Trad Gang

Hello guys!  About a month ago I changed jobs, I got a handsome pay raise but have had to put in some pretty long hours lately, several 60 hour weeks.  I haven't posted much in the past few weeks, or even been able to check in on the gang...  

However, one of the conditions of my employment was that I would be allowed to go on a Texas pig hunt that I had already scheduled with my Dad, Wingnut, Jason and another hunting buddy.  My new employer stayed true to his promise and in a few minutes I'm hitting the road for Mesquite Bowhunting in Pearsall TX.  Mike and Jason are already there and have already called to report a pig strolling thru camp!!!

Myself, my Dad, and a hunting buddy, Mike Bingham, are hitting the road in a few minutes, we will drive all night and get there sometime tomorrow morning.  

One thing is sure, there's gonna be arrows in the air and, *hopefully*, pigs on the ground!!!!!!    There is no internet connection down in the boonies, but we will commence with the story telling this weekend!  See ya then....

Good luck TMC, slay em. Glad your still around!

Good luck with Wingnut and Jason at Pearsall.  Had some rain lately so that should help.  Hope y'all get some meat.  Wingnut needs some if he's having his feed Memorial Day weekend.  Don't know if he is but in the past few years he has been most gracious and fed and "watered" many a tired, hungry and thirsty archer   :wavey:      :thumbsup:      :thumbsup:   ...Van

Have fun Tony..are you shooting one of the sticks you made?

Say Hi to Wingnut & Yellergnome for me and tell him that sleeping with the iron maiden sucks! (not talking about Dianne BTW)

TMC, hope yall have a blast!!!!!! Texas is such cool place!!! marco#78

Jason and I just rolled in from the hunt.  Tony and the crew will get home about 4 am if things go good.  We had a great time and a couple of guys took there first trad kills.

I'm going to milk this a bit to wait for the boys.

Mike

QuoteI'm going to milk this a bit to wait for the boys.  

:bigsmyl:    :bigsmyl:  You always do that  :wavey:    :thumbsup:

This place should be a dairy farm there's so much milkin going on!

Ok, sorry about the milking comment.  Actually I just wanted to let Tony and the boys get home so they can help tell the story.

Jason and I went down a day before the Arkansas crew to get setup with the blinds and stands and scout things out some.  We also did a little hunting to pass the time.

After touring the property and seeing the huge amount of pig sign we decide on four locations for the two double bulls and the two mini ladders.
We have found that in the mesquite you can use the top section of the ladderstand and get about 6 feet up.  It puts you just over the white brush and still in the cover of the mesquite folage.  They look kinda funny but they are very effective.

We decide to let the blinds age a bit before hunting and hit a couple of ladders for the evening.  We both had action all evening but passed up everything that came in. . .. mostly high.

TIME OUT  gotta take connie to the airport.

Mike

DAIRY FARMER!

Moooooooooooo........

Here we go again... Mike do ya use a three or four legged stool.. I prefer the four legged one myself.. I can sit more comfortabley when milking for long periods of time.. kinda like how long hti sthread is gonna last.  

MODERATORS: someone tell Wingnut there is only so much bandwidth for thread length.. we need a word counter and set a limit. LOL    


James Young

OK, I'm back from the airport.

Where were we?  OH yeah, evening hunt.  To preface the story, when we arrived the hunt manager told us he had too many piglets running around and need some removed if possible.  So they were bonus on top of the one pig a day limit.

The first night we spent in the stand was trying to help with the piglet problem.  Man they are quick and hard to hit.  I kept shooting over them no matter what I did.  It got frustrating in a hurry.  I think Gerald was just messing with us with the all we can get thing.  LOL

Mike

The alarm goes off at 0500 the next morning and Jason and I roll out with anticipation.  We had seen at least 30 pigs apiece the night before and were going to wreck havoc this morning.

The wind had shifted 90 degrees overnight so we had to rethink the choice of blinds or stands.  Jason chose a stand about 80 yds from a waterhole that was getting a lot of use.  (area rule is not to hunt within 50 yds of water)

I took up position in an old ground blind on the back side of the area off of the feed route.  The land manager runs a corn spinner on the internal roads twice a day and with the drought the hogs were really hitting it hard.  But there is a lot of road and you have to pick your spot carefully or try to get on an access trail.

Anyway as morning unfolds I have action within 20 minutes.  A group of 10 or so feeder size (50-60#)
pigs are moving down the road in a hurry.  As they close the distance my heart begins to crawl up into my throat and I'm sure the pigs can hear the thumping.  Well the first ones hit the shoot lane as I came to draw.  The arrow was away before I even knew it.. . .really I wasn't even looking at the pigs I don't think and it went real high.

DANG IT!! slow down and concentrate.  It was like playing poker and wanting to play every hand.  Too much fun.  A little selftalk there.  Well an hour goes by and here comes some little guys.  COOL!  going to get some meals on a stick.

RIGHT,  they dodged and danced like Ali and the arrows went high and low.  Yep I said arrows.  two shots; no meat.

I walked back to camp with my head hanging.

More later on Jasons morning hunt.

gotta go build bows.

Mike

Jason met me at the camphouse with a grin on his face.  He had a great morning with hogs coming and going on this stand.  Unfortunately he had not connected but had experienced the frustration of trying for those little ones.  We decided that at that point we would hold out for bigger targets after the boys showed up that afternoon.

I called Tony's cell and jacked them up with the pig stories.  They were still 2 hours out but closing in.

Mike

Roudy Yates!!!!!

Got Milk?  :bigsmyl: ....Van

Van,

We are waiting for Tony to get home from work.

