Hog Hunt

So, I have just gotten back from my Hog Hunt in Oklahoma. In short, it was awesome. I had a great time.

I had the opportunity to shoot two Hogs and am glad to say I was able to kill both with one shot each. I avoided the pain and ridicule that comes with missing a shot. There was a lot that happened and I am excited to fill you in!

It started last Wednesday when we left for the trip. We all met up at a friends place, split up into two different vehicles and started the drive. We drove for about 16 hours before we finally got to the ranch we were hunting on. I would talk about the drive, but to be honest, it was really boring. we just drove, and slept and drove some more.

We arrived in Oklahoma in early afternoon and all eight of us were immediately thankful that we went on this trip. When we left home the temperature was about 10 degrees F, and when we got to our final destination, Oklahoma was having record highs around 80-85 degrees F. I live up North and I really don't like the cold. I can suffer through it, but it was such a relief to be out in warm weather again.

We got to stay in a pretty nice cabin that had four sets of bunk beds in two rooms. The rooms were a bit crowded because of this, but we didnt care. we would literally only be in there to sleep and eat. We did not need that much room. We took all of Thursday to rest and relax because something about driving just wears you out. We were told to meet the guides early in the morning in town.

I decided to bring my Tikka T3 in 30-06 and my Smith and Wesson 586 in .357 Magnum. I was really really hoping I could use my .357 to take down a hog. Can you imagine the bragging that I could do when I told people that I did that? But my hopes and dreams were almost immediately crushed from the time that we arrived.

The guides have obviously been doing this for a while and have seen just about everything there is to see when hunting these pigs. They went through everything from "Do not use Full Metal Jackets" to "you have to wear a harness when you are in a tree stand." They asked "What is the smallest caliber you have brought to kill a pig?" and strongly suggested that everyone use their rifles to shoot the pig.

Apparently, through all of the years that they have been doing this, they have only ever had one person successfully kill a hog with a hand gun. The guy was using a .454 casull revolver with a scope on it, and he shot it at 92 yards. Some folks might say "that was lucky" but I believe differently. In order to have enough confidence in yourself to drop a pig at almost 100 yds, you need to have a lot of time behind that gun. The trigger control required alone is enough deter most men. That shot takes a lot of guts and even more talent.

According to the guides, most of the time when someone uses a .357 to shoot a hog, all they do is wound it. it ends up running off, and joining the herd and you lose it forever until it bleeds out three days later and ends up dead some place. To avoid this, they put a rule in place. If you hit a pig, that is your pig. If there is blood, you better hope they can find that pig, because otherwise, you are leaving empty handed. The .357 does not have enough oomph to take down a pig in one shot unless you hit the 2" circle on their head.

I am not a bad shot. I will never claim to be a good shot, because everyone's definition is a bit different, but I know that I am not a bad shot. I am pretty confidant in my abilities to shoot, but there is no way that I am going to hit a 2" circle on a pigs head if I am any more than 10 yards away. They are always looking around and moving their heads. If you miss that 2" circle, they just get mad and either charge you, or run off. no kill. lost pig. empty hands.

All of this to say that I did not shoot a pig with my .357, and to be honest, I didn't really try to.

Anyhow, back to the story. We started off early in the morning and we were put in deer stands overlooking feeders for the morning feed. The hope is that when the feeder goes off, the pigs come for breakfast and you shoot one of them. That did not happen. for the first few hours that I was in a stand I saw exactly 0 pigs. I saw tons of other wildlife though. I saw ram, sheep and other goat like animals. They were kind of cool, but they were total dicks. They just came by and ate up all of the corn from the feeders and didn't leave any for the pigs. I kind of wanted to shoot one of them but that would be about a $3000-$4000 mistake, and I did not have that kind of cash.

After about 10am they brought us all down from the stands and it turns out that no one saw a damn thing that morning. It was absolutely sucky. but hey, it was only the first morning. We were doing this for two days. We would all have plenty of time to shoot two hogs.

The next part of the hunt was the stalking portion. Basically, all of the little piggies decided not to go to the market to eat, so we had to go find the piggies wherever they were hiding and shoot them. I was eager to get a pig, so I went with the first group and stalked with one of my friends. Because I had never shot pigs before and he had, he allowed me to hunt for my first pig while he just tried to stay quiet.

The guide we were with was really good at finding pigs and we ran across a few within the first five minutes or so, but I am so heavy footed, I pretty much scared them all away. Pigs though, did not like the heat, and apparently do not sweat, so they ran about 50 yards and laid back down under a different tree. It was not too long before we found a nice little herd of pigs to choose from, now it was just about getting a good shot.

Because this was my first hunt, I did not know how big a big hog was. I just wanted to shoot a pig. The guide was really cool about the entire hunt and made sure I liked the hog I was about to shoot. He said he didnt want to force me to shoot a hog if I didnt want to. Like I said, I didnt care about how big the hog was at the time, I just wanted to shoot a hog, and not miss.

