Bowhunting For Wild Hogs - 2003
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Lots of wild Hog action this year.

2003 Wild Hog Bowhunt In Progress

Sept 25 - There's A Red Hog Over Yonder

I put my bow in the truck and started out to the Hammer Hole, 200 yards up the road I saw a group of hogs cross the road. So I made a guess where I could intercept the hogs and walked there quickly. GO

Sept 23 - Hogs Eating A Deer!
Driving back from the Red Barn Restaurant this afternoon I saw a bunch of buzzards just off the dirt road. I checked it out and was surprised to see a huge wild boar on the carcass of a doe deer. I returned with my camera. Two boars were eating the dead doe and 7 other hogs were hanging close. When I was almost close enough for a picture the wild hogs spooked. 

Sept 20 - Back At The Hammer Hole
I figured a surprise visit to the Hammer Hole would put me in the middle of some wild hogs. Not so today! But there is plenty of wild hog action all year.

Aug 9: Hammer Hole on Saturday
One word covers this afternoons action: none.

Aug 8: Eyes In The Tops Of Their Heads!
First a little rustle in the brush, then a fat wild boar was moving along the edge of the woods to my left. It cut into the trees and stopped 4 yards from my tripod leg. I swung my camera up to my eye. Too fast ... the boar bolted and ran into the brush behind me. He grunted loudly and several others joined in. I've taken lots of deer pics in the same situation and never been busted. Hogs act like they have eyes in the tops of their heads. That was it for today.

August 7, Slew Hole Hogs Give Me The Slip ... Not !!!
I settled in at the ladder stand at the Slew Hole. Later on I heard a group of wild hogs and spotted them, but they were going away from me instead of toward me. So I quietly got down. They were on the hillside so I used the woods road that runs through this slim strip of woods. The road made for fast and quiet going so I located them, and followed along down hill. I took this picture as the shadows were getting long. 
Dried leaves were on the ground so both the hogs and I made noise as we walked. But I made a noise that they heard and one of them, a boar, turned back in my direction, looking for the source of the sound. To The Hunt...

July 29, Hammer Hole: The search
As I drove by the windmill at the top of the hill I saw a funnel of buzzards in the Hammer Hole area. The spotted hog was almost totally eaten. I don't think the buzzards had time to do that much damage, my bet is that the hogs we ran into last evening picked it to the bones. (Wild hogs are cannibalistic.) The sight was too unpleasant for a picture.
July 28, Hammer Hole: Surrounded by hogs
Another hot afternoon. About 8:45 I heard and then saw a group of wild hogs coming in the brush ahead of me. I clicked my camera on and held it out one handed, there was not enough good light for a decent picture. A line of young hogs filed by me 10 yards away, in the Hammer Hole woods road. Behind them was an adult black hog. My brain was picking out the vitals, when ... Grrrooowwwwl !! The hogs were as startled as I was. They scattered. We all watched a big, gray & black spotted boar enter the road. 
I drew as it turned broadside and my arrow went exactly where my pin was. The boar ran into it's back trail and I heard it go down loudly in the brush. 
Then I got my friend Perry Wicker to help recover the hog. Back in the brush our flashlights lit up the eyes of more wild hogs than you want to be in the woods with in the dark. The hogs stood their ground, grunting and growling at us. "Lets get out of here," Perry said. And we did. We'll get the hog in the morning.

July 23, More Food Plot Action

Four does and 2 fawns were in my food plot area when 3 does ran through the group, with their flags up. All the deer exited. Soon 8 wild hogs trotted up to dig up my seed again. I slipped out to my photo blind. First I took a picture of the biggest hog. (To put the size of this hog in perspective, the hog to its left is in the 100 pound range.) That done, I drew my bow to shoot the big sucker. To Pics & The Hunt

July 22, Hammer Hole: Up A Tree - 106 degrees this afternoon, sweat beads trickled down my back while I waited. A lone hog came up right behind me just after 8:00pm. It snorted and left. (Smelled me.) At 9:00 distant hogs squeals were getting closer. Again, hog snorts in the brush. But this time the hogs didn't leave. Instead they spread out in the thick brush all around me, grunting, growling and popping their jaws. A large black shadow appeared on the edge of the woods road and walked toward me and stopped 3 steps from my tripod. I couldn't see my pins any more. Darkness settled in and grunts, growls and squeals continued for a long time. Eventually I heard hogs on the opposite side of the woods road, they had finally crossed it. Their sounds faded away. I counted to 200 without hearing any hog noises. I needed to get out of here while I had the chance. It was so dark I couldn't see the first step on my tripod so reached in my pocket and got my flashlight. It was dead. I eased down the tripod steps anyway. Even in the dark I followed the road ok. When I got to my truck its clock read 10:12. 

