My Furthest Bow Kill

It was a Monday night, January 18, 2016 to be exact, and I felt compelled to go out searching for hogs because I was unable to go on the weekend. I met up with Jackie, one of the girls who worked on the ranch, and we set out stalking for hogs. As we walked down the road we saw 2 big black spots running across the field in the dark; we tried to turn to cut them off but they linked up with another group of hogs that came into range before we were ready. Frozen in an open road with no cover and less than perfect wind, I stood and watched their movement. We couldn’t advance forward so we crouched and watched. Unfortunately they started to scatter, I stood and began to draw on one but they crossed a small hill and headed downwind of us eliminating any attempt of a shot.

As we made our way back down the main road towards the target feeder I saw another large group of hogs crossing the field. Once again we stopped and I watched them cross the road. This time we had good wind but they were splitting up and moving away from us. I was conflicted between continuing on to the hog at the feeder and trying to stalk this group. As I stood and contemplated, I watched the hogs; the group had stopped nearly 80+ yards away and 3 solo hogs had broken away from the group and were now parallel to us and the road. I ranged one of the solo hogs at 48 yards.

I was unsure of the shot at that distance. I practice out to 55 yards, mostly for elk hunting, but this was at night, in tall grass, on a smaller target, and out of my comfort zone. The hog I ranged moved away but another one nearby was still standing and feeding in the field, so I drew and decided to take the shot. My hope was that if I missed it would be a clean miss and the group would spook slightly, move on and we could continue to stalk to the hog at the feeder. The red light on my bow was dim at 50 yards so I took a few extra looks outside of the peep. I put my lighted 50 yard pin on the hog and released.

Although I have increased my draw weight to 47-48 pounds, at 50 yards there is still some time to watch my arrow get there. So as Jackie and I stood in the dark watching my blue lighted nock fly through the air I heard it hit! Not only did the arrow hit on the hogs left shoulder area, but it squealed, completed a 180 turn and dropped right in her tracks! As I began to freak out, Jackie was just as excited. Jackie is a hunter, but has never been involved in bow hunting and as she expressed “that was the coolest thing I have ever seen” I responded in disbelief by saying “I am not that good, they never drop like that!”

I ranged the hog again to confirm I wasn’t completely insane and it said 48 yards. Jackie tapped me on the shoulder and said “Candace, you were standing back here next to me”. Apparently I had taken a few steps forward after I shot to anticipate the hog running and I needed to keep my red light on her for as long as possible. So I took a few steps back to where Jackie was still standing and ranged again. 50 yards! I nearly fell over from disbelief but still had to finish the job.

As a bow hunter typically the only time an animal will drop like that is due to a spine shot which requires a follow up shot. With my pistol on my hip and my AR-15 in Jackie’s hands, we slowly made our way over to the downed hog. I told Jackie, if she gets up to run shoot her! As we approached I looked for my arrow in her spine but couldn’t see it. She wasn’t trying to get up but still breathing so I told Jackie to put a bullet behind the ear for our safety and to ensure faster expiration because I was unsure of where she had been hit. As we flipped her over to see my shot I found my arrow broken and bloody, lying under her body. To my surprise there was a broad head hole right in her lower shoulder where I had pierced her heart!

The rainbow effect of my arrow at 50 yards created a perfect downward angle right behind her shoulder and it had created just enough penetration to knock her down. I was completely baffled and stunned that I had just made that shot! Everyone told me I should have just said “yeah I am that good” or “I do that all the time” but my over-excitement clearly showed that didn’t happen all the time!

I practice shooting my bow quite often, I practice out to 55 yards, I even practice in the dark, but to see it come to fruition with a witness by my side, I was in heaven.

We drug her to the road and weighed her on our hitch hoist at 133.5lbs. It was officially my longest confirmed kill shot ever with a bow and one of the few shots where tracking was not needed!  I was impressed with her extremely long Russian snout and the smile on my face could not be erased for days!

Preggo Porker Part 2

 

After Friday night’s hunt resulting in a 175 pound pregnant sow (See Preggo Porker Part 1 - http://camocandace.blogspot.com/2014/09/preggo-porker-part-1.html ) and Saturday night being a little quiet, I was excited to take advantage of the three day weekend and head back out for a Sunday night hunt!

I showed up a little earlier than usual and was set up and ready before the sun went down. The trail camera pictures had been showing all the pigs coming in after dark and usually after the second feeding at 10pm; but this hunt I was in my chair, under a tree, 23 yards from the feeder by 8:15pm and it's a good thing I was there early!

This feeder has a homemade red light set up we have been trying out and it has been working great; it's a motion sensor light that comes on after dark with movement. It has been pretty helpful at getting the pigs comfortable with the red lights which are the Nite Hunter bow lights we use.

