So here I was, in Howard Management Area in southwest Arkansas. I was making my way back in an area that we knew as the "Short Texan Stand." It had been a spot where along the barely drivable dirt road where this very short person and a wooden ladder stand. It was quickly obvious that whoever made it was very short as the steps were very close together. But my son-n-law's father had finally met him and found out that he was indeed from Texas.
But that was years before and he hadn't ever been back but that was how we knew to reference the spot to each other. Anyways, hardwoods were becoming a hard thing to find here as everything was being cut to grow pine. I had my climber and was going into this place for the first time, in the dark.
My son-n-law had told me that he had seen a few oaks dropping acorns and that was good enough for me. I searched the area in the dark as I pressed onward. I finally got thru some thick stuff and hit a semi open area of hardwoods. After a few minutes checking out what sign I could find, I picked a white oak and got the climber ready.
The ground was actually dirt here, very dry dirt but still dirt and the leaves were all crunchy. As I began my climb, I could hear a few acorns dropping as they hit the ground. In the dark, the only gauge that I had for my height was my pull rope, it was 26 feet long and attached to my seat section.
So I stopped at around 21 feet or so and got the climber secured before pulling up everything. After I got my backpack situated, I cut a limb to hold my bow and hung it. I had my quiver hanging off another limb behind me. I pull one arrow and jobbed the two blade down into a spot for an easy second shot if needed. Then it was nocking a wooden arrow and then double checking everything. After a quick glance down with the headlamp to see what exactly lay down below me, I turned it off and hung it on the limb with the quiver.
There would be no looking up at the stars or even the sky for that matter as the tree canopy was very dense in this area. So now I sat in silence and waited for the daylight to come. It wasn't long before something noisy was making its way towards me. I kept staring hard to see what it was but in my mind, I knew that it had to be an armadillo and sure enough, I could barely see it as it worked the ground below me. It was noisy but that was okay as it passed the time for me as I watched its faint outline move on.
Finally it began to lighten up and now it was going to be either squirrel time or deer time, or both. I was watching a couple of grey squirrels doing their chase thing when the sound or sounds of several animals coming got my attention. I was already grasping my bow and slowly moving it around to my front and doing my best to not knock the arrow off.
I'm looking for taller animals but the ones that came busting into my spot down below me were a bunch of maybe 40 pound pigs. Now I am more than okay with pigs and so I am slowly standing to get ready for my shot. Now the pigs are very active as they suddenly lunge this way or that way as they try to get an acorn before the others see it.
Some have begun to root around in the leaves and so I am trying to focus on one of them. I have an older rough looking longbow that a friend had given me the week before. This bow was around 50 lbs or so at my draw and it shot decently for me. Anyways, a spotted one stops and looks like it is about to root so my focus is totally on it. I come to full draw and pick my spot and release. I watch in disbelief as I release, the pig suddenly lunges past another pig for an acorn. My arrow hits the dirt and I am expecting them to scatter but they are squealing and making so much noise that they didn't hear anything.
So I reach over and give a quick tug to free the arrow and am quickly ready to redeem myself. This time, it is a darker pig that has moved into a decent spot and I am about to ruin its day. I again pick my spot and release only to see this one suddenly chase another one away. My arrow hits and is sticking nearly straight up like the first arrow but this time, one or all heard the shot and they scatter instantly.
Now I am staring down at my two arrows and nothing to show for them. Heck, I already had one of them on the smoker back home. Guess it will just have to wait.
Topic: Hogs, it happens (Read 1002 times)
