Robert met Ricky and I at our house near the DFW area. The three of us loaded our gear and made the two and a half-hour drive to the Ranch. Upon our arrival Merle Smith, who owns the Texas S, came out to greet us. After the handshakes and conversation we unloaded the truck and put our gear in the hunter's cabin and Ricky and I hit the road to hunt. Ricky and I wanted to stalk.

The date was June 20, and for those of you who know Texas weather, you know that it is blistering hot this time of year. Ricky and I had been walking for only fifteen minutes and were already drenched in sweat. The heat and humidity was brutal. I told Ricky since it was so hot I bet we could find some hogs laid up in a nice cool mud hole. There is a marshy low-lying area smack dab in the middle of the ranch and that’s where we headed.

As we approached the swampy area I caught some movement out of the corner of my eye. I told Ricky to freeze; approximately 10 hogs were making their way to lay up in the mud and shade that the swamp had to offer. The pigs were moving left to right, at thirty yards, in front of us. There were tangles and vines all over the place. It was not a perfect shooting scenario, with the exception of one small shooting lane. The smaller pigs made their way through the lane and into the impenetrable cover. 

A big spotted boar was last in order. As he neared my shooting lane he stopped on a dime and starred in our direction. I thought to myself that he probably had winded us. The big boar stood like a statue for about one minute. Then he decided to stroll in to my shooting lane. My High Country Carbon Force Extreme was already at full draw. Picking my spot behind the front shoulder I sent the AFC shaft to its mark. As the Spitfire penetrated into the boar’s chest I heard the dull liquid thud which usually indicates a good hit. The boar bolted, we heard him crash in the swamp not far from where I shot him. 

Making our way through the dense brush we found the large boar piled up in the middle of a water hole. Ricky and I high fived each other. I was ecstatic to say the least. I got on the radio to let Merle know we had one down. Merle radioed back and said he was with Robert helping him put up his treestand. He said he would pick the big boar up when they finished. Ricky and I continued hunting as there were still a couple of hours of shooting light left. We hunted until dusk to no avail. 

Arriving at camp Merle already had my hog hanging up. Robert got out the camera and we took pictures of the large boar. We headed back to the cabin and discussed the next day’s hunt while we ate dinner. Robert had set a treestand on the West side of a small lake surrounded by timber, the place looked like hog heaven. Ricky and I decided we would hunt the opposite side of the ranch, near the swamp. Then we decided to call it a day. 

The next morning came quick. Robert went to his stand while Ricky and I trekked to the opposite side of the ranch. Ricky climbed up into a ladder stand overlooking a wallow that pigs had been using. I hunted the South side of the ranch and found a thicket below a small pond that looked like a hog infested area. 

Walking through the thicket I came upon some freshly used wallows. I could smell the stench odor of pigs. Straight ahead of me I heard some noise. A group of hogs were hightailing it in the opposite direction. I was sure they had me walking in the mud and the muck. 

It was then that Ricky called me on the radio. He said "Dad, could you come over here". I figured he must have had one down but when I inquired what he wanted all he could say was please come over here. I walked back to his location. He was sitting up in his ladder stand with a big smile on his face. I asked, "what’s up?" He told me to look at the hog wallow twenty yards in front of him. Looking, I saw a wide blood trail, I could see that he had a good hit on a hog. Getting down out of his stand we started to track the critter. The pig lay in heavy brush forty yards from the wallow. He made a perfect shot behind the front shoulder. 

We all had some lunch and talked about our game plan for the evening hunt. Robert was going back to his stand, Ricky and I wanted to hunt together and cruise through the swamp area again. After our game plan was in place everyone took a nap. At 5:00 the alarm started blasting. I could hear what I thought was rain pounding on the roof of the cabin. 

Sticking my head out the door I saw it was raining cats and dogs. We decided to give it another hour or so and see if it would quit. At 6:15 it was still pouring. Ricky really wanted to hunt badly and he kept saying, "C’mon dad lets go hunting". He talked me into it. 
Getting on our gear we headed out in the hammering rain. In ten minutes Ricky and I were soaked to the skin. The rain was pounding mother earth and the wind was blowing hard. Actually, I did not think any critters would be moving. 

I told Ricky that I knew where there was some monster brush -piles on the East side of the ranch and I felt that these blowdowns might be a perfect place for some pigs to hold up while it was raining. Moving on we got within thirty yards of a blowdown when I noticed a small red piglet standing like a statue on the perimeter of a brush pile. Freezing in our tracks, Ricky and I started to move slowly in the direction of the piglet, looking for others. Twenty yards from the little guy we could see more hogs lying in the dense cover. 

Checking out the hogs closely we could not confidently distinguish their size. I moved in closer for a better look. At fifteen yards one of the big guys noticed us, he left out a big grunt and in a heartbeat the brush pile exploded with hogs running the opposite direction. 

Looking at Ricky I smiled and said, "hey we tried". The only reason we got as close as we did was because of the heavy downpour and windy conditions. 

Darkness was now about an hour away. Moving through the thick brush I noticed some movement off to my right. There were about ten hogs in a wallow enjoying the mud and the muck and the rainy conditions. Slowly I made my way to their location. One of the pigs must have noticed me because the group started moving out on a game trail that led into some dense brush. All of sudden a boar and a LARGE sow split off and headed down a different game trail. I moved quickly to cut them off. 

There was a huge tree and I got behind it. As the pigs made their way by the huge tree I had my High Country Carbon Force already at full draw, putting my sight pin behind the large sow’s front shoulder. I sent the AFC shaft tipped with a 100 grain Spitfire broadhead into flight and could tell instantly that I had a good hit. The hog ran thirty yards and stopped. I sent a second arrow and that did the job. 

The next morning found Robert back up in his LocOn Lem stand.. After a while he got down to do some stalking. He located a group of hogs and followed them for quite a ways, getting closer and closer. The hogs joined another group of hogs and they all started tearing it up in a mud wallow. Closing the gap to twenty yards Robert picked out a boar that presented a good broad side shot. He sent the arrow true to its mark and the hog was down in a heartbeat. 

Meanwhile Ricky and I were hunting down in the swamp area. After a few hours I told Ricky I thought he needed to hunt the ladder stand that overlooked the wallow where I shot the big hog the night before. Ricky made his way to the stand. I went to the opposite end of the ranch. I wasn’t gone an hour when Ricky radioed and said he had just arrowed a big pig. I told him to hang on; I was on my way. 

Upon my arrival, I could see the kid forty yards away standing over his second arrowed hog of the trip. Ricky's shot was perfect, behind the front shoulder. I radioed Merle that we had another pig down. Walking back to camp I was thinking that this was panning out to be an unbelievable hunt. So far we had taken five wild hogs. 

Awesome.

The next morning found us up early. Ricky and I already had shot four pigs so we decided not to carry our bows. We were going to walk around and maybe take some pictures. Robert still wanted to try for another pig so he headed to a stand at the South end of the swamp. He was on the stand for about an hour when a group of small hogs came to the wallow. Sitting in the stand he said he almost laughed as the little guys rolled and fought each other in the mud. Soon another group of hogs made their way to the wallow. The only difference, this time, there were some shooters in the group. The hogs went into the wallow. Robert was now looking at 35 hogs. He picked out a big brown, slick haired boar. Drawing his Browning bow to full draw. He sent the Spitfire broadhead through the hog’s vitals. The big boar was down in fifty yards. Robert came and got me. We took a group picture of all the wild hogs. Our hunt had ended. 

Robert Hoague, Ricky Philippi, Merle Smith & Rick Philippi

This was an awesome hunt. We also saw lots of game other than hogs. The Texas S also has Blackbuck, Corsican Rams, Red Stag, Fallow and Axis deer.

Merle Smith and his crew are totally professional and know how to cater to bowhunters. Again, that’s the key. THEY KNOW HOW TO CATER TO BOWHUNTERS. There are no guns allowed on the property. I would strongly recommend this hunt to any bowhunter who wants a good chance at bagging a wild hog. Good Hunting. 
 

Merle Smith

TEXAS-S RANCH PHONE: 903-427-2110 WEB SITE: www.Texas-Sbowhunting.com EMAIL: