Well it has been a long week and one I will not soon forget...
Being a principal gives me a nice week off in spring for break. Years back my father and I had planned to go on a Texas hog hunt every other year during this time. Well the last trip we took was four years ago so we were over due. Not to mention the last place we hunted was a complete waste of time and money.
A week ago Friday I was as anxious for school to get out as the kids. I had yet to pack and was going to spend that night packing so that I could get an early start on the 1300-mile trip to Uvalde, TX. That night however we had a girls soccer game so I opted to watch it until dark and then would pack. During the game I had a report come to me about a couple of kids messing around by our Ag and Welding shop. I went to investigate. As I approached the building I saw the 3 students run off. Something in my gut told me to inspect closer. As I walked up all the doors to building looked closed, but I soon saw smoke pouring out of our FFA live stock trailer. I hurried inside and found the trailer filled with smoke and saw some small flames. I got the hay fire put out and called the police. Long story short we spent the evening searching for the kids. I knew who 2 of the 3 were and had a good idea who the third was. At 8:30 that night I finally give up looking with the cops for the kids and went for some dinner. During dinner I got the phone call. Police caught the kids, had confessions and were pursuing charges. The main culprit had intended to set the trailer on fire because he had his phone taken away earlier that day. There were 2 bales worth of loose hay he tried to start on fire, plus 6" deep straw on the floor for bedding. Had I been 5 minutes late, we would have lost a $14,000+ trailer.
After that mess I finally got on the road around 8:00a.m. the next morning. On my way to get my father I saw several bald eagles, including 6 in one tree. I saw 2 yotes, and lots of deer. The first day of travel was uneventful other than a nice 300"+ 6x6 we saw from the highway and a small sedan car towing a full sized blazer down the road. We did have this copter fly over as my dad and I loaded up his stuff. We would see that same copter 3 more times across the state.
Saturday night we spent in a hotel in Dumas after about 12 hours on the road. The next day we had 7 hours to drive to Uvalde. We made the trip and actually elected to spend the night in a little mom and pops hotel in Sabinal. On Monday morning we got up hit the sporting goods store and bought our licenses. At noon we sat anxiously waiting our guide from Pope Brothers Guides to meet us at the subway.
Soon Holly Pope showed up in a blue suburban. We followed her to the feed store where she picked up 20 bags of corn. Then we headed north into the hill country. After a 30 minutes drive we turned off the highway on a little 2 track road. I immediately liked what we saw. It was a beautiful river and creek bottom. It was filled with lush green fields of oats. After crossing a creek we passed the main ranch house where Clay and Holly lived with their 2 daughters. We then proceeded up a little hill to the "Lodge". The lodge was great, it was a 5 bedroom Double wide. It had tons of beds, a large kitchen and dining area. It also contained 3 bathrooms. We unpacked and got settled in. Clay planned to take us out at 4:00 and set us on stands. Before he came to get us we sighted in rifles and managed to have our first “Big Game” game kill. This thing was huge and visited our living room as we rested up.
Despite trying to get it to leave was had to kill it. My father did the dead, he was to much of a wimp to pose with it in his hand.
Just before heading out Holly arrived with dinner/late lunch. It consisted of nice big grilled burgers and French fries. We filled up on the grub and heading to the stands. Now if only the weather could hold out.
The weather report had been calling for thunderstorms and rain that night. I spent the first evening in a double bull type of blind. It was very comfy and set just off one of the many large fields of oats. The blind was strategically placed up in a transition area from a river bottom to the field. There was a pig pipe for feeding and some hog sign at the feed area. As the sunset I could see game moving all around me in the brush. I could also hear turkeys gobbling all over. As I sat in the blind I got excited as the first animal materialized from the heavy cover. The really cool part about hunting this ranch was the abundance of game. Being low fenced free-range hill country you never really know what critter may step out. They had lots of Axis, Whitetail, Sitka, plus several other critters I have never seen. So when the first critter stepped out it was a huge let down. I watched as a young bull elk jumped the fence into the field adjacent to my stand. The ironic part is traveling over 1300 miles to Texas only to see an elk.
