Hope and Faith Sarrels of 2014

Keep after them, mangonboat!

I understand Hope has a good story to tell!!!!!

Bisch

[Crittergetter]

As a matter of fact she does! But I better tell the story so she doesn't tell everyone about how fast my heart was beating and how bad I was shaking and how I almost messed the whole thing up! After the gathering last week I almost didn't go hunt last night but after my wife said I should go because I only have Hope for a few more days I headed out the door around 6:20. I climbed up in the same stand as my previous post around 6:40.my feeder had already gone off but I wasn't worried about it. The trail cam pics show that the hogs usually don't come by till right at dark or a little after. With a storm front approaching my hopes that something would move a little early was high. Once again I didn't hang my feeder light because these hogs have been hunted and usually won't commit to the feeder if anything is out of the norm. So I sat and enjoined the cool breeze which was perfect most of the time with an occasional errant swirl. I watched the doves, cardinals, blue jays, and squirrels take turns running each other away to take their turn at the free golden bounty! I sat there just enjoying the evening contemplating on what to do about the coons that seem to get the most of what is meant for the deer and hogs! As the light started to fade I txt my wife and told her that if something didn't come in soon I would be coming home earlier than normal as I was concerned of shooting something late with the storms coming. As last light came I was mentally getting ready to start packing up. I say mentally because I have to make myself quit or I would have stayed until I got wet! Lol,
Then I hear the slightest noise to my left and not very far away. I thought "Oh great, another dang bait stealing coon". Next thing I know I see a hog step out on the trail to my left at 5 yrds. This sucker snuck to within 5 yrds of me and I never knew he was there. Always amazes me how quiet they can be when they have to! Anyways, I was already standing because I was about to pack it in so I eased Hope off the hook she was hanging on and got ready. I couldn't shoot because of a few limbs from the cedar tree I was in but all he had to do was take two steps and he was mine. Well, he just stood there staring at my feeder and smelling the wind for a min which seemed like forever then he turned and headed back the way he came! Crap!! I thought he was gone. After another minute long eternity he comes out at 15 yrds to the left of my feeder and I guess he was convinced all was safe because he walked straight in and started eating. It also amazes me how they can always be broadside to everything except you!! I watch him eat for a few minutes and everytime he moves he always stops head on! One time he turns broadside and I start to draw and he starts walking to the opposite side of the feeder and I almost let one fly but it didn't feel right so I let down. This goes on for several minutes and all I can do is pray the wind holds! He finally walks back to the left side of the feeder and I know he's going to have to turn around to face the feeder to eat  so I put some tension on the string. Sure enough he turns to face the feeder and stops broadside. He's about 9 yrds, head down, wind is in my favor, and I start to draw. I honestly do not remember coming to full draw. All I see is the soft spot above his elbow and the next thing I know the woods erupt with a loud grunt and string is coming out of my tracker so fast I was scared it was going to break off. After what seamed like forever it starts to slow down, then it's slowly but steadily coming out. Then it stops!! Then It starts going slow again. Then it stops again. Then it goes slow again. The next time it stops it doesn't move. I keep thinking the worst like maybe the arrow pulled out!  I give him a few min and I call my wife and ask her to bring my spot light. After she arrives we start the tracking job. We slowly follow the string while constantly searching ahead as far as we an see!  All I can say is thank God (and Chad Orde) for my string tracker. Due to the down hill angle and the lack of penatration I only found 8 drops of blood in about 250 yrds! At the end of the string I was extatic! He was much bigger than I thought!
Therefore I had to recruit my brother to help with the drag! We had to drag him about 150 yrds to get close enough to load him in my truck. That was tough! As I pulled into my drive way it started to rain! For once everything went right. But that's why we do what we do. All the times we fail are washed away by each success!
                   
272#

[South MS Bowhunter]

Good Gracious what a hog! Great Job on getting Hope some fresh meat Randy.

[mangonboat]

Holy Moly!! Nice hog! You cant argue with mojo and  you were smart to wait for the shot to unfold. You clearly took maximum advantage when the ideal opportunity presented itself. What a beast.

Awesome tale and a great hog! I hunt just about everything with the string tracker now. I am convinced that a fair number of dead animals are lost due to poor blood trails in situations just like you described!

Congrats on putting a little more mojo into Hope!

Bisch

[Crittergetter]

Thx guys! Bisch, I couldn't agree more and I am 100 percent sold on string trackers now! I will have one on my bow everytime I'm on stand! I don't doubt my woodsmanship but Why not give myself and the animal every chance of recovery possible! I honestly believe I would have never recovered this hog without it!!

