We knew that this year would be a pretty tough year at the Anson County Wild Hog Round Up. There were going to be a lot of dog teams entered and not all of them were from NC. There are 2 main categories in this particular hunt: most hogs that dress out over 10lbs and largest hog killed. As always we waited to the last day to decide we were going to enter, and were having a bit of trouble gathering information on some hogs that haven’t been run to death. Mid-week we finally make contact with a land owner that had a possible tournament winner and he gave us the knod. This hog had been on this secluded piece of property for around 8 years and had not been seen in the daylight. She had only made appearances sporadically at night on a few trail cameras, but lately she had been leaving her mark in an unplanted crop field. Bud and Brian linked up with Chris (landowner) and put out about 50lbs of corn just to try and keep the old girl around the area, but later in the week when they returned she had not touched a kernel. She had rooted up another area of the field so we knew she was still around. The big day has finally arrived and we are dying wanting to get after this hog, but first we had to entertain one of our largest sponsors on a bird hunt. It was pretty evident that the guys minds were not in the hunt as a couple boxes of shells got shot and only a dozen birds hit the ground. We finally got done around 11am with the bird hunt and were chomping at the bit to get the dogs on the ground. Around lunchtime we met at Allen’s General Store and headed west towards Wingate, NC. This city is known for Wingate University, but this may just be the first hogs that have ever been caught in this town. Wingate is just inside the Union county line settled between Monroe and Marshville right down Highway 74. We eased into Wingate and Brian got on the phone with Chris letting him know our ETA. Only Brian and Bud had seen this place so I was asking a lot of questions just trying to get a mental view of the property and really daydreaming of the hunt to come.
As we pulled in the property Chris had already arrived and was getting ready. To my knowledge this was one of his first dog hunts and I don’t think he knew what to expect. As we gathered our gear and suited up the dogs you could feel the anticipation in the air. This was going to be one of those hunts to remember or one that you just can’t forget. We struck out on foot in hopes that we could get on them quick and eliminate a lengthy race. As we entered the field the fresh corn was still visible, but the hog had rooted alongside of it and there was a pretty fresh set of tracks leaving the field. We decided to hit this small block of immature trees before entering into the briar filled thicket that jutted out into the middle of the field. By the looks of the ground inside this treeline this old girl had been living in this block of woods for a long time. About 15 minutes into our walk it was on! Mae had found the hog bedded down no more that 100yds from us and when backup arrived this old girl flew the coop. She headed straight for Richardson Creek, but if there is only one hog why is Coach going to the right all by himself? At about 680 yards the main pack of dogs had finally caught up to her and now it was time for us to run. She had made her way across the creek, crossed the adjoining hay field, and into the privet hedges on the opposite side where Mae, Daisy, Brutus, Luke, and Nina had her cornered, but why was Coach still 350yards down the creek. Brian and I got control of the hog Bud came in and laid down the lethal blow with the trusty old Winchester blade. This hog was a monster pushing the 400lb mark, but we had to get to Coach. The celebration would have to wait as our dogs are our main priority.
The Garmins still showed Coach sitting down at 300 yards and we needed to get to him as he had been alone this entire time. We jogged back into the field and to our surprise what looked like a mid-sized black bear entered the field. There were only 3 dogs with us as we made our way toward this beast and as soon as they caught a glimpse the chase was on. This hog was so massive that it was unable to really run. Daisy, Luke, and Mae caught up with her about half way across and there was going to be some blood shed as Daisy is the only catch dog there. It was up to Brian and Corey to get there and get this one under control before we ended up at the vet’s office. I can honestly say that the boys handled this giant like pros as Brian got the legs and Corey laid the blade. We were still missing Coach and we had heard him barking a short time before we killed the second hog. We made our way to the creek and found Coach finally coming up the bank, he had been tangled up with this big girl all by himself and when she got loose he couldn’t find a route up the steep embankment.
Now it’s time to celebrate, but first things first where did the second hog come from. There were only pictures of one and now we have killed 2 that are both bordering on the 400lb mark. After we took a few minutes to admire these 2 enormous animals we started dragging them toward the creek. Once a hog has been killed they will float like a cork, and most of the time it is the easiest way to transport them if you’re not scared to get your pants wet. We managed to put the heave ho on both of them and an easy task it was not. It took all four of us to make the 200-250 drag across the field and it took a team effort, but we managed to get them in the water and back down to the spot where we dropped all of our electronics. Luckily we have a network of friends all over the area and a couple of them had made their way down to us with our UTV. They helped us get them in the UTV but were mainly there to see what we had done. We have been lucky enough to kill 2 hogs exceeding 400lbs and another that was in the 380’s, but around here they are few and far between, and the odds of catching 2 fo this caliber in the same day is like winning the lottery. The rules of the tournament state that all hogs entered in the category for largest weight must be field dressed, but we wanted to get a true weight on these two. We hauled the mail to the weigh in station and as we hit the scales there was a string of trucks waiting to turn in. Obviously the news had spread like wild fire and everyone had come to see the show. The first hog we weighed (left) pushed 400 lbs. but came up just short at 391.7lbs. The second one (right) came in slightly under the first at 372.6lbs. That was over 750lbs of pork removed from one location in less than 2 hours (not including drag time). Mother Nature never seems to amaze us; I knew going into this hunt that it was going to be tough trying to find the elusive needle in the haystack, but we had done it.
