It's my favorite time of year to chase the pigs. Cameras said I had two nice boars visiting one set switching on and off throughout the night. I got settled in camp about an hour before dark and shot my bow and had a beer waiting for the show to start. Well about half an hour before dark the first one shows up. A pretty good sized black boar... in daylight. After a quick ride in the golf cart, a short walk, and then a stalk, I was within 10 yards of him. We had a big cedar tree and brush between us. He was walking left to right and as soon as he cleared the tree I was gonna smoke him. Well just before getting in the clear he turns a 180 and walks around the tree, and pretty much right up to me before stopping 3 or 4 yards away and wondering what was standing in his trail. He was quite a bit bigger than he looked on camera. My first thought was dang that's a big head! I managed to get to full draw and was trying to find his shoulder in the dim light and shadows, but before my thumb even settled on my trigger he turned around and trotted off. I grunted a few times, and did a remote throw of the feeder. I slipped out the way I had come in and went back to camp. Dang it, so close... in reality too close.
About 45 minutes later, guess who's back. Rinse and repeat. Now with the cover of darkness I can move a little more easily and leverage my feeder light by approaching from behind it. I get to a good shooting spot and get a nice broadside shot at about 12 yards. He's slowly shuffling for corn, but my pin just tracks his shoulder all the while I'm thinking... relaxed hand.. pull.... smack. My arrow was buried nearly to the fletch in the blur that was an athletic boar accelerating faster than my eyes could track him. The boar crashed out of the clearing through and over brush. I could see my lighted nock through the brush, then heard him fall over nearby. Splash one baby! I was concerned the other boar would be coming in soon, so I switched headlamps, grabbed my drag harness and walked to the last place I saw my nock. He was about 3 yards away. I was in for a rude awakening that between the wet kinda muddy conditions... and him being that big... I couldn't drag him hardly at all. I got him back to feeder circle and high tailed it for the cart. My plan was to use cart to drag him just a ways away I could get him later with the ATV trailer if the other pig didn't show by midnight.
I pulled into the feeder clearing and backed the cart up to the boar. The front half of cart is in the feeder clearing, and I'm behind it with a cedar just to my left blocking a lot of my view wrestling this pig. I hear something take a bite of corn. I think, "that's one dumb raccoon!" After all there's me, the golf cart, and it's headlights are still on. Cart to feeder is 9 paces (I checked later). I then listen closer and know its absolutely a pig... maybe a small one? My bow is on the cart back seat... I can get to that, but my pack is all zipped up and has my release and quiver and its in the passenger seat. I crouch down behind the cart and move around to the side and peak over the rack... there's the other big boar. What is going on? As the boar enjoys his corn appetizer, I'm as slowly as I can unzipping the release pocket on my pack with one hand without being able to see it. At this point I'm completely behind the cart just reaching up by feel to get things on the seat. I collect my release and an arrow... so far so good I still hear chewing. I ease up turning sideways where the front supports for the cart roof and me are kinda lined up ... pig is still there. He's about 12 yards away. My slow glow light is dimmed, he's on far side from it with feeder between them. I hit the slow glow high remote button. He's starting to act a little nervous. There's not enough light yet from the slow glow to shoot. So I light him up with my sniper bow light on low. He doesn't react. Ok that's good. I try it again... he's facing me. Again, still facing me. Again, he's broadside. Come to full draw... I'm shaking like a leaf. I hit high on my bow light as I swing for his shoulder. The jig is up. The wind was very light in the big stand of cedars we are in, and he's way too close at this point, maybe 10-11 yards.. he knows somethings wrong and he's about to rabbit. I rushed the shot and sink an arrow half way into him. I thought I knew where I hit, but you'll find out... that wasn't the case.
Blood was scant, but I managed to trail him about 130 yards on pin drops. It was getting late, and there was no rush. The overnight temps were ok so I'd come back and look in the morning. The next morning I managed to trail him 330 yards with blood and tracks, and another 70ish yards on hoof prints in the soft ground beyond that. Then he crossed the property line. My only guess is I hit him high. Making it 400 yards with a 2" broadhead in you pretty much tells me it wasn't a good shot.
When I got the first one back to camp he was a hefty 217# and had a wicked set of cutters. I think that's one of the coolest if not the coolest hog hunting experiences I've had, even though I didn't recover the second one. It was just bizarre.
About 45 minutes later, guess who's back. Rinse and repeat. Now with the cover of darkness I can move a little more easily and leverage my feeder light by approaching from behind it. I get to a good shooting spot and get a nice broadside shot at about 12 yards. He's slowly shuffling for corn, but my pin just tracks his shoulder all the while I'm thinking... relaxed hand.. pull.... smack. My arrow was buried nearly to the fletch in the blur that was an athletic boar accelerating faster than my eyes could track him. The boar crashed out of the clearing through and over brush. I could see my lighted nock through the brush, then heard him fall over nearby. Splash one baby! I was concerned the other boar would be coming in soon, so I switched headlamps, grabbed my drag harness and walked to the last place I saw my nock. He was about 3 yards away. I was in for a rude awakening that between the wet kinda muddy conditions... and him being that big... I couldn't drag him hardly at all. I got him back to feeder circle and high tailed it for the cart. My plan was to use cart to drag him just a ways away I could get him later with the ATV trailer if the other pig didn't show by midnight.
I pulled into the feeder clearing and backed the cart up to the boar. The front half of cart is in the feeder clearing, and I'm behind it with a cedar just to my left blocking a lot of my view wrestling this pig. I hear something take a bite of corn. I think, "that's one dumb raccoon!" After all there's me, the golf cart, and it's headlights are still on. Cart to feeder is 9 paces (I checked later). I then listen closer and know its absolutely a pig... maybe a small one? My bow is on the cart back seat... I can get to that, but my pack is all zipped up and has my release and quiver and its in the passenger seat. I crouch down behind the cart and move around to the side and peak over the rack... there's the other big boar. What is going on? As the boar enjoys his corn appetizer, I'm as slowly as I can unzipping the release pocket on my pack with one hand without being able to see it. At this point I'm completely behind the cart just reaching up by feel to get things on the seat. I collect my release and an arrow... so far so good I still hear chewing. I ease up turning sideways where the front supports for the cart roof and me are kinda lined up ... pig is still there. He's about 12 yards away. My slow glow light is dimmed, he's on far side from it with feeder between them. I hit the slow glow high remote button. He's starting to act a little nervous. There's not enough light yet from the slow glow to shoot. So I light him up with my sniper bow light on low. He doesn't react. Ok that's good. I try it again... he's facing me. Again, still facing me. Again, he's broadside. Come to full draw... I'm shaking like a leaf. I hit high on my bow light as I swing for his shoulder. The jig is up. The wind was very light in the big stand of cedars we are in, and he's way too close at this point, maybe 10-11 yards.. he knows somethings wrong and he's about to rabbit. I rushed the shot and sink an arrow half way into him. I thought I knew where I hit, but you'll find out... that wasn't the case.
Blood was scant, but I managed to trail him about 130 yards on pin drops. It was getting late, and there was no rush. The overnight temps were ok so I'd come back and look in the morning. The next morning I managed to trail him 330 yards with blood and tracks, and another 70ish yards on hoof prints in the soft ground beyond that. Then he crossed the property line. My only guess is I hit him high. Making it 400 yards with a 2" broadhead in you pretty much tells me it wasn't a good shot.
When I got the first one back to camp he was a hefty 217# and had a wicked set of cutters. I think that's one of the coolest if not the coolest hog hunting experiences I've had, even though I didn't recover the second one. It was just bizarre.
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