Mike

Oh. Well, he probably needs to eat supper and take a shower and unwind a bit and maybe catch the news or somethin'  :bigsmyl:  I'm bettin' tomorrow around noon  :banghead:    :p  ....Van

Finally!!!!!!!!  I'm home.  I've gotta read the the thread, download some pics, then I'll contribute to the "milking."  By now Mikes probably sound asleep but we'll get this story told in alt least a week...    :D  

BTW Ferret I was shooting my Dryad Windtalker...  Haven't finished mine yet, see my first post on this thread -- been short on time lately.

Speaking of dinner...  Mike makes a mean Jambalya!!!!  I'm getting some dinner then we'll see a few pics and commence some story telling...

Come on guy's, I gotta here a little more of this story. Flatbowdad

#$^%$*&@ only waited 2 days..should have known better..be back tomorrow..well no I won't..going on vacation..be back next Friday.

C'mon guys...Grown men don't need milk, now beer..mmmmm...beer..mmmmmm....( done in my best Homer voice  ;)  )  :)  
BD

Where is Tony?

Well heck with him, They rolled into camp at about 11:00 am after driving all night from Arkansas.  They all looked like they were drug through a knothole . . backwards.  But we unloaded there gear and got to the target range to check out the bows and arrows.  Tony's buddy Mike is new to Trad and expressed that he was having trouble shooting consistantly.  We took a look at the setup and figured out that the guy at the archery shop didn't have the right arrows so he sold him the wrong ones he had.  I hate that!!

Lucky for Mike, I had put together some tapered maple arrows for the hunt that turned out to be perfect for his curve.  They shot good, grouped great and were point on for him at 15yds.  Could not have worked out better.  We took a few minutes and put my backup WW on them and got the setup working perfect.

Tony and his dad (Tony too) shot well with the Windtalkers and the arrows James Young had built for them.  

We talked a bit and shot a bit and waited patiently for 5:00 to roll around and to head out to the field for piggy time.

Mike

Oh.....come.....on........   :D  

More story, less milky!   :bigsmyl:

I've learned two at least two things by this point in the story...  

First:  Texas is a BIG state!  It is one more looooong haul from Northeast Arkansas to South Texas.

Secondly:  The first thing you do when you get to camp is start flinging arrows and developing your list of excuses why you missed!  Wingnut taught me that one...  You start right away compiling the list of reasons why you missed, cause your only allowed to use each excuse once!  These excuses can get quite creative as well, things like left over aftershock from last years Tsunami moved the intended target at the last moment!

(http://www.starwarped.faketrix.com/files/pics/page-2/original_files/Yoda-got-milk.jpg)


Sorry! couldn't help meself!

Gonna go watch a deer ham thaw and maybe cut the lawn.  Hope I don't miss anything    ....Van

We gear up and Jason and I make the blind/stand assignments.  First out of the truck will be Tony Sr.  at the Double Bull we placed on the upper loop.  We had 20 small hogs check us out when we were putting it up on Monday so we figured Tony would have action and get some shots.

Second out of the truck is Jason; the wind was wrong for our first choice so he hit a short ladderstand at an intersection.  This place was just tore up with tracks and rooting.

Then Mike in a ground blind that we had built a earlier in the day across from one I had built a couple years back.  Now we had them for either wind condition.  

Tony was next in another ground blind that Gerald recommended.  And I hit a big mesquite tree and made a hydiehole for my stool and my big butt.

Well the game was on for real and we waited for the pigs to start moving.

It was hot, 90+ and not much happened for a couple of hours at my spot.  Gerald had taken a pig here the week before and said that about 20 head were feeding in the field across the road from it so I waited and waited.  Finally I hear the pigs coming.  Typical grunting and squealing and crunch the corn.  The enter the field of view and I see five feeder size hogs (40# or so) making there way towards me.  Dang my heart starts to race again and sweat build up.  Gotta concentrate and slow down I tell my self.  There they are, a couple more steps and I start to draw.  It is a tunnel shot and about 15 yds. . .perfect.  I hit anchor as a nice reddish brown boar hits the openning.  Pick a spot and release.   . . . . .. Nice arrow flight as my WW tipped POC sails over his back and bounces accross the field.

Why am I shooting high.  My practice sessions are laying them in?  I'm getting frustrated but stay put, knowing it won't be long before the big pigs head out for a night of foraging.  Maybe I'll get another chance.

Mike

Sorry guys,  I never intended to drag this out so long...  but it takes a little to get over that killer drive!  I've got a few photos uploaded and ready to go now and more on the way...

I've got an appointment to keep at nine but I promise I'll be back around noon and we will get this story told!  

First of all this was the first site that greeted us in Texas:

(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/1ee7fa61.jpg)

First thought: Wow, everything is bigger in Texas!!!   :D

Mike Bingham is a good friend of mine and a hunting partner.  He just started trad this year and he expressed great doubts in his own shooting ability on the way there but we hadn't been there for an hour before Wingnut had him shooting lights out!  He was smoking them and the pigs would soon learn to stay out of his way...

(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/6f93f7dc.jpg)

I'm hoping Mike gets himself a Tradgang handle and contributes to this story along the way.

Of course it was great to have my Dad along as well:

   (http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/c03ab5e5.jpg)

We spent that first afternoon shooting our bows, making up excuses, and brushing in a blind:

   (http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/1aeb150d.jpg)

This was the blind where Mike B would take his first shot at a critter with trad equipment:

(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/brushblind4.jpg)

That gets us ready for the evening hunt where Wingnut wasted one of his excuses on that red boar he was just talking about.

