The five disappeared and I followed in their direction. I lost sight of them, but with the terrain and low areas, the had gone into a swag in the landscape and I eventually got back into stalk mode.
By this time the boar was trailing, seemingly "keeping rear guard" and rooting whilst doing it. I watch him lift a log with his nose and the weight on each end of the rotted downed tree broke under its own weight. A loud pop echoed in the swamp. A noteworthy sound to head, should you ever hear it again. He raised the 10 foot or so log looking for grubs like it was a twig. I eased closer, with the boar closest to me. I tried again to get within my range, but only managed to get about 25 yards away, yet again. Something caused them to bolt once more. Maybe a breaking stick underfoot, or my movement caught by their watchful eye. A low grunt from the boar sent them off.
Bud - 0 Hogs - 4
And yet again they ran 30ish or so yards. This time they got into some grassy growth about knee high. The terrain still low in spots allowed them to be unseen, but also allowed the same for me. I got to about 30 yards from them, with the boar still at rear guard. He managed to root to a spot between two trees, yet his vitals were in the gap between the two, much like a 3D target setup I've seen at my home club. I removed my binoculars and my back quiver and crawled on hands and knees to a spot about 20 yards away from him. One of the smaller hogs saw me move and locked in on my figure. I froze. What seemed like several minutes we stared at each other. It eventually lost interest and got back to finding breakfast.
I started moving again, with the boar evidently in a nice rooting spot, because he stay put in the same spot for some time. I crept closer to get the shot I wanted when suddenly a doe I had not seen, some 50 yards away, let out a loud blow and alerted the whole area. All the hogs froze and stated in her direction. She was,, by then tearing away through the swamp blowing as she ran. She crashed out of sight and then all the nearby squirrels started barking alarms. I refocused on the hogs and they had had enough. They all bolted in a mad dash, faster then the previous runs, and were 60 yards away before they disappeared. I heard them continue well past their normal 30 yard sprint. They were in for the long haul escape this time.
I was sweating quite hard. sweat running down my face and under my clothes. I noticed my heartbeat was excessive, and was the whole time. I suddenly felt a draining feeling of exhaustion set in. The adrenaline dump had taken it's toll. I was crashing, but it was a good feeling nonetheless.
Bud - 0 Hogs - 5
A doe had given me the opportunity to stalk these hogs, and a doe took them away.
Even with no shot, this was the first true stalk I had been on in many years. I felt like it was a success. I was happy.
Topic: Trad Gang Hunt at Wild Things (Read 1207 times)
