Dad and I are leaving out in just a while for Texas. We will be meeting up with Mike and Jason again for another productive pig hunt. The story of last years hunt is here:
http://tradgang.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=90;t=000110
Sometime Friday we will commence with the story telling, hopefully with lots of hero pics!
This trip is about more than just pigs though, Dad and I will be picking up our new Dryad Bushwackers, featured in this thread:
http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=045590
Hence the theme for this years hunt: Bushwackin; em and Stackin' em! Which is exactly what we plan to do! :readit:
Stories and pictures to follow!
Im so jelious!!!! :D :wavey:
WE're back home and safe here in Texas. Haven't heard from Tony and Tony this am yet. They were laying up for the night near Little Rock I think.
We'll get the pics downloaded and the story together. I promise we won't drag the story out any longer then the 4 day hunt. LOL
Here's the short story:
Pigs, arrows, blood on the ground and a lot of wrapping going on.
Mike
Wrapping wingnut? You break dance too? :D
Brent
Brent,
That would be rapping and I really suck at that. LOL
Talked with Tony and they drove straight through to get home. It will probably be this afternoon before we get our stuff together.
Mike
What a day! I'm finally home and starting to download my pics... stories and photos will be forthcoming!
The short version: We had a great time, enjoyed fantastic company, ate some fabulous grub, killed a few pigs... and got our grubby little paws onto two of the prettiest bows that Mike and Jason have ever made! (Mines looks best!) Meanwhile we taught Jason how to wrap, while Mike focused on a new career as a rapping bowyer. (I advised him to stick with making bows, he's better at that.)
BTW did I mention that I now own the most awesome bow that Mike and Jason have EVER made?!?!?!
well I am really looking forward to hearing how my dryad loving brothers faired! Sounds like good things happened!
I don't think Mike could Wrap his way out of a paper bag. :rolleyes:
No, The osage and horn looks best, and I'm not sure that it doesn't shoot best also. Oh, Maybe that just me!
Guys the pictures just don't do these bows justice. They are the best looking bows I have seen ever. They shoot sweet they're fast, quite, and shoot where you look. I think I have just gotten the bow of a lifetime. The hunt was great the food fabulous and the drive long!!!
Ready. . .Set. . .Go!!!
The hunt really started on Monday morning when Jason and I finished packing and got on the road headed south. The plan is that we go in a day early and scout the place while getting in a day of hunting before the Arkansas flash arrives. We got delayed and didn't arrive at the ranch til about 2:30 and we headed out to get a couple of stands in place before hunting time at 6:00 pm.
We used two spots that have been good for us in the past and were easy to setup. Our favorite stand set is the top section of a ladderstand in a thick mesquite with cover from a persimmon tree or two. We got back to the bunkhouse and changed into the light weight camos for me and Jason put on his new gilly for a first try.
Off we went and settled into the stands fast. 15 minutes latter the ranch manager makes his corn run driving the ranch roads at 25 mph with a trickle feeder running. He speeds by and leaves 20-30 kernels in the dirt 12 yds in front of me. That'll do I think as I hear him speed off. I think he's just a frustrated red neck that wanted to drive Nascar.
Ten minutes later I hear heavy footfalls and an occational crunch of corn coming from my right. I can only see glimps to the right about 20 yds out. Lots of cover is a good thing. Finally I see movement and get my bow in position. Something is coming and it sounds BIG!!
Then I see it moving gracefully into my window. Dang a European Red Deer is a lot bigger then a pig at 12 yds. Two Stags jsut startting to grow antlers walk through the two shooting lanes without seeing me. This is good!!
