Perhaps I got the Alpha Sow ??
I took some time in the middle of the week to go hog hunting. Central Texas had a cool front pass through, and although we didn't get much rain to speak of, the temperatures did drop to record lows for this time of year. My experience is that cool weather sometimes brings the hogs out in the afternoon.
I spotted a small sounder about 4:00PM which appeared to include at least three decent-sized sows and perhaps half a dozen juveniles (shoats). I didn't observe any small piglets, but they were in some 18" weeds and near a slight rise so there could have been some in the weeds or on the other side of the rise that I couldn't see.
I managed to position myself for about a 75 yard shot with a fence post to use as a brace, and picked out this sow. She was the one I could see best, and seemed to be a good size. I was particularly looking for a hog to cut up for sausage.
She went down right away, but what happened next was just a little different from what I expected. Typically as soon as I shoot a hog the rest of the sounder high-tails it for cover like a bunch of greased pinballs on fire! The hogs usually don't waste any time making a beeline for cover at high speed. This time instead of a mad dash for the trees, they grouped up into a fairly tight bunch.
I was looking at the one I had just shot to make sure it wasn't getting up, but when I glanced up I saw the rest of the sounder grouped up. I thought about taking another shot but about that time they trotted briskly off over the rise toward the trees. They didn't take off like a bolt of lightening, they just sort of double-timed it out of there. I thought it was strange, and I'm guessing (
really guessing) that perhaps I nailed the alpha sow and they rest weren't sure exactly what to do when the boss lady suddenly laid down for a dirt nap.
I certainly don't know what hogs think, but I did find this to be interesting.
