Hunt Wild Things

[steve helstowski]

[Biggamefish]

I made my last step and the pig raised it's head. In what seemed like 2 second the pig was standing,turning and about to run. I pulled the string back hit anchor. The arrow flew low and I missed. The hog ran out to 25 yard+- and stopped broadside to me. The second arrow was already on the bow and I was at anchor. I let it fly only to see it miss the pig in front of his chest. That pig vanished into the swamp never to be seen again by me. Good news, I missed cleanly and found both my arrows.
   No more pigs were seen by me that day. I sat a feeder in the afternoon and saw one deer and a turkey.

[postman]

Went there last year, had a blast, plenty of hogs, brought some meat back to NC. Turkeys were gobbling like crazy. Harry  stayed with me the whole time looking for my hog.

[Biggamefish]

As I was getting down from my stand I noticed that my I actually got a txt message. Reception is terrible on the property! (one thing that makes it that much better. You really get away). It was my buddy at another stand close by.
  The message said "hit one but I don't know". I headed over to find him. When we finally met up it was almost dark. We went back found blood and started trailing. We found decent dark blood at first then it started to peeter out. We couldn't continue in the dark so we where coming back in the morning!
  This is what we were dealing with.
 

 

[jcar315]

[Bud B.]

Dave's Field??

[kat]

[steve helstowski]

Yep, daves field. I was sitting there enjoying lizards and frogs inside the blind , when i noticed a strange noise coming down the road. At first i thought it was a big gust of wind heading my way.it finally dawned on me that i was hearing a sounder of hogs heading my way. In no time at all they were under the feeder at a whopping 8 yards. The group consisted of 13 hogs with two that probably weighed in around 80 pounds. THIS WAS IT! My chance  to finally show matt  up!  As  the hogs started to suck up the corn at an alarming rate , i realized 2 things.#1 the corn is almost gone , and #2 the largest hog ( the one i wanted to shoot) is TOO close ! In order to shoot , im going to have to  raise up some how.

[steve helstowski]

Trying to get my legs under me and shift my weight forward for the shot was not easy.  Slowly as possible, i began my shot sequence.  In my own opinion , hogs are a difficult animal to shoot. They never stand still ! Along with the constant movement , they are busy weaving in and around each other. Following the boar as he starts to head to parts unknown i pull through the string , everything slows down and the i see  the arrow smash into the pig. My first split second impression, a tad high. The shot almost knocks him off his feet. In an instant it barrels off in the opposite direction of the group. I see the shaft break off against a tree , everything goes quiet

[Crittergetter]

Sounds like a dead hog to me!      

[steve helstowski]

Matts two pictures show the chest high grass and, if you zoom in on the second picture you can see the results of the shot.. After 20 minutes  I cant stand it anymore .Looking at the shaft  it looked  like about 10 inches of arrow had penetrated. The  broadhead had broke off at the insert , making me lean towards hitting the offside shoulder.  Walking the chest high grass  . I see decent blood . Sneaking along , i start to hear that voice , its the one that tells you that you should be walking up to a dead hog. I text matt and walk out , we both head back together and with his younger eyes stretch it out to 200 yards. Heading back to camp  , i hope morning will help me out.

[steve helstowski]

Back at camp ,everyones all ears . Half of me wants to say dead hog, the other half says alittle too high . Ken and his son Doug volunteer their  eyes and legs for next mornings search., i protest  not wanting them to  use up  their hunt time on me , my protest fall on deaf ears. They wont have it any other way. These two guys are as solid as they come, even if they are from New Jersey.       To our disappointment the morning brings us four along with Andrew's friend charlie , and Harry the  wonder dog , nothing but tired legs and wet feet

[steve helstowski]

Returning from the search, i feel like the guy who whiffed the easy pitch at the big game. If you guys listened closely immediately after the shot on that pig, you might have heard the crowd groan in unison. Bowhunting is an interesting passion. Its one of those few things I have experienced that brings you to the top of the mountain, but one wrong move and your falling to the bottom. I moped around for a while , but ken gives me some encouragement along with andrew using his deep south pep talk magic on me , I m  back in the saddle. Besides , We all have something to look forward to the next day . The man himself , legendary member of the P.R.O , Ray Ray  from the bronx  is flying in to lend  a hand on this hunt..