An hours passes and I hear pigs stirring somewhere behind me. And I hear them splashing in a wallow that I know is 50 yds back. Another 15 minutes pass and the shadows fill the trees as the sun slips over the horizon. It's pig time and I have a good feeling. As the light gets dimmer, I hear the tell tale grunt of a pig to my left. . .then another. I hear there feet on the road and crunching of corn. My vision to the left is slightly better as I stand to ready the left shooting lane over a persimmon tree. Then there are five pigs in sight . . four black and one liverspot and about 60# each. . .perfect! They keep coming and are fighting over who gets the next corn as they come into the shot window. The lead pig is broadside as I draw and release. A rush of pigs in all directions and then all is quiet. I look to the road where they were and my arrow is in the far bank. Hmmmmm! I get down and inspect it. I guess I decided to pass him up at the last moment. . .High! Dang it!
Jason had much the same luck that evening with pigs presenting and being passed. I guess we should shoot more and build fewer bows.
Darkness falls without any more pigs and we hit the rack at 11:00.
Mike
While Mike and Jason were hitting the rack, we were cruising TX trying to decide how far we could go before we stopped for rest at a motel. We drove until 1:00a.m. that night before finally rocking out.
BTW Have I mentioned yet that I killed Hog-zilla? I'm getting ahead of myself, but let me tell you that I have killed a TROPHY, possibly a record book hog!
:thumbsup: LOL!
OK, Lets see this zilla thingy-majiggy, record book sumtin or nuther. :D
I am listening....ready for more...
:campfire:
At 05:00 the alarm goes off and we are up and at em again. We head to the other end of the ranch for a little of what I call run and gun. We take a stool and a pair of clippers. Setup in a hole in the brush and get after the pigs. I find a nice spot where a dozer pushed up a birm with some brush on top. It'll do for the morning. Once again we settle in and wait for action. First I have three angora goats come from my left. Those suckers will flat clean up the corn so I waved at them and off they went. An hour goes by without a sound and I hear the crunch of corn to my right just out of sight. Sounds kinda piggy to me. So I get pig small and wait in my hidey hole. A couple minutes pass and here he comes. A nice boar about 100#s or so and he's on a mission. He covers the 40 yds pretty quick and soon goes behind the only tree between him and me. At about 18 yds he turns broadside and I come to draw again. Well I wasn't high. . .I was left. I was really trying to do as Curtis told me and break the shoulder, cept I pulled it a little and slip right in front of him. Off he goes and for the next hour and a half he would come back into sight and look my way. Woof a couple of times and turn and leave. I walked out to Jason's stand as the sun got up high and the critters settled into the brush.
Jason had a nice boar visit him that morning also and slipped and arrow right under him. So we had two hunts done and no pigs down.
When we got to camp and shot some before I called Tony to check on his progress. He was at the exit to the ranch road and would arrive in 15 minutes.
They arrived and we said our howdys and unpacked everybody.
Mike
We have pulled into a motel6 around midnight monday night only to rise at 6am tuesday morning to continue our trip to the ranch. We arrive at the gate around 9:30 am and head toward the bunkhouse at the ranch hoping for a glimps of a hog. Sure enough a few hundred yards before the bunkhouse about 10 or 12 piggies of varies sizes come out of the woods and into the road. The bows are well out of our reach but the thought was running through our minds to get a shot but that was going to be impossible. We eased into the bunkhouse area after also seeing a couple of black buck deer as well.
Mike and Jason had just come in from their morning hunt as we arrived. We exchanged greetings and asked about the morning events only to find that things hadn't gone quite as planned. We unloaded the vehicle and were quite anxious to get a look at the new bows, but we both tried to play it cool as not to show our over eagerness. We new it would only be a matter of time before they would be broke out for our inspection. Finally they were bought out and we were able to get our little hands on those beauties. We shoot them both for a while and just enjoyed the moments as it begin to sink in that they were really our bows. It was and still is an awesome thought.
We planned a little for the evening hunt and we set out to put up a few more blinds and stands to hunt out of. Tony and Jason began working on getting some strips and such put on Mike's truck and back glass. They were sharp and were making the truck really become a looker. I am sure Tony will have a few pictures a little later of these. Things were looking good and I hoped that was a sign of things to come that evening.
I'm back, I was busy fondling my new bow! Pics are uploading to Photobucket right now, the photo narrative will commence shortly... Did I mention that I killed a HUGE hog and that I have the prettiest bow in the entire world?
As dad was saying, after a short night of rest we got back in the saddle and headed into the ranch. When we pulled off of the highway and started towards the bunkhouse we were greeted with this sight:
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0573.jpg)
Things were looking good!
The ranch was quite a bit different from last year. Drought conditions had been replaced by a bright green landscape all in bloom. The ranch was beautiful and the pigs seemed to be plentiful:
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0576.jpg)
I started putting on my game face!
I don't wanna get too far ahead of the story, but I do feel like a teaser pic might be in order so here it is:
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0621.jpg)
That's what they call a bloody bushwacker!
When we got there Mike and Gerald were busy plotting how we would attack the evening hunt:
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0589.jpg)
We all said our hellos then we finally got to lay our eyes on our new bows:
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0663.jpg)
They were incredible!!!
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0659.jpg)
Unbelievable!
After we made ourselves familiar with our new bows we headed out to establish some new stand sites. We set some stands and put out some blinds. Our one major shortcoming in this hunt was a failure to take enough photos. So I don't have any photos of the newly established ambush sites but I do have this picture of Dad exiting a well brushed in blind.
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0606.jpg)
Setting these things up is an art and Mike and Jason put a lot of time and thought into the process. We learned a lot as we worked with them.
After we returned to camp Jason and I began to transform Mike's truck into a Bowyer's dream vehicle! I had a short bout with heat exhaustion, I overlooked the need to keep a constant flow of water into my system. As Jason and I worked, Mike cooked dinner, an exceptional Braised Pork Shoulder and dad shot his windtalker a little:
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0588.jpg)
The evening hunt finally rolled around and we all headed out. That first night, as would turn out, was the most active hunt of the trip for me. I crawled into my blind and settled in. It wasn't very long at all until I began to hear the unmistakable sound of corn crunching and pigs grunting. As my heart raced I began to prepare myself for the coming shot opportunity. There were 4 hogs in that bunch and they were all pretty decent sized animals. I originally settled on on a nice brown boar that I was going to shoot as he entered my shooting lane.
However, at the last minute I decided to shoot a nice black boar that was a few yards closer to the blind and trailing the lead hog by a step or two. I came to anchor and promptly sent my first arrow of the trip sailing right over the pigs back! Bummer!!! I sat there a moment and told myself, "OK, you've got that out of the way, now lets settle in and kill a pig!"
"I had a short bout with heat exhaustion, I overlooked the need to keep a constant flow of water into my system. "
Ahhh...you need momma Connie in camp!
Nice capture of that arrow in flight..or are those bows that slow hee hee (just kiddin)
DON'T STOP NOW !!!!!
Mickey,
I staged that shot and it still took multiple tries. Mike swears up and down that if Dad had been shooting his Bushwacker instead of his Windtalker I wouldn't have been able to catch it in flight. As it was I had to try to anticipate the release and shoot the pic at that precise instant. Dad wasn't aware that I was trying to catch the arrow in flight so it was purely guess work. I actually caught it twice!
Peak -- more is coming!
Picking up where I left off... I sat in my blind the rest of that evening hoping that another opportunity would present itself. Just a little before dark, I heard pigs coming again, I tried to steady my heart and focus my attention but it didn't work. There was a large sow in the lead and lots of smaller hogs in tow, I readied myself and settled into the shot. Once again I passed him up. Night settled in and the first ecvning drew to an end. Dad and Jason had experiences like mine and Mike managed to drop a pretty good boar... I'll let him tell that story,
As Tony said, we all had action on that first night for the boys. I figured that the boar I'd missed would be my advesary for the evening and at midday put up one of our double bulls right at his access trail. I figured he'd be real leary of the area of the ground blind I'd used in the morning but might be less on guard earlier in his travels. I tell you there are two things I love about the DB blinds, first they go up easy and camo well. The other is with a Thermacell you get a few hours of "NO MOSQUITOS". One thing I didn't like is it blocked the wind so it was HOT in there. I was thinking of going ISHI early in the evening but action started pretty quick.
First I had goats and sheep moving too my left and right. They seemed to not come all the way to the blind area but to cross the road on the way to the waterhole a couple hundred yards away.
With an hour of light left and the sun getting towards the horizon, I heard animals moving in the jungle to my right. This had to be the boar. I readied myself and began to remind myself to look low in the shoulder because the shot would only be 10 yds. I see movement off to the right in the small slit window. Wait a minute it's way to big to be the boar. Dang it! It's a red deer hind moving purposefully down the trail. I relax a bit, then caught movement behind the female. The boar was using it as a blocker alarm and feeding right at her heels. Smart fellow!! The red deer are pretty wary and I was afraid it would spot the blind even though we had brushed it in well. As it closed to the 10 yd shot window, it never even looked my way and the boar was confident in the deers awareness. It was a mistake and I needed to take advantage. The elk sized deer passed the window and I started to draw as the boars head entered. Dang they look big at this range! I hit draw and concentrated on the knuckle of the shoulder. At release, a loud crack, a squeel and a cloud of dust. What happened? I'd hit it alright but didn't see the arrow hit. The dust cleared and there he was down with a broken back. The arrow was high. . .again. I got out of the blind and circled to get good angle. The second arrow caught double lung and I walked away for a few minutes to let the arrows finish there job.
He was a fine boar about 100#s in the prime of his young life and will make good table fare.
I crawled back in the blind to reflect on what had just happened and to wait for darkness to fall. Soon I heard the truck off in the distance towards Jason's location so I headed down the road to see if he needed blood trailing help.
Tony had a couple of pics of this pig I believe.
Mike
Raise your anchor point big boy.
Waiting for the pics
YO TONY.....
I think tony is catching up on sleep this morning. I am sure he will be us a little later.
Lets see... a picture of Mike and a pig... might of broken my camera... it's gotta be in here somewhere... Ah Ha! Here we go:
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0612-1.jpg)
Finally, there was pig meat in camp and it looked like the pigs were going to be plentiful. Everyone got a chance to blow a shot that evening and we anticipated many more opportunities in the next few days!
While we are posting pics I reckon I could go ahead and post a good shot of the hanging tree...
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0673.jpg)
What a mess of Dryad bows!
Here's another good shot of my bow -- it's the prettier of the two!
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0595.jpg)
*****
Mike nice P I G ...Hog!!!! those are bows are some pretty!!!Marco#78
Look at that "Bow Tree". All you have to do is go out there and pluck your chose of bows from the bow tree. :bigsmyl: That is the secert of all those great bowyers they have
"Bow Trees". :biglaugh:
The next morning came TOOOO early! We piled out of bed early and headed out to our stand sites. I elected to go back to the site I had visited the night before. Surely there was at least one more shot waiting to be taken from that blind. I went out that morning and shot my bow at the target by the light of the moon and convinced myself that I was capable of hitting what I shot at! My confidence had taken a beating the night before as I shot at two decent sized hogs, yet missed my mark each time.
That morning i had the goods. Arrows smacked home right where I was looking. My confidence came roaring back and I headed out to hunt sure that if I got another chance I'd make it count. I slipped into my blind before daylight and waited...
And waited...
And waited some more. I was ready, I was shooting good, my mental state was good, but the pigs never showed up! Figures! They are coming out of the woodworking the night before when I'm tired from driving and all shaken up and jittery but now that I all settled, calm cool and collected, there are no piggies anywhere around. Me and Dad and Mike met up at about 8:30 and between us there had been no pigs seen.
We headed into camp and got ready to work some more on our "wrap" job that was going on, when along came Jason smiling from ear to ear. He scored that morning after the rest of us had given up! I'll let him tell that story...
Well Jason headed for Houston to visit with his girl so I'll fill in the blanks. He'd seen nothing for hours but had told himself that the pigs would move if he waited long enough. The other three of us were out and about by 9:30 but Jason sat it out and at about 9:45, sure enough the pig were moving. He had a group of shoats come in and mill around. He decide to test his shaky shooting with a shot at the small target and smacked it down dead center in 12 ring. The 20# pig hit the ground and stayed put. That's what we like a short bloodtrail and another pig on the ground. We're going to put him on the grill whole here soon and see if they are as good as we have been told.
Here is a pic of the wrap job on the trailer Tony and Jason were working on.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/tradgang%20pics/trailerwrap.jpg)
Mike
Man that's COOL Mike. :thumbsup:
Good picture Mike! I am pretty proud of my work but I failed to take ANY pictures of the trailer or your truck. I did take lots of pictures of your work though:
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0658.jpg)
Did I mention that I'm proud of my bow?
That afternoon before we worked on the truck and trailer we went out and found some new stand sites from which to ambush piggies. We set up a new blind for Jason and Mike and established new stand sites for me and Dad. Each place looked promising.
We quickly finished the truck and started on the trailer. While Jason and I worked Mike and Dad squared away dinner. We had ribeye steaks, corn and a medley of vegetables all prepared on the grill. I stepped out and shot a few more arrows before we headed out, once again I was dead on!
This is fair warning to Mickey and Curtis and anyone else paying attention, get ready, the Hog-Zilla story is coming up!
Cool decals on the trailer. Makes a guy want to buy another bow. Great bow pictures as well! So, wheres all the pig pics? CK
I know this thread isn't about our new bows, but Dad and I are really excited and I just can't help myself. Here's one more pic:
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0667.jpg)
*******
Pig pics coming up at the end. Story telling first.
The evening hunt was eventful for me! Before we headed out that evening Mike took the time to give us a belated explanation about Africanized Bees (killer bees). The instructions were simple... Leave them alone! Don't swat at them, don't anger them and especially don't kill them. If you do any of the above you will tic them off and they will emit an odor that attracts other bees and the other bees will be angry when they arrive. This will not be a good thing. Basically the message was, if you swat them you will be swarmed by them.
That night I made an important scientific discovery... Texas now has Africanized Misquitos! I was only in the stand a while when I made the mistake of swatting one of them. When I did I was instantly swarmed for the rest of the night by killer misquitos.
Hogzilla! Hogzilla! Hogzilla! Hogzilla!
Come on tell the story anyway.
My evening was a total bust. I went to my best spot and didn't even hear a pig. I had red deer and goats but no hogs. Mosquitos were good til my Thermacell ran out of juice with 30 minutes to go. Then the feed was on. Not corn and hogs but my blood and them bloodsucking pests.
Mike
I keep looking back at this thread, these bows are awesome looking ...great story! :thumbsup:
Gerald dropped me off at my stand that evening and everything looked and felt promising. I crawled up into my stand and felt really good about the location, the cover, and my ability to shoot. This would be the night! And so I settled in and waited...
And waited...
And waited some more. Once through that long misquito infested afternoon I thought I heard pigs but they never materialized and so I waited...
And waited...
And waited until almost dark. As dusk began to settle in I finally heard that unmistakable sound of grunting and crunching. PIGS! I prepared my self for the shot. Several times during that long afternoon I had picked a particular spot in the trail and drawn my bow to anchor envisioning the arrow sailing to it's mark. Now, with the pigs still around a bend and well out of sight I drew once more and told myself, "You can make this shot!"
It seemed like it took forever, but finally, as the light was waning a group of about 6 pigs came around the bend. I was immediately struck by the fact that they were very skittish. Coming forward 10 steps and running back 5 steps. Slowly but steadily advancing towards my shooting lane. My heart was in my throat. I tried several deep breaths to calm myself and prepare for the inevitable shot opportunity that was quickly approaching.
At this point two things were bothering me. First these pigs were staying in such a tight wad that I wasn't sure I was going to be able to single one out for a shot and secondly darkness was quickly approaching. This had to go down pretty quick.
Finally as they approached my shooting lane one of them distinguished itself from the rest as it jumped forward to grab a piece of corn. The very piece that I had sighted on several times earlier in the day. It all came together in that instant. My bow string came back, I hit anchor, and everything felt just perfect as my strings released the arrow. At that point it was dark enough that my arrow disappeared into the darkness about half way to the pig...
I gotta run and get a soda!
I heard the arrow smack home and I saw the pigs scatter, all going the same direction. After they cleared the area, I could see my arrow laying in the road! I felt good about the hit.
After a moment I heard a ruckus in the bushes on the other side of the road. A pig was squealing, and grunting and going at it something awful. This went on for some time then died down. After a bit I heard one more grunt then nothing.
I was PUMPED! I felt very good about the shot, I expected to go down there and find blood spray from a heart shot. So I waited as long as I could, then I headed down to inspect my arrow. When I got there I found blood smeared down the length of my arrow shaft, but surprisingly no blood on the ground.
I began to check the edge of the trail looking with my flashlight for blood sign where the pigs entered the brush but I couldn't seem to pick up anything. I was confident that I had heard the pig die, it had to be laying within 50 yards of the arrow...
Then along came Jason.
Jason isn't here so I'll relay the story as he told it later in camp.
As darkness fell only a couple of pigs had crossed in front of his blind none presenting a shot so he started the 500 yd walk towards Tony as they had planned earlier. As he approached the stand he could see Tony in the road and boy was he excited. Tony closed the gap between them and started telling the story at 78 speed. Jason said Tony told him about the shot and that the hog was average size about 60-80 pounds. After the shot he was sure it had traveled 50yds into the brush and had squeeled and grunted for 15 minutes at least.
As Gerald picked us up on the other end of the ranch and cut across the middle to Tony's stand we hoped that he had got a shot and connected. As we approached it was obvious that he had.
The story spilled out once again and the tracking dog was released to pick up the trail. Gerald asked about the shot and the entry into the thick cover. He started looking for blood only as a guy that sees bloodtrails every week can. Soon he had the trail and walked 10 yds and said "here it is" He grabbed it by the leg and managed to drag it up to the road by himself as we moved to try and help. There was a lot of celebration and laughter. We helpped load it on the truck and head for camp.
Mike for Jason
Man was I pumped! What a shot. I nailed that pig... Only problem was just a little ground shrinkage. Somebody let all of the air out of Hogzilla.
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0690.jpg)
No complaints here though! That joker is gonna be good on the BBQ!
I coulda swore that little dude was a GIANT when I loosed the arrow. I'm blaming the shrinkage on the fast approaching darkness, excitement, and any thing else I can come up with... LOL
I'm thinking new Avatar with that little dude, seeing as how he's my second trad kill and all.
Dang that was a fun time in camp giving Tony the business about his monster hog and the inflated story. We need to wipe the milk from it's lips before we took the pictures but it was a heck of a shot though.
On to the next morning, we put Tony Sr in our new blind location after he'd seen pigs the night before from a stand and no shots. I sat the stand he'd hunted that night and Tony and Jason headed back to the same stands. We were hopeful the pigs would move before we had to pack and go home. My mornign starte promising with a large pig grumbling at me from behind as soon as I got in my stand. I tried grunting at him like Curtis but he held his ground and soon moved off. A few minutes later I could hear a group of pigs moving in the brush to my left but when they got to the road, they turned the other way and that was it for me for the next 3 hours.
After the sun got high in the sky, I decide to walk out to the other end of the ranch and start pulling stands and blinds to make it easier to pick up later. I got the first one done and was walking along towards an intersection when a group of 10 or so pigs rounded the corner the other way. A large sow as in the lead with two more large pigs behind. At least 4 more in the 50-60# class and a few weiners. I tried to get on a good sized boar but they broke back to the right before I could shoot. I got to the corner and could hear them in the brush 50 yds ahead. I got "hog small" and the stalk was on. I caught glimpses of the them moving in feeding in the knee high wildflowers and kept trees and brush between them and me as I closed the distance. They began to head towards the road as I got the distace to about 15 yds. I hunkerd next to a mesquite hoping for a shot.
One of the large pigs poked it's head out of the brush and stepped one more time. I could see the vitals and looked low on the shoulder as I hit full draw. When I felt the broad head touch my finger the arrow was off and so was the pig. The arrow caught it high and back. As it turned away I saw the now familar spray of crimson in the sunlight. I knew the woodsman had once again severed the artery under the spine and this would be as short trail. I went to the first blood and marked it with an arrow. I then headed for camp to share the story and to share the trail with my hunting partners.
After finding Jason and Tony coming into camp we headed out to pick up Tony Sr. Then off to the trail. It was just as I thought and as we turned the dogs loose it was about a minute before we heard the telltale barking of a dead pig.
She hadn't gone 50 yds and was a nice 150# sow.
We took a few pics and grabbed a leg. This one was a bit tougher to drag then Tonys.
Mike
That moment was the highlight of my trip! I was very pleased to, once again, bloody my new Dryad bow with a South TX pig. We retired to the bunkhouse for Strawberry Shortcake, everyone but Mike who has slight issues with Strawberries. We still have one more outing and there is more pig blood yet to be shed.
TEASER AHEAD! :readit:
Here's the lucky arrow:
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0609.jpg)
How about a couple of misc. pics:
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0600.jpg)
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(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0579.jpg)
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Oops, Mike and I cross posted... that's his arrow, which goes with the story he just told!
I think the pig posted before with me was actually the sow and not the boar but it don't matter. Here are a couple of shots we took and I know Tony has a few of his own to share.
Here are the small game hunters with there prizes
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/tradgang%20pics/tonyandjasonwithpigs.jpg)
I can't hit anything that small and was having enough trouble with the big ones
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v79/mwestvang/tradgang%20pics/mikeandpigs.jpg)
Mike
OK Hog pics...
First off the whole bunch of em...
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0701.jpg)
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And the group shot:
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0710.jpg)
What a happy bunch of hunters! We had a great time...
Dad and I together:
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0713.jpg)
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My last morning passed with no pigs. It was the only hunt that I left my camera back at camp and the only hunt where I was surrounded by exotics. I saw every species of deer possible and had some trophy Angora in my shooting lane but never any hogs!
The crew from Arkansas had a great time. It is a long drive, but it was definitely worth the effort. Good fun, good food, good fellowship and some unbelievable stories. We made some great memories and we transformed Mike's truck and trailer. I'm sure Mike will get a pic of the truck posted sooner or later...
Can I post one more shot of my Awesome bow?
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0646.jpg)
Thanks! I knew you all would understand...
Gotta wash the truck and trailer and take some good pics of the new artwork.
We had a great time too and am sure we'll hook up for another adventure next year. We already are planning a javie hunt with Curtis in January.
Mike
wait...Mike has an issue with strawberries?
2nd pic up from last pic on page 5 looks like a couple of me's and mini me's LOL
Congrats group, looks like ya wiped out a sounder!
:thumbsup:
A couple of my pics from my camera.
Mike with his pigs:
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0696.jpg)
Me and Jason with ours:
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0685.jpg)
Future plans will be made and hunts shared... We've had a great time thus far! Dad said he'd be on in a bit to share things from his perspective.