July 17, 2003 - At the Hammer Hole I have two tripods set up, one on each side of the woods road. Today I used the one on the South side because the wind was blowing South and I wanted to avoid the possibility of my scent floating across the road. The temperature was 92 with light gusts of wind, it wasn't bad. A perfect day to hang out with a wild boar. And I did...

Something is always going on in the woods. True, things may happen at a slower pace than some would like, but once you get over the hurdle of today's "gotta have it all right now" attitude you learn to appreciate what is going on around you. And you get to be a part of, or at least a witness to, wonderful things that scads of folks never experience. Here's one of those things. 

July 15, 2003 - I'd like to say this was an easy find, because it should have been, but the truth is I walked all over the place ... in the wrong direction. Which seemed like the right direction at the time because after my shot the entire group of hogs took off straight South. 
I was certain this was good hit so I didn't expect the hog to be very far. I walked South to a nearby brushy draw for a look see, and when I saw some buzzards sitting in a dead tree I feared the worst. Here's what happened...
July 14, 2003 - Yesterday the group of wild hogs returned to my food plot. This time I did not take any pictures. Instead I picked up my bow from the get go. I took a shot at one of the big boars. To The Beginning of the Hunt.

July 11 , 2003 - Morning
Several deer,  a young buck and 4 does, were in the area at first light. Daylight was coming on very slowly and I was real sleepy feeling so I set my alarm for 15 minutes from now and took a short nap. When the buzzer went off I checked the food plot area. Wild hogs were there again. The big ones. I jumped in my camo pants and shirt, pulled on my boots and grabbed my bow and camera. My plan was to do what I did the first time I saw these big hogs -- sneak out to my storage shed and then sneak up to my photo blind. In two minutes I was looking around the corner of the storage shed. I took this picture, and ...

July 8, 2003 - I got to the Hammer Hole early. While I waited several deer snorted and spooked. My scent elimination program was not working so hot today and I considered leaving. But I didn't. Good thing too, because near the end of shooting light I heard grunts and growls of wild hogs and they were getting closer. A bunch of young hogs, 30 at least, came down the nearest trail to me, 5 yards away. The deep grunts and growls continued and got nearer. TO THE HUNT...

Wild Hog Picnic
The wild hogs are on still in the area this year. The neighboring rancher had a bunch of wheat & oats that he couldn't plant so he spread it on our dirt road so his cows could eat it. That night, just as it got dark, we saw over 300 hogs on the road. 

July 7: Wild Hogs In My Food Plot
As I glassed a few does through my back door window, unexpectedly, a group of wild hogs rushed out of the brush. Yesterday I had broadcast 2 bags of oats in my food plot area and they ran straight to it. This bunch did not have the the usual little porkers with it either, they were all decent sized. And 4 of them were very large. (I got pictures.) Quickly I jumped into my camo clothes, yanked on my boots, grabbed my bow, and eased out of my front door. I figured I might be able to work myself within bow range. I started slipping. NEXT

July 5: Young Dudes & Wild Hogs - Contd.
Ricky and Billy left for the woods at daylight. They are going to stalk around and try to locate and hunt some hogs. Wish em' luck. The last time Ricky was down he did real good hunting them this way during the day. Today they saw lots of deer but no hogs.

July 5: Young Dudes & Wild Hogs
Saturday: I drove teenagers Ricky Philippi and his friend Billy back to the Hammer Hole area this afternoon. (They came down to bowhunt hogs this weekend.) Nothing moved for Ricky at Rick's Casablanca stand. Billy had a group of hogs come up downwind, but they smelled him and moved off.

