It was Saturday night, which for most of you know that's #SaturdayNightSwine! I was set up at the Dirty South feeder spot & Tina was at another spot waiting on hogs. Trail cameras had shown hogs coming in before dark and I was pumped! It's been a long time since I've had hogs show up during daylight hours...
About 8:00 pm, 4 nice hogs came out from the left of the feeder; I was hidden behind one bush, sitting in a chair, bow in hand. There were 2 black ones & 2 brown ones; one of the brown ones was pretty aggressive bumping & grunting the other hogs & I could see he had good teeth on him. However, in past experiences I have learned with hogs that trying to be picky can sometimes leave you empty handed because they spook each other & move around a lot eliminating shots. The plan now is to take a shot on a hog that is most calm or presents the best shot first. As I waited for that shot opportunity the aggressive one broke away from the bunch & went to the right & was focused on me, or what he thought was something suspicious.
I tried to stay as still as possible because without the cover of darkness I knew I could be exposed. Finally, 3 of the hogs lined up for a great shot & I took it. I watched as my arrow went through the first black hog & stuck in the shoulder of the second brown hog behind him! As they scattered I was shaking & full of excitement but 2 of the hogs were still hanging around in the brush. I waited but they finally left.
About 8:00 pm, 4 nice hogs came out from the left of the feeder; I was hidden behind one bush, sitting in a chair, bow in hand. There were 2 black ones & 2 brown ones; one of the brown ones was pretty aggressive bumping & grunting the other hogs & I could see he had good teeth on him. However, in past experiences I have learned with hogs that trying to be picky can sometimes leave you empty handed because they spook each other & move around a lot eliminating shots. The plan now is to take a shot on a hog that is most calm or presents the best shot first. As I waited for that shot opportunity the aggressive one broke away from the bunch & went to the right & was focused on me, or what he thought was something suspicious.
I tried to stay as still as possible because without the cover of darkness I knew I could be exposed. Finally, 3 of the hogs lined up for a great shot & I took it. I watched as my arrow went through the first black hog & stuck in the shoulder of the second brown hog behind him! As they scattered I was shaking & full of excitement but 2 of the hogs were still hanging around in the brush. I waited but they finally left.
As I sat there waiting I noticed my green lighted nock in the brush to the right of the feeder where the hogs I shot had ran. I decided to go check it before it became too dark just to see the amount of blood on it. It felt like a great shot & the footage confirmed it. As I was kneeling in the brush just 10 yards to the right of the feeder looking at my arrow, another group of hogs came into the feeder with a huge group of piglets!
Feel free to laugh along with me because here I am 25 yards from my bow, hiding in the brush with an arrow in my hand trying to figure out how to get to my bow without being seen (I had my 10mm on my hip but we have all agreed there would be no gun hunting on the lease). The only way was to go back around through the brush & hope they wouldn't see me. As I crawled through brush I was just hoping maybe if they only heard me they would think I was another hog & wouldn't spook. Somehow I made it back to my spot but on the back side of it leaving me in another dilemma. The lone bush I had for cover was my only hope but my bow was in front of my chair on the ground & getting to it would expose me if I moved the chair. I reverted back to my gymnastic days & planked across the chair while hiding behind the bush & somehow managed to get my bow off the ground.
One step down; next try to move the chair forward slightly so I have a shooting lane around the bush. I did manage to stick my arm through the thorny bush & turn the camera back on but off to my left was the aggressive hog from earlier watching me again. I looked & saw foam coming out of his mouth (which I confirmed later with a picture of some nasty slobber on the ground!). I was able to inch the chair forward just enough to get a clean shot. I launched an arrow at a small sow & my arrow zipped through her. As she ran off the piglets came right back! I grabbed another arrow & said "why not" as I launched another arrow into a group of piglets. A few ran off but they kept coming back!
I didn't want to use any more arrows on piglets because they can be hard to find so I decided to see how close I could get to them under the feeder. I began stalking to them & even though they would spook they would come right back. I was within about 8 yards when they finally decided they had enough of this game and left unwillingly. I was having a blast though!
Now the tracking had to start but let me set the tone for the weather...it had rained a little earlier in the day, it was hot with 95% humidity & every known bug in the area was out to annoy me. So lets go....
Tina hadn't seen anything yet so as she continued to hunt I started tracking the first hog. I found good blood & began crawling through the brush when I heard someone coming through the gate & a vehicle driving by just 50 yards away. I bolted out of the brush, slammed my head on a branch, saw a bright light (from the head hit, not the headlights of the vehicle ha!), & kept running to go see who it was. (There shouldn't have been anyone passing through the property however, I found out later because of a lock issue on the main gate they had to come through our property to get out a secondary exit). My spirits sank a little because they had just driven right by where my first hog had ran to. Hoping they didn't bump him I went back to the blood trail.
As the brush became thicker I was crawling on my hands & knees finding small holes in the brush to stand up from time to time to give my legs a break from being crouched down. As I was crawling looking for blood face to face with the ground I saw some eyes looking back at me. It was small & camouflaged & as I shined my white light on it, the bull bat (night hawk) freaked out & started trying to fly...except he flew right into my face! It was so thick he couldn't fly up & kept hitting the brush crashing back into me, flapping his wings, & crying out...or maybe that was me letting out some random noises as I lay on the ground covering my face from getting clawed or scratched! All I could think was Are You Kidding Me! How does this happen to me? Here I am in the middle of the brush getting attacked by a night hawk! After about 30 seconds of this going on he finally found a hole to fly up & away from me. As I lay there dripping in sweat, covered in spider webs & my arms scratched up, I just laughed out loud & realized that really did just happen!
I continued searching for the first hog but ran out of blood & decided to try to find the small sow I shot second. It had to be easier than this one & less dramatic! I went back to the feeder & immediately started following blood to the left. About 40 yards in I found her! Success without a bird beating! I searched around for the piglet but was unsuccessful, so I began dragging the sow out of the brush to the road.
I made my way back to the arrow that had hit the second hog on the pass through of the first hog. I knew I didn't get much penetration but I had to finish the job & confirm he wasn't dead or wounded. I looked for blood but didn't find anything; I followed a few paths that he could have taken looking for any signs of blood, fresh droppings or even a wounded growl. I didn't find any signs & I was satisfied I didn't do much damage because the arrow hit & fell out within 10 yards of him running off.
I had been tracking hogs for over 2 hours now & was dripping with sweat, bruised & cut up from the crawling & thick brush, oh & the night hawk attack, but I was so excited. I checked in with Tina who hadn't seen anything but figured with the vehicle driving through the property the hogs probably scattered. We loaded up & headed home...but in the back of my mind I couldn't get over the first hog not being found. It was a great shot, I had great blood & it was driving me crazy.
The next morning I headed back out to look for the hog again; it had rained even more over night & everything was wet but I had to try. I looked for another hour & found a little more blood but never recovered the hog. My clothes were soaked, my arms were bleeding again from more brush scratches & somehow a worm made its way into my boot & stung my ankle causing extreme burning pain & swelling. I wrapped a baby wipe around my ankle to soothe it & decided I had done all I could do.
Just another adventure of chasing hogs & loving every minute of it! Enjoy the video, I wish I could have filmed the night hawk attack! Maybe next time!
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