Don't want to take away from the milking session, but wanted to say that the hunt was great. The time I spent with some great people will always be a special memory for me. The friendships cultivated will last forever and the hopefully will be renewed often. Already plans are being formulated for future events with these friends. The food was great, the fellowship greater still. We had it all the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, but in the end there were no losers only winners. Thanks Mike and Jason for helping us experience or first hog hunt with vigor and great success. Now on with the milking.

Dang this is gettin' good.  Might have to wait on the yard chores.  Didn't I tell ya it would be noon?    :scared:      :p

Holey pork rinds batman,  just as the saw descends on our caped crusaders we get the next week story.  Come on you guys are killing me.    

I wish I lived in the US. Looking out my workshop window, pi$$ing down again....ho hum.

Ok...  I had great intentions of having everything told by now, but life has gotten in the way.  Here goes my version of events:

Tuesday afternoon I left home at around 5:30 to swing by my Dad's and pick him up.  We loaded our gear into my wife's already crowded Jeep Liberty and began to wonder if we would be able to fit everything in once we met Mike in Trumann, Arkansas and loaded his gear and the groceries we intended to buy.  

We were probably quite a sight as we loaded and unloaded the Jeep on the Walmart parking lot trying to get all of the gear arranged and still leave places to seat 3 men on the grueling drive ahead.

The drive was TOUGH!  Texas is a biiiiiig state.  but finally we made it to Pearsall Texas.  What a place!  Everything there either bites, stings, scratches or pokes.  We saw 5 hogs from the gate to the bunkhouse and that, combined with the stories that Mike had already told us, had us stoked!

The first thing we did was meet and greet, all of us met Mike, Jason and Gerald.  Then we grabbed the bows and arrows and got down to the business of shooting together and really getting acquainted Trad Style!

It quickly became apparent that the long drive hadn't knocked our sights off.   :D   Mike and Mike began to work together, our Arkansas Mike was having some trouble with consistency in his shooting and Wingnut quickly zeroed in on a few problem areas in his setup, mainly heavily over-spined arrows.

Wingnut put together 6 arrows for Mike and within a few brief moments Mike was shooting as good as anybody.  We planned and plotted and mainly waited for the evening hunt.  Wingnut assured us that there would be arrows in the air and he was certainly right.  Everyone would get a shot that night!!!

The hanging tree with 5 Dryad bows hanging on it!  Any one of these bows would make a man proud!

(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/bb465b51.jpg)

Mike and Jason do great work!!!  And these Dryad bows did their job when it finally came down to pig whacking time!

Finally it got around to time for that first hunt!  This was around 5:30 Tuesday evening and the bunch from Arkansas hadn't slept since they got out of bed Monday morning, but all of a sudden we were full of energy!

We dropped everyone off at their chosen locations and I was second to last.  When I got into my blind it was a hot but beautiful South texas afternoon.  The view from the blind was impressive, made doubly so by that Dryad Wind Talker in my hands:

(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/blind.jpg)

And that awesome tapered cedar arrow on my string!

(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/arrow.jpg)

Kudos to James at Clearfork Archery for such an awesome set of arrows.  BTW James if you are reading this, I'm down to a matched set of 10 arrows!   :D

I settled in for the evening excited about Mikes exuberent confidence, everyone WILL get a shot at a hog tonight.  However, as the afternoon stretched on, I began to worry that maybe I wouldn't get my shot after all.  

Finally, as I had just began to wonder how everyone else had done and as the sun began to dip low in the sky and evening began to settle in, I heard a pig snort.  I couldn't even see them yet and my heart was already trying to jump out of my chest!

I tightened tension on my string and took a quick glance around to reassure myself that my setup was optimal, then they were finally on me.  There must have been 15 to 20 100# hogs running in one tight wad and they were coming straight to me.  However, we had been dealing with a tricky wind all evening an now it was turned and blowing right across me to them.  They advanced on my blind like Pickets last charge until their noses hit my scent in the wind then witn a snort and the pounding of hooves they were gone!

Well...  not quite gone, I could see them standing about 75 yards away peering in my direction.  Apparently their memory is short because a moment later here they came again, they came right at me and bolted just 5 steps short of my shooting window!!!  we did this 4 times in just a few minutes before a big wet sow with 6 piglets and 2 100# boars with her came at me from the opposite direction.  They advanced into my shooting lane, but, while the sow stayed broadside the boars began to feed head on to me offering little or no shot.  

I held off and waited patiently for something to change, the the sow began to move off and the boars prepared to go with her.  I tightened pressure on the string and they began to turn from me.  Finally the moment was right and I brought the bow to anchor and watched a beautiful shot sail right over the hogs back!

I wasn't really upset, as a matter of fact, I kind of sat back and said, "Yep, just what I expected...  I shot over him!!"  But this was the first night out and I was sure that more chances would follow.

When Mike came around to get me I learned that there had been plenty of arrows in the air.  Every one shot, some shot several times, but this first evening seemed to be all about getting rid of the jitters, we all shot high!!!  When we got back to camp our spirits were high, everyone had seen and shot at pigs and we were excited about what the next morning would bring.  Mike fed us all his trademark Jambalaya and we settled in for some much needed rest!

Hang in there because it only gets better!!!  Be back in a bit!

Yep the first night was a great success, but Tony you forgot Jason's pig just before dark.  Jason had had an eventful night in the ladder stand by the intersection with five shots and misses at weiners.  Then just as darkness was falling a group of larger pigs came down the lane.  The biggest one presented a shot and the arrow flew true.  It would be the second shortest blood trail of the trip.  Aoerta severed and a dead hog in seconds.  We through it on the truck and off we went to camp for dinner.

