A couple weeks ago I made a successful night time stalk on what looked like a nice boar. While I was executing my shot, the pig took a step forward and my pin drifted with him, and I did not catch that I was now right on the edge of a steel feeder leg. When I heard the clang and saw the sparks as the lit nock was almost to its target, sure did make me aware of its presence though. The pig ran down hill through the thicket and then some shuffling around. It didn't sound like he crashed really, and I was pretty pessimistic I even hit him given the fireworks. I decided to just immediately go back to camp and return with my dog.
45 minutes later I pulled up with the dog and walked to the feeder solo, sure enough the back end of my arrow was in 3 pieces under the feeder. I walked down my shortcut through thicket to see if the pig had crossed it before getting too serious. Yep he had cut across and left about a foot wide puddle of blood. The blood was bright red, and I thought heck I'm the luckiest guy ever that arrow got a major artery after it skipped off the steel feeder leg. It was also this point I noticed my holster on my hip was empty... somehow I had left my pistol in camp when I picked up the dog, oh well, never been an issue, and good blood, no reason to go back for it. So I unloaded Bowie, and took him to the shortcut where there was the puddle of blood.
We immediately were in a part of the thicket that we were crawling through, I was belly crawling and barely able to lift my head up without getting my headlamp hung up. All I could see was my dogs hocks and tail. We had gone about 20 or 30' when Bowie came to abrupt halt. I thought maybe he had decided he was on the wrong trail, but he just was frozen. I managed to wiggle just enough to the side to see past him and see the hips of a pig lying on his side, back to me. I'm about to start congratulating Bowie when those hips roll over, and then stand up. I knew it was a big hog, I had told my wife on way to get dog he'd push 200#. Laying there in the dark, without a pistol, and barely able to move.... he might as well have been Godzilla. He was about 3' from Bowie and I was about a foot behind Bowie. I'd like to say I was cool and logical and thought everything through. The best I can say for myself is I made two snap decisions that looking back were the right ones. 1. start backing up pronto, 2. don't take my light off of him in case he rushes us I want to at least know he's coming. I grabbed the handle on Bowie's tracking caller, and then thicket and thorns be darned curled up like a crawfish and just starting backwards through the brush as hard as I could dragging Bowie with me. I could fee skin, shirt, pants tearing, and I didn't really care. We made it a few feet and the boar turned to face us, but looked pretty wobbly. I kept bulldozing backwards and got several more feet of space. The pig was just staring so I made the switch to turn around where I could make better speed getting the rest of the way out. As I turned, something caught my headlamp, tore it off my head, and unplugged it. The world went dark. Wow this situation is getting better and better. In what felt like minutes, but was probably seconds, I got my phone out, stuck it in my mouth, got my headlamp plugged back in, and on my head all with one hand. Once I had light again we crawled out to the shortcut and then rushed up the hill. Upon reaching the truck I was shaking pretty bad. I called my wife to inform her I was ok, but that it hadn't gone well. She pointed out that crawling in there without a gun was pretty dang stupid. I couldn't disagree.
I went back to camp, drank a bottle of water, and retrieved my pistol. I also grabbed my AR and a spare Maglight. My new plan was shimmy up to where I could see him and unleash some 5.56 copper hollow points on the boar. I gave him another hour, and headed back. I crawled about 5' with the AR and decided the plan was flawed, the thicket is so thick you can't see but about 3' as all the light reflects back the thicket itself. I then realized looking at OnX that the pig had to be within a few feet of the edge of the thicket on the downhill side. I decided I felt better standing in the open looking for him in the thick stuff with the AR than crawling after him. I looped around, got close to where he should have been, and there in the open he was, laying down facing away from me. I managed to get my headlamp just right so I could see him with light and my red dot. The night was interrupted by two loud cracks from the AR as I put to rounds just behind the last rib angling forward. The pig stood up reared up like a dang horse and came down broadside to me struggling to say on his feet. I dropped the AR, pulled out my 40S&W, took a few steps forward and put another one in him. He rolled over, I took another step and put another in his chest point blank. Yeah total overkill, but my brain was eager to make sure he was really dead.
In the end no serious injuries, just a lot of excitement. The pig was 199.4# and had a mean set of teeth. I learned my lesson on thinking it was ok to track without my pistol. I've recovered 30 pigs in last 3 years, all shot with a bow, and most of them at night, some as late as 3am. I've never had that happen before, until it did. I guess I got a great story out of it. From impact to where he laid down initially was 30 yards, and he was about 35 yards from impact when I shot him with the AR. The arrow had entered about 3 or 4 inches just in front of his hip and high. It was a Simmons Mako, and him running with that in him, did a number on the arteries under his spine.
45 minutes later I pulled up with the dog and walked to the feeder solo, sure enough the back end of my arrow was in 3 pieces under the feeder. I walked down my shortcut through thicket to see if the pig had crossed it before getting too serious. Yep he had cut across and left about a foot wide puddle of blood. The blood was bright red, and I thought heck I'm the luckiest guy ever that arrow got a major artery after it skipped off the steel feeder leg. It was also this point I noticed my holster on my hip was empty... somehow I had left my pistol in camp when I picked up the dog, oh well, never been an issue, and good blood, no reason to go back for it. So I unloaded Bowie, and took him to the shortcut where there was the puddle of blood.
We immediately were in a part of the thicket that we were crawling through, I was belly crawling and barely able to lift my head up without getting my headlamp hung up. All I could see was my dogs hocks and tail. We had gone about 20 or 30' when Bowie came to abrupt halt. I thought maybe he had decided he was on the wrong trail, but he just was frozen. I managed to wiggle just enough to the side to see past him and see the hips of a pig lying on his side, back to me. I'm about to start congratulating Bowie when those hips roll over, and then stand up. I knew it was a big hog, I had told my wife on way to get dog he'd push 200#. Laying there in the dark, without a pistol, and barely able to move.... he might as well have been Godzilla. He was about 3' from Bowie and I was about a foot behind Bowie. I'd like to say I was cool and logical and thought everything through. The best I can say for myself is I made two snap decisions that looking back were the right ones. 1. start backing up pronto, 2. don't take my light off of him in case he rushes us I want to at least know he's coming. I grabbed the handle on Bowie's tracking caller, and then thicket and thorns be darned curled up like a crawfish and just starting backwards through the brush as hard as I could dragging Bowie with me. I could fee skin, shirt, pants tearing, and I didn't really care. We made it a few feet and the boar turned to face us, but looked pretty wobbly. I kept bulldozing backwards and got several more feet of space. The pig was just staring so I made the switch to turn around where I could make better speed getting the rest of the way out. As I turned, something caught my headlamp, tore it off my head, and unplugged it. The world went dark. Wow this situation is getting better and better. In what felt like minutes, but was probably seconds, I got my phone out, stuck it in my mouth, got my headlamp plugged back in, and on my head all with one hand. Once I had light again we crawled out to the shortcut and then rushed up the hill. Upon reaching the truck I was shaking pretty bad. I called my wife to inform her I was ok, but that it hadn't gone well. She pointed out that crawling in there without a gun was pretty dang stupid. I couldn't disagree.
I went back to camp, drank a bottle of water, and retrieved my pistol. I also grabbed my AR and a spare Maglight. My new plan was shimmy up to where I could see him and unleash some 5.56 copper hollow points on the boar. I gave him another hour, and headed back. I crawled about 5' with the AR and decided the plan was flawed, the thicket is so thick you can't see but about 3' as all the light reflects back the thicket itself. I then realized looking at OnX that the pig had to be within a few feet of the edge of the thicket on the downhill side. I decided I felt better standing in the open looking for him in the thick stuff with the AR than crawling after him. I looped around, got close to where he should have been, and there in the open he was, laying down facing away from me. I managed to get my headlamp just right so I could see him with light and my red dot. The night was interrupted by two loud cracks from the AR as I put to rounds just behind the last rib angling forward. The pig stood up reared up like a dang horse and came down broadside to me struggling to say on his feet. I dropped the AR, pulled out my 40S&W, took a few steps forward and put another one in him. He rolled over, I took another step and put another in his chest point blank. Yeah total overkill, but my brain was eager to make sure he was really dead.
In the end no serious injuries, just a lot of excitement. The pig was 199.4# and had a mean set of teeth. I learned my lesson on thinking it was ok to track without my pistol. I've recovered 30 pigs in last 3 years, all shot with a bow, and most of them at night, some as late as 3am. I've never had that happen before, until it did. I guess I got a great story out of it. From impact to where he laid down initially was 30 yards, and he was about 35 yards from impact when I shot him with the AR. The arrow had entered about 3 or 4 inches just in front of his hip and high. It was a Simmons Mako, and him running with that in him, did a number on the arteries under his spine.
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