Story of Kill #1
New to the site but have been reading the thread now for over 4 months. My son and I have met jkuroski1973 and PigAddiction and hope to meet as many of you as we can. We moved from California in September ’13 and drive a white Ford-150. Usually hunt gate 7 but have been spending time near the “steps” the last week or so.
The Hunt-
Previously my son and I had jumped hogs two different times at the same spot and couldn’t get a shot off. I couldn’t get this out of my mind and I kept working back over each hunt to try and determine what we could have done differently. As you experienced hunters all know, and we learned the hard way, it came down to wind direction and the speed of our stalk. Soooooooo prior to trip 3, I decided to downloaded a wind app on my phone to help plan where I entered / start the stalk. Also decided I would wait for a day with a little moisture in the air to quiet the leaves. Now if I could only get lucky enough to find them bedded back at the same location……
Got to Granger around 10:00 am and after a 15 minute walk was ready to start the stalk. However, as I topped a little rise I started hearing an unusual buzzing / squeally sound. Yup you guessed it a piglet, about the size of two softballs, just wandering around making noise. Spent about 10 minutes trying to get close to it but could never close enough to grab it as it stayed about 4 ft. Anyway back to the hunt and more on the piglet later.
As I went back to the stalk I started walking and glassing ahead. Soon after there it was. BLACK and my heart took off. 80 yards away corner of a deadfall here we go!!!! Closed the distance and got to what I thought was nearly a perfect spot for the shot only to figure out I had just stalked a charred piece of wood, “rookie”… All the while I’m still working my way to the area I hoped they would be bedded again. Slowly moved another 100 yards of so and just caught a glimpse of my targeted stop. I’m roughly 75 yards away and can’t really make out anything of interest. Continued to move slow and stopped to glass every few yards. When I made it to about 50 yards away I caught the first glimpse of black. “Is that another burnt log”, nope cuz the ear on that log just moved!!!!!!! Now its truly ON! Still got the wind in my face and just need to move slow to cut this distance and position for a shot. My son Mason always says, “Dad rally cap” when we get to prime hunting spots so backwards goes the hat. I Kept my movements slow, deliberate, and quiet. It felt like it took forever probably only 10 to 15 minutes and I’m within 25 yards. There is some thick stuff off to the left so I need to work right to get cleared for the shot. As I moved right my line of sight opened to a second hog 5 yards closer and quartering towards me. They are both still laying down and I’m about to soil myself as it’s the closest I’ve been and best chance for a kill. I move just beyond a small tree and the closest hog moves it’s head my direction. That it’s cover busted, safety off, crossbow up, arrow away and 3 hogs exit at mock 10.
At this point I’m feeling pretty good about the shot but it’s my first in the field as all others have been at a target. I jump up and down a couple times and gave a few fist pumps all I could do not to yell like Rambo. Waited as long as I could but after 10 minutes began looking for blood. Bingo!!! 3 small drops 5 yards away from the intial shot. Then 5 to 10 more and a few yards and later even more. Was out about 30 yards from the shot when the blood trail died, nothing! So back to the beds I went and back to the spot I shot to confirm the direction of the hogs exit compared to the blood trail. What’s that….. MOVEMENT at the beds!!!!!!!! Guess who was under the deadfall where I took the shot. Yup there is the piglet! She now has her head dug into the loose dead wood around the stumps base. She is dug in like a tick and doesn’t look to be going anywhere. My guess is while I was wasting time stalking that burnt log she had time to run back to her family. Back to the blood trail I go. I have now reconfirmed where the hog exited and started using 2 arrows to help mark direction of the blood spots. 30 yards out the trail ends again but using the arrows I have a verifiable visible direction to reference from a distance. So I walk. Roughly 40 yards later blamoooo…... yah the Rambo yell surfaced and there’s my kill… Hog hunting for me is now an addiction!!!!!!
At this point I’m roughly a ½ mile away from were I parked but I’ve gotta drag it out. No quarters and back straps for hog #1.
Pictures attached of Hog #1 at the site of the kill, Hog #1 at home pre processing, Hog #1 for dinner the night of the kill, and last but not least picture of the piglet.
Piglet has now been named Darla (farmers daughter named her) and she is doing just fine.. Yah I went back and caught her by hand and packed her out also. Stopped at a farm house on the way home from Granger and asked if they would be willing to raise her until she had at least a fighting chance to make it on her own. They agreed. Dropped off some cracked corn and mini pig feed later the same week. The last photo I posted is of Darla after week one and she is playing with the farmers dogs…. Looks like she is well on her way to a fighting chance.
Hope you enjoyed the post and hopefully for Mason and I there are many more kills to come.