I watched the bull for a bit while turkeys, axis, and whitetail poured into the field and were eventually covered by the darkness of night. Just as it got dark the weather decided to make the weatherman an honest person and it decided to rain and rain and rain some more. Luckily both my father and I were in good blinds and kept dry. After 2 hours of nonstop rain Clay showed up and decided to pull us from sitting and watching nothing. We went back to the lodge had a few snacks and waited for the rain to let up.
As we sat Clay explained that hogs in his area tend not to move much in the rain, but as soon as it stops the hogs tend to come out thick. At about 10:30 the rain gave us a brief window of dryness. At that we hopped in the truck and made our way to a feeder he had timed to feed at 11:00. We arrived in the dark and snuck our way into the feeder just as it went off. The feeder went off, but nothing showed after 1/2 hour. We snuck back to the truck and went up higher to another feeder. When we hit the feeder with light we saw a grey fox. Earlier that week I emailed Clay explaining that I would love to get a grey fox in order to check it off my predator list. In addition to the grey there were 1/2 a dozen coons stealing corn. The fox took off once the light hit, but I decided to try and lip squeack it back. That when one of the largest coons I have ever seen came down a tree ready to attack. It charged fast and headed straight for Clay holding the light. I was ready to shoot, but Clay was still hoping to see the fox he said not to shoot. It was an intense few moments as the coon looked ready to crawl up Clays leg and have some twig and berries. Eventually Clay and I, despite being nervous as [beeep], managed to win the standoff form 3 feet and the coon turned and went. It was pretty intense.
After the coon experience we headed back down off the mountain country and were going to Safari Style hunt the low country around the oat fields. It was amazing to see all the game in the fields in an hour of spotlighting I bet we saw easily over 200 animal of all makes and models. We even managed to jump 3 smaller hogs. I jumped out and opened fire on the pigs. I hit one hard on a dead run from about a 100 yards out. It flopped around and we thought for sure it was dead. I began reloading my 223 when it got up and took off. At that the weather decided to be a pain again and it started raining hard again. We never did find the pig; it was only about 100 yards onto his property and made a dash to the fence. Clay then gave us the option of finishing the night on the stands or hitting the sheets. We decided to hit the sheets. I am glad we did as it rained all night, sometimes really hard.
The next day saw cloudy skies and cold temps. When the sun poked out we did some target shooting. Again we had great food that morning and for lunch as well. That evening the skies started to clear a bit and things were looking promising. After a good dinner we headed out for stands. Clay set my dad back in the stand he sat on the first night. The pigs hit that stand hard after we called it night. Clay then stuck me up on top of the property at a stand that had also been being hit by the pigs. From the stand I had about 60 yards to the feeder. The afternoon passed without incidence. As dark settled in I heard a ruckus in the brush. I readied the gun and my light force light in anticipation. By the time I slid the gun up the pigs appeared. I picked the largest one out as it turned to face me. Despite the low light I was still just barely able to see my cross hairs. I centered on the pig and pulled the trigger. Bang flop. The remaining hogs scattered. I sat quietly in hopes they may comeback.
At about 11:00 Clay came after picking up my dad and they were excited too see the pig lying in the middle of the road where I had shot her. She was a great sow, tipping the scale just over 150 pounds.
After picking me up, we again went down lower and hunted the lower fields safari style. We did not see any hogs, but did again see several 100 other critters. After making the loop with the safari style hunt we opted to spend the night in the stands. Both dad and I sat from 11:00 until 7:30 the next morning. No pigs came at all. At that time it was clear that despite the fact that my father and I were having a good time, Clay was not happy with the lack of pigs. He told my dad one way or another he would go home with something. That afternoon we prepared for our last night of hunting. As we ate some really good chicken fried steak, potatoes and gravy, Clay told my dad he could take an axis deer doe if he did not get a hog that night.
