CottonwoodHunting
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I guided a hunt this last weekend with five hunters. Here's the story and some pictures. Enjoy.
Friday
The guys get to the ranch around 5 PM Friday so we only have a few hours until sunset for our Friday hunt. Once everyone is ready I pick up four out of five hunters from the ranch house in my truck. I drop the four hunters off at one end of the property where they wait, ready to start Pushing through brush. I go back and pick up the fifth hunter from the house. I take the fifth hunter, aka the Blocker, to a hill about a mile from where I dropped off the first four hunters. Once I get to the hill with the fifth hunter in position, we radio the first four hunters telling them to start their Push toward us. The idea is that pigs will be Pushed toward where we are waiting to Block the pigs.
I had told the guys Pushing through brush that they don't have to be quiet. They can make noise as they Push, because if they are too quiet, its possible to walk right right past pigs bedded down in vegetation. Turns out the hunters were a little too loud during their Push though, because the pigs were getting spooked out of brush too far ahead of them. One of the Pushers saw pigs but the pigs were too far ahead of the Pushers to present a shot opportunity. We finish the Friday hunt and although there were no shot opportunities that day, at least one of the hunters saw pigs.
Saturday
Its the next day now. This time we start off around sunrise. This hunt we're hunting the opposite end of the property. We have the same strategy. I pick up four out of the five hunters and take them to the edge of the property to be Pushers. This time a different hunter gets his chance to be a "Blocker." I pick up the fifth hunter, aka the Blocker, and we stop the truck and walk a few hundred yards to where we will wait and Block. We are approximately one mile from where the four Pushers are waiting for us to radio them. We radio the Pushers and tell them we are in position and that they can start their push.
I stay with the Blocker and we don't see any pigs. Finally, we see the Pushers approaching us. We radio the Pushers and tell them to pause their push and stay there while we jump back in the truck and move on to the next location where we will Block again. Our plan is once we are in position again at the next Blocking location we will radio the Pushers and tell them to continue with their Push toward us.
We're halfway walking back to the truck when we hear gunshots. I look out to my right and see two pigs running over rolling hills. We jump in the truck to pursue the pigs! These pigs were not very smart because they were not seeking cover. Instead we see them running away from us over rolling hills and we're able to gain on them. My hunter tells me to stop the truck because we are on one of the rolling hilltops and he feels like he has a shot opportunity. His first shot misses but that turns out for the better. His first missed shot causes the pig to take a sharp left, presenting the side of its body to us. This presents a more favorable body shot opportunity, much better than an "up the arse" shot. My hunter aims and fires.
After we regroup, I snap some pictures.
Here's the pig we pursued over the rolling hills. No, it wasn't an eye headshot. A bird landed on this sow's head and pecked the eye.
Pig 01 - Sow 114 LBs
Turns out one of the other guys shot a boar and it tumbled down the bank into the pond after being shot. It was in murky water and it took some wading around for it to be recovered.
Pig 02 - Boar 202 LBs
This 202 LB boar had a broken jaw and a missing tusk. His tusk had been missing a while because it had started to re-grow. Had this 202 LB boar lost his tusk fighting another boar for territory? Could there be another boar out there even bigger and badder than this 202 LB beast? Find out soon.
... To Be Continued ...
Friday
The guys get to the ranch around 5 PM Friday so we only have a few hours until sunset for our Friday hunt. Once everyone is ready I pick up four out of five hunters from the ranch house in my truck. I drop the four hunters off at one end of the property where they wait, ready to start Pushing through brush. I go back and pick up the fifth hunter from the house. I take the fifth hunter, aka the Blocker, to a hill about a mile from where I dropped off the first four hunters. Once I get to the hill with the fifth hunter in position, we radio the first four hunters telling them to start their Push toward us. The idea is that pigs will be Pushed toward where we are waiting to Block the pigs.
I had told the guys Pushing through brush that they don't have to be quiet. They can make noise as they Push, because if they are too quiet, its possible to walk right right past pigs bedded down in vegetation. Turns out the hunters were a little too loud during their Push though, because the pigs were getting spooked out of brush too far ahead of them. One of the Pushers saw pigs but the pigs were too far ahead of the Pushers to present a shot opportunity. We finish the Friday hunt and although there were no shot opportunities that day, at least one of the hunters saw pigs.
Saturday
Its the next day now. This time we start off around sunrise. This hunt we're hunting the opposite end of the property. We have the same strategy. I pick up four out of the five hunters and take them to the edge of the property to be Pushers. This time a different hunter gets his chance to be a "Blocker." I pick up the fifth hunter, aka the Blocker, and we stop the truck and walk a few hundred yards to where we will wait and Block. We are approximately one mile from where the four Pushers are waiting for us to radio them. We radio the Pushers and tell them we are in position and that they can start their push.
I stay with the Blocker and we don't see any pigs. Finally, we see the Pushers approaching us. We radio the Pushers and tell them to pause their push and stay there while we jump back in the truck and move on to the next location where we will Block again. Our plan is once we are in position again at the next Blocking location we will radio the Pushers and tell them to continue with their Push toward us.
We're halfway walking back to the truck when we hear gunshots. I look out to my right and see two pigs running over rolling hills. We jump in the truck to pursue the pigs! These pigs were not very smart because they were not seeking cover. Instead we see them running away from us over rolling hills and we're able to gain on them. My hunter tells me to stop the truck because we are on one of the rolling hilltops and he feels like he has a shot opportunity. His first shot misses but that turns out for the better. His first missed shot causes the pig to take a sharp left, presenting the side of its body to us. This presents a more favorable body shot opportunity, much better than an "up the arse" shot. My hunter aims and fires.
After we regroup, I snap some pictures.
Here's the pig we pursued over the rolling hills. No, it wasn't an eye headshot. A bird landed on this sow's head and pecked the eye.
Pig 01 - Sow 114 LBs
Turns out one of the other guys shot a boar and it tumbled down the bank into the pond after being shot. It was in murky water and it took some wading around for it to be recovered.
Pig 02 - Boar 202 LBs
This 202 LB boar had a broken jaw and a missing tusk. His tusk had been missing a while because it had started to re-grow. Had this 202 LB boar lost his tusk fighting another boar for territory? Could there be another boar out there even bigger and badder than this 202 LB beast? Find out soon.
... To Be Continued ...
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