Laying in bed that night I was a bit disappointed with my shooting, frankly I'm not used to missing this much on game animals and I spent time chewing myself out for not practicing more.  Something was wrong, at the target butt I shot right down the tube but on the pigs I was high.  What was different?  I went over my tackle that night and decided that I would forgo the gloves the next day and see if that helpped.  It couldn't be me. . it had to be the gloves.

LOL

Mike

Mike I'm sure you got it figured out but shooting high is usually a case of not getting your head down and leaving it there until the arrow smacks home.

Wednesday morning the alarm went off at 0500 and we jumped up and made coffee.  With all of the sitings and shots the night before there would be blood on the ground this morning for sure.  Jason had the skunk out of camp so there should be nothing holding us back.

We changed the batting order too (heck it works in baseball).  Tony's dad wanted to stay with the blind and get another look at the big boar he saw the night before.  I was going to hunt the short ladder Jason had seen all the pigs from the first morning.  Mike would take the stand Jason was in the night before,  Jason had a brush blind he wanted to try and Tony wanted to find out what was going on at the other Double Bull I had up.

So off we go.  In the early morning semi light we see pigs heading across the roads as we go out.

Gerald drops me at the stand and I climb up. It's getting light fast and after only 20 minutes, I hear the crunch of corn and grunts of pigs.  They are coming right down the wind too me.  I just need to stay calm and slow down a bit.  Then there they are 6 of them coming fast. . .dang why not slow.  They are through the first shooting window before I can draw but I'm ready as a white spotted boar hits the second window.  The arrow is away as my eyes burn a hole on the elbow.  SMACK. . .he spins and I see the arrow out the far side and lots of blood.  Then they are gone.  Within seconds I hear a crash but don't believe he could be down already.  To bad because it cost me another chance seconds later.  The group without the boar reassembled right in front of me.  But with one blood trail it was against the rules to shoot without recovering the first pig first.

They fed around the corner and I hit the ground.  AT the spot he went into the brush half of my arrow lay covered in bubbly red and the brush was painted a great color.

I went around the brush pile and soon picked up a trail a blind man could have followed.  Stopped and looked up to see the spotted boar down less then 20 yards from the shot.  When we cleaned him we found that both lungs and the arteries on the top of the heart had taken the WW with full force.

My miss streak was over and it had to have been the gloves.

Mike

Way ta go Mike (and Jason too)   :wavey:   Must have been the gloves   ;)   ...Van

Yep it was the gloves!  And the crooked rotation of the earth...  And burning sunspots...  And heat exhaustion...  And a lot of other things I don't remember now.   :D

Sorry about Jason's pig, didn't mean to leave it out, that night was a blur.  After the sun was down and the hunt was done my body started reminding me that it had been an awful long time since I slept!

The next morning was a fine hunt, I experienced the excitement of another shot opportunity and the agony of a missed opportunity!  I saw lots of pigs, stalked within five yards of a big boar but was busted by one of the baby pigs when I started to draw!

I had lots of shot opportunities at the little 10# porkers but they were always accompanied by bigger hogs and I let them walk in hopes of getting the shot at a better pig.

When Wingnut picked me up he told me about his dead hog and we headed over to pick up Mike.  When we drove up he was standing in the road with a bloody arrow.  We immediately hit the brush and started blood trailing a hard hit pig.

I'll take this moment to say that these critters are unbelievably difficult to kill!!!  Mike has told you about a couple of short blood trails but this pig was hit hard, spraying blood high on the brush and it just kept on going!  It was a crazy blood trail, easy at times and difficult at other times.  When we finally recovered the hog he was hit through both lungs and the heart had taken a wicked slash as well but he covered a lot of ground in a very thick place before he finally crashed!

Mike B. produced the third hog of the trip and the first hog for the Arkansas crew!  He did it from the same stand that Jason produced the first hog of the trip from the night before!

Mike B. made us all proud, he was a true rookie and had gained comfidence in his shooting only 24 hours before.  He shot that pig like a veteran.  Perfect placement but man did the pig want to live.  He gave us a real test on the trail before Tony finally bellared that he had the pig.  It was belly crawl thick back in there with lots of stickers.  A typical place for a Texas pig to give it up.

So it was back to the camphouse and the cooler to clean up the pigs and get them put away.

The Arkansas crew was cooking dinner and had the big smoker going as Mike and I headed to town for more ice.

Mike

I found a photo of Jason's hog where it expired...

 (http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/jasonshog.jpg)

After that mornings hunt we came in and had some pork BBQ for lunch, then the arkansas crew settled in to prepare dinner.  I had taken some deer tenderloin and placed into a marinade on Sunday evening and packed up real nice in one of the coolers for the trip.  We took that and wrapped it in bacon and put it on the grill along with cream cheese stuffed Jalapenos wrapped with bacon and corn on the cob.  I figured all that bacon was sure to improve my accuracy!

As we got ready for our evening hunt Mike B regaled us with stories from the mornings successful hunt:

 (http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/mikestory.jpg)

I failed to mention it before but this hog was Mike B's first trad kill!!!  And he was stoked!!!!

Wingnut showed us how to put the stalk on a goat.  

 (http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/mikestalk.jpg)

If you've never seen one of these big corn fed guys get "goat small" just ask Mike for a demonstration!    :D  

Finally it was time for the evening hunt and I elected to try the stand that both Jason and Mike B had already scored from.  As evening settled in on south Texas I raced off to my date with destiny...

Much as I would like to continue the story -- I'm getting to my favorite part -- Mike B and my Dad are just about to get here and we've got pork to process!!!  I'll be back in a bit and we'll get on with the hog killing!!!

