Super Duper Hog info thread

[Horne's Archery]

Well Rusty Im ready when you are,just let me air up the tires on my bike.
You are right on getting the big ones apart as soon as posible.They do spoil from the bone out just like Elk.

 Mark

[trashwood]

Yep Docnoc it was a re-run.  Wingnut took Rojo 2 yrs ago.  As you know baiting is legal in Texas but often questioned for it ethics.  I think Rojo is a good example of a mono a mono hunt when baiting  (but maybe ethical by my standards only) is a legitiment means of hunting (well I think it is all the time if legal but i don't think it is always the most successful way to hunt).  We were not bait casting try to draw any shot in.  we were after one particular animal and in this case I chose what I thought to be the most effective (and safest for mike and I) startegy.

Oddly enough even though baiting is legal in Texas I very seldom use it and in general find that in whitetail hunting it leads to more loss than non-baiting methods.

DISCALIMER! please understand the opinions about baiting are mine.  I am not tring to talk you into anything or tring to change your mind if you feel baiting is not an ethical means of hunting.  I respect ya for your opinion. the point I want to make is that if ya do use some kinda bait for pig hunting, ya still need to do your scouting and homework.  When that is done ya still have to put your time in the stand in and make your shot count        

rusty

[NorthShoreLB]

It was a plesant surprise to come back from work tonite and see this thread up top again.

good decision Curtis, class is open    

Manny

[Littlefeather]

Cool! Good to hear the story again. I have a couple of questions that I think will help here.
One thing I've found with every really big boar is that they generally place their lair very close to water. If I remember correctly Rojo was not close to water. Please tell the lay of the terrain. Was he bedding on a rise or in a wash. How was he facing when he bedded? What was beside him and around him? Did he have an escape route or was he backed up to a wall of brush? If you'd have been armor plated, could you have approached him for a shot or was he so well protected that you'd have surely been seen and eaten? Do you remember how much bone/shield was encountered on the shot? What was your general feelings about your gear selection after seeing the results? And the last question is, Can I come hunt the really big Sow with Mark? LOL! Thanks for adding your imput guys! CK

[**DONOTDELETE**]

CK, wingnut and Rusty;    

Thanks

[wingnut]

Curtis,

C - If I remember correctly Rojo was not close to water.

M - Actually he was very close to the river.  We busted him outta his bed about 50 ft from the river in 4 ft high grass.  

C - Please tell the lay of the terrain. Was he bedding on a rise or in a wash. How was he facing when he bedded?

M - It is a fairly steep river bank with a bench on it.  He liked the bench.  River behind him wind in his face, with escape to the trees on both sides.

C - If you'd have been armor plated, could you have approached him for a shot or was he so well protected that you'd have surely been seen and eaten?

I don't think we could have hunted him in his bed, but if we could find where he was eating we might have been able to stalk him.  This is very thick brush and the pigs in there tend to brush up near the river.  Hard to get around, but not impossible

C- Do you remember how much bone/shield was encountered on the shot?

M - At the penetration point there was just over an inch of shield, both in and out.  I wanted an exit wound real bad and had just enough bow to do it.  If I were to do it again, I would wait for the 1/4 shot and angle it in.

C - And the last question is, Can I come hunt the really big Sow with Mark?

M - Nope!!  You can come hunt the big un with Mark, Wingnut and Rusty.  That is if Rusty will video it.

Mike

[Littlefeather]

Wow, that's really cool! That is exactly what I encounter with every dominant Boar.

The dominant boars always seem to cover their axx with water. Actually I find that they like water on several sides where they can find it. If you find an L shaped pond, they'll be in the L every time. Facing the wind while he slept though. Humm? This does somewhat contradict what I've seen. I see them face down-wind mostly using the wind to carry scent from behind them. I believe they think they cover themselves two ways like that. They can see downwind and smell what is approaching from behind. Something like that anyway. Just my beliefs.

You also confirmed what I thought about approaching him while bedding. Those big ones don't make too darn many mistakes. Normally you don't get a second chance to find him in the same spot once he knows you found his lair. Yall done good getting that hog! I think baiting way your ticket on this particular hog.

So, you felt good about the bow/arrow combo. You said 800 grains? Pretty heavy for the bow weight wouldn't ya say? I do agrees with the extreem heavy thought process for the record.

Did this hog demonstrate any characteristics that you've seen before or was this particular hog demonstrating something unique to you. Just trying to assertain some pattern here. I think now that you've brought up Rojo we can go back to the beginning at look at the differences in what was said about the general differences in herd hogs and dominant hogs. Also, we can look back at bedding patterns, etc.

Bedded on a slight ridge, adjacent to water and facing ? direction at what time of day?

Yea, what time of day did you catch him napping again? Which way was he facing in relation to the 4 axis's? CK

[trashwood]

Curtis - well the "L" you discribe fits better than you think.  the river runs east and west here.  we were hunt the north side of the river (prerevlent south wind).  the river is in a sharp bend right where we were and Rojo was bedded down right at the bottom of the bend.  

nothing could apporach Rojo from the river, so he only had one directtion to worry about.  15 yds on either side of his day bed is thick greenbriar, nasty nasty stuff.  he was on the high ground really.  both thick brushy side drop down into real boggy bottoms.

I don't know which way he was facing on his bed but as Mike desicred this day there was a north wide so he had the wind in his face and the river to his back, with a left and right escape route that would be real hard to follow.

I don't think I can compare the boggy bottoms pigs to other pigs I've taken becasue some of these pigs don't have any idea what a human is.  they have not been hunted at all except by coyotes.  

I guess the biggest difference on thinking aobut it is since they don't know to fear humans they are a little more aggressive than ranch pigs are.  'em dumb pigs (not!!!) think they own the place and gonna kick your skinny little hide out of their home    

i think most ranch hogs have been human educated and react different to situations than these pigs might.  for example one time i was cutting down a bodark sucker to look up and see a sounder of pigs watching me curiously.  wonder what the heck that strange looking animal was doing    

rusty

[trashwood]

BTW - i don't want any one to put me in the same class as Curtis, Womack, and others.  I am a pup running with the big dogs.  

Rusty -more luck than pig sense- Craine

[trashwood]

As for the big sow I've been wathcing, I have onlyh encounter her in the really thick stuff.  The first time she was in her brooding nest and real unhappy to see me.  Her nest though in really thick stuff was on a ridge between to boggy areas.  I really could not get a better lay of the area than that she was on the ridge.....i left post haste cause she sound like she was a coming my way quickly  

The other times she has still been in really tight stuff.  stuff is so thick with brair. brush and trees I can't figure out the lay of the land.

rusty

[Littlefeather]

Sounds like the Sow would be a great group project. Maybe you should push her once and try and make out an escape route. Come back next week with some buddies and place them in the escape route, circle wide and push once again. Here is where the grunt call will also come into play. I'd love to go into her lair, find her bedded and give her an aggressive grunt sequence. If she's got young with her I think I can get her outta there. Grunt aggressively, breaking sticks and brush, followed immediately with a rabbit in distress call will bring her running and slobbering. You of course are gonna have to be in front of me to make the shot. I know Scifers will hold his ground if you ain't game! LOL!

[trashwood]

hey that sounds like a plan.  gotta to wait a little bit though.  right now there are two gas drilling projects going on that are changing things a bit.  soon as they are finished we'll work on it.

I admire ya guys that really get into a hunt.  alas that is not usually one of my qualities.  I take my bow, 2 pig arrows, 2 swamp rabbit arrow, 4 squirrel arrows.  If i find pigs, it's a pig hunt, swamp rabbit, it's a swamp rabbit hunt, IT IS always a squirrel hunt (no closed season in this area, thanks to the pecan growers).

when the gas projects are over we'll look into a sow hunt.

rusty

[swampbiologist]

In case anyone is interested or aware, there is a web site for the boar hunter magazine. As I reviewed it, it explained how the new Wild Boar Record Book will work. There is also information on potential dangers associated with chasing hogs. Just ignore all of the gun stuff that surrounds it. There is some good information here. The web site is: (www.boarhuntermagazine.com)

[JC]

Originally posted by trashwood:
I admire ya guys that really get into a hunt.  alas that is not usually one of my qualities.  I take my bow, 2 pig arrows, 2 swamp rabbit arrow, 4 squirrel arrows.  If i find pigs, it's a pig hunt, swamp rabbit, it's a swamp rabbit hunt, IT IS always a squirrel hunt (no closed season in this area, thanks to the pecan growers).

Yer a feller after my own heart rusty...I like to hunt fer what I find  

[swampbiologist]

Rusty must have been a Boy Scout! Be Prepared! I like that attitude too.

[swampbiologist]

Here is what one of my hog hunting outings produced along the Coast after Hurricane Rita. Notice hanging over my left shoulder, a rabbit and the skull from a dead spike that I found. A Good Day because I was There!

[trashwood]

LOL - 'at a boy SwampB.  I like shooting my bow more than hunting and I like eating better than hunting.....so if i can eat it and it's in season...i shoot.

OK here is another myth (imho).  Highfences???

Dean, Lew, and I went to south texas for a pig hunt.  here is the layout.  285 acers highfenced with 80 pigs inside.  oh man like shooting fish in a barrel right??????  Nope We hunt hard for 4 days from light till dark.  I was on one stalk or another from dawn to I could not see.  I was running plumb out of adrenaline.  I'll bet I was on at least one stalk every hour I was hunting.  

Now Lew and Dean are good solid hunters.  Lew can bust blue rock ( i saw it happen time and time again after I missed         ) at 20 yds with regularity.  

We each killed one pig.  not because we would  not have take more.  Our duty was to thin the herd        .

So if ya get a chance to hunt pig in a high fence, don't feel to bad for the pigs.  they are fixing to make a fool out of ya        ....and your hunting buds too.

our concessions to fairchase was that we would not hunt the feeder or water trough.   it was gonna be spot and stalk.  

BTW - Dean's shot was a thing of beauty.  at a running 70#er at 15+ yds clean the boiler room.

After my lessons with 80 pigs in 285 acers of highfence I wonder what the heck all the fuss was about.  All the highfence did was make it more exciting in my opinion.  it did not make it any easier to stalk within 15 yds of a pig.  in fact it might have made it harder.

rusty -never too old to change my mind when I find out the facts- Craine

[Littlefeather]

High Fences?    Wait a minute! I gotta get the strap tightened up on my crash helmet for this one.    


 Spot and stalk : Now here is my favorite of all the favorite methods for pig hunting. This most certainly will be different everywhere you will encounter hogs in the world. It's the terrain that will dictate your approach among wind direction and how you hold your mouth. LOL!

I generally have found most of my spot and stalk pigs in the last year to have occurred in the mid-day time frame. For some odd reason the pigs on one of my lease properties like to enter the wide open grasslands during the mid-day. I've found that short of belly crawling hundred of yards, the best approach has been to make a wide berth around the group till I reach a downwind location. I like to use the cover of dry creeks and tree lines for cover as I make my approach. Once I(if I make it) find a point of good visibility overlooking the hogs but remain hidden, I'll watch to assertain what direction they are feeding. As the pigs move along feeding, I get a better feel of where they are heading. Of course this is only one of a thousand case scenereo's(sp). I'll try and keep gaining a vantage and let em come to me if at all possible. I've been busted more times than I can count by pushing myself to gain ground. I've found that I generally am more successful if I employ just a tad of patience. Now, having said that, let me change the scenereo just a touch.

The hogs are in full view but are moving away and you have no choice but to gain ground or loose them. I'll try and move as their heads are down. There is always a few that are looking around so I try and either move or don't move. There just isn't really much middle ground here. Once I've closed the gap to a reasonalbe distance, I employ the "sneak-n-crawl". I've spoken about this in multiple threads. I drop all my gear, fanny pack, extra clothing, AND my quiver. If it has the possibility of making noise, I leave it behind while I close the final few yards. I generally will take only one arrow at this point. I like to make Ferrett proud sometime too! Here is where you make or break the hunt. Ya gotta move quick before they get your wind but you also have to demonstrate enough control not to bust the hunt yourself. Each stalk will be entirely different than any other. This is where real hunting between two opponents really comes into play. Be prepared to fail if you make this your choice technique. Hogs sences inside of bow range get really sharp. If you do fail, shake it off, smile at the moment you just shared and move along to the next opportunity. If hunting is strictly about fun for you, the spot and stalk is the ultimate ticket to the show. It truly is all about having a great time. CK

[JC]

I'm with you on the high fence Rusty, absolutely the most thrilling stalk of my life, all 6 hours of it, was for this herd boss goat at bugscuffle:  

[beachbowhunter]

Originally posted by Littlefeather:
I'd love to go into her lair, find her bedded and give her an aggressive grunt sequence.

Valentines day was last week!