What a crazy day!
Got a small boar for my Birthday this evening.
But it was looking pretty grim when the hunt first started.
Yesterday evening I went to my stand about 5:15 p.m. only to scare off a group of pigs that were already there.
Stayed on stand until 10:00 p.m. then left (no pigs). Got the card from the game-cam this morning and the pigs had come back in at 11:10 p.m. (of course).
O.K., I figure I’ll just go back this evening (extra early) at 4:30 p.m. and be ready for them when they show up. I rested up during the day planning on staying up late if need be.
Well, that was a good ‘plan’…..BUT pigs have ‘plans’ too. This evening……they had a similar plan ( to ALSO to show up early).
When I got there….ALL of the corn was gone and I could see three little black pigs disappearing into the woods at the end of the logging road.
So now….there isn't any corn left on the ground…even IF something comes back.
Not to be discouraged….I trekked over to an automatic feeder I have set up at another site.
Spun the motor by hand until I got a few handfuls of corn on the ground, put some in my coat pocket and went back to the first bait site. Threw the corn out and got on stand. Not the ideal set up…but what the heck.
I hadn’t been on stand 30 minutes when a bunch of mosquitos showed up. Come on guys…this is late December and it’s in the mid 70’s at dark thirty.
The wind finally picked up (front coming) and that blew the mosquitos away (thank you) but that isn’t particularly good for hog hunting.
On top of that, my family members (over the next hour) are texting me “Happy Birthday”. Finally….all of that stops and I am able to concentrate on the hog lights I have set up over the bait.
All is well until I bend over to put the Thermacell on the floor and I get a darn nosebleed! What the heck?
Not one of those “wipe it on your shirt sleeve and it stops” kind of nosebleed…but a steady drip, drip, drip.
O.K……. I'll just cut a piece off the top of one of my socks and put it in my nose. In the future I WILL take tissues.
There I am….. debating whether to just go to house or wait it out…when I see a shape approaching the light. I didn’t even bother to get my binoculars up, just got my SOCOM up and ready.
At this point…I was going to shoot the first hog that came in and then go to the house.
I watched for a minute to see if any other hogs were with him…but there was not. Even at 125 yds. I could see him clearly under the light.
I settled the crosshair in the middle of his shoulder and sent a 405 gr. Remy Softpoint his way. The hog went straight down but the recoil started my nose REALLY dripping, sheeesh. All in all...I don't know who bled the most.
The bullet exited on the point of the shoulder on the off side (hard to see in the awful phone pics by flashlight).
Anyway, there is one less hog out there. I will try to get the others over the next few days.
I guess I’ll have to go to down there right after lunch. Crazy pigs!