After a great meal we again suited up, shot a few shots at the targets and headed to the bush. This time Tony Sr. again tried the DB, Jason decided on brushing in near the ladder that I took my pig from in the am, Tony went for the ladder that Jason and Mike had already taken pigs from, Mike tried the DB that Tony hunted in the am. I decided on a spot that Gerald hunts now and then when the family is low on pork.

I found a little scrub oak and mesquite combo that provided cover and was able to clip out a shooting hole in a few minutes. The wind was good for this spot and I hoped to ambush the pigs as they rounded a corner. Maybe get the shot off before they new what was up. It was hot, I mean fry an egg on your hat hot. I sat and sweated as only a big guy can do and slowly drank the bottle of water I had with me.

After 30 minutes I heard them coming. It was too early for the big guys I thought so it must be wieners. Figures that my shooting was cleaned up and missing behind, so if it was wieners I was going to take one home. But as they came into view, it wasn't wieners at all. Five hogs were in the group, one small wiener, three 50-70 and a big boar in the 150# class. What were they doing up so early?

They were closing at a slow pig trot (about 20 mph) and would be in my shot window in less then a minute. I took a check of the bow and any twigs I had not taken out. Everything looked good. Now pick a spot and shoot the big guy.

First around the corner was the wiener, and then one of the middle sized boars. Here he comes, wow he's bigger then I thought when I saw him a bit ago. But he's quartered too me, gotta wait, slow down. Then he opens up and shows his side. SMACK! The arrow hits home but my first impression was it was a little high, about the midline but tight to the shoulder.

Bowhunters anxiety sets in. You know the feeling that while waiting after a perfect shot that in a few minutes you are not sure you even hit it. LOL
Well all kinds of demons were chewing on my confidence at this point. I know if I'm too high I'll miss the vitals. But was it too high?

Ten minutes go by and I decide to see if I can find first blood. I crawl out of my hide and cross over to the spot where the arrow and hog met. Big running hog tracks but no blood. HMMMMM! Following the tracks for 20 yds in the open mesquite was easy but still no blood. I decide to go for Gerald and Gator the wonder dog.
Gator is seven pounds of fury. He is a cross between a Jack Russell and a Weiner dog. He is the boss of the property and I've seen 250# boars back down from him. I've also seen him catch and haul down a 50# wounded sow.

Anyway I head for the camp house. Along the way I ran into three Jakes that were fun. They are pretty stupid at that age and I was able to play with them for a couple hundred yards as they walked ahead of me. Once I reached the camp house I found that Gerald had run to town figuring we would not need help til about dark. So I grabbed another water bottle and headed back to the shot location. I was on my own and decide to try and dry track the hog. He had big feet and was easy to sort out from the rest of the traffic.

I reached the spot and start again this time not looking for blood but look at track. It was good trailing as he was running and leaving a lot of sign. It's funny how you concentrate on blood so much at times you forget all the other sign. I followed the running pig for over 100 yards to a stand of white brush. There I found blood and a lot of it on the entry to the brush. I start looking for the next sign when I glanced over the bush to see the pig lying in the middle of one of the farm roads. Now that was nice of him.

He was big and I had thoughts of getting the truck and wrestling him into the back. But as I approached he grew in size and I knew I would require help.

I went back to my hide and sat for a while, remembering hunts gone by and the results of today. It was a good time and my melancholy was interrupted by the distant sound of a diesel starting. Mine was the only diesel in camp so I figured Jason needed help.


Mike

Mike, I sure am enjoying this. Pigs are just a blast. I know about shots being too high also, it feels great to look up and see them laying there after a long trail, nothing like it   :thumbsup:  

So, what did Jason get??

Great hunt guys, keep it coming.  I've got to try this pig hunting thing some day, I think I'm missing out on waaay too much fun.


David

As I walked towards the camp, I heard another truck start and missed catching a ride with Gerald by a few seconds.  Oh well, I can use the exercise.  I could see the trucks parked at the other end of the main road, so off I went.  It was a short 15 minutes and I was there.  I could hear Gator off to my right so I homed in on it.  A short time later I came onto Gerald and Jason in real thick stuff.  Jason took a minute to tell his story.

"When dropped off I found a good looking spot that offered cover and tucked into the brush for the evening wait.  An hour passed without any action, then without warning a single 70# hog appeared on my left.  It stepped into the window and I decided to pass it up.. . .about 2" over it's back.  Dang it!!  Oh well, after it made it's excape to safer feeding area, I settled back knowing that it would not be the only visitor.

An hour later, I was right.  A group of smaller pigs mostly wieners and 40 and 50 pounders came down the road from the same direction.  I could also hear another pig coming from the right.  With pigs coming from both sides I had to decide on what to do.  The pig from the right was larger by the sound but the ones from the left were closer.  I decided to take the first oppurtunity rather then take a chance.  The largest of the left group stepped in, however, as I drew  the next one down cut it off.  Well a pig in hand is just that.  The arrow flew true and looked to be a great hit.  All heck breaks loose as the group makes tracks for places unknown.  

I looked for a minute or two for bloodsign and decided to get some Gator aid to find this one in the thick white brush.

After going and not finding Gerald, I took the truck back to the site and started to trail on my own."

He said the shot felt and looked solid.  He has taken quite a few hogs now so I figured it was down and out.  Gator came to Gerald rather then stay with the pig.  We circled a bit and Jason soon found a 40# BBQ pig laid up in the thick stuff.  We took it to the road and field dressed it.  Gerald went for the truck and we were soon on our way back.

After hanging it on the meat pole we drove out to pick up my hog.  Jason and I dressed and manhandled it into the truck.  We were soon back sipping water and looking at our hogs as the sun began to set.

Mike

"sipping water" ????  :bigsmyl:

What Dano said  :saywhat:      ....Van

This is great guys!!!!  Where's all the pix???

