Join us as Fred Lutger, David Mills and Robert Hoague go for the Grand Slam this Spring. Our plan is to begin in Florida in mid March and move on to Nebraska, Texas, Missouri, Illinois, Ohio and Tennessee. Look for the daily updates, lots of on the spot pictures, and plenty of video for BowTube.com as the hunt progresses.
Wade Nolan's Writers Camp - Mike Strandland Reports By Robert Hoague
Apr 12, 2008 - 7:21:15 PM
Mike Strandlund
The first afternoon Mike hunted a treestand in a partially open area. Several groups of wild turkeys came through but they picked up on Mike. In the morning he set up a ground blind in the same area. Some turkeys came past him 100 yards away. Mike called on a Woods Wise box call and right away a gobbler busted into a strut and the group started coming back toward Mike's position.
The strutter looked like a mature gobbler. When the group got in range the strutted dropped its fan and Mike lost track of it in the group. Mike yelped and a birds strutted again, still within bow range, but Mike could tell by its fan that it was a Jake. Mike wanted a mature Tom. The birds left.
At a new stand in the afternoon Mike hunted a ground blind at the edge of a small valley. A group of young pigs came through at last light. A larger hog was with them but was moving and Mike could not get a shot. Finally it stopped in the open at 20 yards. Mike shot through the window in the blind.
He could not see the arrow hit but heard a solid thud followed by a shower of sparks. Mike stepped out of the blind and found his bloody arrow. Justin and Billy Joe drove up and they put Tater on the trail.
There was a good blood trail as they trailed the hog. But when it jumped up ahead of them they decided to continue the search in the morning.
The next day Tater went back on the trail and it took them directly to the hog. The hit was low behind the shoulder and the trackers were amazed at how far the hog had been able to go.
Mike said, "I wondered how the hog had been hit so we examined it and that told the story. I have been reluctant to use mechanicals on wild hogs but this Grim Reaper 100 grain RazorTip zipped through the hog so fast that when it hit the rocks on the other side it made a shower of sparks."
Pictures were taken and then Mike skinned the hog and butchered it and everyone returned to hunt headquarters.
