Flyin' butcher knives of death and the Mamba Strikes- a hog hunting story

[paleFace]

BBQ, yum yum!!!.... can't get no work done for dreaming about hunting hogs.  thanks for sharing the story.... i can't think of a better way to pass the time while waiting for my next adventure.

[Ray Hammond]

actually, though I like the Abowyer heads, the reference to 'flying butcher knives of death' is what I call Mike's broadhead of choice- the Ribtek 190.

It's at least 3 1/2 inches long and looks like he taped a kitchen knife on the end of his arrow. That and the fact that we were discussing a movie called "House of Flying Daggers" so there you go!

[vermonster13]

very cool guys!

[Ray Hammond]

Mike, we are waiting for your Saturday story, brother. Don't forget to tell em about how tough it is to get your butt out of bed in the morning, and how you took a 4 hour nap in the afternoon...and, and, and      

[Brian P.]

Ray,

I recognize those arrows!

 Nice to see those arrows I sold you are getting a workout. They always look better covered in red in my opinion.

[Ray Hammond]

yep, Brian...those are some of my favorites. they show up real well in the dim hours of the day, too.

Thanks

[joebuck]

Congrats boys...ya'll had a time at it which makes it's special. I miss my hogg hunting days when I read stories like these... tear em up!

[Ray Hammond]

joey,
all you got to do is name the dates, brother. I don't think we have anything to compare with your brute you got at Paradise..but hey, that's a once in a lifetimer anyway.

Come on over.

[Squirrel Bait]

My Gosh ,yall gotta give a man time to get off work. Specially , after a weekend of hog dragin.

O.K. Where do we start, 6:00 a.m. Saturday morning 85 DEGREES!!!!!! We decided I needed to go where Ray went the afternoon before. So we split up , Ray said he'd give me about an hour and half, then come to the other end to pick me up. I walked at a good pace down the road to get to where I was going, watching the birds and other wildlife, All I know is they were pretty , I can only tell a cardinal from a blue jay, so I can't give names. I hit the back road and switched into stealth mode. At the first intersection I put the sneak on a big ol' strip head turtle,He was as big around as a basketball. I think he saw me coming, but he never did run. Then something caught my eye as I passed him by, 200-300 yards ahead , was 2 big black pigs, one was a good 200 lbs. , I tried to get to them as fast as I could but they had already made it to the safety of the nastiest, thickest briar pacth they could find, so instead of taking a chance in spooking them I just kept on walking. I hunted the whole back road without the sight of anymore pigs but did get to see some deer,armadillo,one of them white water birds fishing in the swamp , and them big birds flying overhead, that Ray told me they wasn't goose!! there were something else. Back to where Ray was supposed to pick me up in 1 1/2 hrs., 2 hrs. later I start walking back to camp. I make it back around to the main road that heads to camp, My feet are killing me, look up here comes Ray in the truck with the A.C. , he's been to town, but he did bring me something to drink from Hardee's . So we head back to camp grab a snack and a nap, I just got way too comfortable, I got un-comfortable 4 hrs. later.

[CJ Pearson]

Come on Mike,,, tell the rest!!!

[Squirrel Bait]

O.K. time to get motivated we get ready to head out 98 Degrees , 100% humidity. We decide to go back to where I was this morning. We check the wind, perfect for the front side, we get to the cross roads , check wind still perfect, we get to where we're heading the wind is wrong!!!! We need to go in from the back side, get to the back side the wind ain't perfect but it will have to do. It was actually bad but we would have to walk by them for them to wind us. I take the lead becuase as usual I always let Ray shoot the first hog, yeah Right!!!! We've gone about a 100 yards, Ray and I both think we hear something, but just ain't quite sure. We're easing along, and out of nowhere there are pigs in the next waterhole, I try to figure out which one is the biggest, try to do it fast becuase we're fixin to get busted! I decide on the one closest to us I thought it was about 100 lbs. I draw and release , he drops , I hit a little high, the blade caught the bottom of his spine, Then he raises up to run I can tell he ain't no 100 lbs. so I send another through the boiler room. So Ray says he's going to get the truck,  leaves me for my moment alone with this 200lb prize. I say my thanks, and procede to drag him to the road in 98 degree? 100% humidity. We load the hog up and start back toward camp to the cooler. We're on the road  heading back to the main crossroads, we look up to see this 350 lb sow crossing the road in front of us. We both say WHOA!!! and just keep on driving because she had kicked in the after burners, we knew she would have to wait for another day. Don't go nowhere cause it ain't over yet!

[BigRonHuntAlot]

Over an hour...         Where is the rest of it??

[Budog56]

[Terry Green]

[Squirrel Bait]

Well I reckon Ray is doing Honey-dos, he was going to tell this part. We decided not to go back after them after we put my hog in the cooler. We decided to go get a shower and get some feed. After we ate and drank 2 gallons of sweet tea, we were headed to bed. We awoke Sunday morning to the same thing,  85 degrees at 6:00am. We pulled into camp to the site of 1/2 doz. footballs running around in the field. We got ready to head out deciding we were not going to mess with the little ones. We headed to the field where Terry killed the big sow, the wind was perfect so we split up, I went around the field to the other side, with Ray staying behind to give me enough time to get around there before he proceded to envade the field. As I got to the other end I noticed 2 deer feeding through, so I decided to let them pass, but she spoted me , and took off snorting. I figured the gig was up, but Ray was in tight on 3 big boars out in the middle of the high broom sage field. He said they didn't pay any attention to the deer. Back in a minute the yougins calling.

[Squirrel Bait]

So as I came around and started down the back up against the pines , I noticed Ray was in pounce mode, arrow on the string ready to go. Ieased on a little farther till I was about 40 yards from Ray. I still haven't heard even a twig snap or one single grunt, so I didn't know what was going on. About that time Ray starts his draw, I see him beardown and release , then I hear a snap as his arrow hits the one of a million twigs standing in the field. I have to leave it here for Ray , I can't say no more.

[Tim Fishell]

Man that is awesome.  Congrats on what sounds like a great hunt.  I will be patiently waiting for the rest of the story.

[tippit]

Good times in SC. Congrats to ya both!  

Ray, Sounds like you need a little rest now...maybe just relaxing in an old tree out of the heat    Doc

[Ray Hammond]

3 members of a bunch of hogs I call the "Gang of Seven" were in the field, digging up dog fennel roots..the place looked like someone had walked in there with a grocery sack full of hand grenades and just threw them all around! I got to within 18 yards of them and waited till one offered a broadside shot- I was in total concentration, bearing down on where the arrow should go- and did not even 'see' the reed like plant that was half way to the pig. The arrow zinged off it and went to the right of the pig's face.

Well that did it- as you would suspect- all three jumped, ran about 10 feet and stopped stock-still for maybe 7-10 minutes- don't think any of the four of us even breathed much. One was staring right at me. The other two were just listening with very alert ears for any sign of danger.

Finally the wind swirled and that really did it- they started moving out. I rushed to place an arrow on the string and drew, fired, and the arrow went over the back by about 4 inches! Drat.

We retired from the battlefield, my tail between my legs for missing- and went to the skinning shed to spend the next 1 1/2 hours cutting up and wrapping meat for the trip home.

It was a great time and as always I really enjoyed being in 'the wild woods' again with a good friend and great hunting companion.

[knife river]

The scenes played in my head while I read your stories, just like a movie with subtitles.  The crossroads, the fennel field, the no-man's-land of blackberry thickets -- great places on a wonderful, maybe even magical, piece of property.  Great stuff, guys!  Thanks!