A Wild Hog Bowhunt In Progress

Aug 17 - This afternoon I returned to the Hammer Hole. No hogs came in but I saw a big 10 point, 4 does and 2 young bucks.

Aug 16 - I settled into the tripod at the Hammer Hole and sat until near dark without any activity. I got down and walked toward my truck. 200 yards later I walked up on 20 or more wild hogs, just off the woods road, standing still, waiting to see what I was. I stopped. We stood 20 yards apart looking each other over. My top pin was fuzzy and indistinct. Then the hogs moved away. 

August 3 - This afternoon was scalding hot, 102 when I left for the hammer hole. Sweat dripped off me as I waited. There was no wind. Two groups of hogs came up but they scented me when they got close. The last group snapped their jawls and growled.

A Big One
August 1 - A few minutes after 7:00pm I eased into my tripod at the Hammer Hole. The temperature was a sweltering 97 degrees. (Ahhhh, but even a hot day in the woods is a good one.) An hour and a half passed I heard a squeal in the distance. Ten minutes later a group of 13 hogs broke out of the brush and spread out. Four were mature hogs and the rest were younger. Then I heard a heck of a loud grunt in the brush and in seconds a huge hog walked along the edge of the trees.
I took it's picture. You can see it in the shadows, almost 10 yards further than the group. This boar is way larger than the other hogs. I waited for a chance at it but the boar had other plans.

(July 9) I hunted the Hammer Hole again this afternoon. No hogs came but I did see 2 bucks in velvet.

Brent Jones Does Good In The Hammer Hole
Brent Jones from Bosque Bowhunters drove over to bowhunt hogs with me. I dropped him off at a tripod stand in the Hammer Hole overlooking two well worn hog trails and went to another stand. Brent saw several deer, beginning a few minutes after I dissapeared from view. Later a doe walked behind my stand and passed on by. Then it went on alert and snorted an alarm. A couple more deer snorted a warning. In seconds I heard wild hogs, but I didn't see them. Brent, however, did. Two black hogs walked out of the brush in front of Brent. He drew, aimed, and shot the lead hog in the vitals. I heard the shot and followed the sound of the running hog. It stopped somewhere in the brush to my right. Here is a bigger picture of Brent Jones and the hog. And, for you Brent, here is a wallpaper pic for your computer. 

Never Give Up ...
We pulled in from our jaunt to Elephant Mountain at 7:50pm, there was only an hour of good daylight left. Julius Koenig (16 year old bowhunter from Maine) and I quickly got ready to hog hunt and drove down the bumpy woods road that leads to the Point. Half way there Julius said, "A hog just crossed the road 100 yards ahead." We bailed out of the truck. I know this area well and we made a half circle and spotted the hogs. We stalked closer and Julius got the hog hunt of his life. MORE...

Thursday: Today we are in transit to the Wildlife Conservation Camp at Elephant Mountain, TX. At 7:00 this evening we will give archery instruction to the camp attendees. I can't get online from the camp but we will return home on Friday in time to hunt wild hogs again.

Wednesday: Turtle and Julius went to the Hammer Hole and I did some last minute work. We both saw the same number of wild hogs, none. But they did see deer, several of which were bucks in velvet, which is always a cool thing.

Tuesday: We ate lunch at Rita's Red Barn Restaurant and then drove around part of the lease. We saw a couple dozen deer. Turtle scored on a big, long-eared jackrabbit. Here's a pic of Julius demonstrating why you don't want to ride shotgun in the country. We hunted the hammer Hole in the afternoon (Jullius, Turtle). I saw a group of 17 hogs but no hogs went by Turtle and Jullius.

June 24 - Monday Afternoon: We drove to the Hammer Hole and I took Jullius to a tripod and Turtle to a North Starr ladder stand. Half an hour later both Turtle and Jullius heard hogs in the brush. Eight hogs came by Turtle's stand. He could have made a shot at a 120 pounder but it wasn't quite what he was looking for and he passed. The hogs stayed in the area for over an hour and occasionally made a bunch of racket. Jullius heard them grunting and squealing but they didn't get close enough for a shot. Turtle saw the same group two more times. (Turtle and his buddy 16 yr old Jullius Koenig from Maine arrived this morning. On Thursday they will help me teach archery at the Wildlife Society's Wildlife Conservation Camp at Elephant Mountain, TX.)

June 23 - Turtle and his buddy 16 yr old Jullius Koenig from Maine will arrive tomorrow morning. We have two items on our agenda. On Thursday they will help me teach archery at the Wildlife Society's Wildlife Conservation Camp at Elephant Mountain, TX. And in between we will have a go at the wild hogs at the Hammer Hole. Things are looking good. Check out these hogs from last week, first pic is a sow and pigs I caught making their way along a water seep. Next is a group that walked out in front of me on the road. The last is a fat boar that I snuck up on, it's rooting it's up the edge of a field.

