Workin up a Texas Sweat Hog - PICS from Mitch pg 4

[Kingwouldbe]

Originally posted by knife river:
 

Originally posted by Kingwouldbe:
No way!!! A single beveled stone broadhead.

Yessir, that's exactly what it is.  I made a few after reading Dr Ashby's research.  They "screw" their way through a foam target.  Seem to do well on hogs.  You want to try one on your west coast monsters? [/b]

That would be a BIG YES, whats a would-be hunter got to do to get his hands on a few.

I tried some knapping a decade ago, no opposing thumbs, after I was done with the knapping it still looked like just a rock.lol    

[Son of Texas]

First of all I want to thank Terry and Tradgang Texas Sweat was a great experience I had the time of my life getting to hunt with John Berger,some with Woody and also Robert Peel. I'm not much of a story teller at lease not typing it on a computer. The hog that John referred to as a Volkswagon  looked just that big,when I let an arrow go in the moon light, I do not know where it hit but I do no it was in the wrong place, about eight inches of penetration and know blood. I was a little worried hunting with a big black wounded Volkswagon  running around some where. I was able to get one the next night I thought I lost it also And I was getting a little discouraged but John and I found it the next morning. It was great meeting everyone and spending time getting to know alittle about everyone. My wife was a little worried about me going hunting with a bunch of guys I met on the internet, I believe she is ok now. I was a newcomer and everyone treated me like I had been part of the family for years. Thanks everyone, the friendships I made will last for ever. Oh and I got to see John chase three pigs and make about a  forty or fortyfive yard heart shot. Hey John that Mosshorn is tuned and ready to hunt.

[knife river]

Here's a few pics of some of the great guys at the Sweat.

 

Robert "Robtattoo" Peel and his intricate sleeve.

 

Andy "Tradrusker" Ivy

 

John "I'm moving to Odessa!" Berger, AKA "Missouri Sherpa

 

Shaun Webb, who gets my vote for philosopher king!

 

Joe "Whip" Lasch with his cool camp

 

Jeff "Tippit" Springer

 

Vance "Iron Bull" Brewer, Doc Tippit, and Andy

[hormoan]

OK I could not sleep a little bit, so here is a little bit   :D   My trip started a week ago Friday morning. This green 08 Ford Super Duty backs into my drive around 7AM. Inside is a friend I had the pleasure to meet and camp next to this past June at Comptons. Dave Stinson aka huntit.
 
Off to the land of TOTO we venture, lucky no witches or tornados. We blown down into a home in Lenexa KS, Mel Rileys place aka Irish. The gentleman on the right is Mel. The other gentleman is John Norris aka kctreeman. Our prayers had been answered for John, he had a light stroke month or so ago. And to see him about and able to visit was a treat!
   
It is great to see him doing well, and we wish a speedy recovery.    
Dave brought a couple Moose Pies for dinner at Mels, and they where great!
 

We will continue our journey into the land of red sunsets tomorrow. Sweet dreams.

[Whip]

This was my third Sweat, and I have to agree with CK - hands down, this was as good as it gets!  The hunting was good, although really was secondary to the chance to spend a week with some of the finest people I know.  What a treat to be a part of this group!  
I think part of what made this one so special was that the ranch was large enough to accomodate everyone in one group this year, and the social time in camp was outstanding! One of my goals going into this trip was to spend more time in camp and less time hunting.  Mission accomplished!
 
 

 

 

The shooting line, as usual, was a popular gathering place.

 

[Whip]

Charlie's new personal bow
 

Waiting in the moonlight one night for the hogs that never showed, I was captivated by the slow disapperance of the moon.
 

The area we spent most of our time in consisted of rolling sand dunes.  The grasses struggle for their lives in a harsh terrain.

 

 

 

I had my very first self bow almost completed shortly before this trip.  A week before leaving a package arrived at my door with a pair of Woody's beauties tucked inside.  They gave me the motivation I needed to get the bow finished up, and I decided that I would carry them for the week.  Shooting a self bow was a whole new experience for me, and I needed to set a pretty strict limit on my shot selection, but the equipment felt wonderful to carry on the hunt.

