Friday continued:
So I'm almost done with the spasms and twitching every few steps as I think back about that copperhead, just enjoying the first glimpses of the Savannah River between the trees when I realize that one tree about 40 yards away has a little black tail wagging out the left side of it. I stopped dead in my tracks, lifted my 6x binos and sure enough it was a little pig tail and there was clumps of dirt being thrown out past the right side of the tree's trunk. I had just checked the wind a few steps ago and it had me dead down wind from it, no better place to be but a couple steps to my right where I had the tiniest bit of light brush to break up my outline.
While I'm a novice at killing pigs, I do consider myself an expert at failing hog stalks. I started running through my checklist of all the ways I've blown situations like this in the past:
- is the wind good? Yes.
- do I have cover to break up my outline? Yes.
- did I put an arrow on my string? Whoops, ok good.
- now that I've found the pig I want to shoot, have I found the one that is going to bust me out? Nope. Time to start looking.
I only have 40 yards to the pig and I'd like to cover about half of that or even a little more if possible. Knowing it's the one you don't see that ends your stalk prematurely I start glassing hard and that's when I see her eyes. I know she was at 6x magnification, but that just makes her look 6 times bigger. I'm not sure why she looked 6 times meaner than any pig I've ever seen before.
She broke free and started running straight at me. As she crossed behind a big tree at about 30 yards I dropped my binos and grabbed my string and raised my bow up to meet her. She crossed behind a bush at about 20 yards and I started pulling back on the string a little. Not sure what the next few seconds would bring I was either going to blow the shoot by making too much movement, or I would be unprepared if I needed to shoot in self defense! Either way, it was a really uneasy feeling in my gut.
As she came into the bush I was using for cover at about 10 yards I pulled my 64# widow to full draw and prayed for a usable shot to present itself. My movement brought her to a dead stop at 8 yards staring straight back into my eyes. We both stood there staring directly at each other, neither of us moving. All I could see was her head facing straight at me. All I could do was try to hold my anchor and wait for something to change for the better. I had a few seconds to question if I'd need to take a shot I didn't want to take if she kept coming at me. One of those questions you don't want to ask yourself, but when you see those little tusks sticking out and you know you are standing right on the trail the critter is probably going to go down. Well, you get the picture. About the time my muscles just started to shake she must have figured I was just a big goofy looking tree wearing glasses. She casually tossed her head back and began to turn and trot back toward the way from which she came.
I heard a voice in my head and it said one word loudly and clearly: "shoot"
I don't remember releasing the string, and I can't recall seeing the arrow in flight. I do remember the next sound not being a voice in my head but rather a loud whack followed by an enormous squeal!!! 775 grains of arrow had hit her with authority! I saw my lime fletchings barely sticking out of her side, I believed the tip of my TuffHead to be pointing directly towards her opposite front shoulder. I watched those feathers disappear though the brush and down into the thicket below.
Time to go back to camp and get a little help...
Thom
Topic: The Escanaba Wrecking Crew at Hog Heaven! (Read 1676 times)