July 3: Back At The Hammer Hole
High 90's this afternoon, a hot day for sure. I guess I was the only thing awake at the Hammer Hole. As I put my bow in the the back seat of my truck I heard a group of hogs grunting and squeeling in the distance. So they are still around. I'll pay 'em a visit real soon. 

June 24:  Close Call At The Hammer Hole 
This afternoon we had a sparse rain and it was still overcast when at the Hammer Hole. It was a pleasant but slow afternoon. One deer walked by on a trail some 40 yards away a little after 7:30. Shortly after the sun set I heard hog movement in the brush ahead of me. They approached directly down wind. Several hogs came to the edge of the brush and turned toward me. I couldn't shoot because of cedar limbs on the tree my tripod is wedged into. Four were adults and one of those was a spotted hog. In seconds they would walk right under or to the side of my tripod. A large black hog was in the lead. I found a space in the limbs and pushed my bow arm out to be ready to draw. I let the black hog pass. He stopped a yard from my tripod ladder. The spotted hog's nose entered my shooting space. I drew. The black hog caught the movement and bolted a few yards into the brush. The other hogs scattered, but only a short distance. I waited. They waited. A few minutes later the black hog grunted and walked away. The others followed. I'll be back tomorrow.

June 15: The Rattlesnake Hog!
(5:05pm): I'm back home from Chicago. It's been raining a bunch here (not normal for this time of the year). I'm getting ready to go to the Slew Hole to see if it has filled up any. Then I'll sneak around looking for wild hogs. Also, if I see any, take pictures of deer.
Two adult sows and twenty or so young pigs came in sight. I took 2 pics of them. Then I quietly slipped my bow off its hook and drew and shot the largest hog. When I took up the track I had an unpleasant misadventure and became the hunted, but not by a hog, by a rattlesnake. TO THE HUNT & PICS.

May 30 - The "It Can't Happen" Happens
It was a hot 98 degrees at the Hammer hole this afternoon. It cooled down some when the sun teetered above the tree tops. Cows munched their way into the general area. I've observed that hogs are unconcerned about cows so I didn't run them off. As shadows filled up the pockets of daylight I heard hog squeels in the distance. Next thing they were coming up the trail by my tripod, lots of them. I got ready to draw. Some hogs turned into the clearing to my left where some cows were and I heard deep hog grunts. A big tan cow got crazy, she bellowed right in the faces of the hogs, ground shaking loud. All the hogs stopped. The tan cow charged the lead hogs. They retreated back to my trail.  I needed them 5 yards closer. They grunted, she bellowed. And the hogs left. Amazing!

May 26 & 27 - At last good light Monday I saw 5 hogs uphill coming slowly and carefully down the trail near my stand at the Slew Hole. One hog was off white, that's rare. When they got to me the shadows were dark and I couldn't make a safe shot. Tuesday found me at the Hammer Hole and I was all that was there.

Hogs Everywhere! The Photos ...
On the 25th I stalked a group of wild hogs and got at least 40 of them. I managed a few pictures. When I finally got a shot it was half an hour before dark and I decided to look for the hog in the morning, so I marked the spot with pink florescent flagging tape to use as the starting point when I returned. The next morning it took 20 minutes just to find my pink flagging tape. But that's getting ahead of my brief photo story. Here is the Hunt... 

May 23 & 24 2003 - A Lull In The Action
I hunted the Slew Hole & Dry Tank. No wild hog action.

May 22, 2003 - The Black Hog Hang Up-er Returns
I switched stands today. The same black hog returned and spent almost an hour walking around near me in the heavy brush. It grunted and growled over and over but it didn't give me a chance for a shot.

May 21, 2003 - A Black Hog Hangs Up And Out
Nine pigs walked by my stand by the woods road. A large black one followed. I'd heard them coming so I was ready. Two steps from getting an archery lesson the hog grunted and backed up. Then it walked around me for 20 minutes, grunting and growling the entire time. The brown and black hogs from yesterday came next, they didn't pay attention to the other black hog's grunts. I drew to shoot the brown hog. Woops, the black one made me and retreated and the brown one trotted into the brush. Eventually the original black hog got right under my cedar tree, growling away. Darkness came and the hog moved off. (I had cut cedar branches and put them around me for cover but the wind blew them down. I'll put more up next time.) I got down and picked up Tony Dukes. He zipped this afternoon. 

