilton to give us some off season targets, but this year has been different. Since January, out of thousands of trailcam pics, we had only a handful of pig pics. That all changed Saturday. I drove up to the farm Saturday morning to try and get some work done, check cameras, and possibly hunt between raindrops. Benben showed up as usual to help. After checking the trailcam pics, we were happy to see pigs at two stands within the last couple of days. From a big boar down to a sow with 6 or 8 piglets, some 80 pounders, blacks, browns, some spotted spawn of Ric Flair, it was a pretty good assortment. The hunt was on.
We headed out at 6:00, Ben hunting Deb’s and me on Grandpa’s stand as usual. The plan was to hunt until 9:00 or so. The feeders are set to throw at 7:00 and I set another hog throw for 8:15 on mine. Everytime I climb the 15 feet to my platform , whether I harvest an animal or not, it is not just a great outdoor experience, it is tonic to my soul. For that I am thankful.
I’m also thankful for Thermacell. (Insert commercial) All of the recent rains have made the Leon River bottom a real swamp. The only thing thicker than the humidity was the skeeters…….. 500 lb. maneaters.
Once the Thermacell kicked in, I had a great sit watching deer, messing with the camera, and waiting for pig:30. Around 8:15 a see a good size boar about 80 yards out and text Ben. 10-15 minutes later Ben replies he just shot 2 pigs. Alright, we’re back in the game.
As I’m putting the video camera back in my backpack, I hear the familiar sound of pigs crunching on pecans, and soon can see a few forms working toward me. A decent boar and a couple of 80 lbers settled in under the corn feeder and I decided I was going to take the first one that offered a decent shot. Then to my left, one of the white spotties we had on trailcam, strolled into the protein feeder, 20 yards away. Son of Flair. Thwack, I could hear it connect, but the nock didn’t light
and he quietly trotted away. The pigs under the corn feeder moved off a few feet, but settled down and came right back to the corn. I pick a 80 lb. brown and thwack, I hear the arrow hit, but again the nock doesn’t light,
and the pig trots off in the same direction as the first. I will have to talk to the operator about testing our gear.
I climbed down to check for blood and arrows then, text Ben that I stuck 2 pigs also. A double/double maybe? I had good blood starting right away on the first pig, no blood on the second pig, and no arrows. We ran out of blood tracking mine, marked it, and headed off to look for Ben’s pair. It was an easy recovery on Ben’s first pig. He skewered it and the little boar only made it 20 yards. We found his second arrow by seeing the lighted nock back in some thick stuff. After 30 minutes of fighting, stickers, vines, and skeeters, we marked last blood and decided to look again in the morning.
Saturday night it rained pretty hard again, so I knew any blood trail would be gone. Both of mine had headed in the same direction, so I hoped I could find at least one of them. Ben’s second pig was near that area also. Within 30 minutes of searching some of the main trails, I able to find both of my stiff little pigs. We never did find Ben’s second.
Here’s a look at the damage. Thanks for coming along for the ride.
We headed out at 6:00, Ben hunting Deb’s and me on Grandpa’s stand as usual. The plan was to hunt until 9:00 or so. The feeders are set to throw at 7:00 and I set another hog throw for 8:15 on mine. Everytime I climb the 15 feet to my platform , whether I harvest an animal or not, it is not just a great outdoor experience, it is tonic to my soul. For that I am thankful.
I’m also thankful for Thermacell. (Insert commercial) All of the recent rains have made the Leon River bottom a real swamp. The only thing thicker than the humidity was the skeeters…….. 500 lb. maneaters.
Once the Thermacell kicked in, I had a great sit watching deer, messing with the camera, and waiting for pig:30. Around 8:15 a see a good size boar about 80 yards out and text Ben. 10-15 minutes later Ben replies he just shot 2 pigs. Alright, we’re back in the game.As I’m putting the video camera back in my backpack, I hear the familiar sound of pigs crunching on pecans, and soon can see a few forms working toward me. A decent boar and a couple of 80 lbers settled in under the corn feeder and I decided I was going to take the first one that offered a decent shot. Then to my left, one of the white spotties we had on trailcam, strolled into the protein feeder, 20 yards away. Son of Flair. Thwack, I could hear it connect, but the nock didn’t light
and he quietly trotted away. The pigs under the corn feeder moved off a few feet, but settled down and came right back to the corn. I pick a 80 lb. brown and thwack, I hear the arrow hit, but again the nock doesn’t light, and the pig trots off in the same direction as the first. I will have to talk to the operator about testing our gear.I climbed down to check for blood and arrows then, text Ben that I stuck 2 pigs also. A double/double maybe? I had good blood starting right away on the first pig, no blood on the second pig, and no arrows. We ran out of blood tracking mine, marked it, and headed off to look for Ben’s pair. It was an easy recovery on Ben’s first pig. He skewered it and the little boar only made it 20 yards. We found his second arrow by seeing the lighted nock back in some thick stuff. After 30 minutes of fighting, stickers, vines, and skeeters, we marked last blood and decided to look again in the morning.
Saturday night it rained pretty hard again, so I knew any blood trail would be gone. Both of mine had headed in the same direction, so I hoped I could find at least one of them. Ben’s second pig was near that area also. Within 30 minutes of searching some of the main trails, I able to find both of my stiff little pigs. We never did find Ben’s second.
Here’s a look at the damage. Thanks for coming along for the ride.
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