Part #2

As the two of us scouted, Rick Philippi and I made note of a small lake with lots of brush and blow downs around it. It looked promising. A couple miles further up the muddy woods road Rick pointed ahead, signaling he had spotted a wild hog. I walked 30 yards into the thick woods and we moved along quietly, parallel to each other. Ahead I saw a small pond with reeds growing in it and eased toward it.

Splash! A big wild boar came out of the reeds and lumbered by in front of me. I could have, but didn't shoot. Heck, the hunt wasn't even an hour old. This looked like a good area so Rick and I worked it, learning the lay of the land, taking note of another, much bigger, pond. Soon we saw a group of hogs. As we slipped up on them we noticed there was a treestand up ahead. I decided to go back  to the ponds and look around and Rick moved ahead to the stand and climbed up to it. In a while he saw the hogs approaching. When the hog group was about 30 yards from the treestand two boars suddenly started to fight. This made the other hogs scatter. The biggest boar in the group "scattered" right up underneath Rick's stand. Rick aimed and dropped the boar it's tracks.

Rick called Merle Smith on his radio and reported his location. Merle said to "keep hunting" and he would have the hog picked up right away. Rick spent an hour looking for likely places, of which he saw several as well as a few more hogs. He came up on 8 hogs in a large mucky hog wallow that was at least 3 foot deep. The hogs were all in the soupy mud, moving around and making noise. Their heads and backs were all that showed. Rick took advantage of the ruckus they were making and slipped quietly through the thick brush to within 6 yards of the hog wallow. He picked out one of the bigger ones and aimed at his front shoulder and shot.

Hogs scattered! Mud flew everywhere! Rick's boar lost his legs in 40 yards and it was over. Rick radioed Merle again and reported in. Merle told him Ricky had gotten a Merino ram. Rick met up with them, congratulated Ricky, and he and Ricky started looking for wild hogs. Merle went to pick up Rick's second boar.

A Wild Hog With A Bad Attitude
Rick worked with Ricky to get him within distance of a wild hog. They split up about 40 yards apart and walked parallel through the brush. After awhile Rick walked up on 2 hogs. They were 25 yards away walking directly towards him in the same trail Rick was following, and they had not yet seen him. Rick signaled Ricky. Twenty yards from Rick the big lead hog saw Rick. It stopped abruptly, and starred at him.

And then the wild hog charged!

Rick realized this was a real attach and drew and shot, but somehow missed. The next thing the pig was trying to chew his legs off. Rick jumped and the hog missed him. Rick swung his bow at the hog, the hog ducked his bow and kept charging and trying to get at Rick's legs and cut him down. Rick used his bow like a baseball bat (Rick used to play pro baseball) and hopped back and forth, yelling at the pig, and somehow managed to keep the hog from biting him. Suddenly the pig ran away.

Ricky, who was 30 yards away hiding behind a tree blurted out, "Dad! That was awesome, that pig tried to get you."

Later, Rick told me...
"There was no place to go, no tree to climb, just brush all around me. I never lost my head, I stood my ground and fought the hog to keep him from slashing my legs with it's snapping teeth. The reason I didn't kick it was his mouth was open and biting, it would have been like kicking a bundle of knives. I believe that if I had ran he would have knocked me down and got me. If there is no where to go I think you have a better chance if you stand your ground. If you run and get knocked down you will definitely get hurt. That hog's teeth looked as sharp as razor blades."

Ricky Philippi
Soon after the hog attack the two bowhunters spotted 20 or so hogs in a group. The hogs were rooting near a wide, heavily used game trail. Rick remembered this area when we scouted it earlier so he and Ricky cut 150 yards ahead of them to a pond. If rick guessed right, the game trail the hogs were near went right by this pond. Ricky set up in the brush so he had a shot if the hogs came down the trail that ran between the brush and the pond.

Then Rick circled back and snuck in behind the hogs ... when he was 60 yards away he let the hogs see him. He walked slowly toward them (he didn't want them to run) and they began moving away from him. On the wide game trail.

The plan worked. Ricky watched the hogs appear in the brush and as they filed by on the trail he picked one out. When it was 6 yards from him he shot it. The hog went 30 yards and dropped over. Ricky had his first Texas wild boar and his second big game animal with a bow.

Ricky and Rick Philippi with their wild hogs.

And there is still More To This Bowhunt...

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