Tuesday, April 15 1998: 
Another Boar  Hunt................Susan Lagazo 

Our first wild boar hunt  became known to a lot of archers at the Big Apple Archery Range particularly among the bowhunters group. Two bowhunters, Mike and Felix approached me during a 10 minute break one Thursday night and inquired about joining us on a boar hunt.  Both of them are experienced deer hunters and have taken numerous trophies in the past and decided bowhunting for Russian boar would be a great new experience. 
 
My husband Armen and myself decided to go and meet the others at the hunting ground on a weekend. Aside from replenishing our freezer with boar meat, my goal was to bag the biggest Russian boar Armen and I could find for mounting (trophy). 

Our friends, Mike and Felix both arrived at the preserve ahead of us and had already had dinner when we got there. They were briefed by their guide about their hunt the following morning. We all went to the field range behind the lodge to check our gear, shoot some arrows on a ram target and make last minute adjustments to  our bow sights. We discussed strategies and techniques the night before the hunt,  finally  arriving at a plan and decided  to call it a day. 

We all headed for the woods at 7:30 the next morning right after breakfast as planned.  Armen and I had taken Rod Gilbert to be our lead guide. Somehow Rod had this ability  to remain silent and communicate clearly with hand signals. "We’re splitting up into two groups before we go into the woods" Rod said as he gestured toward the dim forest. Mike, Felix and their guide Cliff Smith veered Westward while Armen, Rod and I proceeded North.  I was familiar with this kind of enveloping maneuver as it was similar to one of several search and recovery techniques I learned when we took our Scuba Divemasters’ Course in 1983. The only difference was we were on solid ground and not underwater. We were not establishing an underwater grid pattern to locate a stationary missing object but  were establishing the location of a moving target. We wanted the target to come to us by driving and moving the unseen animals toward the northwesterly direction up to a certain area where either of our two groups could flank them within shooting distance. Cliff’s group (Mike & Felix) would veer north and Rod’s (Armen and myself) would switch to a westerly direction half an hour later as planned, hoping the animals, if there were any, would move and root toward the northwesterly direction. 

About an hour later after we turned westward, I saw Rod freeze, signaling Armen and myself to stay down and seek cover behind nearby trees, which we cautiously did. There were two huge Russian boars rooting 100 yards away as they lumbered slowly toward us. Our hunting strategy was working. Cliff’s group was 300 yards away from us. They spooked the animals as they stalked opposite our location when Mike tried to get a shot at the bigger animal. The boars smelled and then saw them before they could get in position for a shot. Mike and Felix tried to outflank the animals who kept moving away every time they tried to close in. Mike knew that our group was in the area where the boars were heading and since the spooked animals were too far from them and alerted,  he did not pursue the chase. There was no way they could  get closer to those boars at that point. 

The boars kept coming slowly toward my husband who was ready with his 70 pound Hoyt Super Slam bow nocked with a 2117 aluminum arrow tipped with a 100 grain Rocky Mountain Premier broadhead. The two Animals were not aware of  our presence as they drew closer.  I honestly wished that the moving game would be shooting distance from me. The desire to be the hunter was very strong within me. My bow was ready as I watched Armen and the prey  slowly cross path. I wondered where he would hit the animal. 

The boars were facing toward my husband and the only vital part exposed from his point of view on the leading animal was the spine. A two inch wide vertebrae slanting upward from the base of the head bending horizontally towards the tail. A left or a right miss was a big possibility at that distance unless the animal gets real close. Suddenly, both animals stopped at 20 yards and raised their heads up as if aware of our presence. They had caught our scent. I saw those now familiar snouts twitching, sniffing the air as they looked around.  As soon as Armen saw the unknowing targets start to retreat,  he stepped backward behind the tree trunk.  Cautiously he pulled  his bow, aimed toward the bigger boar who simultaneously  turned, exposing his left side. The arrow disappeared in the lung area, came out the other side and hit a tree. The creature growled, jumped and ran 50 yards downhill and went down in a shallow stream. 

It was a 225 pound Russian boar. Reddish in color with long tusk and back bristles so thick it looked like a bear. It was one of the biggest and the most elusive boar in the area. Numerous attempts by a number of hunters in the past failed to bag the animal and Armen had scored. 

The hunt came to an abrupt halt. Somehow I felt that the day was lacking the excitement I anticipated. My husband looked like he was given a pep shot in the arm. The rush that came was all he needed to make his day! He was ready to pack up!  "What about me?" I thought with envy and felt the sudden shame of how I was feeling! "Of course I was happy for him", as I rationalized my thoughts. I can't believe that in a matter of  a short time my better half met our goal for this hunt...a real trophy! "We were at the right time at the right place"! 
 