That night Clay had intended for us to sit on 2 stands with lots of hog sign, but the wind was way wrong. We ended up in a couple stands on the opposite side of the ranch. That evening I was anxious as the sun set I could hear pigs all around the stand. Despite hearing hogs all around none ever came into the feeder. At about 9:00 I heard my father shoot. Shortly after the shot I heard a very big sounding hog run behind my blind and up the hill. Clay had picked up my father, because dad was developing a bad headache. When they we coming over to check on me they spotted a huge hog. My dad had shot and missed. Since he was not feeling well he opted to go in and sleep a bit. At 10:00pm Clay and I left the house to go and try for a fox. The first spot produced nothing. The second stand had a fox show up really fast then disappear. We kept calling and had a second fox show up. I shot at that fox and knocked it down with my 223. Clay jumped out quickly and hustled down to get it. When he got about 5 feet from it, it jumped up and hauled butt. We never did recover the fox. So 2 stands called 2 fox, one shot and lost. The next stand we set up and had a fox show up right away. I shot and missed it at about 10 yards. I got too excited. In that stand we called 2 fox as well. So 3 stands, 4 fox 2 missed shots. The next stand we made right in front of the house, I had a fox show up across the [beeep] on the other side of the creek. I took the shot and this time I connected. So 4 stands 5 fox later I had my first Grey fox and with very little effort. It was a pretty fox, however I managed to get its tail wet. Thus it looks a little rough.
After getting my fox we made the rounds with dad, trying to find either an axis doe or hog. No luck, mainly due to the fact that I had shot the place up for fox. He offered to put us on the stand for the night. I had already got a hog and a fox. I was good. I was really more worried about my dad getting something. My dad had succumbed to the fact that he was not going to get a hog, but was actually looking forward to getting an axis doe. So we made a plan to sleep from 2:00a.m. Until about 6:00a.m. Then we would get up and try for an axis doe. We got up and started hunting at daybreak. Unfortunately we never did see an axis doe.
Despite being our last day I was not ready to give up yet and wanted to try a little still-hunting. Clay had over 100 acres of brushy country near the ranch that we had not touched. He felt that there was a good chance of pigs being in the area. I decided that we needed to spend the last few hours hunting that area. I was going to "bird dog" for my dad. My dad found a high spot and I basically started working my way through the brush. The chunk of land was pretty thick with a main dry creek bottom running through it. It was a great set up. Any pigs in the area had to go past me or past dad. I worked the brush hard for about an hour with no luck. It was getting hot and I was starting to doubt our chances of succeeding with our last ditch effort, despite seeing pretty good pig sign. I had actually given up and was walking the last 200 yards up the fence line, to my father, when the hunting got hot. I was still out of sight of my father when the brush 20 yards away exploded with pigs. I sat for a second listening and trying to get a fix on the direction they were headed. All of the sudden a good-sized pig stepped out about 70 yards away. I swung the gun and squeezed the trigger. The pig sprinted back into the brush. Sure of my shot, I loaded another round and waited for another one to step out, but it never did. I went up and found my second hog. I drug her from the brush to the fence. Then heard my father fire 2 shots from his vantage point, shortly followed by a 3rd. I hustled up the fence to find my father with 2 smaller piglets on the ground. He stated that after I shot there were 12 or more piglets erupt from my direction. His first shot missed, but the other 2 landed. After we gathered the 3 dead pigs to an area where the truck could make it, we had one more little area of the property to check. I had dad stay on the fence line and I was going to work the brush again. My dad started up the fence and I made my way down into another little gully. In the gully there was a ton of pig sign. The ground was rooted all over the place. Just above me in between my dad and i was a steep hillside covered with juniper trees. It was the perfect bedding area. Cool breeze, lots of shade, etc. I knew there had to be a pig in it. Unfortunately for my dad he had given up on the fence line and headed back down a to meet up with Clay, whom I could hear driving to pick us up. I snuck up the edge of the bedding area being very quiet. I got about 60 yards from the fence corner when I heard my father and Clay talking below. At that point the brush erupted again with pigs. I sat still and waited. One stepped out I steadied and fired, knocking the pig off its feet only about 30 yards in front of me. As soon as it was down it was right back up and ran into the thick brush. There were several other pigs that ran into the thick brush. Some how the other pigs made it around dad and Clay without being seen. I looked and found good blood from my pig. I began following the blood through the thick cover. After about 60 yards Clay caught up with me and was helping to follow the blood. We found the large sow about 30 yards from the road. We loaded it up into the truck and grabbed my other sow and dads 2 piglets. As we prepared to load up I felt we needed to give it one last effort. There was still a small chance of finding a pig in one last little hole I skipped around earlier. As I made my way to that hole my father took the higher and more open ground again. In the hole I jumped some more pigs and took a small boar in the process. At that I was done. I had a blast the entire hunt the last day spent still hunting was really cool. We entered the last morning with only 1 pig down and seeing only a handful. We left 4 hours later with 6 pigs and having seen a couple dozen. Here is Clay preparing for work.
