
With the 2013 deer season behind us we've started back chasing a few hogs here around the house. After deer season is over the need to spill a little blood takes over and the phone starts ringing. We got a phone call from a gentleman that we guided last year requesting a return visit. We gladly accepted his request and began preparing for our second hunt of the year. Friday (1/17) was our first hunt and it had been a long time coming. Rick hunted with us at the end of last season and the summer heat sent us packing after a few hours. We don't like to leave a customer empty handed so we invited him to join in for a Friday hunt. With little to no hunting pressure the hogs are usually bunched up around a food source and our success rate this time of year is through the roof. We were able to get Rick on his first hog and we certified him as an honorary member of the Backwoods Hog Hunters.
We made contact with a local land owner mid week just to find out if the hogs were visiting his place and he said that they had been wrapped up with them the last couple of weeks. So the second question was, would you mind if we went after a few Saturday morning? He graciously granted us permission and it was on. The guys were going to meet up with us at Allen's General Store and we would enjoy breakfast before we dropped the tailgate.
We got reacquainted, enjoyed a good breakfast, and hit 74 east on a mission. We made a quick stop to meet up with the landowner and to the woods we went. The temperatures this morning landed in the high 20's with the high around 40 and a strong north wind making it feel like 32. Not the best of days to be riding a 4 wheeler, but as long as we don't have to swim we should be fine. The wind was cutting like a knife as we loaded and collared the dogs. As we stared across the wheat fields the hog sign was easy to find. We talked it over and decided we may as well go around this field while we are this close. As we made our way to the back of the field the dogs had made their way around the bend and hit the pines in a dead run. At 250 yards the race was on! This 250+lb sow was a little too big to make an escape and her day ended pretty quick. We still had one dog that was tracking a little further. We loaded up went another 200 yards into the property and Brutus had him a mouthful of bacon, patiently waiting on us to arrive. We made quick work of the 120lb boar and the day had started out pretty strong. Not even 20 minutes into the hunt and both guys were taking home some meat. As usual we continued on as we are never really satisfied. This time we struck out on foot and after a mile or so jaunt through the pine filled wilderness we headed back to the crop fields.
Most of the hogs had headed towards a large pine thicket so you can guess where we were headed. We were forced to walk this one out as well, but when you are in the hog sign the steps seem just a little easier to take. We marched on and finally jumped what sounded like a good sized hog. The unmistakeable smell of a boar hit us in the face and we figured we would be in for a pretty good fight. As the first dog began to bay we saddled up and hit the briars running. Knowing that this one probably had some teeth we needed to get to our dogs and handle the situation. We put a lot of time and energy into these hog catching machines and we take every measure to make sure they stay as safe as possible. As we close in to the catch we were surprised to find yet another 120lb sow. Old big boy had put the slip on us yet again, but we will be back. We had the meat wagon saggin as we loaded up the day's haul. But, we would never expect a man to clean hogs on an empty stomach so we headed back to Allen's General Store for a little lunch and then to the skinning shed to extract this all natural, steroid free, sweet meat. We ended up with 5 hogs on this hunt and no matter how long we continue to hunt this group of dogs we always know that when the tailgate drops.............(you fill in the blank)
We made contact with a local land owner mid week just to find out if the hogs were visiting his place and he said that they had been wrapped up with them the last couple of weeks. So the second question was, would you mind if we went after a few Saturday morning? He graciously granted us permission and it was on. The guys were going to meet up with us at Allen's General Store and we would enjoy breakfast before we dropped the tailgate.
We got reacquainted, enjoyed a good breakfast, and hit 74 east on a mission. We made a quick stop to meet up with the landowner and to the woods we went. The temperatures this morning landed in the high 20's with the high around 40 and a strong north wind making it feel like 32. Not the best of days to be riding a 4 wheeler, but as long as we don't have to swim we should be fine. The wind was cutting like a knife as we loaded and collared the dogs. As we stared across the wheat fields the hog sign was easy to find. We talked it over and decided we may as well go around this field while we are this close. As we made our way to the back of the field the dogs had made their way around the bend and hit the pines in a dead run. At 250 yards the race was on! This 250+lb sow was a little too big to make an escape and her day ended pretty quick. We still had one dog that was tracking a little further. We loaded up went another 200 yards into the property and Brutus had him a mouthful of bacon, patiently waiting on us to arrive. We made quick work of the 120lb boar and the day had started out pretty strong. Not even 20 minutes into the hunt and both guys were taking home some meat. As usual we continued on as we are never really satisfied. This time we struck out on foot and after a mile or so jaunt through the pine filled wilderness we headed back to the crop fields.
Most of the hogs had headed towards a large pine thicket so you can guess where we were headed. We were forced to walk this one out as well, but when you are in the hog sign the steps seem just a little easier to take. We marched on and finally jumped what sounded like a good sized hog. The unmistakeable smell of a boar hit us in the face and we figured we would be in for a pretty good fight. As the first dog began to bay we saddled up and hit the briars running. Knowing that this one probably had some teeth we needed to get to our dogs and handle the situation. We put a lot of time and energy into these hog catching machines and we take every measure to make sure they stay as safe as possible. As we close in to the catch we were surprised to find yet another 120lb sow. Old big boy had put the slip on us yet again, but we will be back. We had the meat wagon saggin as we loaded up the day's haul. But, we would never expect a man to clean hogs on an empty stomach so we headed back to Allen's General Store for a little lunch and then to the skinning shed to extract this all natural, steroid free, sweet meat. We ended up with 5 hogs on this hunt and no matter how long we continue to hunt this group of dogs we always know that when the tailgate drops.............(you fill in the blank)