Yep, Mickey they were matched pairs:
(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0678.jpg)
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(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/IMG_0677.jpg)
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First let me say that the hunt, trip, and hunting experience were all a great success as far as I am concerned. Anytime a father can take a hunting trip with one of his children and share the excitment of a good hunt with a good kill it is forever a good day. To see the sun rise while sitting on a stand anytime is a thing of beauty and a thing to give thanks for which I do. Not long after arriving at camp, the first evening hunt was upon us and we were all excited and expecting many good things to happen. The truck dropped me off at my stand and I waited for the first action of what I was sure was going to be real regular this trip. I hadn't sat in my stand much more then an hour when I heard the unmistakable sounds of piggies coming up the road from my left. I had already seen a couple of deer and 3 goats. The goats seemed to somehow know that I was there although I didn't know how. Later I learned that Mike had had a little go around with them the night before. He had helped them decide to move on before they feasted on the corn in front of the stand. They came looking right at the stand and it kind of made me wonder if I was somehow exposed from that direction. Anyway, as the pigs came closer I had decided to let them pass my first shooting lane and move into my second lane so as to get the best angle for a shot. They came into view -3 pigs about 50 or 60 pounds apiece all bunched up. I drew about half way and swallowed my heart to get back down where it was suppose to be. My hand suddenly seemed awful wet even under that glove. The little pigs were hopping around staying bunched up and I was trying to pick one out to shoot at. They were in my first shooting lane and in my mind I began to think what if I was somehow exposed from there. I was watching and waiting when one of the pigs laid back while two went ahead and he turned a little where he was a little quartering away. All in one motion I finished my draw, picked my spot, hit anchor and fired. The little pig seemed to jump the string and turned just as the arrow slipped beside him for a near miss. If he had only turned a little the other direction he would have turned into the arrow instead of away from it. Oh well! thats hunting!!! Did not get another chance that evening but felt that that was not a problem because there was going to be plenty of time to get another shot.
"That's hunting..." LOL Seems to be the story of my life!
The next morning did come awful early. Tony had driven 12 and half hours to get there and had only gotten about 4 or 5 hours sleep that night. I thought about shooting that rooster that was going off at 5am. We made it to our stand and watched an awsome sunrise in south Texas. But for me that was about the highlight of my morning. I set the stand did not see or hear anything that made me think pig. The morning was great just not with a pig to claimed. The mid day was a time for Tony and Jason to work on the truck and trailer. Mike and I went out to move stands and blinds for the evening hunt. We now had several situps and they were all well brushed in and well hidden in excellent positions. After a good meal we went out to our evening stands expecting again good opportunities for success. I was in a good position with good cover and had narrow shooting lanes. I was expecting to down that hog for sure that evening. I sit untill near dark with nothing then suddenly I was sure I could hear piggies coming. I carefully stood as I had seen that I could see anything coming around a bend in the road through the limbs and leaves if I looked closely. Sure enough there were 3 of them making the bend and one was a dandy. I mean one was a real big hog not a piggy but a hog. The other two were not any small thing either. As they moved down the road I knew that they would disappear behind some real thick brush and as they did I sit down to ready myself for the ambush. Listening closely and waiting for the hogs to reappear I noticed that all of a sudden the sound was moving away from me. They had stopped and turned away and as far as I could tell left the way they came. They new that I was sure to make things right this time and they were smart to leave. For me the rest of the night went uneventfully, but Tony had gotten one and my day was made by that. Success is sweet especially when it comes to someone that you love and respect.
ttt
Back up again for those that may not have seen it over the weekend!
Sounds like a great hunt.... Kinda hard to beat having the Westvang crew in camp....... :thumbsup: Great stories guys thanks for taking the time to share....... Terry
Dang.... I didn't mean to kill this thread... :bigsmyl: Terry
Terry,
You didn't kill it. It just ran it's course.
Mike