Akin for Some Bacon (Updated with pics and video)

[DirtyDog]

I just booked a hog hunt in Florida for January. Well, it isn't going to cost me a thing except airfare. I will be staying with a freind amd hunting at his freinds ranch one day, and at his other freinds high fence area. The hogs are tearing everything up down there, and I can't wait.

[FinsnFur]

camera

[DirtyDog]

I will probably take the video camera as well. 

[iahntr]

Sounds like fun 

[KySongDog]

Take your bow.  It makes hog hunting lots more interesting.   

Good luck and have fun! 

Semp

[FOsteology]

Hunting hogs is a blast! Takes plenty of pictures and be sure to post up your hunt when you return!

[DirtyDog]

Well, one more day of work......I can hardly contain myself  . I have been packed all week. Thank goodness it is finally here. 

[Nelson]

Hey Dirty Dog,
Good luck!!!!  Hope you get a big one!!   

Nelson

[DirtyDog]

Well......I have three boars down, pics and video when I get home. 

[Bills Custom Calls]

Thats Cool Joe!!!! Bring a ham for the LBL we can cook it over the fire

[FinsnFur]

3??  :shck: holy crap. That's enough bacon to feed the whole board. Looking forward to the pics.

[DirtyDog]

Wow is about all I can say.

          We started our trip by shotting our bows early on Friday morning to make sure that we were still good to go since we had not shot for a while, and of course we were.    We then got on the plane and got going. We arrived in Tampa, got our car, and headed for Arcadia. Once we got there, we got unloaded, and almost immediatly headed out to one of the ranches we were going to hunt. We cooked steaks and bakes potatos over a fire, boy son was that some good stuff. This particular ranch was a licensed hunting preserve, the kind with exotics. This place was owned/ run by a freind of a freind. By the timer we were done eating, it was starting to get late, so we headed back to the house and got to sleep. 

          The next morning, we got up early, and went to the local restaraunt for some breakfast, and then headed back to Wal-mart to pick up some ammo. Once we got to the ranch, we shot our rifles, and then had some time to spare before we left for the open ranch. We got to ride around the ranch and see all of the exotics that they had there. Elk, sika deer, red deer, red stag, water buffalo, buffalo, pure david, axis deer, fallow deer, and a few more that I probably forgot about, and of course wild hogs, whitetails and turkey. Here are a few of the elk.



          So then George, Ronny and myself left the high fence ranch and headed to the open ranch with our "guides" (grandson of the owner, and his friend who so kindly openend all our gates for us) Eli and Kyle. We drove all of about 4 minutes and we saw our first hogs. We stopped the truck and the stalk began. We managed to stalk from about 200 yards away, to about 50. I stopped to watch this one little hole that the hogs might come back through, and George and Ronny kept going to see if they could cut them off. Then at about 40 yards, George shot and the hog went down, and back up again, then he put another 243 round in it and it went down for good. A real nice cinamin looking hog, and that makes #1.

          Shortly (I mean the matter of minutes after we got in the truck), we spotted a bunch more to our left, and a few more to our right. After looking, the big hogs on our left were sows with pigletts, so we tried to get a better view of the ones in front of us. We stalked a bit and just couldn't get a good view if they were boars or sows. Just then Eli honks and tells us to come back because he sees a bigger one that has to be a boar in a pasture a few fields over. So We almost run to try to get on that one, as soon as we start to move, the hogs that we were currently stalking started running right towards that boar. I knew as soon as they got there that boar would run with them. The wind was blowing about a 100 mph it seemed, and a 200 yards shot just didn't seem like a good idea to me, so I passed on that shot. We were able to stalk over to that hammock and see if we could find them.  Sure enough, we found him, and the ones that ran off. The boar was right where we seen him the first time, and he was working away from us. So we headed to our right to cut him off, all of a sudden, he changed his mind, and started to head back the other direction. we were close to a perfect ambush spot. I kneeled down, heart pumping a hundred miles an hour, knowing that I could not get a steady shot free handed, so I got the sticks ready. It was almost like something scripted from a book or magazine. Keep in mind, that George was behind me with the video camera the whole time. So the hog walks about 30-35 yards dead in front of me. I had to watch my shot because there were cows everywhere. Once the hog got right in my window, I let the 150 grain 270 fly, and that hog took its last breath. It was a big hog, but the tusk were not that big.



Just after the shot, 5 more boars ran from out of a ditch hidden by palmettos. George is holding the camera, so he doesn't have a gun, Ronny is holding his 30-30, and tells George to take it. George thinks for about a half second and takes the gun, he then takes about a 100 yard running shot, the boar is hit, but keeps running, then he puts another 30-30 round in him at about 150 yards running and down he went. This is a big boar, about 250 lbs, with some massive cutters.





          Things slowed down a bit after that. After driving a while and seeing a bunch of hogs, stalking a few, and Eli and Kyle shooting a few, we headed back towards our hogs to get them skinned out. On the way, we see a hog near a hammock about 100 yards away. Eli says here is your long shot (we were talking about trying to beat the 150 yards shot). George and I get out of the truck like a Chinese fire drill. There are hay bails everywhere and by now the hog is running kinda toward us, but still away. George gets on a hay bail and gets ready, I get on the same one and put the thing in my sights and once again 150 grain 270 bang roll roll roll.  This one is not very big, but the shot was at LEAST 150 yards with the wind howling and the hog in a full out sprint.



          As we start to get close to the hogs, we see a few more boars running, and this time, it is George's turn. He shoots a nice grayish boar with dark spots on it and that is #3 for him. In the meantime, the other one starts running, so I take a free handed shot and hit it, but it doesn't go down. One more shot, and that about did for that ole boy, and that is #3 for me also.



          On to our first couple of hogs to get them skinned out. George is having his mounted, and I am having my hide tanned. That was one heck of an afternoon, we eneded up taking a total of 8 boar hogs.

          The following morning, we went back to the high fence area so I could try to get one with my bow, and another one film. We walked for a while and didn't really see anything. So we got back in the jeep and started to try to spot one, then stalk it. We see a group of three down a road, so wed rive on past and the first stalk begins. It was close, but I guess I was being too picky and the spotted me.



          The next stalk was more or less a sit and wait thing. We had one walking right into range, but it didn't like something and ran off.



          On the last stalk, I almost connected, I was drawn on them 3 times, they just would not give me the right shot while they were feeding on the edge of the road. Unfortunatly there was no footage of this one. It was a great hunt, and I am already planning another one for next year. 

[studabaka]

Cool stuf Joe. Sounds like you had a heck of a time 

[MDM]

sweeeeeeet 

[wv_yoter]

Welcome back Joe. It sounds like you had fun.

[Nelson]

Nice hunt Joe. Thanks for the pics and video.
Nelson

[HaMeR]

Way to go!! I want to do a hog hunt sometime too!! I think that would be so cool!! Congrats Joe!! 

[FinsnFur]

That sure does look like some gooooooood eatin! 
Looks like you had fun.

[keekee]

Cool! That looks to be a very fun time! Congrads!


Brent

[coyotehunter_1]

 Joe,
Nice job on the porkers ! 
 
I'm glad you all had a great hunt.