 

[el cazador]

Sounds like y'all had another great hunt!  I can't wait to hear (read) more of the tales.  Thanks for taking the time to share it!

For those that didn't like the "several hundred miles" of our great state that they saw, y'all come back and try it again.  We're almost a thousand miles wide and a thousand miles tall, covering over 260,000 square miles of land.  Our elevations go from 0 at the coast to almost 9,000' at the Guadalupe Peak.  We have over 600 miles of coastline to enjoy.  The motto of our over 22 million residents is "friendship".  It might not all be, but I'm sure there's some "God's Country" in our great state.  I'm sure because I've seen it and live in it.

Texan... darn right I am! And PROUD of it!

[Benny Nganabbarru]

Looks awesome! Reminds me of parts of my country.

[hunt it]

Got home just after midnight. Gotta get the kids off to school and head for the butcher shop. The story will start soon as I get back. This trip was by far the most fun a guy could have in one week. Fantastic bunch of guys to hang with and thanks a whole lot to Curtis and Pops and Charlie for making this all happen year after year. Long Live The Texas Sweat!

[Whip]

My first night out I had a spot with a water tank along a road that had been corned.  I decided to set up near the top of a sand dune which allowed me to see a pretty good area and see what might be moving.  As the sun set in the west I spotted a nice hog on the road and moved to get in front of him.  He had other plans though and moved off into the brush.  I left him alone, hoping to come back and set up a better ambush the next day.

Day two found me tucked into a bush within shooting distance of a water tank and the freshly corned road.  It wasn't long before the action began.  10 little piggies, along with their Momma, a dry sow, and a boar, came in for a drink.

 

They were on the wrong side of the tank for me, and after a good drink moved quickly out to the road and fed away from me.

 

As they fed out of sight I didn't lose hope.  I knew the end of the section we had corned was just up around the bend, and guessed they would be back soon.  I was right.  Eventually they were back, but took a long time rooting around in an area just out of my sight off the road.  

Eventually, the whole group came running back in to water a second time, but again on the wrong side of the tank.  This time as the left however they went the right way on the road.  The boar passed me at 8 yards, and I came to full draw.  But he would not stop, and I let him go.  As he hit the road he stopped behind a bush.  No shot again.  Finally he cleared the bush and stopped again, this time in the open and perfectly broadside.  I pulled back, concentrated on my spot, and then watched in horror as the stone point hit him right between the eyes!  

It all happened so fast I still don't completely understand it, but sometime between when my brain said let go, and the time the arrow got there, he had swung 90 degrees.  I had been very patient waiting for the right shot, and swear he was broadside and looking away as I released.  But in that instant things changed, and the result was a bad hit.  

The arrow stayed in until he ran under a bush, and I heard a sharp crack as the arrow and the head broke off.  Pigs have a thick skull, and I'm fairly sure all he ended up with was a bad headache.  Never the less, I was very disappointed with my performance.

[IB]

YAWN.......  

[tradtusker]

well just got back a few hours ago, flight back was not to bad. gonna start unpacking soon and i'v got plenty of pics loading up, which ill share very soon.  :D    

[robtattoo]

Ugh.....28hrs without sleep (or any of Stinson's 'Canadian Giddy Pills')    

I was one of the other 'hunting unfortunates' that didn't manage to see game this past week & guess what?......I couldn't care less! This was one of the very best weeks of my life (so far) It was just a sheer pleasure to share camp with so many great guys, friends from last year & friendships made anew.

I'll unpack & download all my photos a little later.

Highlights of the week for me were; watching Woody knapping almost continuously, hunting for 2 straight days with Vance & Charlie (something I dearly wished to do last year, but never got around to) Listening to Dave's accounts of the many, many bizzarre things that happened to him on an almost hourly basis (that guy really, really needs a biographer to follow him around! :D ) getting sunburnt in February (unheard of tells ya!) Every night around the fire, the look on everyone's faces when Andy told them all what they'd just eaten, talking blades with Doc, listening to Kev crooning all night long (that man's got some real talent!) Robert's comment when asked if he was happy about recovering his first ever hog, picking up the selfbow that Shaun made for me (& discovering that all my carbons flew flawlessly from it!  :eek:  ) seeing Andy get his two Javies (actually, seeing everyone taking game!) those stunning West Texas sunsets. I could go on for hours, but I'll leave the tale telling to those with more exciting tales to tell.......