May 20, 2003 - The Hammer Hole Blues
I heard light rustles in the grass at 6:45pm and two boars, one black and a larger brown one with a long snout, walked right under my cedar tree onto the woods road. The black one winded me and they trotted off. Fifty minutes later a group of hogs walked behind me and winded me. Today I didn't take the time to shower. I should have. Tony Dukes hunted the dry up tank. No hogs showed but he saw a very large bodied buck with beginner antlers in velvet. 

May 18, 2003 - Spotted Boar At The Slew Hole
93 degrees but off and on winds and the shade kept it ok. Early this afternoon I had come here to put staples in the fence post wires near here so I can start slipping into the Slew Hole area my favorite way, low impact. As the shadows grew longer I concluded that the hammering had moved the hogs off for the day. I began my traditional slow count to 100 before I made the noise it takes to get down and leave. A step in the leaves stopped me cold. I waited ... and saw a spotted boar, a large one, downhill, walking along the edge of the woods 15 yards away. TO THE HUNT

May 16, 2003 - Back At The Hammer Hole - Just before 7:00pm I heard the high pitched, piercing squeals of young hogs in the brush across from the Hammer hole woods road. Eleven young pigs trotted out onto the road. I took this picture of the young pigs under my tree. A fat gray adult hog was right behind the 11 pigs. TO THE HUNT
May 15: Hammer Hole:
Nice afternoon. A little hot. No wild hogs.
May 13 & 14 Bowhunt At The Slew Hole:

With wild turkey season over I was anxious to hunt the Slew Hole, the new area I scouted near a hog wallow and slew. At 6:30pm I was in my stand. The first visitor was a raccoon and I took it's picture. Then a large group of wild hogs filed down the trails to my right and in front of the stand and I got 4 pictures of hogs around me. Then I swapped my camera for my bow and took careful aim at a black hog. My arrow hit right and the hog rushed toward the fence to the coastal field. Hogs scattered everywhere. A little before dark I got down. I expected the hog to be in the field, but it wasn't.To The Pictures & The hunt.

May 11, 2003 - Ricky Philippi and Blaine Cobb went to the rock ledge area to wild hog hunt. As they walked through the long narrow area they spotted a group of hogs bedded in a thicket. They stalked them. Blaine slipped up on a sleeping boar and arrowed it. The boar leaped to it's feet and stood still. Blaine shot again, a perfect double lunger, and the boar ran 15 yards and toppled. Here's Blaine & Ricky with the boar.
Guys: Here are wallpaper sized pics for your computers.
(1024x768), (800x600), (640x480)

May 9, 2003 - I was bowhunting wild turkeys and it was just before roost time. My Double Bull ground blind was set up near the river and I was yelping to see if I could stir up some last minute gobbler interest. I did, butnot the wild turkey kind. Thirty yards away something moved in the brush and I focused my binoculars on it -- the ears and eyes of a wild hog. TO THE HUNT.

May 3 Afternoon: A bearded hen hung out in the area. A couple of far off gobbles was the whole boy turkey show. A huge wild hog crossed the open area across from the stock tank. I waited until dark, listening for gobbles. None. When I got to camp the Duck had butchered 2 of the 3 wild hogs he got this afternoon. He had called in a gobbler earlier, but Don was in a treestand and the gobbler saw him and spooked. So the Duck got his Double Bull blind from his 4-wheeler and when the wild hogs came in he shot this one. They didn't leave so he shot 2 more. 