And here we are with our meat. By the time it was all said and done they skinned and quartered all the pigs. They loaded up the hogs in our coolers and put them on ice.
This by far, is one of the best hunts I have ever had in my life. The facilities, food, and guide were outstanding. Clay did everything he could to put us on hogs. When things looked bleak for my father he was willing to do what ever he could to make sure my father went home with something. Best of all we were not double booked with another group. We got the full attention of him and his wife.
We left the ranch that afternoon with several 100 pounds of pig, and some great new friends. We spent that night at my sister’s house in Ft. Worth and then headed the next morning for home. Of course the weather got bad again. On our trip home we saw over 35 accidents, some just cars in the ditch, one was a state snowplow, the other a highway patrolman was rear-ended. Yesterday was my birthday and since I had not seen my wife and kids for a week we hit up Chucky-Cheese and played some games. It was an awesome week, and I am already saving up money to go again. It was great to get home and see sights like this.
Thanks for a great hunt Clay
Being a principal gives me a nice week off in spring for break. Years back my father and I had planned to go on a Texas hog hunt every other year during this time. Well the last trip we took was four years ago so we were over due. Not to mention the last place we hunted was a complete waste of time and money.
A week ago Friday I was as anxious for school to get out as the kids. I had yet to pack and was going to spend that night packing so that I could get an early start on the 1300-mile trip to Uvalde, TX. That night however we had a girls soccer game so I opted to watch it until dark and then would pack. During the game I had a report come to me about a couple of kids messing around by our Ag and Welding shop. I went to investigate. As I approached the building I saw the 3 students run off. Something in my gut told me to inspect closer. As I walked up all the doors to building looked closed, but I soon saw smoke pouring out of our FFA live stock trailer. I hurried inside and found the trailer filled with smoke and saw some small flames. I got the hay fire put out and called the police. Long story short we spent the evening searching for the kids. I knew who 2 of the 3 were and had a good idea who the third was. At 8:30 that night I finally give up looking with the cops for the kids and went for some dinner. During dinner I got the phone call. Police caught the kids, had confessions and were pursuing charges. The main culprit had intended to set the trailer on fire because he had his phone taken away earlier that day. There were 2 bales worth of loose hay he tried to start on fire, plus 6" deep straw on the floor for bedding. Had I been 5 minutes late, we would have lost a $14,000+ trailer.
After that mess I finally got on the road around 8:00a.m. the next morning. On my way to get my father I saw several bald eagles, including 6 in one tree. I saw 2 yotes, and lots of deer. The first day of travel was uneventful other than a nice 300"+ 6x6 we saw from the highway and a small sedan car towing a full sized blazer down the road. We did have this copter fly over as my dad and I loaded up his stuff. We would see that same copter 3 more times across the state.