After a good half hour of stalking, a pig finally gave me a decent shot through some light brush. I took the chance without hesitation and pounded it through the ribs. Technically my shot was a bit low, and a bit too far behind the front leg, but the pig went down quick and only ran about ten yards before finally laying down for its final rest. When I walked up, I knew it was pretty small, but I didnt realize how small until later. When I asked the guide "On a scale of 1- world record, where does this hog lay?" he decided to avoid the question and say "this is a good eating hog!" which is basically guide code for a tiny pig.

I could go into detail on my friends hunts as well, but this is going to be long enough as it is.

After getting back, I learned how to skin, gut, and clean my own hog (similar to a deer in most respects) and we put it in the freezer, and waited for the second half of our team to come back from their stalk.

Once everyone was back, and I saw the size of everyone else's hogs, I did get a bit jealous. I wasn't aiming for the biggest hog of the group, but I certainly didn't want the smallest hog. It turns out. that is what I had. After everyone else saw my hog, they pretty much said "as long as my hog is bigger than that, I wont be embarrassed" and they all shot hogs that were bigger than mine. Some might say that I performed a valuable service in giving people a benchmark for their pigs, but I just felt like I shot a small hog.

Now I got my first hog out of the way, and I wasn't skunked. Everyone elses hogs were bigger than mine and I was really starting to get a bit greedy. Now I really wanted a nice hog. I wanted one with tusks that I could mount and I definitely didn't want to get the smallest hog again. I decided to be more picky with the next hog that I shot.

Later, we were going for the night hunt. According to the guides, the night hunt was always the most active and they promised we would see a ton of hogs. They did not disappoint. We were going out to the deer stands again (in a completely different area than in the morning) and most of us saw a ton of hogs.

I sat there for about an hour or two before the feeders went off and once the hogs heard the feeders, the fun began. In no time, I started hearing shots around me and I knew that my group mates were getting their hogs. Soon, I saw a pig at the edge of the woods. then shortly after that. about ten hogs came out and started eating the corn under the feeders.

I studied the hogs through my scope. I told myself I was only going to shoot tonight if I saw tusks. I really wanted those tusks. I was told by everyone else that sometimes they have tusks but you just don't see them until after they are dead. I really wanted to be sure before I took my shot though, so I watched them while they ate and kept hoping to see tusks. I didnt see any on any pigs. that were out there, so I thought to be patient.

Soon about five more pigs came out to join the herd that was already feeding. Some of those pigs were a bit bigger than the pigs that were already there, so I studied them... still no tusks to be seen... I decided to be patient and wait... soon, three more pigs came out of the woods to join the others, and these three were the biggest so far. I watched and studied and I still did not see any tusks... I had nearly twenty hogs under my stand and none of them had visual tusks...

Then... all of a sudden.... BANG!!!! One of my friends in a stand about 200 yards to my right fired his gun! All of my piggies got scared and started to run toward the woods! Once they realize that none of them died or was running around squealing its freakin head off, they sorta slowed down... They were still hungry, after all... BANG!!!! A second shot from my friend on the right! Those pigs were not going to wait around for a third shot, and they disappeared into the woods...  Damn... I really wanted to wait it out a bit more...

I started texting another friend of mine about all the pigs I saw (he wasnt seeing any pigs, let along the 20 that I saw) and I was telling him how I passed on them because I didn't see any tusks... "YOU SHOULD HAVE SHOT!" he says! "If they are big, they are going to have tusks, they might just be hiding behind the fat lips!" I was of course, going to defend my position "nah, I wanted them to be big enough to see, and none of them were. Besides, if tomorrow nights hunt was as active as tonight's, I will have no problem settling for one of those larger pigs. And, what am I supposed to do tomorrow if everyone else is hunting? I want to be hunting too!"

Then the news came... "Joe, we aren't hunting tomorrow night! We have to be out of the Cabin by noon, and we wanted to be on the road early in the afternoon!"

Shit... Fuck... Shit... It hits me like a brick... There is no guarantee that I would even see a hog the next morning, let alone that it would be the tusk toting hog that I am looking for! My best chance at getting a hog with tusks was sitting right in front of me... 75 yds away... in the cross hairs of my rifle... This sinking feeling develops at the bottom of my stomach... I immediately think of the worst possible scenario and that is either not getting a pig at all, or ending up with another shrimp of a pig... I have done this to myself...

Well, the day is not over... There is still a few hours until sundown, and There is a small chance that I could still shoot a decent sized pig, if any more come back...

My prayers were answered an hour and a half later... about five hogs came out of the trees to start feeding on the corn that was left... They were all small... About the size of the first one I shot... There was no way I was going to settle that low... A few more hogs came out and one was a bit bigger, but nowhere near the size that I saw earlier... It was starting to get dark... I had to make a decision...