April 3 - All It Takes Is One Mistake
Poof, a wind gust shoved some cedar limbs backward and I saw down the trail to my right. Up the trail 35 yards, a black boar stepped silently into the trail's path. I froze. Soon I picked up spots of black moving closer. The boar stopped behind my other tripod and looked up at the empty seat. Then, it walked to the other side of the cedar where the tripod is that had me in the seat. I felt every second pass. Until, through the limbs below me the boar's black body came into view. The problem was it was  only a yard from my tripod leg -- and this hog had busted me before. NEXT

April 2 - A Hog For Mrs. Wicker
"My mom wants a wild boar," said my bud Perry Wicker. "Ok, the next one is hers," I answered as I turned the keys in the ignition. The days are getting longer but eventually it was "hog time" at the Hammer Hole. Almost on que, noises of movement came from behind me and I peered through the cedar limbs to check it out. A bunch of wild hogs were huddled in the tall, dried grass of the 30 yard open area to my rear. I counted 35 in all. To The Hunt...

April 1, Boared At The Hammer Hole: 
A faint noise came from the brush in front of me -- it could have been anything. Minutes later a black boar walked out from beneath the low limbs of a cedar tree. To tell the truth, it had been long enough that my brain had drifted out of "alert mode", the boar surprised me. To The Hunt...

March 15 - Into the hogs again
I glassed a group of wild hogs from the hill top by the Strip. They were at least 200 yards away om am area with small open spoaces between cedar trees. I slipped inside the the thick woods of the Strip and made good time closing the space between us. However, I overshot the hogs a little bit. Soft hog grunts gave me a direction to go and so I slowly worked my way through the cedars. A black boar was the first hog I saw. Two Pictures Tell The Story. 

March 14 - Hogs Come To He Who Waits!
I parked in some trees and walked to the dam on the biggest stock tank on the property. Downhill, in an open meadow I saw several small wild pigs. Larger figures came from behind the leaning tree. Hogs. The hunt was on!  Pictures As Patience Pays Off. 

Mar 10: Stalking Wild Hogs ... Again
I got out late today and drove toward the Point. A lone black wild hog in the cedars caught my eye. Several minutes later I found it and took the boar's picture. Just then a few more hogs walked out of the brush and joined it. They were 35 to 40 yards away and I needed to be closer so I used the brush for cover and moved in. As I closed the gap a couple dozen little pigs walked up behind me. The little pigs squealed and a bunch of hogs left me standing. I gotta tell you this is fun stuff stalking these wild hogs. Sure, the last week they've given me the slip ... but the tide will turn ... cause I'm like Arnold, I'll be back. Life is good.

Mar 9: Back In The Back
Driving back to the Hammer Hole I saw the black boar from March 2. I stopped, grabbed my bow, and circled ahead of him. I got lucky and saw him coming my way, so I stepped behind a cedar tree and waited. And waited. I peeked around the tree. He was broadside about 15 yards away, looking behind himself. So I took a step to get a clear shot ... one millosecond later his head turred my way. He snapped to alert. And stared at me. And visa versa. After a while he woofed and briskly walked away

Mar 8: Now I've seen it all!
Careful and quietly I slipped up on a black boar walking in a dry creek bed that goes to the area we call the Strip. The hog moved into the clear 15 yards from me and I started my draw. Just then a large calf (also black) bounced up (yes, bounced) to the boar and kind of hippity hopped around it. The hog walked away with the calf following it !!! (I'm still laughing.)

Mar 7: Hogs In The Tuning Fork
Late afternoon I drove around, very slowly, to see if I could spot wild hogs in the Tuning Fork, a brushy area along the edge a 300 acre grain field. I took the ranch road and when I opened the gate a herd of hogs, all sizes, trotted across the road and went into the woods. So I drove down to the field and proceeded along its edge. Several hundred yards later I saw a lone black boar standing 15 yards inside the woods. It was watching my truck so I kept going until I was 70 yards past it. I grabbed my bow and stalked within range of the boar. But the hog started leisurely walking on a trail leading into the thick brush. There were trees and vines between us and I just couldn't put together a clear shot. But, now I've got a now place to hunt!

Mar 6: Rabbits, More What Eats Them ...
Years ago I saw a hawk swoop down and yank a rabbit completely off the ground. That rabbit screamed bloody murder. Today at the Hammer Hole I heard that unforgetable sound in the dense brush to my left. It didn't last long, though, and I figured I'd never know what got the rabbit. But I figured wrong. Twenty minutes later a Bobcat walked out of the same brush and paused at the end of the woods. Then it turned in my direction and stopped directly below me, right next to the ladder on my tripod. I could see the round dark gray spots on it's long body. After surveying the area for several minutes it moved on. (No hogs today, but driving back home I saw two groups in my headlights.) 

Mar 5 - Perry Wicker sat on my tripod at the Bigfoot stand watching over 20 wild hogs walk along a trail some 40 yards away. They disappeared from sight and Perry searched the brush for them. A noise to his left caught his attention. A young hog stood broadside in the nearby trail. Perry is a new archer but an experienced rifle hunter, he knew what to do and did it. The arrow went over the hog. Meanwhile, 100 yards away at the Hammer Hole, I heard the shot. And the second shot. When I got to his stand Perry was on the ground and held an arrow in his hand. "I missed him twice," Perry said. "I've hunted all my life and I've never been so pumped. This bowhunting is awesome. I can't wait for another chance." 

Mar 5: Rabbits, What Eats Them, Contd.
A rabbit raced past the tree my tripod is in at the Hammer Hole. Behind it, and closing fast, was a hawk. The rabbit dove into a basket ball sized hole in the brush 20 yards away. The hawk went in right behind it. I moved to get a better view, to see if it caught the rabbit. And the hawk came out through the hole. As it got closer I clearly saw it's wings flex and launch into a glide. It's talons spread wide. I realized it was coming right at my head. I ducked to the left and the hawk veered up and away. The only thing I could figure was it saw my head move from the hole and came for it. No hogs moved today but the hawk definitely made it an extra cool afternoon.

Mar 4 - Late in the afternoon Perry Wicker and I drove out to the Point to look for hog sign -- tracks and rooting. We saw the best kind of tracks, ones with 3 wild hogs standing in them. We stalked upwind of them. (Perry had his bow and I had my camera.)  We were 50 yards apart when Perry got within shooting range of a large, fat black boar. When he drew the hog made him and it ran, in my direction, not just kinda either, I mean right at me. I stepped back into the cedar next to me and pushed the camera's On button. The hog blew by an arm's lingth away and I got a brutally out of focus picture of his rear end. (But it was very cool to be there.) Soooo, there are hogs here too. I like that because there is more open space between the trees here than at the Hammer Hole -- stalking works good here

Mar 3 - Today's rain storm stopped mid afternoon and I went to the Hammer Hole at 5:15pm. I switched stands to catch yesterday's wild boar unaware. I heard him before I saw him, just a soft "sniff" as he drew in air. I eased a peak back over my shoulder (the upwind direction). He was a few yards behind my tree, wiggling his nose in the air, checking my scent. Excluding the sniff, he had come up without a sound. He stood there a couple of minutes and I played the only card I had, the freeze card. But the hog walked away. He didn't have a positive ID on me or he'd have ran. This boar is both cautious and stealthy. Good, maybe I can get a rematch.

Mar 2 - I don't know what made me turn and look to my right just then, just dumb luck I guess. Through all the limbs and brush and sapling trees there was a black object, not really identifiable, just a blob where I didn't remember one being, 15 yards away. Soon it moved and gave it's outline away, a black boar. It took it's good time but finally walked past me on the trail 6 yards from my tripod. Quickly, I took this picture and the one above and got my bow. I drew. The hog moved even closer to me and twigs were in the way. I raised up in my seat so I could shoot over them. Bad idea. The hog picked it up and trotted back up the trail. It stopped where I originally saw it. We both waited. Then the hog moved on.

Mar 1 - I jumped up 2 hogs on the way to the Hammer Hole. One group came through the area around 5:30pm but they were on a trail 50 yards away.

Feb 26 - Tracks In The Snow
I dropped Perry Wicker off at the hammer Hole and I skulked around the fence line in the Back 200. Because of the snow it was easy to see where the hog's fence crossings are. Lots of tracks. No hog sightings.

Feb 25 - Snow and Hogs!
My bud Perry Wicker and I drove around on the ice and snow in my warm truck looking for hogs. They were easy to see in the snow on the dam by the properties biggest pond. Perry slipped up on them and last minute he got busted. They ran off and we didn't see any others.