Saturday night we spent in a hotel in Dumas after about 12 hours on the road. The next day we had 7 hours to drive to Uvalde. We made the trip and actually elected to spend the night in a little mom and pops hotel in Sabinal. On Monday morning we got up hit the sporting goods store and bought our licenses. At noon we sat anxiously waiting our guide from Pope Brothers Guides to meet us at the subway.
Soon Holly Pope showed up in a blue suburban. We followed her to the feed store where she picked up 20 bags of corn. Then we headed north into the hill country. After a 30 minutes drive we turned off the highway on a little 2 track road. I immediately liked what we saw. It was a beautiful river and creek bottom. It was filled with lush green fields of oats. After crossing a creek we passed the main ranch house where Clay and Holly lived with their 2 daughters. We then proceeded up a little hill to the "Lodge". The lodge was great, it was a 5 bedroom Double wide. It had tons of beds, a large kitchen and dining area. It also contained 3 bathrooms. We unpacked and got settled in. Clay planned to take us out at 4:00 and set us on stands. Before he came to get us we sighted in rifles and managed to have our first “Big Game” game kill. This thing was huge and visited our living room as we rested up.
Despite trying to get it to leave was had to kill it. My father did the dead, he was to much of a wimp to pose with it in his hand.
Just before heading out Holly arrived with dinner/late lunch. It consisted of nice big grilled burgers and French fries. We filled up on the grub and heading to the stands. Now if only the weather could hold out.
The weather report had been calling for thunderstorms and rain that night. I spent the first evening in a double bull type of blind. It was very comfy and set just off one of the many large fields of oats. The blind was strategically placed up in a transition area from a river bottom to the field. There was a pig pipe for feeding and some hog sign at the feed area. As the sunset I could see game moving all around me in the brush. I could also hear turkeys gobbling all over. As I sat in the blind I got excited as the first animal materialized from the heavy cover. The really cool part about hunting this ranch was the abundance of game. Being low fenced free-range hill country you never really know what critter may step out. They had lots of Axis, Whitetail, Sitka, plus several other critters I have never seen. So when the first critter stepped out it was a huge let down. I watched as a young bull elk jumped the fence into the field adjacent to my stand. The ironic part is traveling over 1300 miles to Texas only to see an elk.
I watched the bull for a bit while turkeys, axis, and whitetail poured into the field and were eventually covered by the darkness of night. Just as it got dark the weather decided to make the weatherman an honest person and it decided to rain and rain and rain some more. Luckily both my father and I were in good blinds and kept dry. After 2 hours of nonstop rain Clay showed up and decided to pull us from sitting and watching nothing. We went back to the lodge had a few snacks and waited for the rain to let up.
As we sat Clay explained that hogs in his area tend not to move much in the rain, but as soon as it stops the hogs tend to come out thick. At about 10:30 the rain gave us a brief window of dryness. At that we hopped in the truck and made our way to a feeder he had timed to feed at 11:00. We arrived in the dark and snuck our way into the feeder just as it went off. The feeder went off, but nothing showed after 1/2 hour. We snuck back to the truck and went up higher to another feeder. When we hit the feeder with light we saw a grey fox. Earlier that week I emailed Clay explaining that I would love to get a grey fox in order to check it off my predator list. In addition to the grey there were 1/2 a dozen coons stealing corn. The fox took off once the light hit, but I decided to try and lip squeack it back. That when one of the largest coons I have ever seen came down a tree ready to attack. It charged fast and headed straight for Clay holding the light. I was ready to shoot, but Clay was still hoping to see the fox he said not to shoot. It was an intense few moments as the coon looked ready to crawl up Clays leg and have some twig and berries. Eventually Clay and I, despite being nervous as [beeep], managed to win the standoff form 3 feet and the coon turned and went. It was pretty intense.