June 6 - Brent Jones (Bosque Bowhunter Assn.) and I went to the Hammer Hole this afternoon. Brent saw one hog rooting underneath a distant tree. That was it. Another peaceful afternoon in the woods. 

May 23 - The wind was brutal at the Hammer Hole this afternoon. I couldn't have possibly got off an accurate shot so I got down and went back home. 
May 21 - As daylight faded I heard deep grunts mixed with the squeals of young pigs -- in the thick brush at the Hammer Hole. They passed on by. I waited a couple of minutes and got down. I walked back to the truck in the last light knowing they were somewhere nearby, but I like that better than walking through the brush in the dark

May 20, Bowhunt In Progress - 2002
I waited 3 hours at the Hammer Hole and saw 8 deer but no wild hogs were heard or seen.

Wild Hog Are Not Dangerous - whoever said that ain't hunting in the real world! 
Apr 10, Bowhunt In Progress - 2002
Half way to the Hammer Hole two black hogs crossed the narrow woods road, about 80 yards ahead of me. Immediately I cut into the woods and hurried to the edge of the brush along a dried, rocky creek bed. I got my camera out and started down the edge. In seconds both hogs walked out of the brush some 50 yards from me. They stopped when they saw me. One ran away. The other hog hurtled down the edge -- straight toward me! I side-stepped into a bush to break up my image, dropped my camera, hooked up my release and drew. The hog stopped 10 yards from me, head-on. It's head swung side to side, looking for me. It's jaws popped loudly. A head-on shot was not what I wanted but it was what I had, and I do know where the arrow has to go. I put my pin there, aiming white hot, and released. The arrow went there, exactly, and sunk up to the feathers, through the right lung and liver. The hog charged wildly to my left and, full speed, it hit a leaning tree dead on. Wham! It stumbled backwards ... and dropped, motionless. It was still early, 4:30pm, so I got my bud Perry Wicker to help me drag it out. He took a few pics and one that he took before I was ready was the best. (1024x768) (800x600) (640x480).

April 8
That's Kelsey Jones. She's 11 and loves bowhunting. Her and her dad Brent came over and we drove to the Hammer Hole area. They got ready and I took Brent to a tripod and Kelsey to another. At 7:00 Kelsey saw some young hogs in the edge of the brush, 15 yards away. A few steps more and she could shoot. Meanwhile, I was 80 yards away and a 2nd group had came up between us. One of them snorted an alarm that it had smelled us and several hogs came into view, running down a trail 40 yards from me. One was a huge speckled hog. They, loudly, cut into the woods and quickly filed behind Brent. He said there were over 30. Incidentally, if Kelsey would have gotten one today it would be her 2nd wild hog. Here's a close-up of Kelsey & Brent.

Wild Hogs - Shanna's Deer Pics!
Mar 25 Monday Afternoon)
My friend Shanna, who has never hunted before, came over to wild hog hunt. There are two tripods in the Hammer Hole that are close together and we each got in one. Before long I saw a deer's legs moving in the brush and I quickly looked toward Shanna to signal her so she could take pictures. She already had her camera in action. She first saw the deer when it was 15 yards behind me (I hadn't seen it yet) and she got its pic. She kept on as the deer came out of the brush onto the woods road and walked toward us. Then another deer joined it. Here are 6 pics she took, beginning with the deer behind me. Later we heard wild hogs fighting a couple hundred yards away but none came to us.

Wild Hogs - One Mo' Gin!
Mar 22 Friday Afternoon)
Ten minutes after I sat down in my tripod two deer walked by me on the right side, only 6 yards away. One browsed around right under me and I noticed it had a long gash in its neck, so, nice and easy, I took the deer's pic for you to see. The other deer went to a nearby trail. Suddenly it ran back a bit and went on the alert, intent on something down the trail. Then both deer skulked off into the brush. Minutes later a black wild hog walked out of the same trail the deer had started to use. A second hog followed and they took a trail on my side that led to a shooting lane. With my bow in one hand and camera in the other, when the hogs were in my shooting window, I took one picture and let the camera hang on it's strap. A hog turned broadside. I drew and aimed. The arrow popped through its ribs and it ran ... but it fell close by. I waited 15 minutes and recovered it 30 yards away. I took a pic of it where it lay and field dressed it. The pic of my bow and the hogs came out real cool. Here it is in (1024x768), (800x600) or (640x480).

Mar 20 (Wednesday Afternoon) - Today my bud Brent Jones (Bosque Bowhunters) came over to hunt hogs. I dropped him off at the Hammer Hole and went to a new area I set up last weekend. Early on, Brent spotted a black and white hog and several others in the brush to his right. The trail they were on took them to the woods road where Brent was. A left turn would give him a shot, but they turned right and walked down the road and vanished. 

