St. Jude's Hunt with Tippit

[smokin joe]

At first it seemed like slow motion. The gray mountain of a hog was at 10 yards and he finally stopped broadside and looked down at the corn on the ground. The scurrying of the other hogs seemed to slow down to a snail's pace. I was in "deer killer" mode and I picked a spot.

Then, as they say, "all hell broke loose."

Tank looked up at the kill light and seeing the face of the light at close range was all it took for Tank and the hogs to start an explosion of running in every direction -- and TANK WAS HEADED RIGHT AT ME AT A FULL RUN.

Everything slowed down again, and at the last split second he veered to avoid the brush in front of me and passed me with only a foot between him and my left shoulder. YIKES! I am certain that he would have trampled me and made a mess of my poor carcass.

It took me a few seconds to remember to take a breath.

How could a hunting experience get any more interesting than that close call? I don't think I want to find out.

I decided to end the hunt, get my gear and head for camp. Getting a shot at a game animal is always great, but an animal almost trampling me into a pulp is a rare and memorable experience.

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Good Stuff joe

[Terry Green]

That sounds like one of my hunts Joe.... Where one dwarfed two others and he was the one that looked out of focus.

 

[Sockrsblur]

 

[smokin joe]

You are absolutely correct. The TANK absolutely dwarfed the other hogs -- and the other boars were in the 150-200 range. And Tank was clearly in charge. No wonder the group of 8 hogs earlier in the evening skedaddled when Tank sounded off. They obviously knew that he was Boss Hog.

I have never seen a hog that was so large and with such prominent, bulging shields. He is a true monster.

You can bet I am planning to place a healthy bid on the St. Jude's hunt next time around. I want another crack at that big boy -- or at least another look at him.

[smokin joe]

When I got back to camp I learned that Jeff had shot a hog that evening. We decided it would be best to blood trail him in the morning. Once we got out to where Jeff shot the hog we started looking around for a blood trail. We spent some time at it, but we found nothing -- no blood, no arrow, nothing. It must have been a non-lethal hit.

We went back to camp and cleaned up everything, and packed our vehicles.

I headed home without having taken a shot. That's not important -- it had been one of the most memorable hunts I have ever had, and the close call of nearly becoming a doormat for Tank was a big part of that.

I have to say that The Paradise lives up to its name. It is a wild and beautiful land.

[Terry Green]

Something along the lines of these 'Saddlebags' Joe?

[smokin joe]

Yes big shoulder shields. Really sticking out like that. Maybe covering a bit more of the side farther back, but thick like that for sure.

[Bisch]

Sounds like a great time. All of us that have done this for any length of time know it is not all about the kill!!!! Some of my fondest hunt memories happened on hunts where no critters were harmed!

Bisch


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[Terry Green]

Yeah Joe.....this hog showed the same...back of the rib cage....this pic doesn't show that part well... But it does in the hog shield thread featured at the top in the video clip..... Same   Hog...

[Cory Mattson]

Smoking Joe - enjoyed your story - from what you describe as to location - numbers of hogs - and then boar hog description I think there is a good chance this is “Tank”

Aside from the large size he had an overall gray hue - the head throat jowels and neck were absolutely beautiful one of the most handsome boars I have ever seen and he did look like hogs I’ve seen in Italy. His shield extended back almost to the hip.

Matt Quick got out for an afternoon hog stalk - hope he can add details.

[Matt Quick]

All the pics were taken in the dark so they don’t do him the justice he deserved. Most of his coat was a dark gray and he had lite gray long fur on his neck. The lower legs were a mahogoney brown. This boar was much larger than he appears in the second pic. I’ve killed bigger but none more handsome than this one. I located this one and about seven others in the “ Spar lake” area. Which is about a 1/4 mile from the “garden”.  Once I found them I knew things had to happen fast. There was a moderate wind, which is good, but it was very fickle that day. I was planning out my stalk when the pigs literally ran toward me and veered to my right and began to root around in some heavy brush. I moved about 30 yards to my right which put me about 18 yds away from the gray boar. The gray boar worked his way into an opening and I took a quartering shot. The shot was good and he ran maybe forty yards.  Centaur shortmag did the job. Penetration was adequate but barley pocked out the opposite side due to the heavy shield.

[smokin joe]

Wow, Matt. That is an excellent hog. He looks too dark to be Tank. Of course, I was comparing Tank to hogs that were all black, and next to them he looked like a gray ghost -- a really huge gray ghost with gigantic shields. The teeth on your hog certainly remind me of the Tank. He had those curled lips with big teeth sticking out.

[Matt Quick]

Could be Joe. The flash of the camera makes him look darker than he is.

[tippit]

I'm sitting on stand right now hunting with Joe Lasch and Jim Domaskin. Hog seem to be in sloughs out by the river.  Jim and I hunted there last night...walked up on a few. Having a great time. Really nice hog Matt...tippit

[Terry Green]

Great Stuff!!!

[Matt Quick]

Thanks Jeff!  Good luck. Weather was absolutely perfect last week.  Hopefully it holds up for you.

[smokin joe]

Of course, the only way I can know if that is or is not Tank is if I get back there, hunt for Tank, and see for myself. I think I am on a mission to make that happen.
 

[Matt Quick]

Joe, fortunately for us there are many Tanks on that property.  That same day I killed the gray boar the wind foiled a stalk I put on jet black boar that was every bit of 300 pounds.

[smokin joe]

Matt: I am sure you are correct. The gene pool there looks to be incredibly good. I saw a large group of hogs that had a bunch of light gray piglets -- probably Tank's bloodline. It is really a remarkable place.