Scouting trip for St. Judes pig hunt

[RC]

Dan and his Buddy are planning on coming down in a couple weeks for the hunt they bought on the last auction.We had planned a hunt in October but things came up and they rescheduled so the plan is to get after some winter pork.I gotta say this is not the most productive time of year to hunt pork down here on public land.....unless you gotta good guide.lol

  I started out with Brother John on some of our honey holes but wanting more than one option I decided to head up river a bit and check things out. The River is flooded badly and has me really out of my game but I am persistant. It has been flooded longer this year than any year I can ever remember. Here we go....

   Decided to check the Sunny side of some ridges because it was cold and found a few good midday spots..

 

 


Went on up the ridge and found where another fella had been out exploring..

 

Cut small run of water and found a nice crossing for deer and pigs I`ll keep in mind for next October...

 

[rastaman]

Looks like you have a good plan in motion RC!  Good luck to you guys and can't wait to see the pics and read the stories that are to come!

[RC]

I topped the hill and started down on the river side. I cut this trail on a shelf running between two huge thickets. Both over 500 acres.

 

I came up on a mud trail that still had wet mud on the sides of trees and found this wallow used only minutes before...Its cold too. Pigs really do like mud I guess.lol....

 

Then I headed on down into Gods Country...

 

  I crossed a water oak flat that had tons of acorns still on the ground and the pigs were wearing them out. I followed the edge of a ridge towards the river and cut a trail going to the water oaks. I then began to think "kill" instead of "scout". I had decided earlier that I was gonna be scouting hard, covering ground and not hunting ...but I did have my bow.I cut this trail in a funnel that was beside a ridge. I eased up behind a stump and big chestnut oak and looked down at the trail a mere 12 steps away. Kinda like a trestand shot. Wind was perfect and the sign in the flat screamed that pigs would be coming by this evening. I sat for about three minutes and scolded myself and remembered this was a scouting trip. Eased back down to the funnel and headed towards the river. A pic of the trail...

 

 I followed the water less than 75 yards and was looking at a whole bunch of sign when I heard pigs.Straight in front of me coming to me towards the flat was a lot of hogs. I eased behind a big bush and nocked an arrow. This was a scouting trip but I can only take so much...I could count maybe 15-18 hogs..all shooters only two small pigs. 2 big boars.I was in a bad position. I should have been closer to the water because being 20 yards away allowed the pigs to split and some were coming on the down wind side. A nice 80 pound guilt was coming to my left. I was on my knees and committed to a shot on that side and at 15 yards was waiting on the pig to get sideways when a sow bit a shoat in the butt to my right..the water/downwind side and he screamed and ran about 15 yards nearly in my lap.I could`nt shoot him cause I was twisted to shoot to my left. Some folks say pigs don`t see well and they dont but they can make a human out at slapping distance. Needless to say in pig talk he yelled "RUN" and they all scattered.Thats what I get for trying to shoot Dans pig.

I went on down a bit more and heard something to my left in a hollow. I slipped over and there were two rank boars sizing each other up. I got no use for one of them 1.9 miles in the swamp so I broke out a video camera with 40 seconds of battery and filmed them as they began to fight.I had used all my battery on a bobcat earlier.

 A good trip . Almost forgot. When Brother John and I pulled up to a parking spot a sow was in the opening with pigs. She had the reddish Russian tint to her and her pigs were red with stripes. Beautiful. She charged the truck. I`ve never seen nothing like it. Looked like someones dog when you pulled into their yard.She ran off after about a minute of  some nasty pig talk.RC

[turkey522]

Thanks for sharing RC.Lets see that video of the two boars fighting.

[Terry Green]

Cool....I was wondering about this hunt the other day....wondering if I'd missed it somewhere....

[RC]

I`ll have to get Chris to help me with the pig fighting footage as I`m computer stupid.
 Terry, the sweet thing about this hunt is if they don`t shoot anything they can come back again in the spring or fall or...for just the gas money. Sweet deal I think. As I said the winter is not the best time but I`m thinking these fellas gonna get shots.I still got several more honey holes to draw from.RC

[Terry Green]

That's a good deal Robert....aint like you wont be going back anyway   :D

[Biggie Hoffman]

Just don't try and show them how to shoot.
Remember who is your sensei

[rushlush]

Nice!

[MJB]

Robert,
Look'n good , Thanks for sharing  

[straitera]

No fault in a big heart! Way to go RC. Nice pix.

[dnovo]

Alright RC, keep 'em coming. We're looking forward to being there with you. It's gonne be a fun time. Maybe we can just get set up on a trail and you'll just run 'em by us.
So the rest of you know, it didn't work last fall as I was dealing with issues with taking care of my mother and finally having to move her to a nursing home.

[Shinken]

WOW RC!  Another blessed day afield!

Those boys look like they are not going to have any excuses for not gettin' a shot.

BTW - thank you for your donation to benefit the kids at St. Judes Childrens Research Hospital.

Have an *awesome* day!

Shoot straight, Shinken

[fountain]

good looking bow in that pic

[Jeff D. Holchin]

Hey Robert, I've got a solution to your dilema of wanting to kill when you're only scouting.  Seems like you always carried some blunts in your quiver, how about getting some red ink on the blunts and then thumping every hog you can while scouting, even those nasty boars?  You'll be "counting coup" and Dan and friend will know exactly where to aim when you all seem them later.  Course, retrieving your arrows might get a little tricky, especially if you run into that grumpy sow again.........