Spent last sunday morning slipping thru some cedar thickets looking for bedded hogs that had been running back and forth between the beds and some ponds that were active in the area. I was thinking about calling it a day, as the sun was getting pretty warm and I figured any action that was to be had, would have happened by now. I pulled up a nice peice of dirt in the shade of an oak tree and nursed a headache with some ibuprofin and water from my Camelbak. I sat there relaxing for a bit when up this oilfield road come ambling up a 4 legged critter of some kind. At first I thought it was someones dog that was lost and motiviating up the road past me. As it got closer and cleared some of the grass along the road, I saw that it was a scruffy young boar! My bow lay on top of my pack about 3 feet away, and this hog was almost already on top of me. Instead of trying to shoot an arrow at this pig, I opted instead to shoot some pics....
My camera makes a gay little jingle sound when it goes off, and thats what gave me away. Gonna have to fix that I reckon. I did get two pics of him...one just diddybopping down the road, and the other one on high alert. He didn't hang around for a 3rd pic...
When he departed, I grabbed my pack and my bow and started motivating down the road in the direction that the hog came from. Very seldom do I see a lone hog, so I figgered there'd be more coming the same way, so I started sneakin off down the road towards a pond that I knew wasn't far off down this road.
Sure nuff, I maybe made it 50 yards when I saw a small group of hogs..mostly young sows making their way towards me, about to come around a bend in the road. None of em were over 100lbs, but thats alright with me. Them younger pigs is some tasty pigs. One day I wanna kill a Big Nasty for the wall, but you can't hang marinated pork with cilantro and onions on the wall. It looks better on the table.
I backed myself into a thick stand of persimmon trees, dropped my pack and stood and waited. The hogs were moving slow...most the time I see hogs, they're moving someplace with a purpose. Kinda like me heading to the bathroom after a trip to a chinese buffet.
The hogs were closing the distance with me and I was trying to figure out which one I wanted. They each were changing pole position every few seconds, and I wanted the one that was gonna present me with the clearest shot. I figured as soon as I hit full draw, the picking and choosing crap was gonna take care of itself...
I tried to draw my bow slowly, but my right arm overrode all logical and deliberate thought, and I ended up cranking my bow back like I was trying to pull start a garden tiller! Every one of these lil shoats froze and turned and looked at me...but by the time they figured out I was a foe, the arrow was on its way.
I dont remember picking out a pig really...I just remember there being a blonde pig getting hit with a 560gr arrow and being knocked off her feet, squalling louder than the devil can scream. She managed to get her feet under her as I was trying to nock another arrow for insurance purposes. She ran across the road into a field of chest high grass. I could see grass being plowed over as she ran, tracking her movements. I gave her a few minutes, then followed up. Blood trail would get thick, then thin, but I knew she didnt' go far. She managed to make it to a piggy highway, but couldn't go no further. This is how I found her.
Here's a pic at the scene of the collision. The pigs were in the road, and I was buried up in the stand of persimmons off the shoulder of the road behind me.
Upon skinning, I was amazed at 2 things. The amount of lice she had on her....and how I managed to clean her without taking a bite out of that pretty pink shoulder meat!! This is my 1st bow killed pig of the year...between work, a stellar year for big bass, and buying a house, I just hadn't gotten out much. I've cheated and busted a couple with the Mini-30 in the past year, but that aint quite as fun as getting up close like this! I'm sure I'll start making time to start getting after the hogs after I drop a lip over this little piggy!
Assistive devices on this hunt included:
54lb Dryad Orion recurve
Beman MFX Classics
Ace 160 heads
Ibuprofin
Camelbak Ranger
Wow...such a long story for a little pig...
Topic: Instant Carnitas! (Read 615 times)
