Post by BT on Aug 11, 2007 9:39:15 GMT -5
The Guide had given us hand held units earlier in the day so that we could split up on occasion and after skipmasters hog was down I called to john with our location.
A short time later the banging cast iron beast that was the hauling tractor could be heard on it's approach.
We got some pictures , gutted skipmasters hog and loaded it up and then john was on his way back to the cooler back at the lodge.
He directed us to continue grid searching for rays hog and to take the shots if we had them.
(Thats trust!)
I don't think that either one of us were looking forward to getting back to it that quick but skipmaster and I headed into the thick pines after the tractor was out of sight.
Ray had been left on the outside edge to watch for exiting hogs but there were none at the conclusion of our grid and we all decided to just take a break for a few minutes ..... we were all pretty tired .
It looked to me as though Rayzortech had lost all hope as he sat there , mentally reviewing the shot for the hundredth time.
The telling of skipmasters shot was brief.
It seemed like bad form to rejoice in a success under the circumstances
I had only sat down on the back of my heels when Rayzortech looked passed me and with shock in his voice said...."PIG!"
I quickly turned to see a medium sized rayzor looking hog climbing the hill toward us , totally unaware of our presents.
I was fortunate to have a ground swell beside me and I ducked into the depression that it created while rayzor and skipmaster dropped to grass level.
As this pig came to 30 yards suddenly three more materialized from behind him
This was crazy! ..... all morning long we had beat that stretch of woods and here they came , right out of it.
In terms of reference , 3 of the 4 were pigs but the 4th was most definitely a hog
Obviously this was too be my target animal but the lead pig had a 15 yrd. lead on the others and would be all over me before I would have my desired 20 yard. shot
The only option was to get up and ready and remain motionless
Pigs can most definitely see but they react to movement.
If you are perfectly still alot of times they will walk right up to you like a deer might.....very curious animals.
But with hogs it is a fight or flight proposition
If you let them come to close and you move , they will react to what end they believe is necessary.
This means that they will charge as quickly as run....depends on their perception of your ability to catch them at that time.
Hogs can run as fast as a deer and therefore this is their only reference to speed.
If they can outrun themselves at a certain distance then they will charge rather than run
So anyway....
Here I am , bow up and the lead hog at 15 yards and then he sees me.....the lump in the grass
He freezes (thank God) and stares at me as the others continue to close the gap between he and they.
Satisfied that I am of no threat he turns to his right toward the others who are no at 20 yards.
At first I drew on the larger hog but it stopped it's forward movement , leaving one of the others directly behind her
Fortunately they were all watching each other and in no time all heads were focused on something besides myself , allowing me to let down.
As I let down the hog turned 180 degree's and cleared herself from the others.
The lead pig saw the draw but froze ....giving me the second to anchor and release cleanly.
The shot came to a sudden stop with perhaps 6" of penetration , low in the chest and over the heart.
Thankfully this caused her to stagger and slow rather than run.
At 25 yards the second arrow went clean through from the hip to the sternum.
I had taken my quiver off and had to run back to get the third arrow as she disappeared over a ridge
Rayzortech and I quickly returned to the crest of that ridge and saw her , 30 yards out , leaning against a tree.
That shot took her in the very same area as the first
She spun , breaking off the first arrow and headed back into the wood line
This was a tough customer
Skipmaster (thankfully) had run parallel to our location and was in a perfect spot for her as she passed him at 25 yards.
Once again skip sent the silver flame through the heart at 25 yards
But she wasn't through
4 shots and she was still moving out away from us
(ALL SHOTS THROUGH THE GOODIES!)
I made up the distance on a trot and put #5 right beside #3 and again , she drove through some blow down in an attempt to put some distance between us.
But at this time she had lost alot of her spunk and skipmasters (arrow #6) put her down for keeps
If it were not for skipmaster this could have gotten ugly as I was only carrying 3 arrows and they were all broken by shot #4
I don't even think we got any pics of my hog
It was just too crazy at that time and the desire to retrieve our silver flames got that hog gutted a.s.a.p.