Back in a bit with the pics!

Final note; A  HUGE 'Thank You' to Curtis, Charlie & Pop for all their hard work in organising & running this wonderful hunt. Ireally cannot explain the gratitude I feel toward you three guys for making this & last year's possible for me to attend & how welcome you've all made me feel for the past week. Be assured (warned?) I will be back for round three next year, like it or not!  :D

[LV2HUNT]

Man, I know very little about stone points but Knife River's are amazing. I cannot believe the exacting detail on those. I had no idea that was possible.   .

Thanks for sharing all the memories guys, great stories one and all   .

[Shaun]

Ready to start in on some story telling...

I had the good fortune to be at the Wight ranch for an extended stay from the start of the Boyers Journal hunt till the end of the Texas Sweat - 18 days! Thanks Curtis for letting me help out and hang around. I hunted with the gang from the Journal and then worked corning sendaros, scouting and facilitating another group of mostly wheelie guys in between trad events. One TG member hunted the in between hunt and took the best pig with a recurve. Way to go Kyle Allen!!!

Right after the Journal gang headed home, I took a nice javie with my first home made glass bow. The bow is a walnut and osage cloned from 1955 Bear limb design.

 

Curtis, Pops, Charlie and Kevin arrived early to get set up. Damn it was good to see Gary (Pops "don't call me Mr Keller") again. There was the usual handshakes and hugs and catching up then the bows came out and got passed around and shot. Here the venerable Mr Lamb tries out one I brought along.

 

[Shaun]

Charlie brought his newest creation, a Sunbear recurve he made for himself. He said its the first one in many years that was for his own use and had a few new improvements. I tried it and can assure you that "Curly" was as good as it gets for smooth and fast with easy pointability. Sure hope I can get on the list some day (hint hint). The "official" TXS08 was under way when Charlie made the first kill, a clean head shot on the largest pocket gopher I've ever seen. This was the first shot at game for "Curly" and bodes well for the future of this bow.

 

[Shaun]

I'd been at the ranch and off line for some time and was delighted to find a last minute joiner to the crew was Woody (Kinfe River) Blackwell. If you have ever looked at Woody's website, you know that his knapping skill is over the top. He claims that his "roughly" knapped arrowheads which he generously handed out and even hafted for us were crude compared to his usual work, but its dang hard to drop the string with a piece of art like these on the end of your arrow.

"So easy a cave man could do it." Says Woody as he chips away

 

This was a Steiner Bock beer bottle after he got done with it
 

[Shaun]

The official start was still a few hours away, but some folks arrived the night before. I took Jason for an orientation cruise to a couple hot spots. On the way we saw a nice mulie buck. Many of the mulies in this area have mixed genetics causing "white tial" shaped racks like this one.

 

That first night's gathering on the porch was a welcome return to the comraderie of traditional archers. A week before I had quickly burned out on the compound gangs' "hold my beer and watch this" mentality and their whinning had me thinking of the "There's no crying in baseball" line from the movie. Anyway, it was so good to be home.

 

[Shaun]

"Gather up!" first meeting and official start as Curtis lays out the plan and shows the ranch maps. A room full of TG archers ready to rock and roll.

 

I went with Jason and Kevin the first day. We ran into this group of javies and I played guide (watched from my armchair with bino's) as they stalked. All was proceeding to plan until an oil company "gauger" had to make a living by driving down this stretch a few minutes too soon. Oh well, there was a new fire in Jason and Kevin's eyes from the close encounter.

 

[Shaun]

The next day those two were back in this area self guided and Kevin took the first hog of the hunt. Wingnut wood bow, patient close shot, massive blood trail extending 15 feet with the hog down on the sendaro for easy loading. Notice the "12 ring" shot placement low and at thru elbow. If only they all went that well. Nice going Kev!!!!
 

Mitch claimed the next hog as pictured ealier in MO Sherpa's post. It was not real big, but well taken and you can see there were lots of smiles.

 

For those who think size does matter, I showed him how to set up for a proper "Chuck Adams" trophy shot.