Bowhunting For Wild Hogs - 2007
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Here's Looking (Down) At You...

July 19 - This afternoon I arrived at the Hammer Hole a few minutes after 6:00. I have two tripod stands here, one on each side of the two track woods road. My last hunted here I used the one on the south side, today I got in the north side one. It is jammed into a mature cedar tree. It's a good place but when I sat down I almost switched stands because tree's limbs had grown to the max and my shooting area was about 20 percent of what it normally was. (I should have switched.)

It was still in the 90's, a hot afternoon. A slow breeze was in the right side of my face. Later on I heard a noise in the woods directly down wind that sounded like it could be something so I turned my camera on just in case. 

A minute later movement from below caught my attention and I slowly looked down through the thick cedar limbs. Near the left leg of the tripod was the most unusual hog I've ever seen.

I quietly and slowly pointed my camera at hog and took a pic. (The boar is in there somewhere, I can't find it either.)

The hog was a mixture of black, brown, orangish and tan. But it didn't have these colors in spots, per usual for color phase hogs; instead it looked tiger-ish in coloration.  A boar, a solo one, and a big mature one too. It looked the area over and then walked under the limbs and stopped at my tripod's ladder -- and from his posture I could tell he had picked up scent on the ladder's first step.

The boar jerked around, took a few quick steps and stopped. Bingo, picture number two -- from 5 or 6 yards. Once again, the boar is difficult to see but once you make him out you can see how unique his coloration is.

He walked at the edge of the trees, stopped twice, and then started crossing the road. I was hoping he would get out where I could shoot.

Oh, oh. His nose went right to the ground -- exactly where I had walked. Picture number three. The world stood still ... just him and me ... in the same place ... on a hot afternoon ... what was he gonna do?

Instead of continuing on his course, which would put him on the trail across from me -- and in that 20% shooting area -- the boar opted for a trail 15 yards away. Limbs were still in the way. 

But he didn't run or spook. Something wasn't just right and he was leery of it. I checked the time, it was 7:41, over an hour of daylight left. This tripod has a bow holder and I put my bow in it and waited. Nothing more happened and it gave me time to think this over.

Today I had worn my snake proof boots and they are made more like heavy duty, extra high sneakers -- different than the rubber boots I usually wear. But every time I see a rattle snake I get the snake boots out and I saw one not long ago. If I continue wearing the snake boots, and I am, they are gonna go in the washing machine to be washed in Scent Killer laundry soap and hung upside down dry, outside. 

The boar walked directly down wind and didn't get a whiff of me (because I'm Nullo-ed and Scent Killer-ed up) but he picked up the scent of my boots on the ground. And the scent was faint too or he would have took like a rocket. This is a solo boar and they are the most stealthy and the smartest. And today I got outsmarted.

But I'll be back, camera in one hand, bow in the other -- and on the opposite side of the road.

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