I have time for mine but stay tuned because the best stories (IMO) are coming from Rayzortech and Spiker.
Skipmaster , Cougarkid , Redsoxboy and myself took the High Road near the back third ridge where we would get a good look into the valley below.
The temps were VERY low and it was obvious that for me (a recurve shooter) it wouldn't get any better
Hogs just dont move in the cold and if you do see them moving , it's slow
We moved past some of those ferals and while the little Russians were acting sluggish , they were speed demons in comparison to the ferals.
This was great in my mind because this meant that unlike 2 years ago where I couldn't even get close enough for a shot on a hog , this year I would most certainly have multiple opportunity's.
We moved freely as our Guide Fred entertained us with his great sense of humor and cheerful nature.
It was good to be able to move because in doing so we were staying warm and increasing our opportunity at seeing a good hog.
It was our plan to focus on taking a hog that meet our expectations rather than the first hog that gave us an opportunity and this lead us back across the center of the hunting area where hills converged to create a large sweeping funnel.
We saw hogs but they were either too small or just coming up short in what we were willing to pursue in light of our limited daylight.
( which amounted to perhaps 3 hours at that time. )
None of us were in any rush to take a hog since we would have an entire day Saturday and at that time I had pretty much concluded that it would take some time to find a respectable hog if indeed there were any.
I had heard a very loud squeal coming from down in the wash when I was on the ridge , so I was happy to know that indeed some of the hogs were braving the cold to fight with one another
But now that we were in this area from where those bawls had come , no hogs were evident other than the occasional Russian which would stop to inspect us as it moved through the woods line.
Skipmaster and I began to talk pretty freely at this point , perhaps feeling that there was not much chance of seeing any large hogs moving after all
We had seen a few of them bedded deep in the leaves on the banks of the hills , taking advantage of what warmth the setting sun afforded them before the harsh cold of night set in.
I thought to myself that perhaps a mercy killing would be welcomed by these hogs considering the cold and the on again off again snow.
It was not a good time to be a creature
It was as we were headed back toward the Lodge , cutting back through the center of the property on a dirt road , that a team of hogs caught Skipmasters eye on the hillside above us.
We watched as they moved at a good pace , parallel to our position.
The size was respectable compared to those trailing him and it was quickly decided that we should certainly try to intercept any hog of this stamina and size on this day
(Besides....if we didn't get it , the other crew might! ;D )
I was pretty happy to see this and we quickly raced back into an intercept in front of the advancing pigs.
We cut well in front of their position , jogging up a wash to intercept where we split low and high off an adjoining ridge.
With Cougarkid acting as camera man , skipmaster took the high point where he would in fact take this hog if it did indeed cross his path.
Unfortunately before he and the kid could reach their intended cover , the f*g**t of hogs hung up
Hogs dont run when they see you.....at least sometimes they dont.
Instead they will stand and stare....trying to determine what it was that they saw or smelled.
Fred had stayed with myself and redsoxboy and after a short while determined that if he did not do something,the hogs would indeed double back in retreat.
I must say that Fred is in very respectable health and doesn't much concern himself with the temperament of swine
I think that is a pretty good quality in a guide
It was at that time that Fred ducked out and flanked the hogs , forcing them to either flee him or face him.
They fled ;D
The group split hard low and then hesitated
, redsoxboy was unfortunately visible once they cut the correct angle to him
The smalled hogs doubled back while the larger boar did an about face and fled away from us both.
Fortunately they were headed towards skipmaster
But suddenly , the Hog began to breech the ditch that would crest in front of the skipper , I saw that this was not a great hog at all but rather a less than great hog
In fact it was rather small compared to hogs which I have seen in magazines
With only a second remaining between the time in which the rapidly shrinking pig would make himself visible to my friend above I knew that if I did not take him then skipmaster surely would
I could not allow him to suffer such a loss
Drawing back on the 60# Browning I anchored and released the 498gr. easton 2213 towards the incredibly small target.
It was amazing!......The Magnus Stinger entered and the arrow came to a sudden halt with two hands of arrow remaining visible
Funny that such a small pig should have been able to have stopped such a bow from a distance of perhaps 25 yards
The hog ran forward perhaps 15 yards , shook and feel over dead.
I had saved my friend
I dont think that Skipmaster understood my intentions at that time but he soon would
)