Well Tony has all the pics and the rest of the story.  He is AWOL again so we will have to wait.

Probably in church actually.

LOL

Mike

I'm back!

First of all I want to apologize to everyone for not getting the story told quicker.  It's just been crazy since I got home.  I got all the pics sized and uploaded to my photobucket account now and the rest of my story as well as all the hero shots are going to post within the next hour or so...

Sit Down, Shut Up, and Hold On cause we're going on a ride!   :D

First off, I'm gonna post the group pic from the end of the hunt, then I'll fill in the rest of the story from my perspective.  If Mike is able to get back on he can help sort out the details form there.  At the end I'll post the hero pics...  K?

Here goes the group shot:

(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/groupshot.jpg)

Pictured from left to right are Jason, Wingnut, Mike B, Me and my Dad (T-Mac).  Not a bad haul for a 2 day hunt!  Two of those pigs represent first tradkills, but I'm getting ahead of myself...

I believe I left off at Wednesday evening.  We spent that afternoon feasting on Deer Tenderloin and practicing a little.  When I headed back out to occupy the stand that had already produced 2 of the 3 dead hogs, I felt pretty confident that this was gonna be the night!

The hunt started out slow, I was surrounded by deer but no hogs.  I saw several species of exotics that afternoon including a real handsome Texas Dall.

As evening began to approach I began to get a little discouraged.  I was afraid that maybe I had made a bad choice, that this stand had been overused.  That magic hour settled in and all my senses went on high alert but to no avail I slowly watched the evening descend upon us with no hogs even sighted at all.  Then, at the last possible shooting light a bunch of hogs came out of the brush on the same trail where we had tracked Mike B's hog that morning.  There was one nice boar and two small 50# hogs and about 6 small 10# hogs.

They approached my stand but shied away at the last moment... went back to the brush and peered over at the tree.  Must be the same bunch that Mike B shot at this morning, I thought to myself as I contemplated the situation.  Then they turned and came on again but this time the one nice 100-150# hog that was with them turned and went the other way, demonstrating why he was so much bigger than the rest!

As they approached my stand my heart was jumping through my chest.  There was a nagging though in my mind that these would be the smallest hogs I had taken a shot at on the whole trip but that was mostly swallowed by the fact that I was going to get another chance to score my first trad kill...

Nice bunch of hogs, I mean the dead ones on the ground,   :D  Oh never mind, congrats to all, sounds like ya'all had a great hunt.

As they approached to within shooting distance I zeroed in on the biggest in the bunch, about a 50# hog.  I allowed my full attention to settle low on the vitals, picking a spot.  I concentrated on a low shot because I was in a tree stand and had been warned my Wingnut that my shot would go a little higher than usual.

I will never forget any of the shots that I took on this trip but this one in particular is forever etched in my mind.  I remember coming to full draw and then holding just a second as that perfect feeling that all was right settled on me before the release.  Somewhere in that perfect moment the string slipped from my fingers and I watched my arrow race to my intended target.  Those white spliced feathers from James Young are awesome, and in that short space of time as all my concentration was on the shot I could actually see the rotation of the feathers as they streaked to the hog.  Then it happened, the feathers disappeared into the hog right at the spot where I was concentrating,  The arrow was a clean pass thru and as the hog whirled to escape the danger it snapped my arrow in half, leaving both pieces right there on the ground.

It was in that moment that doubt began to gnaw on my mind.  yes the arrow went right where I was looking, but that might not be a good thing since I was aiming a little lower than I intended to hit, trying to compensate for the elevated stand.  I decided to clamber down and get a look as the darkness settled in.

Fantastic story guys, keep it up coming!

So the bows were almost all Dryad bows, windtalker, right?

What is the bow of the gentleman on the far right?

F-Manny

I got to my arrow and once again doubt and dismay settled in on me.  the arrow had passed thru but only had good blood sign on one of the three fletchings.  I decided that there was a real good chance that I had shot too low and braced myself for the worst.

I had just stepped off into the brush with my flash light when Mike and the guys approached in the truck.  I informed them that I had blood on an arrow and we set about on one more wild and difficult blood trail.

It started out real positive and pretty fast.  Jason found fiorst blood and set the direction and from there the blood was pretty frequent and pretty good...  for a bit.  Then it pretty much ran out.  We got down to just a drop at a time.  About that time the dog got there and started working the trail and before long got off into the next thicket and began to bark, letting us know he had a hog.  We headed, headlong, into the thickstuff after the dog.  It was slow going in one of the most difficult places on God's green earth.  After a bit we realized that the dog was on a live hog and that it was likely that it wasn't my hog...

All bows were Dryads except the recurve that Mike B was shooting.  He is in talks right now with Wingnut about a Dryad Bushwacker though...

The gentleman on the right is my Dad and he is carrying a Windtalker, Wingnut and myself were also carrying Windtalkers and Jason was shooting the Bushwacker.

I went from excitement to dejection as I considered the possibilities.  That's hog hunting, from the exciting high to low ebb in just a moment.  We had a little pow-wow and decided to go back to the start and see if we could cut the blood on my hog again.  As we were walking back the dog rejoined us, then out of the blue he began to tear up jack about 5 yards from the trail.  Gerald, the hunt manager, steps over there and peers under a big brush pile, then with a huge grin he hauls out my very much dead hog!

Needless to say I raced back to the top of the emotional ladder.  I was almost overcome with emotion as I looked down at my first trad kill.  This had been a long journey for me and a much anticipated event...  I'm glad to say today that the thrill of victory was everything I had anticipated and more!  It was beyond exciting right up until that point that Wingnut reached over and took my light from me and told me to get busy gutting the thing...    :D

Of course by this time I had learned of Wingnut and Jason's success and my hog made number 6 for the hunt!