For the first time in my entire hunting career (which is not very long, but still) I got the shakes... At first it was nothing... I was just pissed that I passed up my chance... Then I was looking at all the pigs, and trying to figure out which one was the biggest, and I couldn't decide... When I finally made up my mind, I had it in my sights, and the safety off my gun... but I was worried that I was being impatient again... Should I really settle for THIS hog? There are bigger hogs in woods... I know there are... But This could be the best I get... Fine, I will shoot this hog... Then there was another pig behind it... I wasn't sure if my round was going to get all the way through the pig, so I waited... Looked at other pigs, and debated... Is that one bigger? maybe... nah... the first one was bigger... Finally, it was by itself... I am lined up... finger on the trigger... but how confident am I in my rifle? exactly how precise is my sight in? I have only had this rifle for a few months... I could be a few inches off... at this range that could be drastic... also, I am about fifteen feet up in the air... how does that affect bullet trajectory? should I aim high? low? fuck I am shaking... I just need to calm down.. otherwise I will miss this shot... I can't miss this shot... My friends would never let me live it down... Why am I shaking this much? okay.. Deep breaths... fuck... that didn't work... shit... there is another pig in the way... It is getting dark... I am running out of time... This might be my last chance... why wont that pig move out of the way... NO! dont go back into the middle of the herd... dammit! it is almost too dark to see... oh! he moved... wait... was that him... or was it that one... no it was that one... damn... another pig in the way... am I sure it wasnt this other one? wait... did that other pig move? fuck... I cant tell... is that two pigs or one? Why wont they move? fuck this shit... I can't shoot a pig... I missed my chance...

I got so much shit that night... It didn't help that a few of my group mates had shot at pigs and they possibly could have hit them, but because there was blood, and they couldn't find a dead pig, they counted... everyone who had two pigs talked about how nice it was going to be to sleep in... They recanted their tales of the shots and they complained about one thing or another... I had my chance and I didnt take it... I felt sick...

This is just how the Universe works... My resolve was tested, and as punishment for sticking to it, the Universe was going to screw me out of a nice pig... I knew it... I accepted it... I wasn't going to see a damn thing on the morning hunt... I was either going to get some puny hog on the stalk afterwards or I was going to leave with only one hog, and it was going to be the tiniest hog of the group... shit...

I went to bed early... woke up early... and got ready to go out and hunt once more... I didnt even care what kind of hog I got today... I didnt want it to be a small hog, but if that is all I got, then I would take it... no point in going home with just the smallest pig... I was ready to kill just about anything that I could aim my gun at... We were riding out in the side by side and getting dropped off at different stand locations... The guide kept lighting up the treeline with his flashlight as we drove, in hopes of seeing a hog. we drop off my first friend, who also only had one hog. we saw some tiny hogs later in a bush but they ran off before they could be shot...

The guide flashed some Elk that were on the land (we were not there to hunt elk) and they moved away from this hay barrel that was near the treeline, and the guide got excited. "Make sure your scope is turned all the way down, this is going to be a close shot" he whispered "Hogs really like to hide in hay piles when it is cool in the morning, and I definitely see one..." Now I am really excited... Maybe I will get a hog afterall! "I am not sure if it is two small ones or one big one, so when I light them up, you need to make your decision quick and take the shot if you want it."

We walked up to about ten yards or so from the hay bale and he shined the light on the hay pile next to it... the massive black spot was hard to miss so I immediately shouldered the rifle and took a look through the scope... I was relieved to see that it was a decent sized hog and decided not to hesitate any longer. I pulled the trigger and the shot landed perfectly!

It hit about three inches behind the left front shoulder, and drilled its way through to around the right front part of the chest. I hit just about every vital organ possible, and the hog squealed and flopped around. "Load another round!" I heard the guide say... I took this to mean "shoot again!" so I racked the action and took the shittiest shot ever... I missed, but thankfully, the first shot killed him... "I just wanted you to load another one" the guide told me afterwards "you didn't need to take that last shot... there is no need to damage the meat!"

yeah... so I omit that shot in my stories whenever I tell it live... It didn't need to happen and it didn't hit the pig anyhow... so no one has to know but you and I.

I finally got a good look at the pig and it was a really good pig... like... a really really good pig... It came in at over 200lbs... and... IT... HAD... TUSKS!!!!

I couldn't believe my luck! This was exactly the pig I wanted! We took it out of the woods, skinned it, gutted it and cleaned it. It turns out that one of the tusks broke off, so it only had three tusks, but the skull was massive, and I was told that any self respecting taxidermist should be able to rebuild the missing tusk with no issue.

After it was all said and done, it turns out that my last pig was the biggest pig of the group! That is right! what are the chances that I would get both the smallest, and the biggest pig of our entire group?!?!!?

One might say "Arent you glad you decided to wait the night before?" and I say "Hell no!"

I was stressing my fuckin balls off the night before! I should have just shot the biggest pig I saw and had gotten it over with! If I had shot my pig the night before, it would have been one of my group mates who got my pig! I got greedy and basically stole a great pig from one of my friends! Also, the Hog I shot was a massive stroke of luck! I should never have gotten that pig!

Anyhow... So I got the Hog that I wanted.... I found a taxidermist in town and they are going to do a European mount for me... it is going to look awesome. I had a great time on my hog hunt. If you get the chance to do something like this, I would totally recommend going. Everyone had a blast.

TL:DR

I went Hog Hunting... I shot the smallest hog of my group and the biggest hog of my group.

This is what I found entertaining. What do you think?