Wild Hogs - Wham! Bang! Boom!
Mar 19 (Tuesday Afternoon) - I eased back in my tripod seat, waiting patiently, relaxed, in my bowhunting zone. It was a perfect hog hunting day, overcast, a light wind and a little cool. Soon, a group of small pigs crossed the Hammer Hole woods road and entered the thicket I am in. A light rain drizzle started falling. The pigs filed by me, a couple of yards from my tripod's leg. I waited for an adult hog. The wind was picking up. WHAM! Lightning blasted the heck out of something in the general area. Wild hogs or not, I'm not sitting on a metal tripod in a lightning storm. I got down. The pigs squealed wildly when they saw me, but they didn't run. As I headed for my truck I kept a sharp eye out for their sow but didn't see it. The storm got rough, I could barely see because of the wind and rain and flying branches. Later I found out that a tornado had passed through.

Wild Hogs - Mo' Pork Chops
Mar 12 (Morning) - The hog had run into the thickest brush, but the trail was clear. I picked my way along slowly, because of all the branches poking me. In about 60 yards the track turned left. A few more steps and I was in a small opening. Up ahead I saw a black object in a pile of branches. I moved toward it and sure enough it was my boar. I had left my camera tripod at home so couldn't take  a photo of me with it, instead I took this close up pic of the boar's bad attitude end.

Mar 11 (Afternoon) - I waited 1 1/2 hours before I heard the first hog sounds. 5 black ones walked out of the cedars. The spotted sow was next. This hog has longer hair and is wilder looking than most. The sow turned back into the brush and worked its way toward me. It passed me and made a U-turn and I got another picture as it came into my shooting lane, (you can see here how my setup is if they get in the brush around me). But taking this picture cost me my shot opportunity and the hog moved away before I got my bow in hand. Ahhh, two good sized black boars were entering the small trees 20 yards away. I placed my sight pin on a broadside boar. My arrow zipped through its ribs and it ran into the thick brush. My arrow was solid blood, end to end. I walked to my truck, I'll track it in good daylight tomorrow morning. 

Wild Hogs - They Keep On Coming
Mar 9 (Afternoon) - One group of hogs this afternoon. The black and gray boar, 3 black boars, and a few mid sized hogs. Plus, a black and gray sow,  she had longer hair than the others and was wild and woolly looking. They came by close but I couldn't manage a shot in the thick brush. 
Mar 7 (Afternoon 5:30pm) - Footsteps ... crunching in the cedars to my left. Hogs were coming. One of them made an alarm short. I froze. 45 yards away 5 black hogs, big ones, appeared on the edge of the cedar break. They paused, grunting and growling a warning to me. I'd been winded. They retreated to the fence crossing I call the "Hammer Hole". Another hog came into view and followed after them, a humongous black and gray spotted wild boar, I'm talking a nearly 55 gallon drum size body. They were all the hogs I saw this afternoon. This weekend I'll drag in another tripod and see if I can get in the spotted hogs game.

Wild Hogs - A Surprise
Mar 6 (Morning) - First I looked all through the thicket I was in yesterday when the hog snapped its teeth at me. Nothing! 
Next, I returned to the beginning of the blood trail. Just inside the thicket I found one drop of blood going off to the right, toward the Hammer Hole woods road. I had missed it yesterday and walked on past it. Which means that the hog that was in the thicket with me was not the one I shot. I crossed the road and followed dried drops of blood down a main trail through trees and dried range grass. The grass is difficult to track in so I got down on my hands and knees and inched along. A shadow passed over me and got my  attention ... buzzards. Yikes, they were searching for my hog, too. Without hesitation I started down the trail. It led to a dense wooded area bordered by a dry creek. 

I thought, "left or right?"

Left was my first choice.

Ten steps later I saw the hog in a little dip. I put my camo jacket on it to help hide it and got my camera tripod and drag rope from my truck. Then I took some time delay pictures.

This hog was roughly the same length as the one on Feb 25, but its body was much thicker and fatter. It was heavy and dragging it was tough. I was super one tired bow dude in less than 10 yards. I keep plastic trash bags in my truck so I got one and boned out the hog in the woods. 

Yea, life is good. 

Wild Hogs In My Shooting Lane
Mar 5 - A crisp, cool, sunlit afternoon. The first wild hogs down the nearby trail became splotches of black moving through the cedars. They crossed behind me and went out of sight. At 5:27 I heard another group. They were on a trail that passes in front of me. The hogs moved from the thick cedars into the trees where it's more open and I have a chance for a shot. There were 2 adult black pigs and a bunch of young pigs. A 3rd black object was behind them, another adult. I let my camera hang on its strap and got ready to shoot. I saw its white tusks and drew, looking for a space between the slim trees, I found it and when the hogs vitals entered it I released. A good hit. The hog went down loudly in the nearby brush.