My companion for so many odd years somehow read my thoughts and obligingly suggested that I should take a chance to hunt for a better trophy.  I agreed with so much enthusiasm . I felt like a kid given the freedom to explore and play for the rest of the day. 

I asked Rod if there were other Russian boar of the same size in the area that he knew about.  He pointed out that there were only a few and Armen’s was one of them. He added, "Just try to avoid the meanest in the pack if you see him, he’s as big as the one your husband just shot and will charge anybody he sees."  I looked at my husband with twinkling eyes.  He knew what my eyes were trying to imply. He knew I’ll go for that wild animal. "Let’s set up a tree stand" my husband suggested to Rod our guide. 

"We have set up a couple of stands a few months ago,  we will set up Susan there." Rod replied. 

The tree stand was 10 feet high above the ground near mud wallows deep in the woods. It was a perfect setup. Rod asked me to climb up which I hurriedly did. He also asked my husband to go up and sit on a branch by the platform. "You don’t need your bow, there’s no room for you to draw, just hang it on a branch down here." Rod asked Armen. I sat comfortably on the tree stand platform seat and My husband, with both feet dangling, sat on a branch by my right side. "I’ll leave you two here while I scout around."  I gave Rod my Maxon voice activated radio. "Call me if you see anything." Armen said as Rod started toward the downhill terrain on my right. 

"See anything Rod?" Armen asked over the radio. "Nothing big." Rod replied. We had been up the tree for a while, enjoying our whispered conversation when Armen noticed a flock of eight turkey coming toward our tree 60 yards away.  They were picking the ground for food as they came closer. They were all around below our tree stand shortly.  "I’ll get that one."  I whispered. "No!, we don’t want that, hold on!" my husband insisted.  The flock moved on after a while.  We were getting restless.  Patience I guess is one of the keys to a successful treestand hunt. 

We lost radio communication with Rod. He was probably somewhere below and beyond the hilly terrain around us. From a distance, a boar, a sow  and 8 piglets appeared and rooted for a while 30 yards away from our right side then disappeared back into the woods where they came from. Shortly afterwards, we heard grunting sounds coming from behind on our right. A whole pack of more than a dozen boars some 80 yards away where slowly approaching our tree stand. 

They came to within 40 yards of us, digging the ground with their snouts for food. "Not one of them matches the one you got." I whispered. Three more animals appeared from the same direction to join the rest of the pack who were now all around my treestand, unaware of our presence.  I focused my eyes toward the newcomers who seemed to get bigger as they came nearer. To my amazement, the leading boar was as big as the one Armen got earlier, had long tusks and was so mean looking. He was the leader of the pack apparently.  My heart was pounding as I whispered, "I’m not waiting for Rod. I’ll take that one now!" Armen held my arm and said,  "Hold it, wait till it moves to your left." Armen knew that I would be in an awkward position if I tried to  take that boar on my right side, 18 yards away. The branch he was sitting on was just next to my right arm and very close to my line of fire. 

We waited and waited for the boar to come around until I got worried the animals might run away if they smelled our presence. "Now!" I said quietly as I carefully stood up, slowly twisting my upper torso toward the right as I pulled my bow. Armen leaned back as far as he could to give me more room. The arrow flew straight, I saw it fly, I was anticipating the shot. 
 
I heard a loud growl as the Rocky Mountain broadhead penetrated the right pork chop area of the animal, too high. The boar jumped and ran downhill toward the woods as I stood on the tree stand with eyes wide. It was over confidence on my part. 

We came down the tree after 30 minutes to follow the boar cautiously. There was no sign of him. Armen got radio contact with Rod and asked if he saw a big Russian boar with an arrow on the right shoulder running downhill with the rest of his pack. Rod confirmed that he saw a big animal fitting my description. 

We met Rod and he said. "You just did it.  That was the boar I was telling you about." Rod said excitedly.  We learned further that the boar had a reputation of charging anybody he saw without provocation.  That animal was the leader of  the pack and would not allow any intruder to even come close to them. It was obvious when I saw him from the tree stand.  He was huge, alert and very protective of  his group as they moved.  Rod advised us to stay close to trees while we were tracking the boar. Rod, as always was 20 yards ahead of us, crouched low as he threw rocks toward bushes, wallows and old fallen trees that were possible resting places for those creatures. We tracked and looked around for about an hour without success. "Be alert, he’s more dangerous now that he’s wounded." Rod whispered. He then insisted on going back to the lodge. "We’ll come back for him with the dogs, we have a better chance of finding him this way." he said . 

We came back with three dogs. We brought them to the tree stand area where I shot the boar. The dogs sniffed around for a while, then started barking. "Stay close to trees." Rod yelled as we follow the dogs and after a short while, both Armen and I were exhausted. This new experience of hunting with the dogs left our tongues hanging out because of fatigue keeping up with the fast chase. We heard the dogs barking frantically not too far ahead of us. "Get behind that tree by the stream Armen." Rod said. He signaled me to do the same as I followed 60 yards behind my husband. "Your Boar is getting ready fight it out." Rod added.  "Wild boars can outrun dogs in short distances but dogs can run longer and will not stop until their quarry gets cornered." 

As Rod had predicted, my boar was singled out by the dogs away from his pack. The animal did not appear to be hurt at all. The arrow had pulled out of the right shoulder and there was no sign of bleeding. My shot hadn't had any effect on him. The boar crossed the stream as the dogs surrounded him. He stood his ground ready to fight and in one quick motion, turned around and swung at the dog close behind him.  His sharp long tusks hit the dog in the neck area, tossing him up high in the air. The animal landed a few yards away with a gaping neck wound but came right back at the boar who was swinging left and right at the others. The dogs backed off a few feet away waiting for an opportunity to attack while circling the cornered animal who was really agitated. At that point, the boar saw Armen with bow in hand, 20 yards away across the stream waiting for a clear shot.  The dogs were too close to the cornered animal, he did not want to shoot at that point for fear of hitting one of the dogs.  The boar charged my husband whose feet seemed to be nailed to the ground. But Arman side stepped behind a tree before the fast charging boar could hit him. That was a good move. At that speed, the boar did not have the agility to execute a sharp turn and do damage. The animal, with all three dogs chasing it, flew past Armen and on toward my position. It slowed down and turned around 35 yards away from where I was to ward off the canines behind him. The dogs knew the ferocity of their opponent so they just kept their distance, circling cautiously. 

I inched closer to the boar for a shot. I kept on getting closer, looking for an opening while the chase dogs circled their adversary. I got carried away and quickly ran out of protective cover. I noticed as I got to about 20 yards away from the boar that the nearest tree was some 15 feet away from where I was. I suddenly realized that if the boar would charge me at that very moment, I would be overun before I could get behind the nearest tree for cover.  The thought was scary and the wild animal knew I was there. He was just too busy fending off the dogs who were all around him constantly sneaking from behind. 

Sensing  my predicament, the dog handler called the dogs to break off the fight. The canines retreated toward him leaving the boar out there facing me, all by himself. That was my cue. Already at full draw,  I tensed up my back muscles as I placed my sight on the right side lung area as the boar turned toward his left. This time I did not see the arrow fly. All I heard was a shrill sound and as I was recovering  from the shot, I saw the animal rear backward with the white feathers of my arrow sticking out behind the front leg elbow, right on the spot where I aimed. The big boar fell on his left side and it was all over a few seconds later. 

I wanted to collapse as I stood alone in that clearing, totally drained of energy, shaky and in need of my husband’s comforting arms at that very moment. I took a glance at him as he came to me while letting down his bow....We embraced....He knew I needed him. 

"Nice shot Sue".  It was Felix with Mike following close by who just came out of the wooded slope.  "We saw what happened from up there."  Mike said as the ATV driven by another guide passed by with his deer and Felix"s mountain ram on it. 

I learned later on that Felix shot and missed a boar earlier. He had the animal on his sights, broadside 25 yards away when the creature, together with two others smelled his presence and turned toward him, all three seemingly ready to charge him at the same time. There were no vitals to shoot at since all three animals were facing him. He knew a head shot was not proper and would only wound the animal. He had been at full draw for a while, still undecided whether to shoot or to back off. Then a boar gave him a shot oportunity and he took aim, but the boar on the right charged toward him and Felix's shot bounced and ricocheted against rocks, and fortunately scampered them all away. He just wanted to get out of the line of an impending charge. 

Felix decided to take the next game he could find and thus bagged a marvelous  ram. Felix was more than happy with the result of his hunt. 

Although we knew the dangerous predicament of Felix facing three charging boars, we made fun of the situation  back at the camp.  "I’ve seen men and I mean real men wet their pants in the same situation before they ran away. I just hope you brought an extra pair of dry pants with you Felix." Rod said jokingly as Felix & the rest of us burst into laughter tucking the whole hunting experience in our memories. We all knew that these memories will be told over and over and over again!!