 

  

As I nestled in, kicked on the Thermacell, the the sun faded and about 8:45pm I saw a big mass moving in from my left headed straight for the feeder. It looked like another pregnant sow but it was hard to tell in the dark until she made it under the feeder and turned on the motion light. There she was, under the feeder, eating corn, facing me. I didn't have a shot!

So as I sat patiently waiting, she continued to eat, and eat, and eat! This sow was already a little spooked coming in so I was keeping quiet and just watching. Nearly 20 minutes of eating either facing me or hard quartering to me she finally shifted a little bit. My pin lights were on but I also clicked on my red bow light for added brightness. Because the pigs have become accustomed to the red feeder light, another red light doesn't affect them but makes it brighter for a more clear shot for me. I had lit up the glow in the dark paint on my peep sight with my phone and I drew back, but as soon as I drew she turned back facing me. Hold or let down? Knowing this solo sow wasn't moving around quickly (usually in larger groups the pigs will push and move each other around trying to eat and are constantly moving) I decided to let down and not risk exhausting myself waiting for a shot and it's a good thing I did. 

Another 10-15 minutes passed and she would not present a shot. Not only was she quartering to me but her shoulder was partially blocked by the feeder leg. So I waited. I just knew she was going to eat up all the corn and leave before I could get a shot. I stood up to see if I could swing around and get a better angle but as I moved right, staying in my good wind pattern, I moved out from the shadows of the tree and into the moonlight. I quickly retreated! Pigs do not have the best vision but any type of shadows will spook them; standing with the moon behind me trying to draw was not a good idea especially with her facing me and already being spooked. As I sat back in my spot I was running out of hope. It was 9:30 by now and I didn't know how much longer she would stay. 

 

Finally she started moving completely under the feeder and presenting a better angle for me. I drew and realized I had left my bow light on this whole time to keep from clicking on and off making unnecessary noise and now my battery was dead. (They are rechargeable batteries but it had been quite a few hunts since I had charged it-bad move!) It wasn't going to be as bright as I preferred but I still had the feeder light. 

She finally turned but was still slightly quartering to me but I figured this was going to be the best shot and she was moving around more which probably meant she was running out of corn. I shot (again without lighted nocks) and knew it passed through her. It was a little further back than I wanted but I saw her limping so I grabbed my handheld red light and followed her. She was a lighter colored sow so I was able to see where I shot her and the blood coming out but was worried it was too far back and might need another arrow. I had already knocked one as I followed her but my bow light was dead and she wasn't under the feeder light anymore. I contemplated trying to hold the red flashlight in my mouth while trying to launch another arrow but quickly discounted that idea for my safety and to keep from making a poor shot on the sow. I set my bow down and pulled my pistol to be ready for a possible charge. You truly never know with pigs, especially a wounded pregnant porker! She made her way under a tree and buried herself under the brush and died.

I kept the light on her and watched for about 10 minutes to make sure she wouldn't get up and leave before going to get the truck. I was solo on this hunt and knew the work ahead of me. I packed up and walked back to bring the truck with the hitch hoist because this was a big girl. I backed the truck down and then my heart sank. I finally noticed the brush she had buried herself in was covered in thorns! Just my luck! I broke off a long branch to poke her with just to make sure (while holding the pistol in my hand) before I went under the tree and into the brush in a vulnerable position.

I started backing in since my legs were covered and as the brush and thorns hit my neck and got tangled in my hair I finally got to her but only her butt was accessible and both feet were tucked under herself. So I grabbed her tail and started pulling. She moved but because she was big girl I heard her tail start ripping! Dang it! So I dropped to my knees and was able to reach back and grab a foot and started pulling. It was a struggle pulling her out without any leverage of my legs until I got where I could stand up. Luckily I didn't have to go far (otherwise I would have used my game hauler strap) because I was able to back the truck up really close. 

 

There she was! Confirmed another pregnant sow with a big full belly! Now the fun part began and I took a selfie with her! I removed the hitch and put the hitch hoist together while dripping with sweat. I forgot to mention it was 90 degrees and 87% humidity at 10:00pm so breathing was difficult and I was drenched before the hard work even began! Using head lamps and flashlights was my light source which meant thousands of gnats were swarming everywhere. I ate a few, ingested some via my nostrils, killed some on the corners of my eye and at one point went to wipe the sweat off my neck and scraped off a few hundred gnats that had drowned in my sweat! This was crazy but I was already knee deep in the process and knew when I came out here what I got myself into!


I got my knife out and cut her legs to put the Ultimate Hanger leg spreader in, attached the scale and began to crank the hoist. The first few turns were easy but as she lifted off the ground I slowed down. For the next ten minutes I looked like a crazy person pushing, pulling, putting my leg on the hoist for leverage and doing anything to wench her up. Of course I parked on a small slope so gravity was pulling her away from me (once again my luck and my fault for not paying attention but in my defense I could barely see through the sweat!)


