As I sit here typing this, trying to keep my head up due to fatigue, I must say last night was very interesting...to say the least.
Wind was not exactly right, but these pigs will come in from any direction almost with no rhyme or reason so to say "I can't sit here cause the wind is wrong" is only a half truth.
Last night the betraying wind was so calm and our sites so sheltered that you have a tendency of a clouding and emanating effect. Ones scent just kind of settles around the ground and spreads out.
Everyone heard pigs last night, and preacher even encountered some tiny little baconettes while entering the Magnolia (common). But no one else but me laid eyes on the first porker bigger than a sandwich.
I put Manny on the catapult stand (his favorite) and made my way to the Hero stand. As I normally do, I checked the camera before sitting down...another malfunctioning device! There were only 3 pictures on the camera since I shot my pig three days earlier and they were all of me yet there was not a kernel of corn to be found anywhere (*no, I didn't eat the corn).
AS soon as I sat down in my stand, I began to hearing squealing in the not so distant area. Within ten minutes, two practice pigs entered to might right...they were on the menu...until mommy showed seconds later. She was a very nice black gal and similar in size to the sow I s hot Saturday night. Unfortunately my scent betrayed me and they were gone. Five minutes later, about 10 - 40 lbers come storming in from the same direction. Six went against their better judgement and came all the way in to the moonshine corn, 4 skidaddled. When I determined there was no larger pigs coming I readied myself for a shot. I thought I might line two up and skewer me a pair but my angle was steep and I saw no opportunity for such foolishness. Seconds later the arrow was off and so were all the little porkers unscathed ....but maybe a little wiser.
I settled back in thinking it might be over for the evening but not so. Within minutes I began to hear pigs in another direction withing 200 yards or so. They would get closer and then meander away. The whole time, they were making enough noise to wake the dead. There must have been a disagreement among them too as I have never heard such aggression. I could tell they were big and that it seemed as though they were knocking each other around...Hard! At dark, they set there sights on the feeder and came in fast and furious. They were so loud I couldn't hear my heart thumping. Their exhaling or blowing was as loud as there grunting. I was sure there must have been clouds of flying leaves and dirt surrounding them. ....and then silence... It seemed to be about 6 or eight of them, but I could hear them thinking at only 15-20 yards...what's that I smell? And with that, they were off. Even in there quiet retreat, I could almost feel their weight through the ground and up the tree I was in. Though my encounters were over for an evening, I was still reeling with excitement. I had just experienced the most intense moment of my hogging career even with no visual! I replayed every moment for my friends when we met.
Hopefully Drew will get to experience that tonight as I plan on putting him in the "Hero" stand. Until next time, BigJim