There are a lot of great hog hunters in our area and a lot of great dogs, but on this day we would come out on top. We may not have loaded the trucks to the top, but we definitely strained the winch with these two ancient pigs. With all of the information that we have gathered since the hunt the best we can figure is that at least one of these girls is over ten years old and the other can’t be too far behind. We are extremely proud of what our dogs accomplished on this particular day and we never take them for granted. They may not be the best in the business but they can definitely hold their own and on this Friday they were at the top of their game.
As we pulled in the property Chris had already arrived and was getting ready. To my knowledge this was one of his first dog hunts and I don’t think he knew what to expect. As we gathered our gear and suited up the dogs you could feel the anticipation in the air. This was going to be one of those hunts to remember or one that you just can’t forget. We struck out on foot in hopes that we could get on them quick and eliminate a lengthy race. As we entered the field the fresh corn was still visible, but the hog had rooted alongside of it and there was a pretty fresh set of tracks leaving the field. We decided to hit this small block of immature trees before entering into the briar filled thicket that jutted out into the middle of the field. By the looks of the ground inside this treeline this old girl had been living in this block of woods for a long time. About 15 minutes into our walk it was on! Mae had found the hog bedded down no more that 100yds from us and when backup arrived this old girl flew the coop. She headed straight for Richardson Creek, but if there is only one hog why is Coach going to the right all by himself? At about 680 yards the main pack of dogs had finally caught up to her and now it was time for us to run. She had made her way across the creek, crossed the adjoining hay field, and into the privet hedges on the opposite side where Mae, Daisy, Brutus, Luke, and Nina had her cornered, but why was Coach still 350yards down the creek. Brian and I got control of the hog Bud came in and laid down the lethal blow with the trusty old Winchester blade. This hog was a monster pushing the 400lb mark, but we had to get to Coach. The celebration would have to wait as our dogs are our main priority.
The Garmins still showed Coach sitting down at 300 yards and we needed to get to him as he had been alone this entire time. We jogged back into the field and to our surprise what looked like a mid-sized black bear entered the field. There were only 3 dogs with us as we made our way toward this beast and as soon as they caught a glimpse the chase was on. This hog was so massive that it was unable to really run. Daisy, Luke, and Mae caught up with her about half way across and there was going to be some blood shed as Daisy is the only catch dog there. It was up to Brian and Corey to get there and get this one under control before we ended up at the vet’s office. I can honestly say that the boys handled this giant like pros as Brian got the legs and Corey laid the blade. We were still missing Coach and we had heard him barking a short time before we killed the second hog. We made our way to the creek and found Coach finally coming up the bank, he had been tangled up with this big girl all by himself and when she got loose he couldn’t find a route up the steep embankment.
Now it’s time to celebrate, but first things first where did the second hog come from. There were only pictures of one and now we have killed 2 that are both bordering on the 400lb mark. After we took a few minutes to admire these 2 enormous animals we started dragging them toward the creek. Once a hog has been killed they will float like a cork, and most of the time it is the easiest way to transport them if you’re not scared to get your pants wet. We managed to put the heave ho on both of them and an easy task it was not. It took all four of us to make the 200-250 drag across the field and it took a team effort, but we managed to get them in the water and back down to the spot where we dropped all of our electronics. Luckily we have a network of friends all over the area and a couple of them had made their way down to us with our UTV. They helped us get them in the UTV but were mainly there to see what we had done. We have been lucky enough to kill 2 hogs exceeding 400lbs and another that was in the 380’s, but around here they are few and far between, and the odds of catching 2 fo this caliber in the same day is like winning the lottery. The rules of the tournament state that all hogs entered in the category for largest weight must be field dressed, but we wanted to get a true weight on these two. We hauled the mail to the weigh in station and as we hit the scales there was a string of trucks waiting to turn in. Obviously the news had spread like wild fire and everyone had come to see the show. The first hog we weighed (left) pushed 400 lbs. but came up just short at 391.7lbs. The second one (right) came in slightly under the first at 372.6lbs. That was over 750lbs of pork removed from one location in less than 2 hours (not including drag time). Mother Nature never seems to amaze us; I knew going into this hunt that it was going to be tough trying to find the elusive needle in the haystack, but we had done it.
There are a lot of great hog hunters in our area and a lot of great dogs, but on this day we would come out on top. We may not have loaded the trucks to the top, but we definitely strained the winch with these two ancient pigs. With all of the information that we have gathered since the hunt the best we can figure is that at least one of these girls is over ten years old and the other can’t be too far behind. We are extremely proud of what our dogs accomplished on this particular day and we never take them for granted. They may not be the best in the business but they can definitely hold their own and on this Friday they were at the top of their game.
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