[Pine Hawker]

As a member of this hog hunt I would like to say that traditional bow hunters accept the challenges of our sport, knowing full well that there are no guarantees or want any and ethical shots sometimes can go astray. However, picking yourself back up and continue to hunt is test of your character; good job Steve. As for rest of our group, thank you for your camaraderie, my son and I couldn't of found a better bunch Trad guys to share a camp with.       :D

[Biggamefish]

Tues,

  As Steve said the pig was a no show for dinner that night! I don't care who you are even I get excited for someone when they get a shot and also feel the let down when it isn't recovered. It was a let down. We all patted Steve on the back, it happens to all of us.
  After the search ended I went back down in the swamps to stalk around. This trip was uneventful but I did find where a monster was living.

 

That is a 175grn tigershark for comparison.

  I walked my way out of the swamp to sit a feeder in the afternoon but the pigs didn't cooperate. I knew I was heading back down to the swamp in the mroning to see if I could find the maker of that big pile!

[Biggamefish]

Picture this 4 of us sitting around the fire pit mid day. Andrew goes to pick up "RAY". Now I have heard the stories of this great member of the P.R.O. but never had the pleasure of meeting him. Now I see Andrews car pulling in. Here he come!
 I hear the slam of the car doors and out walks PAPA NOEL himself. I couldn't believe my eyes.
 Imagine a guy that looks like he walked straight out of the Bronx,Texas heart lands and Puerto Rico! Thats right Ray Bans, designer jeans some cowboy boots and a beard that would make the meanest biker jealous!
 All that aside I knew he had been to the property before and had a legacy of being a hard pig hunting machine along side of that he is the kinda guy that you like instantly and know you are going to have a great time with. I don't think anybody in camp could keep a straight face when this guy was telling a story. I wish I had a picture of him walking into camp but i was lucky enough to get a picture getting ready to hunt.

 

 The camp was almost full we were waiting for one more guy to come in on weds then we would be a full group of pig staking crazy people!

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Bummer Steve and Matt.  I know things will be more lively with ray in Camp.  I've been anticipating this thread.  Keep it coming boys!

Matt, thats either from a big pig or hurt really badly coming out    :eek:    

[Biggamefish]

Glen was the last guy to make it camp. he is a fellow New Yorker that hunts trad so whats not to like about him. If anybody on here is looking for some one liners he is the king of them. He had us laughing as much as Ray. He also builds a mean bow. The one he had with him was not only beautiful, it spit an arrow out straight, flat and faster than a pig on a run to a feeder with bacon on it!
 For those that have been to the Andrew's camp. Imagine a guy (Glen) standing at the steps to the kitchen. Another guy giving a friendly bet that he can't hit the target from there! I see Glen draw an arrow and draw back. I see him raise his bow but not at the angle it should be at for a shot of around 50 yards. Woosh the arrows is off and whack right into the pig target. Couldn't believe it. He also knew how to cut peoples feathers off while shooting in a group. I did notice he usually shot last though!!

[Biggamefish]

Thursday,
 Glen and I headed down to the swamps to chase some pigs. We where in just after light and I was headed to stiles feeder for a morning sit. Glen was going to hog lake.
 I sat for 2 hours and nothing showed so I was back to the turkey foot and down the left leg again. I checked some of the feeders and no good sign. So I decided to stalk the river cane again. I had to get the wind right and was moving slowly when I suddenly got the feeling that something was watching me. I look left and there is the shape of a huge hog standing 15 yards away. I start to swing and draw but the gig was up and he was out of there. He was a belted pig. He had a black but and black head with a whiter middle section and went well over 250. I stalked my way over to his bed then around a tree. I took 2 more steps and boom up come another hog. This guy is all black and looked to be 150-200lbs. He was out at about 18 yards when he stopped in the cane. I had no shot and he didn't let me take another step. After that it was time for lunch so out I went. Ray was the only one who got a shot at a pig but didn't connect.

 I sat Daves stand that night and only saw frogs, a fox squirrel and some turkeys.

 

 

[steve helstowski]

With Ray Ray in camp , the board was set. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time.  While Matt and Glen stalked the swamp ,Ray and I decided to check out the dove field and catch up on things. The weather had become pretty warm at this point . I deemed midday officially to hot to hunt . A nap was in order while I planned how to score another encounter at rock throwing distance. Andrew had mentioned a few feeders which seemed to be hot , so we were ready to head out later .  Around 5 we piled in the truck and off we went.  A quick circle around the stand revealed one huge set of tracks that seemed to circle the bait site. Little did this track maker know, i had brought along my lone wolf climber. My game plan was for him to circle the ladder stand all he wanted, i wasnt going to be there for him to pick me off.