[nineworlds9]

That hog is epic!

[mangonboat]

Slacker Update: I have been in court since Monday and Faith has been scratching at the door since Sunday. I walked out to get the paper this morning at daybreak and a hen was poking around NEXT TO MY CAR. She stood there and eyed me as I walked past her, 12 feet away, and walked down to get the paper. Faith and I gotta get some respect!! Does it count if I whack a turkey with Faith rather than shoot an arrow off her??

[mangonboat]

Faith and I set up on the top of a saddle just below the Blue Ridge Parkway, hoping to inspire a tom to move across the saddle. I was hoping for some "Blue Ridge" mojo , but the closest gobbling was about 300 yards to the north, above the saddle and that boy just wouldn't move...I'm not sure he came down out of his roost tree before I headed in. One shot from a 12 gauge ended the gobbling I heard maybe a half mile below me.

When I came in I grabbed another "Faith", the 2009-10 Dryad Orion, and we all went down to the shooting lane ,an old logging road that is all tore up along the edges from scratching by my new best friends, two hens that must be laying or nesting nearby . Especially by comparison, the Sarrels Blue Ridge Semi Recurve is so smooth to draw, never a hint of stacking at my 28.5" draw. I generally don't care for a stippled or checkered grip, because I have always held my bow very lightly, almost with an open hand, but I wear a camo mechanics' glove on my bow hand when I'm hunting and I think the stippling and the cushioned palm of the glove work really well together to keep the bow right where you want it without having to squeeze the grip. The winning bidder at the auction is going to want to hunt this bow a lot!

Tons of gobbling after sunset last night, so maybe I'll get into the right place at the right time later this week and put a little more mojo on her.

[Crittergetter]

Keep at it Mark! It only takes one time for everything to be right and you never know when that'll be!!

[mangonboat]

Tried a different ridge but not a gobble to be heard this morning, nearby or far away. Weird.  Walked into a young male black bear that is becoming a little too familiar in the area, he  stopped to look at me for a few moments from about 15 yards away, peed to mark his territory then moved on. The biggest excitement was when a bluejay that snuck in let go with a whistle about 10 feet behind me...like a short blast from a steam whistle!

[mangonboat]

The turkey season ended Saturday on a gobble=free note. Lots of crows and songbirds on a gorgeous morning but no gobbling.  I heard a lot of coyote howling Friday night and maybe the  smart birds figured it was a good time to/keep quiet. So no turkey  blood on Faith....maybe some frogs or fisg bwteen now and the auction.

Big high and bid often...this is a sweet shooter.

[Hackbow]

Good luck with the frogs and fish, Mark.

I met Randy last week and now have Hope in my possession. I will do my best to get after hogs with her at least once this week. I'll report any hunts and share some pics as well.

[elkken]

Congrats on the whopper hog ... don't forget to sign the bow before you send it on      

Hope is a fine bow

[Hackbow]

I've had Hope for about a week and a half and have not had an opportunity to hunt with her yet. I finally unpacked her tonight and got her set-up to shoot. Beautiful bow!

 

[Hackbow]

She is about 10# lighter at my draw than my recurve, so I was a little worried about arrow spine and flight. My fears were quickly put to rest after my first shot using the heaviest points I could dig up.

First shot ~11 yds

 

[Hackbow]

My fancy target system moved a bit until I finally anchored it down better. The first group wasn't bad except for the one flyer. Hope did her job, I simply failed to execute mine on that shot.

 

[Hackbow]

Arrows are still a tad stiff but I started holding just a little right. The fourth group showed some improvement at ~ 16 yds.

 

[Hackbow]

Final group of the night at 20 yds. I am very pleased after this initial, short workout. You can see the majority of my shots were left, so I still have some work to do.

 

[Hackbow]

After I put everything up for the night, I was chatting on the phone with my son and realized I had never shot this style of bow other than one shot here and there at 3D's and while target practicing on group hunts. Never really felt the need to put the Hummingbird down.

I am now second-guessing myself. I really enjoy shooting Hope and if she were 8-12# heavier, I'd be bidding on her in the auction. I'm thinking that taking a turn with her this month is gonna end up costing me some more money down the road. My first impressions are all positive.

I'll shoot her a bit more the next few days and hope to get after hogs one evening this week and again on the weekend. I'll report back here with details of our excursions.