TD #4, Hog Death #46
1 - 65lb doe and 20lb spotted pig
2 - 1/25/19 and 1/26/19
3 - area 1concordia parish
4 - vintage fred bear k'mag recurve
Last weekend was a great time. I started off hunting a spot deep on Yancey that I had recurve hunted for the 1st time the final evening of buck’s only and had a deer come to it after hours. It was a lone big nutall dropping a bunch of late season acorns. I made the long 1.8 mile hike in the flooded woods with my knee boots hooking around to get the right wind. It was going well on this sub 30 degree cold morning and I had all my warm clothes in my bag to put on. Suddenly just 100 yards from my spot while in shin deep water, my foot fell into a dillo hole and there goes being comfortable. I put both foot warmers in the boot after draining the water but that didn’t help that much. I was almost thinking about just dropping the climber and slowly stalking and running my several trail cameras with the numb foot that was ice cold. However, once getting to the tree just as the birds started chirping I notice loads of fresh deer tracks in the 1st light of dawn. I decided to hunt my picked out tree just as planned for as long as I could stand it.
Well b4 long I get some action. 3 does are heading my way to feed but stay around 30-35 yards for a bit. Just out of range and it gets me so freaking excited hoping they’ll approach closer. One is bigger and two small ones but one is tiny. I’m hoping to get the big one. Finally, they slowly come just within 20 yards into the danger zone. I got my 62 kmag all ready to sling one, but when I go draw the deer takes a step and part of her vitals is behind a small limb. I don’t chance it and undraw after several seconds. Those recurve arrows bend a bunch during the shot so gaps need to be larger to shoot through.
Now she is quartering forward for a bit. She comes back broadside but the tiny one is too close behind and I would’ve hit both of them with a pass through. Then she gives me another broadside look. As I draw she looks up. I’m not sure if she saw my movement or was just doing her usual scan but she seemed more on alert. Maybe I’m overthinking but I’m not about to release. I’m holding back at full draw for at least 10 seconds but it seems much longer. I got the perfect shot but don’t want to chance a ducking deer like with the 8 point “hatchet buck” I knicked high a few weeks ago with the 55# kmag from my previous post. This vintage 62#er the the 1960s only shoots several fps faster around 165fps which wouldn’t make a difference. I slowly inch my draw back to nearly relaxed as she puts her head down and instantly change to the smarter plan. The bigger of the 2 small ones was off to the side stationary and feeding. I redraw pulling back with my tiring arms and focus on vitals using my back blade tip of the swamp shark. PLOOPPP. Clean pass through just behind the shoulder with my arrow buried in the mud and the deer expiring 40 yards away within seconds within sight.
Goodness I felt great to get another tasty small doe for the pot and even better to put the deer down so quickly in sight. I forgot all about my iceblock of a foot and soon as I saw the deer no longer moving I was howling like a wolf at the top of my lungs pumped about the feast!
I quickly went check a nearby camera. Wow oh wow. I had the other tree I planned to hunt in the coming days once the winds switched south with a huge heavy wide and tall 9 point that morning working a lick branch 15 yards from my tree broadside at 8:09. I also had deer activity in daylight all days since bucks only except 1 day with a bunch of different racked bucks. Camera was in video mode and I had 2 nice racked bucks fighting. Very few nighttime videos. Through the years I have had bucks fighting many times b4 in picture more and small yearlings fighting on video mode but this is the 1st sparing with large racks I ever got on film. To me that’s just as treasured as a quality harvest to get that on public land.
Well my other cameras hardly had any deer in daylight with consistency and not many bucks. I finally figured out these late season bucks at one spot at least in this area after years of failing at spots where they were nocturnal on my cameras.
I power hiked out my gear back to the truck, laced up the running shoes and sprint on back to my deer. My legs were worn out from a half marathon I did on the treadmill in 1:16:22 (5:50 mile pace 11.3mph for 13.11 miles) I still couldn’t feel my foot but I ran happy as could be, tossed ol deer on my shoulders and power hiked out. This one seemed about 65lbs.
I had some fun doing a practice blood track with Shasseh in the yard after hiding the deer and creating a blood trail.
I stopped at the local grocery for some red bell peppers, green onion, purple onion, sweet onion, celery, garlic and broccoli. Midday I grill up the heart, liver and tenderloins with those chopped up veggies in the pot on the stove. Shasseh and I ate on that all weekend. Darn mice chewed some through my pex pipe again but oh well, i'll fix that another time. At least my shower was working.