After the coon experience we headed back down off the mountain country and were going to Safari Style hunt the low country around the oat fields. It was amazing to see all the game in the fields in an hour of spotlighting I bet we saw easily over 200 animal of all makes and models. We even managed to jump 3 smaller hogs. I jumped out and opened fire on the pigs. I hit one hard on a dead run from about a 100 yards out. It flopped around and we thought for sure it was dead. I began reloading my 223 when it got up and took off. At that the weather decided to be a pain again and it started raining hard again. We never did find the pig; it was only about 100 yards onto his property and made a dash to the fence. Clay then gave us the option of finishing the night on the stands or hitting the sheets. We decided to hit the sheets. I am glad we did as it rained all night, sometimes really hard.
The next day saw cloudy skies and cold temps. When the sun poked out we did some target shooting. Again we had great food that morning and for lunch as well. That evening the skies started to clear a bit and things were looking promising. After a good dinner we headed out for stands. Clay set my dad back in the stand he sat on the first night. The pigs hit that stand hard after we called it night. Clay then stuck me up on top of the property at a stand that had also been being hit by the pigs. From the stand I had about 60 yards to the feeder. The afternoon passed without incidence. As dark settled in I heard a ruckus in the brush. I readied the gun and my light force light in anticipation. By the time I slid the gun up the pigs appeared. I picked the largest one out as it turned to face me. Despite the low light I was still just barely able to see my cross hairs. I centered on the pig and pulled the trigger. Bang flop. The remaining hogs scattered. I sat quietly in hopes they may comeback.
At about 11:00 Clay came after picking up my dad and they were excited too see the pig lying in the middle of the road where I had shot her. She was a great sow, tipping the scale just over 150 pounds.
After picking me up, we again went down lower and hunted the lower fields safari style. We did not see any hogs, but did again see several 100 other critters. After making the loop with the safari style hunt we opted to spend the night in the stands. Both dad and I sat from 11:00 until 7:30 the next morning. No pigs came at all. At that time it was clear that despite the fact that my father and I were having a good time, Clay was not happy with the lack of pigs. He told my dad one way or another he would go home with something. That afternoon we prepared for our last night of hunting. As we ate some really good chicken fried steak, potatoes and gravy, Clay told my dad he could take an axis deer doe if he did not get a hog that night.
That night Clay had intended for us to sit on 2 stands with lots of hog sign, but the wind was way wrong. We ended up in a couple stands on the opposite side of the ranch. That evening I was anxious as the sun set I could hear pigs all around the stand. Despite hearing hogs all around none ever came into the feeder. At about 9:00 I heard my father shoot. Shortly after the shot I heard a very big sounding hog run behind my blind and up the hill. Clay had picked up my father, because dad was developing a bad headache. When they we coming over to check on me they spotted a huge hog. My dad had shot and missed. Since he was not feeling well he opted to go in and sleep a bit. At 10:00pm Clay and I left the house to go and try for a fox. The first spot produced nothing. The second stand had a fox show up really fast then disappear. We kept calling and had a second fox show up. I shot at that fox and knocked it down with my 223. Clay jumped out quickly and hustled down to get it. When he got about 5 feet from it, it jumped up and hauled butt. We never did recover the fox. So 2 stands called 2 fox, one shot and lost. The next stand we set up and had a fox show up right away. I shot and missed it at about 10 yards. I got too excited. In that stand we called 2 fox as well. So 3 stands, 4 fox 2 missed shots. The next stand we made right in front of the house, I had a fox show up across the [beeep] on the other side of the creek. I took the shot and this time I connected. So 4 stands 5 fox later I had my first Grey fox and with very little effort. It was a pretty fox, however I managed to get its tail wet. Thus it looks a little rough.
After getting my fox we made the rounds with dad, trying to find either an axis doe or hog. No luck, mainly due to the fact that I had shot the place up for fox. He offered to put us on the stand for the night. I had already got a hog and a fox. I was good. I was really more worried about my dad getting something. My dad had succumbed to the fact that he was not going to get a hog, but was actually looking forward to getting an axis doe. So we made a plan to sleep from 2:00a.m. Until about 6:00a.m. Then we would get up and try for an axis doe. We got up and started hunting at daybreak. Unfortunately we never did see an axis doe.