Minutes later I took up the trail. In 30 yards I was inside a dense thicket. Crack! I studied the tangle of brush ahead as the hog began snapping its jaws loudly. Although I could hear it I could not see it, and it was pretty close. A shot was impossible in this thick place, quickly I glanced around me .. no trees to get off the ground in. I pulled my machete out of its scabbard and waited to see what would happen. Another crack ... and silence. Five minutes passed and I backed out of the briars and returned to my truck. I'll take up the trail tomorrow morning. 

More Hogs
Mar 4 - Twenty minutes after I settled into my tripod stand at the Hammer Hole I heard distant grunts. Before long they filed by in the thick brush to my right. They were close and I got a pic of some of them. They numbered a dozen at least, all sizes, one was brown and the rest were black. They cruised on out of sight. I heard two other hogs as time passed but they were too far off to see. 

"In The Pit" At The Hammer Hole !
Feb 25 - Since I've walked up on the hogs twice, I went in earlier today. It paid off. After an hour I heard hogs behind me in the brush. I sat totally still, waiting. Two black hogs came into view on my right and they walked along the edge 10 yards from me. Grunts started behind me so I knew more were around. Next, 3 hogs approached in the trees on the far edge. The grunting stopped and shortly I saw a larger hog in the cedars. As it came out of the cedars I took my last picture and, slowly, got my bow. Now the largest hog was in the clear, quartering perfectly. I drew, aimed carefully, and released. A perfect hit, the hog bolted but went down in only a few yards. I still had almost an hour before dark. First I went to the hog, took a pic of it where it lay, got my truck, loaded the hog up, and went home. Once again, the Hammer Hole is Rockin'. 

Wanna see a larger pic? (1024x768) (800x600) (640x480)

Feb 24 - Without any warning, as I neared my Hammer Hole tripod, a big 300 pound boar darted out of the brush - just a few feet from me. He was every bit as surprised as I was and, luckily, he high tailed into his back trail. I heard a bunch of other hogs follow him. That was the only hog activity this afternoon.

Feb 20, Afternoon hunt - BINGO, They're Back!
A cottontail rabbit raced out of the brush and ran under my tripod, stopped, looked back momentarily, and rushed off. I turned my camera on so I could take a picture of whatever it was fleeing from. A minute later I heard grunts and a wild boar took shape at it came out of the cedars. (Did ya see the 2nd hog?) The group consisted of 3 hogs. I waited until I could get a pic of all of them. Daylight was on the earliest phase of decline so I carefully (slowly) retired my camera and then got my bow and waited for a clear shot. Behind me, I heard loud grunts. The 3 hogs ran a short distance, stopped, waited briefly, and returned. Seven young pigs trotted circled behind me and joined the 3. The deep grunts behind me continued. The hog stayed in the thick brush and I could not make it out. I waited 5 minutes to get a look at this larger hog, but, although it was vocal, it didn't show itself. So I drew on the boar in front of me, aimed carefully, and touched my release's trigger. The arrow went under the boar's belly.

The hogs dispersed. I didn't get one but it was a good hunt none the less.

A Wild Hog Bowhunt In Progress
Feb 18, Afternoon hunt - 66 degrees and totally overcast. I parked on the hill by the windmill and walked down the dilapidated woods road to the Hammer Hole. Sixty yards from the crossings the hogs use to cross the road I hears a rough, guttural, growl. Ten yards in the thick cedar and briars I made out splotches of black. White tusks caught my eye as the hog popped it's jaws together. Another hog, behind it, started moving away, and further back, other hogs left in the same direction. The original hog made a short charge at me, stopped, still well inside the cover, and bounded after it's group.

Minutes later I climbed into my tripod and got ready. Here's a pic from the tripod, as you can see it is real thick in here. Around 6:00 I heard the wind howling loudly and it blew in cold air. Next, I heard a hog walking in the brush in front of me. The light was a little low because of the overcast sky but I waited with my camera in hand as it came into view. Bingo, I got the hogs picture when it was only a few yards away. It walked past me and continued into the brush. 

A Wild Hog Bowhunt In Progress
Feb 5, Afternoon hunt - It drizzled most of the day but slacked off around 4:30. The hogs were smarter than I was, they stayed home, I went to the Hammer Hole. Surprisingly, I did see 9 deer out and about. At "low light" time a mixture of rain and snow started falling and I went to my truck.
Feb 4, Afternoon hunt - I heard a group of wild hogs pushing under the fence, some 80 yards from my stand at the Hammer Hole. Rain drops started to spatter on my tripod and thunder rolled in the distance. Thunder is not a good thing when you're 12 feet off the ground in a metal gizmo. The hogs trotted by in the thick brush behind me, a couple dozen at least. I held tight a few minutes. More thunder. I got down and walked to my truck.

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