We found our heads from the first broken arrow to the point of her final stand.
Talk about nuts!
A short time later the banging cast iron beast that was the hauling tractor could be heard on it's approach.
We got some pictures , gutted skipmasters hog and loaded it up and then john was on his way back to the cooler back at the lodge.
He directed us to continue grid searching for rays hog and to take the shots if we had them.
(Thats trust!)
I don't think that either one of us were looking forward to getting back to it that quick but skipmaster and I headed into the thick pines after the tractor was out of sight.
Ray had been left on the outside edge to watch for exiting hogs but there were none at the conclusion of our grid and we all decided to just take a break for a few minutes ..... we were all pretty tired .
It looked to me as though Rayzortech had lost all hope as he sat there , mentally reviewing the shot for the hundredth time.
The telling of skipmasters shot was brief.
It seemed like bad form to rejoice in a success under the circumstances
I had only sat down on the back of my heels when Rayzortech looked passed me and with shock in his voice said...."PIG!"
I quickly turned to see a medium sized rayzor looking hog climbing the hill toward us , totally unaware of our presents.
I was fortunate to have a ground swell beside me and I ducked into the depression that it created while rayzor and skipmaster dropped to grass level.
As this pig came to 30 yards suddenly three more materialized from behind him
This was crazy! ..... all morning long we had beat that stretch of woods and here they came , right out of it.
In terms of reference , 3 of the 4 were pigs but the 4th was most definitely a hog
Obviously this was too be my target animal but the lead pig had a 15 yrd. lead on the others and would be all over me before I would have my desired 20 yard. shot
The only option was to get up and ready and remain motionless
Pigs can most definitely see but they react to movement.
If you are perfectly still alot of times they will walk right up to you like a deer might.....very curious animals.
But with hogs it is a fight or flight proposition
If you let them come to close and you move , they will react to what end they believe is necessary.
This means that they will charge as quickly as run....depends on their perception of your ability to catch them at that time.
Hogs can run as fast as a deer and therefore this is their only reference to speed.
If they can outrun themselves at a certain distance then they will charge rather than run
So anyway....
Here I am , bow up and the lead hog at 15 yards and then he sees me.....the lump in the grass
He freezes (thank God) and stares at me as the others continue to close the gap between he and they.
Satisfied that I am of no threat he turns to his right toward the others who are no at 20 yards.
At first I drew on the larger hog but it stopped it's forward movement , leaving one of the others directly behind her
Fortunately they were all watching each other and in no time all heads were focused on something besides myself , allowing me to let down.
As I let down the hog turned 180 degree's and cleared herself from the others.
The lead pig saw the draw but froze ....giving me the second to anchor and release cleanly.
The shot came to a sudden stop with perhaps 6" of penetration , low in the chest and over the heart.
Thankfully this caused her to stagger and slow rather than run.
At 25 yards the second arrow went clean through from the hip to the sternum.
I had taken my quiver off and had to run back to get the third arrow as she disappeared over a ridge
Rayzortech and I quickly returned to the crest of that ridge and saw her , 30 yards out , leaning against a tree.
That shot took her in the very same area as the first
She spun , breaking off the first arrow and headed back into the wood line
This was a tough customer
Skipmaster (thankfully) had run parallel to our location and was in a perfect spot for her as she passed him at 25 yards.
Once again skip sent the silver flame through the heart at 25 yards
But she wasn't through
4 shots and she was still moving out away from us
(ALL SHOTS THROUGH THE GOODIES!)
I made up the distance on a trot and put #5 right beside #3 and again , she drove through some blow down in an attempt to put some distance between us.
But at this time she had lost alot of her spunk and skipmasters (arrow #6) put her down for keeps
If it were not for skipmaster this could have gotten ugly as I was only carrying 3 arrows and they were all broken by shot #4
I don't even think we got any pics of my hog
It was just too crazy at that time and the desire to retrieve our silver flames got that hog gutted a.s.a.p.
We found our heads from the first broken arrow to the point of her final stand.
Talk about nuts!