New to the site but have been reading the thread now for over 4 months. My son and I have met jkuroski1973 and PigAddiction and hope to meet as many of you as we can. We moved from California in September ’13 and drive a white Ford-150. Usually hunt gate 7 but have been spending time near the “steps” the last week or so.
The Hunt-
Previously my son and I had jumped hogs two different times at the same spot and couldn’t get a shot off. I couldn’t get this out of my mind and I kept working back over each hunt to try and determine what we could have done differently. As you experienced hunters all know, and we learned the hard way, it came down to wind direction and the speed of our stalk. Soooooooo prior to trip 3, I decided to downloaded a wind app on my phone to help plan where I entered / start the stalk. Also decided I would wait for a day with a little moisture in the air to quiet the leaves. Now if I could only get lucky enough to find them bedded back at the same location……
Got to Granger around 10:00 am and after a 15 minute walk was ready to start the stalk. However, as I topped a little rise I started hearing an unusual buzzing / squeally sound. Yup you guessed it a piglet, about the size of two softballs, just wandering around making noise. Spent about 10 minutes trying to get close to it but could never close enough to grab it as it stayed about 4 ft. Anyway back to the hunt and more on the piglet later.
As I went back to the stalk I started walking and glassing ahead. Soon after there it was. BLACK and my heart took off. 80 yards away corner of a deadfall here we go!!!! Closed the distance and got to what I thought was nearly a perfect spot for the shot only to figure out I had just stalked a charred piece of wood, “rookie”… All the while I’m still working my way to the area I hoped they would be bedded again. Slowly moved another 100 yards of so and just caught a glimpse of my targeted stop. I’m roughly 75 yards away and can’t really make out anything of interest. Continued to move slow and stopped to glass every few yards. When I made it to about 50 yards away I caught the first glimpse of black. “Is that another burnt log”, nope cuz the ear on that log just moved!!!!!!! Now its truly ON! Still got the wind in my face and just need to move slow to cut this distance and position for a shot. My son Mason always says, “Dad rally cap” when we get to prime hunting spots so backwards goes the hat. I Kept my movements slow, deliberate, and quiet. It felt like it took forever probably only 10 to 15 minutes and I’m within 25 yards. There is some thick stuff off to the left so I need to work right to get cleared for the shot. As I moved right my line of sight opened to a second hog 5 yards closer and quartering towards me. They are both still laying down and I’m about to soil myself as it’s the closest I’ve been and best chance for a kill. I move just beyond a small tree and the closest hog moves it’s head my direction. That it’s cover busted, safety off, crossbow up, arrow away and 3 hogs exit at mock 10.
At this point I’m feeling pretty good about the shot but it’s my first in the field as all others have been at a target. I jump up and down a couple times and gave a few fist pumps all I could do not to yell like Rambo. Waited as long as I could but after 10 minutes began looking for blood. Bingo!!! 3 small drops 5 yards away from the intial shot. Then 5 to 10 more and a few yards and later even more. Was out about 30 yards from the shot when the blood trail died, nothing! So back to the beds I went and back to the spot I shot to confirm the direction of the hogs exit compared to the blood trail. What’s that….. MOVEMENT at the beds!!!!!!!! Guess who was under the deadfall where I took the shot. Yup there is the piglet! She now has her head dug into the loose dead wood around the stumps base. She is dug in like a tick and doesn’t look to be going anywhere. My guess is while I was wasting time stalking that burnt log she had time to run back to her family. Back to the blood trail I go. I have now reconfirmed where the hog exited and started using 2 arrows to help mark direction of the blood spots. 30 yards out the trail ends again but using the arrows I have a verifiable visible direction to reference from a distance. So I walk. Roughly 40 yards later blamoooo…... yah the Rambo yell surfaced and there’s my kill… Hog hunting for me is now an addiction!!!!!!
At this point I’m roughly a ½ mile away from were I parked but I’ve gotta drag it out. No quarters and back straps for hog #1.
Pictures attached of Hog #1 at the site of the kill, Hog #1 at home pre processing, Hog #1 for dinner the night of the kill, and last but not least picture of the piglet.
Piglet has now been named Darla (farmers daughter named her) and she is doing just fine.. Yah I went back and caught her by hand and packed her out also. Stopped at a farm house on the way home from Granger and asked if they would be willing to raise her until she had at least a fighting chance to make it on her own. They agreed. Dropped off some cracked corn and mini pig feed later the same week. The last photo I posted is of Darla after week one and she is playing with the farmers dogs…. Looks like she is well on her way to a fighting chance.
Hope you enjoyed the post and hopefully for Mason and I there are many more kills to come.
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