Thursday morning was the final day of the hunt and it concluded well.  I had a blast and I'll share it in a moment but first let me get on with the hero pics!!!

(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/pigs1.jpg)

Good looking bunch of hogs!

(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/pigs2.jpg)

From biggest to smallest they were each one a true trophy!

Here are the stars of the show:

First Jason, shooting a Dryad Bushwacker.

(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/jason.jpg)

That is one more smooth, sweet shooting bow.  It has been elevated to the top of my wish list and I full anticipate getting one later this year!

Secondly Mike, shooting a Windtalker.

(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/wingnut.jpg)

This bow was exceptionally nice looking with an osage belly and swoop!

Mike Bingham from Arkansas scored his first trad kill on the trip.

(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/mikepig.jpg)

The bow was a Martin X-200.  Mike is brand new to Trad Archery and he bought the bow as a starter until he settled in on what he wanted to shoot.  After handling the Bushwacker he began to talk to Mike about placing an order...  Next years hunt will likely be an all Dryad hunt!

The only problem with being the eye behind the camera is that you aren't in any of the pictures...  This fact held true right down to the hero pics.  I posed and my dad shot the pic but somehow something went wrong with the camera and the pic was lost...  Bummer!  However I do have a pic of my pig -- which saves all of you from my ugly mug anyway!   :D

(http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e235/mccallt/tonypig.jpg)

My bow is a Dryad Windtalker with Cocobola and a Bocate swoop and a bulletwood belly.  This bow is a sweet shooter!  And i was extremely pleased to share my first trad kill with such a fine piece of equipment.  The arrows are my fancy ones from James Young and they are beyond beautiful!  I lost one and broke one on this trip but that's what they are for!

Finally, let me share my story of the last day's hunt.  I decided to go back to the blind I hunted on the first night, where I had shot over my first hog.  I further decided to locate myself in a different location a little further from the blind.  This turned out to be a good idea since the hogs, which had scented me before in the blind, shied away from it all together, but that's getting ahead of the story.

When Mike and Gerald dropped me off, there were hogs in the road, it looked like it was going to be a good hunt!   I made my fatal mistake right there at the very beginning.  with daylight quickly racing into the picture and hogs already upon me, I hastily searched for good cover with a shooting land and finding what appeared to be a good place settled in.  

As the sun began to rise I could hear the hogs grunting and an occasional squeal.  I looked around to verify my setup and discovered on glaring flaw in my plans.  I was badly exposed in an opening to my left rear.  I briefly considered moving but the grunting of hogs encouraged me to try to make the best of the situation, after all the hogs were in front and to my right and the only way they were getting to that hole in my cover was to first pass thru my shooting lane.

In the end my success was also my failure.  It turns out that I had picked a great spot for the morning hunt, as a matter of fact it was too great!  The first bunch of hogs approached me, as planned from the right proceeding directly to my shooting lane.  However a second bunch approached from my left directly to my fatally flawed cover.  The bunch to my right featured some good sized hogs proceeded by a few small 10# hogs.  I let the small ones walk thru my shooting window waiting on a chance at one of the good ones.  Once again, hindsight is 20-20 and I probably should have taken the first shot presented, because the small hogs blended with the hogs from the other group and they congregated right at the hole in my cover.

I tried to stay as still as possible as that hog I wanted to shoot walked into my shooting lane.  I tightened tension on the string, then began my draw.  At that precise moment I was busted y the hogs milling around to my left and one of them let loose with a short quick frightened grunt that ruined the whole show.

Pigs went everywhere and I let my draw down.  I could hear grunting and squealing all around me and so I made a snap decision to do what I should have done earlier that morning.  I stealthily shifted my position about 10 yards into perfect cover with a good shooting window.

In just a few moments I saw a large hog approaching, quickly from the left.  I allowed it to trot into my shooting lane as I, once again brought the string to full draw.  This time I was stopped cold, not by the horrible grunt of a pig busting me, but by the knowledge that this was a mature sow.

One of the rules of the hunt was not to shoot wet sows.  Although this sow had no young with her and by a strict interpretation of the guidelines would have been fine to kill, I had personally determined not to shoot a mature sow, so, as much as I wanted to take another hog I slowly let the string down and watched as this brazen sow presented me with shot opportunity after shot opportunity.

After a while the sow vacated my shooting lane and things settled down to no action at all.  As the hunt drew to an end I decided to get up and walk around a bit in hopes of stumbling into some of the small porkers that we had been encouraged to thin out.

I never found any porkers but was intrigued by a cottontail that stood stock still about 25 yards ahead.  Nocking an arrow, I stalked to within 15 yards before I stretched the string and let fly with a well aimed arrow.  My precision guided missile streaked thru the air right to the place where the rabbit HAD been sitting.  It passed thru thin air then bounced wildly into the brush.  The frightened rabbit had only moved a few feet and I quickly nocked another arrow and tried to get a little closer before doing the whole thing over again.

Did I mention that rabbits are faster than arrow, either that or they are extremely lucky!  Right at the last moment the bunny moves and the arrow careens off into the brush.  Once again the rabbit stopped just a little ways off, ad again I nocked the arrow and let it fly, with the same results.

I was nocking my fourth and final arrow and stalking closer to the bunny when it dawned on me that I had no idea where my other three arrows now were.  My more responsible side kicked in and spared the bunny from any further entertainment as I scrambled into the brush to hunt my arrows.  thankfully I recovered them all, just as Mike pulled up to get me!

