I'm a little late on getting this posted because i was waiting to get my film developed.
I can't even remember when we went but it was the week before the real "texas sweat" hunt i believe. My group usually goes to the same place in laredo every year to chase pigs but that ranch decided not to start the pig hunts until april this year. So my friend who kinda heads up the hunt found us a new place to go just south west of odessa. My two riding buddies crawfished on me so i ended up making the 7 hour drive alone and footing the gas bill all by my lonesome. We left canton, texas at 5 on thursday morning and finally reached the ranch at about 12 or 1 after 7 hours of futile searching for a decent radio station.
It wasn't until i was filling out the liability form at the ranch that i realized that i was hunting on one of CK's ranches. Shaun layed down the rules for us and gave us the basic lay out of the enormous ranch. Off we went in our separate directions.
Me and a compounder spent the first evening burning up the roads to get a feel of the portion we were hunting. Man it's easy to get turned around. Not to mention all the dead end roads. We corned very little because we weren't real sure where to corn. Nothing looked particularly better than the rest. Just before dusk we came back to the spot we had corned and noticed a very large freshly rooted patch near a water tank. Looked hopeful for the next day.
We slept in the next morning and rolled out around 10. Did a lot more riding and looking. With so much acreage at our fingertips we jus couldn't sit in one spot. We burnt up most of the day and made a plan to sit over the rooted spot that we had found, later in the evening.
Oh did i mention that the first day was pleasantly warm but a cold front blew in that night? It was flippin freezing with 20 mph winds!!
We hunkered down about 2 hours before dark to wait to see if the pigs would return to the same spot.....while we froze, lol. After about an hour of waiting, doubt began to creep in and i gave up on the setup and decided to walk a wide circle around the truck and try not to get lost before dark. I quickly realized how to keep from getting lost. The truck was parked by the largest oil well in sight, so i just made sure i kept an eye on it. I gotta say my hope of seeing some pigs wasn't exactly soaring. I made my way from one dune to the next as i entertained myself with burying judos into clumps of grass along the dunes. I had been away from the truck for 15 or 30 minutes and was probably 1/4 to 1/2 a mile from it when i caught movement about 400 yards from me, moving across a flat. It was moving at a pretty good clip so i thought it was a coyote. Closer inspection revealed it was a hog. My heart fluttered. My wheels kicked into motion instaneously formulating a plan of action. The wind was blowing directly on the back of my neck and the pig was quickly devouring the distance to the only place i could cut it off. No time to think about. I head off in a full sprint up and done the dunes that divided us. My goal was the hit the road that the pig was headed to, and take it down the where i thought the pig would cross. Once i got to the road i was about 200 yards from the pig...and a little winded
So i slowed it down to a slow trot. From my new vantage point i noticed that it wasn't just one pig. There were about 3 or 4 that i could see. Game plan stayed the same. I gradually slowed my pace as i got closer...partly for noise reasons...and partly so i could breathe
The wind was a great attribute when it came to not being heard. I guess they pigs either slowed or weren't moving as quick as i thought because i got to the cut off point with plenty of time. The edge of the road offered no cover so i opted to put on a stalk instead of an ambush. There was only one large dune that divided us. I could hear them feeding on the other side. I put a 30" gold tip 5575 on the string string of my 49# TD Bob lee classsic, tipped with a 190 grain interceptor. I had worked around them so that the wind was in my face now, so i just had to move slow and watch my steps. As i eased around the dune i came face to face with them. They were clueless. They are 20 yards at this point. I ease a little closer and a blonde sow spots me, jerks up her head and woofs. It's all over, i think to myself. I freeze of course. She gives me the stare down and decides im just another tumble weed. Whew! I decide this is close enough. She turns perect quartered away. As i begin to put tension on the string, she turns too much offering no shot. I direct my attention further around the side of the dune and see another black hog standing perfect quartered away at 10 yards. I focus all my attention on the low fold of the shoulder, feel my finger touch anchor, and feel the string slip from my fingers. Then i watch a magnificent white propeller of feathers as it zips to the exact spot i was looking. One short squeal and as she turns to run i see the arrow fall out the far side. I was crouched for the shot but i stand to keep an eye on her as she runs. She splits from the other hogs, bucking as she runs. 3 seconds and 40 yards later, she takes her last breath as i watch her fall. I'm elated!!! I'm talking bout jumping with my bow up in the air saying thank ya Jesus!! An awesome feeling. After i put my hands on her, i went back and found my arrow...bloody, tip to feather
Man those white feathers sure look better red!!
I go ahead and drag her to the closest road and try to catch my breathe on the way to the truck. As luck would have it, we can't figure out how to get to the road i drug her too, so we drag her another 200 yards, but at least i have help this time.
I sure was proud to roll into camp with a bloody arrow and a pig in the back of the truck. Shaun and Curtis were already in camp talking with the other guys.
The last day we employed the same tactic of making huge circles around the truck, while keeping it in sight. We got on one more group of pigs. I feel like i could have taken one easily but my wheelie buddy hadn't had a shot yet so he was up to the plate. One bad hit, and no pig in the truck that day. I was aboslutely exhausted when we rolled into camp that night. I don't know how far we walked but it was A LOT.
I had a great time but to be honest i was disappointed in the pig numbers. Now let me explain why. We are spoiled to hunting 5000 acres in laredo that is a deer lease the rest of the year. Therefore the roads stay corned year round and the pigs are trained to it. You can just drive by on a four wheeler and the pigs will come out in the road behind you, thinking you are corning. We hunt only the roads down there and usually see 50 hogs/javies a day. So seeing 10 or so in 3 days...a little dissappointing. However, that is exactly why i wanted to hunt west texas. I wanted the challenge of the spot and stalk style hunting in fairly open country. And well...thats what i got :D
Sorry if the pics are too big. Let me know and ill try to fix them. I'm used to using a digital, but this time i used a 35mm so i had to scan them in. Don't know what it will do to file size.
Topic: My Texas "Sweat".... (Read 474 times)