Despite being our last day I was not ready to give up yet and wanted to try a little still-hunting. Clay had over 100 acres of brushy country near the ranch that we had not touched. He felt that there was a good chance of pigs being in the area. I decided that we needed to spend the last few hours hunting that area. I was going to "bird dog" for my dad. My dad found a high spot and I basically started working my way through the brush. The chunk of land was pretty thick with a main dry creek bottom running through it. It was a great set up. Any pigs in the area had to go past me or past dad. I worked the brush hard for about an hour with no luck. It was getting hot and I was starting to doubt our chances of succeeding with our last ditch effort, despite seeing pretty good pig sign. I had actually given up and was walking the last 200 yards up the fence line, to my father, when the hunting got hot. I was still out of sight of my father when the brush 20 yards away exploded with pigs. I sat for a second listening and trying to get a fix on the direction they were headed. All of the sudden a good-sized pig stepped out about 70 yards away. I swung the gun and squeezed the trigger. The pig sprinted back into the brush. Sure of my shot, I loaded another round and waited for another one to step out, but it never did. I went up and found my second hog. I drug her from the brush to the fence. Then heard my father fire 2 shots from his vantage point, shortly followed by a 3rd. I hustled up the fence to find my father with 2 smaller piglets on the ground. He stated that after I shot there were 12 or more piglets erupt from my direction. His first shot missed, but the other 2 landed. After we gathered the 3 dead pigs to an area where the truck could make it, we had one more little area of the property to check. I had dad stay on the fence line and I was going to work the brush again. My dad started up the fence and I made my way down into another little gully. In the gully there was a ton of pig sign. The ground was rooted all over the place. Just above me in between my dad and i was a steep hillside covered with juniper trees. It was the perfect bedding area. Cool breeze, lots of shade, etc. I knew there had to be a pig in it. Unfortunately for my dad he had given up on the fence line and headed back down a to meet up with Clay, whom I could hear driving to pick us up. I snuck up the edge of the bedding area being very quiet. I got about 60 yards from the fence corner when I heard my father and Clay talking below. At that point the brush erupted again with pigs. I sat still and waited. One stepped out I steadied and fired, knocking the pig off its feet only about 30 yards in front of me. As soon as it was down it was right back up and ran into the thick brush. There were several other pigs that ran into the thick brush. Some how the other pigs made it around dad and Clay without being seen. I looked and found good blood from my pig. I began following the blood through the thick cover. After about 60 yards Clay caught up with me and was helping to follow the blood. We found the large sow about 30 yards from the road. We loaded it up into the truck and grabbed my other sow and dads 2 piglets. As we prepared to load up I felt we needed to give it one last effort. There was still a small chance of finding a pig in one last little hole I skipped around earlier. As I made my way to that hole my father took the higher and more open ground again. In the hole I jumped some more pigs and took a small boar in the process. At that I was done. I had a blast the entire hunt the last day spent still hunting was really cool. We entered the last morning with only 1 pig down and seeing only a handful. We left 4 hours later with 6 pigs and having seen a couple dozen. Here is Clay preparing for work.
And here we are with our meat. By the time it was all said and done they skinned and quartered all the pigs. They loaded up the hogs in our coolers and put them on ice.
This by far, is one of the best hunts I have ever had in my life. The facilities, food, and guide were outstanding. Clay did everything he could to put us on hogs. When things looked bleak for my father he was willing to do what ever he could to make sure my father went home with something. Best of all we were not double booked with another group. We got the full attention of him and his wife.
We left the ranch that afternoon with several 100 pounds of pig, and some great new friends. We spent that night at my sister’s house in Ft. Worth and then headed the next morning for home. Of course the weather got bad again. On our trip home we saw over 35 accidents, some just cars in the ditch, one was a state snowplow, the other a highway patrolman was rear-ended. Yesterday was my birthday and since I had not seen my wife and kids for a week we hit up Chucky-Cheese and played some games. It was an awesome week, and I am already saving up money to go again. It was great to get home and see sights like this.
Thanks for a great hunt Clay
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