Aggressive Hog Encounter

[BuckSmasher]

I was hunting my lease in OK last weekend and had an extra long stay in the ladder stand as a really nice buck came in late and I didn't want to spook him getting down. After about 40 minutes, I was tired of waiting and I gave a loud, sudden hog snort. The deer bolted from the feeder and a couple minutes later, I gave another one for good measure.

A few minutes later I heard a real pig snort so I knew the deer weren't coming back and I headed down the ladder. Just as I hit the ground, I heard that aggressive hog snort/growl - you'll know what I mean if you have ever heard it - about 15 yards away. I could just make him out in the darkness.

I was a little startled because he was so loud but I've encountered plenty of hogs that seemed indifferent to my presence and I figured he would start eating when I left. I was parked about 500 yards away and I headed off to my Ranger. I was parked along a fence line which I could easily follow so I didn't even have flashlight out.

Maybe 50 yards down the trail, I heard that hog growl again. Except it was not 50 yards back, it was right next to me. Maybe 15 yards away. I could just make out his form in the darkness and his growl was now constant. I started walking again and so did he, right along beside me.

At this point, I am spooked and am basically run walking through a swamp seemingly mined with unexpected mud holes. While trying to keep from tripping and falling and holding my bow in one hand, I'm blindly fishing for a flashlight in my pack with the other hand. Finally, I feel one and grab it, quickly turning it on and shining it at the hog to finally scare him off.

It is my danged green flashlight and doesn't scare the hog at all. Or the second hog with him that I can now see. If anything, it riled up the one hog who is snarling and as he walks along beside me is going back and forth between facing me and the direction we are headed. And I'm still 100 yards away from my Ranger.

I talked. I yelled. Heck, I even screamed "help" one time thinking the ranch manager whose home was nearby might hear me and come check. I just knew at any minute that one hog was going to charge right at me. I got all the way to my Ranger, then in it, and they still wouldn't shut up. Although they did back off to about 20 yards away.

It wasn't until I literally drove my Ranger right at them that they shut up and ran off. Heck, I was still jumpy hunting the next evening. Hogs are bad enough when they are just tearing up your stuff. But they crossed the line last weekend and I plan to retaliate.

With just a bow that sounds scary. Probably thought the sound you made was a sow in heat I'm guessing?

I usually hunt in swampy/hog infested areas with an AR, then it would be a dream come true!

[RiverRat1]

A couple times while reading that I though you were saying a couple hogs from the "How big would you do" thread were hunting you LOL The bounce her biscuit thread if she had 5k acres.

[ttechdallas]

As I understand OK regulations, you cannot have a firearm in your possession if you are bowhunting. Plus, if you do have a firearm in your possession while deer hunting during rifle season, you must have a rifle (gun) license also. I do not as I only bow hunt. Out of state bowhunting license is $300. If you want to hunt with gun also, it is another $300. I am in the process though of confirming my understanding.

As for shooting him with a bow, of course I considered that. But there was complete cloud cover and it was pretty dark. Try drawing your bow on a target 15-20 yards away well after sundown and see how well you can aim. I might have shot anyway but he was also facing me every time I stopped. I didn't like that shot at all.

Our lease is saturated from all the rain we've had out there and it was pretty much all I could do to walk quickly with my eyes in the direction of the hogs and keep from tripping. So I talked, I yelled, I sang, I cursed him and everyone who looked like him. I even pointed my flashlight at myself so he would know it was a human. I even through a water bottle at them.

They weren't horny. They were ****** off. The bolder of the two is one I've seen before. An ugly brown boar, but not huge, who is usually by himself or with another boar. I will get him for sure, hopefully this weekend.

[laredoarcher]

They always know when a sow is in heat...

That’s funny

[Buck Slayer]

They always know when a sow is in heat...

This made me LOL... lol

[Patton]

Get you a headlamp and put in on your head at the 10:00 position, lines up nicely when you go to draw and aim at night. I've shot many pigs and coons like this in pitch black.

They always know when a sow is in heat...

Boom. Roasted.

[clayree]

I always pack my Glock with me when I bow hunt. Don't really care what the regs say, as my life is more important.

[monsterspike]

the 2nd amendment shall not be infringed.

not with a bow, not while i mow, not in the usa, not to this very day, not in the fog, and certainly not around horny hogs.

i will not give up that right, sam i am.

[NxSTexan]

the 2nd amendment shall not be infringed.

not with a bow, not while i mow, not in the usa, not to this very day, not in the fog, and certainly not around horny hogs.

i will not give up that right, sam i am.

Effin classic[emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji109][emoji2533]


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[Texas Kidd]

Most predator animals sense fear, especially if you don't walk in the woods like a bad arse.
That may have been part of the problem. LOL

That's why I do the Vince McMahon walk when I head to my stand. LOL

[Tryton]

Had something similar happen up by Bandera walking out of the stand back to the house in the evening. The hog stayed in the brush where I would only see a glimpse of it and it followed me all the way to the next stand where my BIL was sitting. When I got close I told him hey come over here but he could hear the hog growling and was no way coming down from the stand. His stand was in a clearing and the hog wouldn't show himself and eventually let us to walk back to the house.

[Bad2TheBone]

I’ve had this happen on public land a couple times! Unfortunately I can carry a handgun on my hip. It defiantly not a fun experience

[ttechdallas]

Most predator animals sense fear, especially if you don't walk in the woods like a bad arse.
That may have been part of the problem. LOL

Hogs aren't predators. Nor are they aggressors by nature, not even feral hogs. They also don't have any natural predators at least in this area. What keeps them at bay is their natural fear of man and as that diminishes, they seem to becoming more indifferent.

Last season I killed at least 10 hogs while bowhunting and I saw hogs almost every night. There isn't much noise, except from the pig, when shooting with a bow. I think a few more gunshots might renew their fear of man. On the 1800 or so acres encompassing our entire lease, there probably aren't more than 15 gunshots in a whole year, maybe less. On my 300 acre section, there was only 1.

[BTLowry]

the 2nd amendment shall not be infringed.

not with a bow, not while i mow, not in the usa, not to this very day, not in the fog, and certainly not around horny hogs.

i will not give up that right, sam i am.

That is awesome

Hogs aren't predators. Nor are they aggressors by nature, not even feral hogs. They also don't have any natural predators at least in this area. What keeps them at bay is their natural fear of man and as that diminishes, they seem to becoming more indifferent.

Last season I killed at least 10 hogs while bowhunting and I saw hogs almost every night. There isn't much noise, except from the pig, when shooting with a bow. I think a few more gunshots might renew their fear of man. On the 1800 or so acres encompassing our entire lease, there probably aren't more than 15 gunshots in a whole year, maybe less. On my 300 acre section, there was only 1.

ummmm yeah they kind of are
They are omnivores, they will eat all kinds of stuff, fawns and calves for sure

I would check the laws pertaining to CC, I would rather have a ticket than go hand to tusk with a hog

[mdnabors]

That’s one of the reasons why I carry a pistol with me at the lease


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THIS!! 10mm on the Hip