After what seemed like forever I saw her nose pull away from the ground and start swinging (just barely but it was enough!) I checked the weight and it was about 170 pounds. Now it was time for pictures, sweaty pictures, but I had to get a few other than the selfie I took earlier. I set up the tripod and the self timer on the camera and tried my best to look decent while I looked like I had just finished swimming and my pants were starting to sag from all the sweat! Yes the glamorous side of hunting! At least my 'gnat-neck' wasn't visible! 

Swivel her in the back of the truck, disassemble the hitch hoist, the camera and put everything up and after about an hour and a half head out to deliver to one of the ranch hands! What a night! Luckily I had an extra shirt to put on because I could wring mine out with sweat! I was exhausted but felt accomplished! Another preggo porker down, another group of piglets averted from populating the area and meat for a family! Now that's a Sunday night!

 

SOSGEAR Review – Custom Paracord Rifle Sling

 

SOSGEAR is a unique company that creates custom paracord products including gun slings, bow wrist slings, turkey totes, lanyards and more. Below is my review of the custom paracord rifle sling that I received. 

Durability/Function/Design:

 When I received the paracord rifle sling I was impressed immediately with the quality and bright saturated colors. The sling was solid and stiff, yet flexed and moved with ease. The loops and knots seem to work together for durability but provided enough flex to mold to my hands and shoulder. I am not familiar with the different techniques of ‘braiding’ or ‘looping’ but it appears that this pattern is conducive to more bending and flexibility for throwing over your shoulder, hitting the woods, and enjoying the comfort it provides.

 

 I used the sling in Deep South Texas recently while chasing pigs and javelina; as I was driving around the land there were times when I needed to jump out quickly to make a move and attempt to get in range of an animal and surprisingly this sling actually made that easier. My previous nylon/cloth sling would easily wrap around the shifter of the Polaris but the SOSGEAR sling did not sag or wrap around any components of the vehicle. This may not seem like a big deal but if you need to jump out and run after a pig you don’t want your gun sling getting hung up on gas pedal, shifter, other guns, legs or anything else in your way. (I am a bit clumsy so things like this are important to me!)

 I also put the sling to test while doing a great deal of walking and stalking on a pig hunt. The entire hunt was 5 hours long with multiple stalks lasting 30 minutes or more. The sling seemed to mold to my shoulder during the long walks and remained comfortable throughout most of the stalks. I have small hands and probably not the strongest shoulders so when I needed to grab it off my shoulder the sling fit right in my hands and my shoulders did not tire from the long stalks. The paracord material sits nicely on top of your shoulder and clothes and does not ‘cut or dig into’ your skin leaving marks. Although I have only had the sling for a few months its durability in warm & cool climates seems promising and will hold up for many years to come.



Reverse Positives?

 I don’t want to use the word negative or ‘cons’ in this review because the small concerns I had will not affect everyone and are not solely the owners misstep. There were a few times on the long stalks where there was a slight discomfort on my shoulder. I noticed that where the sling connects back on itself is a little thicker and slightly bumpy from the extra material but is necessary to hold it together. It did not bother me most of the time but occasionally would move to a certain spot that I could feel.

The only other concern I had was actually just a lack of communication between me and the owner regarding the type of ‘attachments or connectors’ (D-rings, buckles, loops etc) I had on my gun to attach the sling too. SOSGEAR used quality sling swivels but unfortunately did not fit on my pre-attached loops. I made a simple modification with black cables ties (zip-ties) to attach the sling in the same manner as some binoculars have them; problem solved and lesson learned.

 

As I said the only ‘cons’ were minor issues that will not affect everyone and can even be avoided with a few questions and answers during the ordering process.

 

 

 Overall Impression

 I absolutely love my custom paracord rifle sling. I loved the colors I picked out (which were true to color in the picture and in person) and SOSGEAR provides a wide range of colors to choose from that will appeal to everyone from little girls to grown men! The prices are perfect knowing the hard work put into each hand made piece and the friendly customer service is a rarity in today’s world.

Please check out SOSGEAR at: http://sosgearmt.com & Follow Chelsea & SOSGEAR on twitter & Instagram: @SOSGEARMT

 

Lady Hunter Magazine

I am super excited to announce that I have an article featured in the Jan/Feb 2014 edition of Lady Hunter Magazine! I love hunting wild pigs and my article "The Appeal of the Squeal" captures a piece of that. I also have my bio at the front of the magazine as well!

http://ladyhuntermagazine.com/mag/janfeb2014

I hope you check it out and spread the word!

80lb Boar I recently took - Spot & Stalk at night - Mathews DXT - December 21, 2013