Thanx to all for your kjnd comments, much obliged folks!
The story doesn't exactly end on that first day. Terry has great insight to guessing out pig patterns, and with his direction we made plans to hunt several other areas that looked extremely promising. We saw lots of hogs, but with the miserable heat, "still" air and humidity conditions, we got winded and made almost every time - no other arrows got flown.
On the last hunt day morning, Terry advised I should recheck the far Western slough that was near the blackberry bushes where I killed last years hog. The day before he had scouted it out and there was a ton of fresh pig sign. Not sure of the location, Terry drew up a map on a piece of cardboard - heck, he even laid out road and woods markers for me to spot as checkpoints!
While Terry checked out a huge tore up creek and bog bottom to the North, I stalked Westward on the road, towards the slough. The air was still, the humidity was the worst yet - just drenching everything from head to toe. I see the first marker on the road - a large "J" shaped tree limb pointing toward the bush. I follow that in, spotting other markers on the map - a twin trunked tree, a half hollowed tree stump, a pile up of limb branches, and lastly I slowly crept up to the the log "X" ...
... that was about 5 yards from the lip edge of the slough, with muddy water a good 10' down the slough side. As I slowly crept on all fours, I heard the tell tale splashes of hogs. Near the slough top edge, I once again have to first clean off my fogged up glasses before peeking over a palmetto frond, and down below I count 7 hogs, all in the 40-50# range, rooting the slough bank and water about 25-30 yards away.
I slowly come to kneeling position, shaft already on the longbow, picking out the closest pig and held dead still at half draw while waiting for it to turn from showing me its butt to broadside ...
I got winded once again. Dang! They didn't bolt, but were agitated and swiftly climbed the bank and scooted. Gone. Dang! It wasn't a hasty retreat, so I wiped off my glasses yet again, hunkered down on the ground and hoped they'd return.
Near 10 minutes later I hear grunts and splashes as a mess of hogs charge across the slough about 70 yards to my left. I couldn't see how many, but there was more than just a few, and now they're on my side of the slough, separated by lots of heavy brush and trees.
I wait some more, and see pieces of hog hide cruising and rooting around, so I make a decision to go down into the slough and stalk the edge to where the hogs are since then they'd be upwind of me. The mud is slippery, I've got mud on me everywhere and then I half slipped my feet into the water, soaking into my LL Bean half boots, but I keep moving towards the hogs. After getting within about 50 yards of the pigs, I hear lots of grunts and snorts, and I see 5 hogs charge back down into the water and scramble up the other bank side and off into the bush.
Dang! There went my opportunity for a "hat trick"! Am I greedy or what? :D
Topic: I heard a rumor.............. (Read 24476 times)