Feb 24 - What's that white stuff?
Yesterday's cold wind dropped the temperature to 19-degrees this morning. This afternoon at hog hunting time icy sleet was falling! No hog hunting today.

Feb 23 - Back at the Hammer Hole.
Ten minutes after I sat down in my tripod the partly cloudy sky cleared, the wind got up, and it got cold. Then I heard hogs in the brush, when they got close they stopped. A hog popped its jowls. They waited. I waited. They left. 
On the way out two hogs ran across the road. Right now my hunting clothes are in the washer, getting fixed for tomorrow's hunt.

Feb 22 - 3 days of rain showers cleared the ground of all tracks. So I spent the afternoon in the Back 200 searching the brush for hog sign (or hogs). I didn't see or hear anything. (Surprise!) The rain stopped this morning, either they haven't moved since or they've moved on.

The Photo Bloopers

I've had to learn to how take pictures of myself with the game I harvest when I am alone. It's simple enough, you put the camera on a tripod, frame everything up, push the photo delay button ... and run like the dickens to get you and your bow behind the animal, looking good, before the picture is taken. Sounds easy, and of course it is. But there are always bloopers. I thought you might enjoy getting behind the scenes on this Feb 11 wild hog hunt photo shoot. START HERE.

Feb 11 - Keep Your Eye On The Rabbit! 
I parked my truck near the windmill and started toward the Hammer Hole. A group of hogs, 10 or 12, crossed the woods road 50 yards ahead of me. Two were spotted, gray and black. I moved briskly but quietly into the brush and cut them off, but they got past me. So I started back to the road. Bingo, another group of hogs were on a parallel trail. I followed them. Soon I saw our property's boundry fence and quickly moved to it, thinking I might get a shot there. The hogs got there first and started under the fence. I drew my bow. Rats, now they were all on the other side. I didn't want to shot one on the neighbor's place so I let down.
I know this area well so took a trail that went to the area where my tripods are. 
An instant before climbing the tripod a rabbit hopped out of the brush and stopped. It stood erect, loooking into the brush behind it, with it's ears tilted forward. Then it ran away. Something was coming.
Climbing the tripod was out, that would make noise. I stepped behind the legs, which put cedar limbs all around me. I hooked up my release and waited.
Without a single sound a large boar walked around the cedar I was hiding in and stopped slightly ahead of me, only 6 feet away. (And not looking in my direction ... yet.) I pulled to put tension on my bowstring so it would draw without making noise and I drew -- half expecting the hog to hear it turn toward me. But it didn't. I aimed for the lungs and triggered my release. The arrow hit hard with a loud crack. The hog ran into the woods and fell, loudly. It jumped back up and ran, only to fall again. It growled and I heard branches crack and then the woods was silent. It sounded like the hog was down close to the Hammer Hole crossing. It was still early so I went after it. NEXT...

Feb 10 - Some days you have all the luck. 
Some you don't. Today was a have day. I worked my plan and switched Hammer Hole tripods. The sun was slowly dipping into the tree tops on the western horizon when I heard distant grunts behind me. This time the wild hogs did not miss me, they came right next to my tripod. I clicked a picture of several pigs. A boar walked out of the brush behind me. I took the boar's picture and hung my camera strap on my knee, my bow was already between my legs and I hooked my release on my string loop. My arrow slipped slowly and quietly across my rest. The boar was a couple of yards from a tripod leg. This sharp angle was perfect for a lung and heart shot. I aimed for that and locked my sight pin on this vital zone. And touched my release's trigger. The boar ran into the Hammer Hole woods road and suddenly fell. I snatched up my camera and took it's picture 20 yards away. Today's boar is my first wild hog of 2003. This picture of me and the hog were taken right where the hog fell -- only a few minutes ago. You know what? I'm gonna be back here tomorrow afternoon.

Feb 9 - Ahhhh yes, February, there couldn't be a better time for a bowhunter to check out the Hammer Hole for wild hogs. I have 2 tripods set up there. I saw one group of hogs traveled through the brush right by the tripod I was not in, 3 adult hogs and a bunch of young pigs. Tomorrow I am switching stands.

Wild Hogs Bowhunts In: 2002 | 2001 | 2000

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