I was planning on leaving for my bear hunt early Friday morning, but decided to Thursday(now today)so that I could make a stop at Cloverdale on the way. I cleared it with my partner, and got off of work around 7:30 tonight, and headed home. After dosing a sick horse with some medicine, I decided to go grab a battery from a light by a feeder so that I could charge it and put it out tomorrow morning before I left so that hopefully it would last through my bear trip. No sense in not taking a bow, so I grabbed my silvertip recurve, and one arrow tipped with a 175 vpa 3 blade and a lit nock and began the 1/2 mile walk to the feeder.
I got there around 8:30, and wouldn't you know it, there was a hog under the feeder that spotted me, and took off, with a raccoon hot on his heels. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained. I decided to back off into a small cluster of trees around 90 yards from the feeder and see what happened in the short time until dark. I promised my wife that I would head home by 9:45 to eat the steak that she was cooking.
A little before 9:30 came around, and I was just getting ready to head out, and I saw a hog sneak out of the drainage to my east and make it's way to the feeder. I figured it to be around 100# or so.
I was wearing very faded jeans that seemed to glow in the low light, so waited a few minutes for it to get a little darker to make my move. I slowly moved to the west to put the light (a slow glow light) between me and him, and then headed toward the feeder.
The stalk was a little complicated, because between me putting on some weight and my jeans having shrunk some, they actually were squeaking when I walked, and the wind was dead still. I also was wearing a pair of hard sole wellingtons and the ground had dried out considerable in the last 2 weeks in which we haven't had any rain. I actually covered the distances sidestepping as quietly as I could, while holding my crotch like a gangster to keep from squeaking, all the while bearing in mind that with this light wind it could swirl at any minute and bust me.
I quickly covered the distance, and as I approached the light, I could see the hog, which now looked more like 175#, under the feeder, and a raccoon feeding between him and the light. The light is not even 10 yards from the feeder.
Just before I made it to the light, the racc0on heard my slight noise, which the hog didn't hear with his corn munching, and stood on it's hind legs. He couldn't smell me, and the light was blinding him, but he knew something wasn't right. He decided to head for the drainage, and I moved a couple steps closer to the light, now only around 8-10 yards from the hog.
I could see him bending at the knees to get under the feeder, and I could see his front leg clearly, but waited a few moments to see if I would get a better shot. He was facing to my right, and he decided to back up to my left and step just away from the feeder. When I saw his front leg clear the feeder, I quickly came to draw and release. The nock lit up, but the hog took off toward the west(my left), banging the arrow off of the feeder legs and breaking the nock. I heard him circle into the brush toward the south and it sounded like thrashing. I thought that he probably was dead, but I texted my wife to tell her I was on my way to get flashlight other than my cellphone, and that I had shot a 150-175# hog. I also texted Dave Sisamis to let him know as well.
I headed home, ate some steak, and headed out with my wife and the dog to make a quick track and get started. Poor blood on the dry ground, but the dog found the hog in a couple of minutes, and I was pleasantly surprised with my very quick glance that the hog would go 225#. I marked the spot, drove my wife back to the house, headed in to town to pick up a couple bags of ice, then came back to start the field dressing. When I got a good look, I was very happy. I didn't weigh him, but I am sure that he would go 275#. What a chore it was getting him into the truck. I really had to be creative. I double lunged him, and he went around 50 or 60 yards, but no more. The arrow stopped on the far side of the shield and broke off when he dropped. Dropping this hog off at the butcher for my mother in law, but gonna really be needing another freezer if my luck holds up on this bear hunt.
Here are some pics:
Topic: Spur of the moment hunt success (Read 580 times)
