PIG GIG--Week 1 ---***SNAKE PICS ADDED***

[Grant Young]

Great story tellin' as usual, JC! For those who weren't there- these hunts are real "Bucket List" events. I'll go as long as I'm able to walk the sendaros. I can't say enough good things about the men in this camp- in this part of the country they used say "he's a man to ride the river with." There were twenty-eight such men on one trip. If I can get caught up at the office I'll try to tell my little piece of this story but it'll be tough to follow these guys- they know how to spin a yarn.  Grant

[JC]

The next morning dawned clear and cold, the high winds would help dry things out hopefully. We made our way a bit further than the previous day and planned on separating to hunt near the areas Don and Curt had seen the day before. Don and Sky split off on the 4 wheeler down one trail, Curt and Chris headed down the main road towards the river, and Chase and I went to an area on a ridge where Curt and Don had run a trickle of corn. Amongst the three groups, we had all elevations covered and should be able to at least narrow down where the pigs might be. I've found, unless you are just really lucky or have previous experience with the place, it takes  a couple of days on these types of hunts to narrow down where the game is. We felt like we were getting closer so the day had high hopes.

The top of our ridge was cold...the skies were clear and blue but the sun did little to relieve the cutting wind. We glassed some off the cliff looking out into the flood plain of the river.

 

It was beautiful and definitely looked like we were getting nearer to more viable territory. This was Chase's first real trip away on a hunt so I took all the time I could to continue his lessons as a growing hunter. The most valuable thing about this entire trip were the precious moments I spent alone with my son, away from the distractions of the rest of the world, watching him learn and grow in something that is dear to both of our hearts. I have many more pictures carved into the walls of my memories after this trip that are far more precious than gold...

   

   

After the wind had taken it's toll to the point where the tears in our eyes blurred our vision, we continued on across the ridge towards our planned rendezvous point with Don and Skyler.

[JC]

We found a feeder around the opposite side of the ridge and then picked our way through countless deer beds on the leeward hillside. I don't think I've ever seen that much deer sign in one place before. This place must just be covered at certain times of the year. As others have mentioned the sheer number of sheds and skulled racks we found are testimony to the ranch's immense deer herd.

Eventually we met up with Don and Sky, learning of their findings in the river bottom and we hatched a plan for that afternoon. We got our first taste of piling on the 4wheeler as we accepted Don's offer to ride back to the truck. The road we took to get there had been pounded by what must have been 10,000 head of cattle...churned into a gooey soup with ruts feet deep. Ever seen a 4 wheeler get stuck? Well I have!    :eek:  

Meeting back up at the truck to find Curt and Chris, we slid down the road to some lunch and refitting back at camp.

[Chris Surtees]

Some more pix of the blow out!

 

 

 

 

[JC]

Back at the drop off point, Chris and Curt headed down the main road towards one end of our area along the river while the rest of us wrapped ourselves around the only reliable transportation we had into the rough territory we would travel for the remaining miles. You saw the pic of Don, Skyler, Chase and I on the 4wheeler in Woody's post...but the pic does not do justice to the experience. I had stuff hurt after that ride I didn't know that I had...and I ride horses! Covered in mud from the slinging tires, 45 minutes later we arrived in the river bottom. Now I've never owned a 4wheeler and I've even been quite vocal in my beliefs against them offroad...but on the road we traveled it was a God-send...I was happy to have it instead of the miles walking in rubber boots.

[JC]

Don and Sky dropped us off at the spot they had set a trap for earlier that day near the river. A feller may go his whole life and not find a friend who will ride miles over rough terrain balancing a 50# bag of corn fighting mud, rocks, and ruts to get to a spot where he thinks will be a good ambush point....and then turn around and tell you that spot is for you. I'm very blessed, I have many such friends...and Don and Skyler are certainly two of the finest.

They headed on towards the spot we had come to call "The Corral"...pics of that fine spot you've already seen.

Chase and I made our way angling upwind through the sparsely covered area as best we could towards the spot Don had indicated. As we neared the edge of the bank that we would discover to be a ditch before the river, we spotted two small bucks on the pile they had set. We stood for a few heartbeats admiring them...until one looked up and decided we looked like something that didn't belong there, not surprising considering we were standing flat footed away from cover. As the bucks vacated, we winced and hoped there were not pigs leaving as well. The scenery changed on the other side of the berm; green lush grass and multiple ambush spots had my mouth watering as the shadows lengthened...this was a REALLY good spot.

   

Other than the deer, obviously no pigs had hit the spot yet. Chase and I backed into a likely corner with plenty of cover behind our silhouette...

   

It took a few minutes to get covered better and fall further into the ambush predator's pace. Settling into that stillness learned from hours of practice sitting in the stand and makeshift ground blinds just like this one. That familiar feeling...the one where you sit so still you don't necessarily go numb, but your limbs seem to simply "float" in a feeling of heavy nothingness. It's so quiet you can hear inside your head the vertebrae in your neck creak as you slowly move you head, scanning. The feeling of near invisibility as the wind makes more noise and movement than you do now....a sweetness of sensations that can only be grasped by those who have lived it.

[IB]

[Herdbull]

Any word from the second week group? I heard a truck went into the river?

[sou-pawbowhunter]

I've been visiting this thread off and on since I got up this morning, and it sure has put a smile on my face. You guys look like you were having a great time. Thanks for sharing.

[JC]

As the sun began to disappear over the ridge we had glassed from earlier that day, we expected the pigs to show any minute. It grew close to the time we needed to leave for the long ride out in the dark...and suddenly all heck broke loose 100 yards into the woodline. Pigs screamed like there was an axe murder in their midst, Chase's eyes went wide and I saw his knuckles go white as he reflexively crushed the handle of his bow. A brilliant moment...the sounds, the initial look of shock in Chase's eye that transposed into a smile as it continued, the prickling on the back of my own neck, the clean smell of the wind that carried the cacophony to us, the dryness in my mouth as my heart began to pound with anticipation of getting close to game....absolutely priceless.

We low crouched duckwalked towards the sound, doing our best to catch up to the wild sounder but as the light faded, we were left behind but with the budding hope that we had finally found the spot.

Meeting back up with Don and Sky, we relayed our story and our plan to set more traps closer to where we heard the pigs....and climbed on for the ride back.

Some hours later, back at camp we found another hot meal waiting for us. The group cooking worked out well I thought...only the last guys in camp often had to claim the last morsels from those who had hit the pots multiple times already      But, as you can tell from the pics, I didn't starve    

Don hit the ibuprofen hard, wrestling that 4wheeler had taken it's toll. "You'll need to get you some of that tomorrow brother...I'm done with it for a while." Oh...joy. Well, at least we had access.

Sleep came easy...I thanked God for a wonderful day with my son and dear friends...and for a warm dry trailer as the day quickly faded into dream.

[Whip]

Originally posted by JC:
 The group cooking worked out well I thought...only the last guys in camp often had to claim the last morsels from those who had hit the pots multiple times already        

Kind of like growing up in a big family JC.  If you wanna eat good ya better be on time -specially with the twins at the front of the line      

[Whip]

Originally posted by Herdbull:
Any word from the second week group? I heard a truck went into the river?

According to Kevin Bahr hogs continue to be killed.  But he attributes the truck in the river story to being a vicious rumor or urban legend.      

[Barney]

Wow....really sorry I missed this trip.  Sounds like fun and excitement was had by all. I'll be there next year.      

[JC]

Whip, now that you mention it, I DO remember the Wensels ALWAYS being there with dirty plates by the time we got in. How'd they do that?

Jerry, I'd have given a paycheck to have any of my horses there with me...would have been a non issue...we'd have just skirted the bad spots through the brush. Only problem with a winch was there was nowhere to attach to. You need trees to pull an excursion unstuck...and all we had were bushes 99% of the time. There's a guy that sells surplus pinz and unimog here in Georgia...I sure would love to have one but just can't afford that kind of money for something I can't use as a daily driver. Cool rigs though, certainly more than capable of tackling what we went through.

Missed you too Barney, sure hope to see you next year.

[JC]

Plans quickly solidified over breakfast: Don and Curt would bail off the ridge (where Chase and I had glassed) to get to a spot where pigs had been seen on the plain between the ridge and the river. They were to set a pig bomb...you've seen the pics. Chris would head to the river down the main road, while Chase, Sky, and I would 4 wheel back to where Chase and I had sat the previous night.

The wind was still up enough to continue drying out so we got to our parking area pretty easily. A few more days of that and I'd be able to take the truck all the way to the river. I ferried Don and Curt on the 4wheeler up the big hill to their jumpin off spot to save some time. Returning to get the boys, I had found they had already made their way towards me...no flies on them!

Another rough ride...it took me about 5 minutes to realize what Don was talking about. I hear power steering is real popular on them now; I know if I owned one that would be criteria number one after driving this one loaded down through what we went through. We arrived at our spot on the river without incident, and did our best to move into the hunting area undetected. I wanted to see what it looked like in the direction of the previous evenings commotion.

Not 200 yards upriver from our initial spot, we ran into a seriously "hoggy" area. Started to smell like a barnyard...we all fell into stillhunting mode as our eyes feverishly searched the surrounding area for the inevitable pig. We almost fell into "The Honey Hole"...

 

Not just sign, but a LOT of sign....enough fresh pig tracks to make a feller think it was a stockyard. Oh yeah, tonight was going to be a different story.

We worked our way further up the main trail another 100 yards or so admiring the heavy and fresh sign. We couldn't go very far without running into

 

or

 

We were in the living room of the big boys now. We hustled back out as quietly as possible, got our corn and laid the trail from the bedding area to the hole, seeded the hole, and from the hole to our first night's spot. We decided to return and put up a trail camera....only to interrupt 2 pigs who had already begun following the trail from the bedding area we had just left!

One evaporated back the way it came and the other crossed the ditch and headed back in the direction of the road, away from the river. Not exactly spooked but not sure why the first one had left so quickly (I don't think this one saw us). Chase and Sky pursued trying to catch up...but as any pig hunter can attest, even if they are flat out running, you have little hope of catching up to a mature pig on a mission to be somewhere else using it's bouncy trotted gait.

Which way did he go?

 

I think he went that way...

 

Dang! I think we lost him....

 

[jcar315]

Just a great thread to all involved. I will 2nd or 3rd the "pics are fantastic" thoughts already expressed.

Awesome hunt story. Will be anxious to read as this one carries on!! Thanks for thinking of your fellow TG'ers by taking all the pictures.

[robtattoo]

Originally posted by JC:

 

Good Lord! That'ns shat a glove!

[straitera]

First Class descriptions & pix of a First Class hunt. First Class Folks to top it off! Thanks for the stories.

What happened to the pig stuck close up by the phantom arrow (little blood & none on the feather)? Maybe I missed it.

[knife river]

This pic is worth retrieving from the now-abandoned Pig Gig thread.  They were all smiling -- probably because they got to stop moving for a minute.      

 

[JC]

Here's a link to the thread with a bunch more pics...some are absolutely stunning. You sure can tell who was shooting a "real" camera.   Pig Gig Update