Well I hit the woods again as soon as possible that evening on Cocodrie focused on a buck. I see a few big buck tracks and pass up 2 packs of hogs that were feeding in the palmetos. I just didn’t have time to waste stalking more pork. I get in my stockingfoot waders and cross a deep slough in a swamp and get set up. As I’m setting up I hear another pack of hogs. That’s 3 packs on the same ridge. Goodness, I would’ve moved but I had the perfect wind and saw those large buck tracks so stayed put. The hogs fed @ 35-50 yards from my for over an hour. Finally they got slightly downwind but still was feeding. Enough was enough. I climbed down quickly and went chase them off with no weapon running in stockingfoot waiste high waders. Now that was fun. I climbed back and heard something move in the palmettos just b4 dark but never saw what it was.
The next morning I wake early at 4:15 with no alarm just too excited about the buck spot which takes 90 minutes to hook around with the wind. I hike in deep and don’t have any luck. I need to get some training in so I sacrifice long hunt hours. I climb down and hike several miles to go check other cameras. 4 hours of hiking for the morning. Those cameras didn’t have much action. I run 90 minutes with Shasseh midday. I was so tired that I was falling asleep on the run closing my eyes and pounding pavement slowly and never stopping. After a quick meal, quick shower and 10 minutes drolling on my pillow with wet hair, I slap myself to wake up. I NEED to get in the woods to get a buck. Not sleep. I head to a new spot on Cocodrie for the evening. After 2.4 miles I’m nearly the spot 150 yards away when I see hogs. Grrrr. They are everywhere. I see all medium sized pigs so just snort at them and keep moving. I’m late and just want to get in my tree for 2 hours of hunting.
I’m at the base of the tree when suddenly I hear another pack of hogs. Now I’m ticked, no fresh deer tracks and more pigs. Well I ready my recurve. I had forgot my knife at the camp from cleaning the deer, but I still had my 20lb icebag still packed with me. The hogs are moving directly to me and FAST. I can’t see anything but hear palmettos crashing. They pass 12 yards from me. The 1st 3 pigs are medium 100-150lb pigs. I don’t even bother trying to stop them. I’m only after trophy tusks or small tasty pigs that I can pack out in my bag and eat fresh since I have more pork frozen than I can handle.
Well the final 2 stragglers are about 20lbs. Now that’s the size I don’t mind harvesting as that's some tasty meat. I grunt fairly loud when the 1st one gets in an opening but it stops behind some brush. They continue a few steps, so I give a super load snort and the tail pig stops quartering away behind a palmetto but I can see the pig well enough. I pull pack on the 62# vintage Kodiak mag and sling a swamp shark. SLICE! The pig runs 20 yards and dies within seconds from a perfect shot. It took a while to find my arrow since it went another 10 yards passed the pig.
Without fresh deer sign I decide to just stalk for the evening. Last year I killed an 8 point stalking with my 70# martin recurve on the final weekend, maybe I could do it again. Well I finally find some fresh deer sign after a while but had no more action. I hike way on back to my pig, put it in the ice bag. The 20lb pig barely fit in the icebag but I was able to stuff that in my backpack as I carry my climber out in my hand. I finally get back to the camp after the long 3 mile walk out exhausted as could be, but at least I got a gallon ziplock full of tasty pork to show for all the effort.
Well with 46 harvested pigs this season and 60 total counting the 14 extras from the 2 pregnant sows its been another good year of trying to do my part to help rid the woods of them. Still not as many as last season’s 72 pigs but I quit going after them to focus my time on deer hunting the 2nd half of the season. I enjoy using all my various weapons but only like eating small ones or sows and chasing after giant smart slick tough boars.
Sunday I had no luck at my spot on yancey. I ran another 90 minute midday run with Shasseh. I had a bit more energy this time. I go back to another new spot on Cocodrie for the evening. I’m seeing loads of fresh scrapes and deer tracks at this spot 1.74 miles deep on my watch. This gets me excited. I sneak up onto the small but thick palmetto ridge near nuttalls that they been feeding under. I get to a good tree to climb and slowly setup as quietly as possible.
He is watching me the entire time. Yep slick daddy is right there just 18 yards upwind bedded down and I don’t know it. Finally I jump up in the climber to begin my ascent and big bruiser bolts out with a fury. Talk about some loud stuff and I catch a glimpse of a really nice rack. Total bummer that I set up just too close to him. Oh well that’s how it goes. B4 dark I use my rattle horns and another deer bedded 80 yards upwind takes off and runs away. At least I found where the deer were with no pig sign.
Super busy back home at work and trying to get baby stuff and the house in order as we leave Sunday to go to Texas for our surrogates birth of our kid next week, but plan one day trip tomorrow to finish off the season, since jumping big buck Sunday evening left me frustrated as could be.
Can’t wait to go through all my videos and pictures off all this year’s footage in the offseason, but no time today. My sd cards are scatted all over the place with tens of thousands of files scattered everywhere.
Last edited by Orion; January 30th, 2019 at 09:39 AM.
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Caped Cruisader
