This past Friday, WldWldWest and I headed back down to the hunting club in Tennessee to give hog hunting another try.
We arrived early in the afternoon, saddled up Doug's four wheeler and headed into the hills to check out a few of the stands and feeders. We stopped at the first stand, gave the feeder a function check and moved on to check out a couple more. What we found when we got to each of the next stands, was that the bears had torn down and emptied the feeders. :rolleye: The bears are really hard on them, and a standard tripod mounted feeder is no match for a determined bear wanting what is inside the barrel. We threw some corn on the ground around the broken feeders and headed back to camp to formulate a plan for the evening's hunt.
This is the type of feeder used at the stands. The bears tear them down and empty them of the corn, often smashing the barrel out of shape and destroying the feeder mechanism. :pout:
(http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u497/plageman1/Hog%20hunt%207_zpshjvfenb9.jpg)
The stands are at various spots in those hills in the back ground. It is a lot steeper and more rugged than it appears in the picture.
(http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u497/plageman1/Hog%20hunt%201_zpsy8ol3lwn.jpg)
We decided to hunt from the first stand Friday evening and headed up to it around 6:30 p.m. We were set up in the stand and ready for hogs when the feeder went off at 7:00. About thirty minutes later (right about sunset) a couple of big sows came in and started feeding on the corn. The smaller of them had some piglets with her, so I waited for the larger one to separate from the group to offer a clean shot, and when she did, I took it. She went down, rolled over, kicked a couple of times and was still.
The others ran off, which is fine, because Doug wasn't going to take a mama hog anyway. So, we waited, hoping that more would come, in spite of the gunshot. Sure enough, about twelve or fifteen minutes later they started coming. First four, then a few seconds later, another four or five. The last two to come in were bigger than the rest, and when the biggest one offered a clear shot Doug put him down. We had a hog double. :biggrin:
There was still a lot of work ahead. We had to drag the hairy, sticking things off the mountain, get them field dressed, skinned and butchered. But first, a few hero shots. :eyebrow:
My first hog in Tennessee:
(http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u497/plageman1/042216%2010_zpsr8efswmd.jpg)
Doug's boar:
(http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u497/plageman1/042216%2015_zps5mssywxp.jpg)
Here she is on the scale.
(http://i1070.photobucket.com/albums/u497/plageman1/042216%2020_zpsr6mmredl.jpg)
We went out to one of the torn up stands Saturday evening just to watch any hogs that might come and or maybe get a chance at a big trophy boar. A big sow and four piglets came in shortly after dark and stayed for several minutes, until we made enough noise to spook them away. We went back to camp around 9:00 and hung around the camp fire shooting the breeze and telling lies till it was time to hit the sack. Then packed up this morning and headed to the house.
A great weekend with some great guys. :yoyo: I hope to have many more.
Pat
What a day that woulda been. I've never been hog hunting but you two made it look pretty easy :wink:
Congrats to ya both. Those are some huge hogs :eyebrow:
Congrats to both of you! :congrats:
Doug sure looks over joyed. :laf:
Quote from: KySongDog on April 25, 2016, 09:18:57 AM
Doug sure looks over joyed. :laf:
Yeah, and that's his happy face. :rolleye:
Pat
:yoyo: Sounds like a great hunt!
LOL @ happy face!
Hey give him a break... just think how gravity affects a head that size! :readthis:
double post... :doh2:
I do to smile!! See?(http://i374.photobucket.com/albums/oo183/WldWldWest/20160422_201306_zps3njxtss0.jpg) (http://s374.photobucket.com/user/WldWldWest/media/20160422_201306_zps3njxtss0.jpg.html)
Pat doing surgery...sorry for the fuzzy pic.
Pat supervising the Hog drag down the mountain.(http://i374.photobucket.com/albums/oo183/WldWldWest/20160422_204709_zpsj1xrtsps.jpg) (http://s374.photobucket.com/user/WldWldWest/media/20160422_204709_zpsj1xrtsps.jpg.html)(http://i374.photobucket.com/albums/oo183/WldWldWest/20160422_202352_zpsslbw22r6.jpg) (http://s374.photobucket.com/user/WldWldWest/media/20160422_202352_zpsslbw22r6.jpg.html)
Grand looking time guys. Nice to see pic takers with my capabilities. :yoyo: