After loading up the hogs in the truck we headed back to the main camp where the skinning shed and meat cooler were located. We got my hogs skinned and the innards removed then hung them in the cooler. By now there were a total of 11 pigs hanging. Still hoping some of the other bowhunters will pop in and tell their stories. Day 3 was coming to a close. It had been one awesome day in the field, one I won't forget.
Day 4 arrived cloudy and windy. The plan was to check on all the bait and freshen them up for the evenings hunt. There had been very few pigs seen during the morning hunts. We opted to use the morning hours to scout and try our luck at some still hunting. We knew where there were several groups of hogs, but they were most likely the same hogs that would be coming to our bait sites in the evenings so we made the decision early in the hunt to leave them alone so as not to run them out of the area.
The morning came and went with no hogs spotted. Thanks to gale force winds we figured the pigs were holding tight in the thickets spots they could find. Back at camp we enjoyed some friendly competition shooting at milk jugs, coke bottles and a shotgun shell. If memory serves me Bo was the dead in the group. After lunch we headed back out to the hunting area, specifically Stone House to get a group shot.
from left to right:
my smiling mug, Ron Tandy (Fla.), Bo Slaughter (Va.), Buddy Slaughter (Va.) and Bill Terry (Conn.)
What a bunch!
This is a shot of the blood trail. It was pretty cloudy so it's a little hard to see. O' and that dead pig at the end, that's Ron....
I didn't really mention much about the blood trail, but I can't ever remember having such a massive trail to follow. The hog was spraying from both sides. From what it looked like to me each time it's front legs wold hit the ground blood would gush out both sides leaving a trail that I could see 25 - 30 yards ahead of me. When we gutted those hogs there was very little blood left in them.
We took a little time before the afternoon hunt to read all the historic signs posted at Stone House. Here is another pic of the gang.
After touring the house and out buildings it was time to head into out stands for the evening hunt. Bill had a close call the evening before with the rodeo pigs so he was headed back to another corral to the east. Ron hadn't had much luck on the bait he had been sitting so he decided he would give the Stone House a try. Move right in on me didn't he. Not a problem, I actually offered up my spot since I had broken ice and wanted to share the wealth. Bo was headed back down to the river where we had built a ground blind earlier in the day hoping to catch several nice big red hogs that he had seen. Buddy was going to keep at his location since he was seeing pigs on every sit. That left the rest wide open.
I decided to try the site across from Stone House. It was really going to be up to the wind where I finally ended up. I got Bo to drop me off just past the cattle guard. I shouldered my pack and headed off up the ridge towards the spot where I had had the close encounter with "Whitey" the first evening. There was a lot of hog sign in this area and Buddy had seen several nice ones from this stand.
I positioned myself beside a large pile of bulldozed brush since the wind at the moment was not good for the bait site which was situated down in the draw. I sat there for a few hours and burned through a few chapters in Barry's new book. Great read by they way, if you don't have a copy it's a must for every bowhunters library.
It was around 4:30, I had just tucked the book back in my pack when I heard a commotion behind me. Across the ridge about 200 yards above me a single coyote crossed. As soon as he was out of sight he let out a yelp then they all started. I don't care how many times I hear coyotes howling, it stirs something up inside each time. Maybe if I lived out west where I could hear them on a regular basis it wouldn't be so special, but coming from the east coast I don't get to hear them so this is a treat for me.
As the afternoon wore on the wind had switched up a little so I decided to slip on down into the draw. The wind was not perfect but not bad. I climbed over the thorns and stickers into the ground blind then hunkered down till dark. With the wind still blowing steady I felt any movement would come in the last minutes of daylight.
Round about 6:30 a spell of Déjà vu hit me. If you have even been black bear hunting you know just how quiet they can be, almost ghost like. I was scanning the area looking down the numerous trails that led to the bait when out of no where appeared a huge black hog. I mean one second there was an empty trail the next it was standing there looking right at me. I froze hoping it hadn't seen me turn my head.
The hog was maybe 50 to 60 yards out at this point and just standing there like a statue. For what seemed like an hour it didn't move. Then finally it crossed the trail moving down into the bottom. I knew exactly what it was doing, it was working around to get the wind in it's favor so it could check out the bait before coming in. Smart little rascal! I could catch brief glimpses of this black hog as it worked through the thicket. I pulled out my puffer bottle and checked the wind real quick. If it didn't swirl on me I might be able to avoid detection.
When blacky got directly opposite the bait from me he locked up and started with the loud grunts. I couldn't see him at this point but I could hear him sucking in air testing the wind. He wasn't to be fooled, he must have caught a whiff of something he didn't like. Probably me, and he took off up the opposite side of the draw. I could hear him grunting all the way up the draw. He sounded pissed. I think I spoiled his free meal.
By now the sun had dropped blow the horizon and it was getting darker by the minute so I gathered up my gear, slipped my arrow back in the quiver and made my way back up to the top of the ridge. Day 4 provided yet another encounter with Texas hogs. I must say I think I am addicted to this hog hunting. I could see the headlights on the vehicle coming down the road, we were all in a hurry to get back to camp and change. Tonight was Thursday night and that meant dinner at the Bee Hive a restaurant in Albany that does an all you can eat shrimp night.
Dinner was great! Got to listen to stories from Gene & Barry, ate way more shrimp than I should have and even downed a few cold Corona's. Life is good. Good friends, food and hog hunting to boot. what more can a bowhunter ask for.
Topic: Pig Gig week 3 (more snow) (Read 3173 times)
