Young Brit brings home the bacon...Video on page 2

[tarponnut]

I had the pleasure of hunting with Brian Richards
from England and CJ Lacoste from MI. last weekend.

We spent the weekend at my hog property chasing southern swine.
Story to follow with pics.....

[tarponnut]

My partner Irv had received an e-mail from Brian Richards from England a couple months back.
He said he would be in Florida for two weeks and wanted to try and fit in a hog hunt.

Last Friday afternoon, I met Chris Lacoste at the old Florida style store near my lease (where I meet most of my clients). After I picked up some provisions inside for the hunt, I found Chris and Brian chatting outside.
We geared up quickly and headed straight away for the property. Thunder was rumbling nearby so I was a little concerned about our evening sit...

[Wolfkiss]

Looking forward to this.....

Had the pleasure of meeting Brian this past June at a our together..What a great shot he was with his 70's Kodiak and a great guy. He also makes some great bows including a 100lb war bow which he shot really well.....

[tarponnut]

Yes, both he and Chris are excellent shots and skilled hunters.
More to come....

[Possum Head]

Hurry up Bro. pork spoils fast so we have to get him on ice!!

[killinstuff]

Folks if you have been giving a long weekend hunt in Florida any thought, you really do need to call Jim and schedule your hunt.  Jim's property has lots of hogs and is a different kind of hunting then what I'm used to in Tx, Ga or SC.  Jungle hunting this time of year but as Florida winter sets in the jungle dies back, some. I shot a nice young hog through both shoulder blades, looked like a dead pig walking but we think it made it across a canal and we lost it. Also shot coons, squirrel, and a rat plus a Talipia in the canal. Brian shot a number of gar and squirrels. Pack your bowfishing gear and at least two arrows because when you loose one, you'll really wish you had another.

Ft. Pierce is a nice town, hotels are clean and plenty of good places to eat with beautiful bartenders that take care of you (if you tip well). Jim's not really beautiful but he is a hell of a nice guy and it will be like you're hunting with a friend, not a guide.  I hope to be back in January. Thanks Jim.

CJ

[tarponnut]

Thanks CJ. Looking forward to the next hunt.Jeez, I gotta start working out again, lol.

My son and I had been to the property two weeks prior and checked trail cams. Lots of hog pics, some big boars at night(not surprising, given the heat). We did get some pics of lots of "meat sized" hogs during daylight hours, about 3000+ pics actually.

[tarponnut]

Lots of pigs around in the 50-75 # range.
The first evening the heavy rain somehow held off but no hogs were sighted. What? None? was my reaction. Evening hunts tend be better than mornings. CJ did hear a couple grunting in the woods but they didn't come in before dark.  

[tarponnut]

After the evening hunt, I suggested getting dinner and a drink. We marched confidently into Cowboys saloon and took in the sights as CJ has already described...
Morning came early and we headed off to our stands. I wasn't really interested in shooting a pig but wanted to do some predator control.
As I neared the stand in the morning fog I could make out a nice sized hog at the feeder.
I dug out my camera and took some video in the low light.The big hog walked off into the brush.
Around 9:30am, I went and grabbed a bag of corn from my van. Having forgotten the ladder I struggled to balance on a post and pour the corn into the hopper. Just then three pigs walked out of the brush! Needless to say, my bow was on the ground. Grrrunnnt and off they went
I decided to go check on Brian...

[rastaman]

[DannyBows]

[killinstuff]

Next morning at the stand Jim's talking about I missed a white pig.  Hadn't been in the stand 5 minutes, it was still dark, and dang that light area in the grass seemed out of place. It wasn't there a minute ago I was thinking. Then that light spot started to move. Way to early for a good shot  but the wind wasn't good either and as RC likes to quote brother John "if arrows ain't flyin,....." so I shot but I  missed.  Made up for it by shooting a rat an hour later. Hit a 4oz rat but miss a 80lb pig.  Must be the bow.

[tarponnut]

If it's the white pig I saw CJ, add 50 lbs to your estimate.

I headed over to Brian's stand and found him with not one, but two squirrels in hand, he actually hit a third that got away.
We headed over to CJ's stand to help him track the pig he shot. We followed a sparse bloodtrail for awhile with no luck. Brian was crawling around on hands and knees looking for blood until I reminded him about the snakes!
After that, on to the canal for some bowfishing...

[tarponnut]

The battery on my good camera crapped out so this is all I have of the usual suspects together.Back-up camera is not the best.CJ on left Brian on right.

[tarponnut]

We headed on to the skinning shed area along the canal.This area of Florida has many canals that run along the sides of roads, all have fish in them. We were targeting tilapia and gar. Brian was up first, he missed a gar and then nailed one on his next shot! CJ had a couple of close misses and then nailed a tilapia in the head(that one went in the cooler).
Brian collected a couple of more gar up to 24"and then it was time to get ready for the evening hunt.

[tarponnut]

Many of us have very understanding spouses, Brian's girlfriend takes it to another level, however.Knowing that Brian can't bowhunt in England, she let him hunt pretty much the whole weekend without complaint.

As you may know, bowhunting is not legal in the UK. It has been illegal to do so since 1965. Remarkably, it is legal to hunt with rifle, shotgun, airguns, and even slingshots(which they call catapults). The British Bowhunting association has been trying to make bowhunting legal again.
I joined that group this past week when I learned of their plight.Membership cost is very reasonable and I encourage anyone reading this to visit their web-site and consider joining.

Back to the hunt.....

[tarponnut]

I hope it's ok to share the link.
 http://www.britishbowhunterassociation.co.uk/

[tarponnut]

Somehow, no hogs were sighted on the evening sit. A very rare thing.
I missed a raccoon at the double stand(I won't mention how many times).

Cowboys Saloon was calling again.
In the morning, CJ headed to the stand where I had seen hogs. As he's already mentioned, he had a close miss on a white hog.

I anxiously awaited Brian's report. It was Brian's birthday and he had to leave by 11:00am.
I headed to my van to wait for Brian, his cell phone doesn't work in the states.
About 10:15, Brian comes walking out of the woods and seemed to be dragging something.....

[tarponnut]

I got the video camera rolling and sure enough he's dragging a pig!!!!

I let the camera roll and Brian related his story.

Early that morning, a pig walked in on the same trail Brian had walked and was very nervous.
As it turned to leave Brian shot, the hit looked good!

He waited awhile and took up the trail. He had decent blood but jumped a hog fifty yards in, the pig crashed through the swamp and Brian followed...

[tarponnut]

After trailing some, Brian lost the tracks in the swamp. The area had received 4.6" of rain during our hunt, so a lot of the timber was now flooded, which made tracking tricky at best.

Brian was about to call it when he noticed some smeared mud on a tall blade of grass. He followed the tracks to his dead hog only 75 yards from the stand.
As it turned out, the pig he jumped was a different one that tried to lead him on a wild goose chase.

There was much rejoicing!(Monty Python reference)
Brian had pulled it off, taking a hog on the last day of the hunt, on his birthday!