I didn't go out this morning, and almost decided not to go at all due to the heat.
I couldn't stand it though, and was in my blind at 3:45 P.M. this afternoon.
It was a long hot (96 degrees right up to sunset) afternoon/evening, and no animals showed up, except for a few quail on & off/now & then.
The sun set, and dark fell, but there was still a little moonlight glowing from that sliver of a moon just above the tree line.
When I saw her coming, the white of the sides of her face looked like two ghosts dancing in the moonlight. It was kinda creepy, but the cool kind of creepy. Know what I mean?
She had 6 small pigs with her, that were in the 25 to 30 lb size range. They were all moving around like a can of worms.
Finally she cleared enough for me to shoot, showing her left side, but quartering away pretty good. Not a hard quarter, but enough for me to want to shoot back a little bit.
There was just enough moonlight for me to draw, pick my spot, aim, and the arrow was away. It hit the ground, and flipped about 10 yards the other side of her, but I knew from her squall, that I hadn't missed.
Even though I was fairly certain of my shot, in that light I couldn't be positive, so I took my time packing up, then left the blind to go to the arrow.
Once I saw the arrow I knew she was already done for.
I paced off the distance of the shot. By my steps, it was 13 yards exactly.
Lucky 13 for me. Not so much for her.
Still, I wanted to give it a few more minutes before taking up the trail, so I spent them looking for the arrow nock. Never did find it. No big deal. I know where there are more.
She had turned right after the shot, and headed back out on the same trail she came in on. That trail head opens into my hide clearing at 15 yards from the blind to the right. Just before the trail head I saw this.
From there on, every couple of feet was this.
That trail immediately goes into some of the thickest tangle/jungle of briar, thorn bushes, and brush on the property. Of course it does. Isn't that almost always the case when you shoot something at, or after dark.
The blood trail was one of those stand up kind, that a blind person could follow.
Unfortunately, there wasn't any standing up. I crouched, crawled, and chopped my way down that pig tunnel in the briar, until I came to a small opening, and saw this off the trail to my left.
There she lay. She had actually gone on down the trail to the right, then turned back left up into that small hollow. Probably a bedding place she was using at times.
Her total run from shot to dead spot was about 45 yards.
The easiest way to get to her was to stomp down that dead fall, and chop my way on in, so I did. Was way easier than what I'd been doing.
Once I got to her, the job of tracking turned into a job of clearing out enough brush, so I could start the job of photography. It was tight, and I still could not stand in there, which explains why the pictures aren't the best of quality.
Turns out, I hit right where I had picked my spot, and it was perfect.
The arrow went in low & back through the left lung, and came out of the right shoulder. Poking in the entry with my knife, I could tell it had completely severed a rib going in.
Entry wound:
Exit wound:
Out the offside shoulder.
Success picture:
I'm setting right up against her. She's close to my size, but I'll give her a conservative weight guess of 200 +/- lbs.
Did I mention is was hot? Yeah I did.
That is a mixture of sweat from me, and blood from her on my shirt,
that I picked up along the trail. It was still 80 degrees when I was driving out from the farm.
Kudos to Jerry Hill for his new broadhead design. It's fantastic.
Kudos to John's Custom Archery for an awesome ILF riser in the JC Optimus.
Bow Used:
JC Optimus 21" ILF riser, with 64# at my draw, medium "Old Style" TradTech carbon/wood limbs. Those limbs are pretty awesome too.
Arrow Used:
Kudos to Mick Baker, for some extremely good carbon arrow shafts.
Widow maker Smash .300, 4" Marco Vanes, McKenny Pin Nock, One Stringer Orange Wrap, Tipped with a 195 gr Jerry Hill "new release" broadhead. Total arrow weight - 635 gr.
I think I'll take tomorrow off.
Rick
I couldn't stand it though, and was in my blind at 3:45 P.M. this afternoon.
It was a long hot (96 degrees right up to sunset) afternoon/evening, and no animals showed up, except for a few quail on & off/now & then.
The sun set, and dark fell, but there was still a little moonlight glowing from that sliver of a moon just above the tree line.
When I saw her coming, the white of the sides of her face looked like two ghosts dancing in the moonlight. It was kinda creepy, but the cool kind of creepy. Know what I mean?
She had 6 small pigs with her, that were in the 25 to 30 lb size range. They were all moving around like a can of worms.
Finally she cleared enough for me to shoot, showing her left side, but quartering away pretty good. Not a hard quarter, but enough for me to want to shoot back a little bit.
There was just enough moonlight for me to draw, pick my spot, aim, and the arrow was away. It hit the ground, and flipped about 10 yards the other side of her, but I knew from her squall, that I hadn't missed.
Even though I was fairly certain of my shot, in that light I couldn't be positive, so I took my time packing up, then left the blind to go to the arrow.
Once I saw the arrow I knew she was already done for.
I paced off the distance of the shot. By my steps, it was 13 yards exactly.
Lucky 13 for me. Not so much for her.
Still, I wanted to give it a few more minutes before taking up the trail, so I spent them looking for the arrow nock. Never did find it. No big deal. I know where there are more.
She had turned right after the shot, and headed back out on the same trail she came in on. That trail head opens into my hide clearing at 15 yards from the blind to the right. Just before the trail head I saw this.
From there on, every couple of feet was this.
That trail immediately goes into some of the thickest tangle/jungle of briar, thorn bushes, and brush on the property. Of course it does. Isn't that almost always the case when you shoot something at, or after dark.
The blood trail was one of those stand up kind, that a blind person could follow.
Unfortunately, there wasn't any standing up. I crouched, crawled, and chopped my way down that pig tunnel in the briar, until I came to a small opening, and saw this off the trail to my left.
There she lay. She had actually gone on down the trail to the right, then turned back left up into that small hollow. Probably a bedding place she was using at times.
Her total run from shot to dead spot was about 45 yards.
The easiest way to get to her was to stomp down that dead fall, and chop my way on in, so I did. Was way easier than what I'd been doing.
Once I got to her, the job of tracking turned into a job of clearing out enough brush, so I could start the job of photography. It was tight, and I still could not stand in there, which explains why the pictures aren't the best of quality.
Turns out, I hit right where I had picked my spot, and it was perfect.
The arrow went in low & back through the left lung, and came out of the right shoulder. Poking in the entry with my knife, I could tell it had completely severed a rib going in.
Entry wound:
Exit wound:
Out the offside shoulder.
Success picture:
I'm setting right up against her. She's close to my size, but I'll give her a conservative weight guess of 200 +/- lbs.
Did I mention is was hot? Yeah I did.
That is a mixture of sweat from me, and blood from her on my shirt,
that I picked up along the trail. It was still 80 degrees when I was driving out from the farm.
Kudos to Jerry Hill for his new broadhead design. It's fantastic.
Kudos to John's Custom Archery for an awesome ILF riser in the JC Optimus.
Bow Used:
JC Optimus 21" ILF riser, with 64# at my draw, medium "Old Style" TradTech carbon/wood limbs. Those limbs are pretty awesome too.
Arrow Used:
Kudos to Mick Baker, for some extremely good carbon arrow shafts.
Widow maker Smash .300, 4" Marco Vanes, McKenny Pin Nock, One Stringer Orange Wrap, Tipped with a 195 gr Jerry Hill "new release" broadhead. Total arrow weight - 635 gr.
I think I'll take tomorrow off.
Rick
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