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Hog Hunt Stories
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August 2006
Over
the course of the past four years I
have spoke with Nathan Davey on a
fairly regular basis. Nathan is in
the process of constructing a fence
around his property in preparation
for his archery only day lease
operation. We have often spoken
about getting a weekend planned in
order to accommodate both hunting
and working so to insure both would
benefit from the experience. Over
the past 3 weeks a family friend has
showed growing interest in archery
as well, so I thought this may be
the perfect opportunity to take the
first steps toward getting him
acquainted with wildlife while also
helping Nathan make some progress
with the fence project. Derrick is a
hard worker to say the least so I
knew the timing was just too
perfect. When I spoke with Nathan he
was more than ready for some much
needed assistance and we were
willing to help |
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Friday seemed to drag on as I
counted down the hours and loaded
the truck waiting for Derrick to get
off work. Finally after an agonizing
day of unwelcome patience the time
finally came to head east to Mexia
and the 4-D Ranch. About an hour
later we arrived in Groesbeck where
we met up with Nathan and followed
him to the ranch. He showed us
around and helped us set up a ground
blind at the famous “Mud Hole” in
preparation for the morning hunt to
come. Later that evening we decided
to stay in Nathan’s old bow shop,
also known as Backwoods Archery,
where the A/C blew cold and the
mosquitoes weren’t to be found.
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Nathan has plans to renovate the
hunting cabin but for now the fence
is top priority. No problem for us
though, after a quick trip to
Wal-Mart we were more than ready for
the weekend ahead. One blow up
mattress and a couple snacks and we
were on our way. Coming in we
realized the ranch was located with
a state park with showers and
bathrooms and all, so we set our
alarms for 4:00 a.m. and got up to
take a shower before hitting the
woods. The morning was well on its
way when the sun came up. The
mosquitoes in the tent blind seemed
non-existent, well to me anyways. My
long-sleeved shirt kept them at bay
quite nicely as the sun rose over
the trees. As soon as the sun was up
high enough to see inside the blind
I saw Derrick’s arms covered in
bites. After realizing his problems
I removed my undershirt in which he
then wrapped his arms and aided in
protecting himself from the
tormenters. I was truly surprised at
how well he took it. I barely
saw him swat a single time
throughout the whole experience.
Just as the light was on the horizon
we heard the pigs and actually saw a
small one. |
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The
only problem however is when setting
up a blind in the dark it is tough
to tell where the trails meet the
feeder. One small pig came waltzing
up the side of the blind, but then
headed out with the others that
didn’t quite make it as far. As for
the morning activities that was
pretty much it, except one other run
in Derrick had with the arachnid
kind. At around 9:00 I left the
blind and proceeded to climb one of
Nathan’s ladder stands by the mud
hole just to get a few pictures. As
I sit and look towards the blind I
see it lift up off the ground in a
sudden jolt. |
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I
would soon find out Derrick was
being attacked yet again. Only
this time it was a tarantula that
made its way into the blind and
climbed up his leg. As he reached to
swat it off it leaped toward him
only to catch the backside of the
swing and hit the roof before being
shuffled on out the door. Soon we
got ready to pack up and head into
camp where we would meet Nathan and
a couple of post-hole diggers for
our midday activities. Nathan has
been digging approximately five
holes each Saturday and is putting
off renting an auger until he is
sure of which holes will need it.
Together we put in somewhere from
thirteen to fifteen posts and made
quite a bit of progress in the few
hours we spent working. We shared
many stories, many laughs and gave a
lot of sweat in the process but it
wasn’t so bad after all. We then
went and checked a few new feeders
and found a two day old setup to be
completely ate up with hog sign. We
decided to move a ladder stand and
set Derrick there for the evening
hunt, which was only a few hours
away |
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Soon
after returning to the camp Derrick
and I headed to town for a bite to
eat and a $2.00 shower at the local
campgrounds. Feeling clean and ready
to go we made it to our stands at
about 5:30 p.m. After a rather
uneventful two hours the tides
started to turn. Around 7:45 I just
happen to look to my left and see a
couple of pigs crossing the fence
line in the distance. I figure they
are headed to Derricks stand but
with the rather unpredicted northern
wind they seemed to bust him before
even showing up to the feeder. That
hot Texas sun can play tricks on a
new hunter and this one was none
different. Soon after seeing the
other hogs cross about 200 yards
down the unfinished fence line I
heard the beautiful sound of corn
pelting the ground and immediately
saw another set of hogs as they made
their way to the feeder. There were
two at first, two small brown hogs
that just seemed to crash their way
to the corn with not a care in the
world. Then there was another larger
black hog that was a little bit more
leery of stepping beneath the
feeder. |
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The
scars on his side were a clear
symbol to why this may be. As he
finally approached the corn I drew
my bow
and steadied the cam on my knee as I
suspected a momentary wait would
accompany the shot.
Little did I know as approximately
five minutes passed that a shoulder
will eventually grow numb and
fatigue. As I realized it may be
another couple minutes before the
desired shot made itself available I
chose to let down and give my arm a
rest. In mid-letdown however I was
looked upon by one of the smaller
hogs, this was quite a dilemma for
me, I knew I had to stop but did not
know if I could hold it in the
position for long. Luckily for me
the hog soon turned its attention
back to the corn and let me proceed
in my attempts at relief. Just as it
should be immediately as the tension
for the cams was released the hog
took a broadside formation and I
drew once more. As he continued to
eat I could tell his nerves had
calmed and all that was on his mind
was the tiny yellow morsels that lay
before his snout. I anchored my pin
on his shoulder and prepared myself
for the defining moment. One slow
and yet anxious squeeze of the
release and I watched the fletching
on my arrow spin through the air
spiraling toward my prey and
crashing through the shoulder blade.
I soon witnessed the boar as he
forcefully made his way out of the
area, in front of the smaller hogs,
squealing and ranting through the
brush. I soon listened to the frothy
sound of his last squeal and
promptly received a text message
from Derrick asking if I had shot
one. I soon got down and walked
directly towards camp to get Nathan
to aid in the search that I felt
wouldn’t be much of a search at all
after the sounds coming from the
brush after the shot. On my way down
the road I see Nathan walking up
with his bow in his hand, apparent
to me now that he had decided to
hunt this evening as well. We then
went to grab Derrick and headed over
to get on the trail of my hog.
Immediately there was blood found.
On every leaf it seemed there was
some sort of evidence as to where
the boar might have escaped to.
After about 25 yards of blood Nathan
said that he could see the hog and
it appeared to have expired. Within
moments we were dragging the hog out
of the thick brush, which seemed to
be Derrick’s moment to shine as he
just grabbed a pair of legs and made
quick work of the process. We drug
him to the road and went back for
the truck. After a few pictures and
hand shakes it was off to the
skinning rack for my first harvest
with my new Renegade SX-5 |