Let me conclude by saying that I had a great time!  The hunt was a real success, and it was great to finally meet Mike and Jason.  Mike demonstrated just what kind of guy he was when he jumped in to help Mike B out with his shooting, going so far as to provide him with new shafts and broadheads!  I had already determined that Mike and Jason were great folks but this solidified it in my mind.  I hope we forged a lasting friendship during our short hunt and plans are already being made for a possible deer hunt together in Arkansas this October and another hog hunt in South Texas next year!

Mike is not only a great bowyer and an exceptional hunting partner, he also proved to be a great cook and an enthralling story teller!  I was equally impressed with Jason, who seems to be a young man with his head on straight and a great philosophy about hunting -- the more you shoot, the better your odds of hitting something!   :D

I look forward to the next time we are able to hunt together and I hope that next time I can get the story told and the pictures posted much faster!

Finally thanks to everyone on the gang, first of all for tolerating my story telling, but mostly for being the fuel that keeps the fire burning.  I only hope that you have take half as much delight from our stories and our hunt as I have taken from yours over the last year or so.  Thanks for your kindness and encouragement, each of you were a part of that fine moment when I enjoyed my first ever trad kill!!!!

Thanks to all!

Well if we could get Mike B to chime in with his story and a few touches up from Tony Sr.  I think this story would be a wrap.

Mike

Mike B was here last night and he read the story up to that point but he still doesn't have a Trad Gang handle...  Hopefully he will get in here today or tomorrow.

My Dad was here late last night too, processing meat and grinding home-made bratwurst.  He worked today and will probably be on later tonight.

That's cool, sorry about your hero pic.  Man it sucks to loose the first one.  I lost a whole roll of 35 mm on my first elk with a trad bow.  Heart breaking.

Mike

Great story, great pics, great thread. Nice lookin' bows too. Thanks guys.  Y'all made my day a bit brighter   :thumbsup:      :thumbsup:   ....Van

Tony... great story well told. Here's wishin ya many more.  :thumbsup:

Them Westvang boys make a fine bow.

Finally caught up on the readin. Congrats to all you guys on your pigs! Especially you guys with a 1st! Thanks for the read. Well told. CK

OK so we've heard the story from start to finish. By now most have added up the kills and figured that someone did not score. That someone was I but, I'm not down or out. There will be other days and other hunts and we all no that every dog has its day. I was shooting very will. In camp each day I was shooting at a small piece of foam, a little larger then a golf ball, and was knocking the heck out of it. The only problem was I couldn't seem to get that piece of foam attached to the shoulder of the pigs. The only excuse I have is "hog fever" I shot just over the back each time. I think the adrenalin was flowing such that I was over pulling my draw maybe?? The misses were close but no cigar. There is no way I can describe the excitement of my first hog hunt. My heart in my throat each time pigs came into my area. The expectation each time I went into the blind to wait for the event. The thrills of my son making his first trad kill. It was a hunt I will always remember. Stories told, moments shared, advice exchanged and encouragement offered by all to all present. I can't wait until next time when redemption will reign for sure.

As usual great story wingnut and crew! Good times, nice pics, super hogs and real sweet lookin bows! Can't wait to get my bushwacker.  :)

BD

Big Dog,

Are you sure that gal I shipped it too isn't out shooting it while you wait?  LOL

If she is I hope I never meet her in person.  That is a manly bow for sure.

Have you heard from here since she got back.

Mike

Mike,
        no news yet..and Kitty is 5' 9" and well let me tell ya, she is large!    :scared:    :scared:    ;)   Maybe next weekend, or the weekend after...I'll be here, waiting, waiting and waiting... ;)

BD

Tony,

Don't let being the one left out get you down,  It happens in every hunt.  It was me on the first hog hunt I went on and again on the one before this.

Mike

Dad has just been on a dry streak lately, but this is the year we're gonna break it!  We are already planning a deer hunt this fall in a heavily overpopulated zone...

Bad?? Who feels bad! Had a great time, got to shoot my new bow. Enjoyed some great fellowship with equally great people. The food could not be beat at any 5 star restaurants. And got to spend special time with my oldest son. How much better does it get then that? Right now I'm just waiting for the dam to break because I know that when it does there is going to be a flood. Who knows what will fall to the old trad bow then. And it may be the next time out. As a matter of fact I think that it will be.

Just heard from Mike B...  I'm expecting him to jump in and tell about his first kill sometime today!  Stay tuned...

Hey Guys,
Sorry it took so long to chime in! sounds like the story has pretty much been told. I hate to milk it any further save to say that I had a great time and I'm still stoked about my first trad kill. No doubt I'm a trad hunter for life. Thanks Wingnut for all your help with my equipment. You proved yourself a true sportsman by going above and beyond. (P.S I'm still dreamin about that bushwacker bow!) Thanks TONY and Tony (note: big and little)for showing me such a great time.
Mike B

Great story guys, looks like ya'll had a real fine time. Keepin good company tends to do that.

Yet another great story of good hunting, good ethics and friendship. Well done gang. The only problem is you got me looking at the pigs at the local farm in a totally different way now.
Graham

Welcome aboard Mike (mtbingham)!!!  Glad you made it to the campfire!     :campfire:

Congrats Mike B and welcome  :wavey:    :wavey:  ....Van

Just finished an hours worth of reading and waiting for the pics on dial up. It was well worth it!   :bigsmyl:  

Congrats to all!

Danny

cool story- congratulations guys!

Thanks for sharing.......looks like a load of fun was had by a motley crew....congrats guys!

well see? Go on vacation for a week and when you come back all the story tellin and picture posting is done. Perfect.

Congrats guys on an exciting hunt and on that pile o porkers.

Ya done good   :thumbsup:    :notworthy: