A trip to Texas has become kind of an annual event for my in the past five years or so. All have been as a part of a Trad Gang group hunt, and this years assemblage was one of the finest I have had the pleasure of being around. Just goes to prove that a successful hunt is not measured by the harvest, but rather by the company we keep and the memories made.
The first couple of days I couldn't seem to remember to carry my camera
so my pictures are missing some of the highlights.
My hunting party consisted of Tippit, Smiley, Hormoan, and Paul V. On the afternoon of day one we were driving toward our assigned area when I spotted a couple of large hogs not far from the road. Three of us took off to get in front of them while the other two waited a bit and then came in from behind. The pincer move nearly worked, but the pigs slipped through the skirmish line without an arrow being loosed. It was an encouraging start though, and we continued on.
For me, those were the last hogs I ended up seeing until the final day of the hunt. The weather sure made things difficult, especially for an inexperienced hog hunter such as myself.
I hunted all week with a stone head crafted by Woody, hoping to get close enough to a hog to see what sort of damage this beast could do. I mounted it on a cut off wood shaft footed into the end of a Gold Tip carbon. Very traditional!
Woody's artwork is absolutely amazing, and to sit and watch him churn out a head is spellbinding.
Jeff makes some beautiful hand forged knives, and a Tippit blade is a fine piece of work. But I think watching Woody may have ignited a new flame.