Chopper May Hunt

[BDB]

I see you lurking AS, lets see some pics !!!!

So who else took one???? Who shot the turkeys?

 

[bighorn67]

I don't get the clawed acorn thing in Buckey's post. I must have missed something.

All in all it was an awesome time as usual. Unfortunately my pig was the stuck one. My shot erred too far back and the pig took off never to be found. I screwed it up by pursuing too soon.

Lesson learned the hard way.

Dave

 

[Gyopo]

Who got the other hog?
We want stories, details and pictures, damnit!
Let us know asap.
I'm glad everyone had a good time.

Bighorn, Sorry to hear about the lost hog.
That brush is like Top ramon.
I had to force myself to stop and rest in March.
Just a pinch between the cheek and gums.

 

[BuckeyeTradArcher]

Bighorn, was talking about the one that jumped up and took a bite out of your tire.

(I meant to say "Pinecone")

 

[bubba]

Talk about adventures, AS had one on the way out....

 

[Arrowslinger]

Tell ya what, this group of guys was NOT scared to shoot at some critters..i think i counted atleast 19 shots at game, some misses and a couple hits. Luck was definately on my side this weekend, so here goes:

I headed to my "secret spot" thursday afternoon, upon crossing a creek before i head up a very steep hillside to a bedding area, i heard an animal running and was quickly disappointed to think i flushed one out....but as i turned to see where the animal was going, i realized it was running damn near right at me. Instead of the pig heading down the hill to the creek on the trail i'm on, it veered right, crossed the creek, and started to feed 18 steps from me. Not too many times i'm entered the woods and within 10 minutes i have animals running right up to me giving a perfect shot...i looked at the pig and realized it was a bit small, afterall it's only 10 minutes into a 4 day hunt. So i handed this pig the coveted "free pass" card and let 'em walk. Now i'm heading up the steep hill, sweating my tail off, and breathing way too hard....i crest the hill and stop to slow my heart rate down incase i see something over the top, as i look to my right i see the top of a pig in the grass, now all i can see is about 6 inches down from his/her back. It's a brown pig w/ big black spots...i look'em over a bit, think he's about 125lbs or so, pull back and shoot....he made it about 8" backwards and started squealing from the spine shot, as soon as he let out the first squeal, another pig over the back side didn't like what was going on a charged over the small hill bound and determined to tear up whatever was hurting his buddy. Now I've never been "scared" in the woods before, but this pig was huge and got my full attention as i started to back and quickly knock another arrow trying to hide myself behind a bush...i pull back as the pig quickly exits the sceene. I swing around the hill trying to head'em off, but can't catch up to him......i head over to my downed pig, took a look at 'em and realized my good fortune, i was gonna have a easy drag out...infact, there was no need to gut 'em at the moment, as i didn't want to ruine my favorite spot...needless to say, he's a bit small, but i'm sure he'll be real tasty.
As i was taking the pig off the mtn with 15 minutes of light left, i was another pig, but was unable to get around him in time before he entered a thicket...but was nice to know that i almost ended my hunt in the first 30 minutes.
Although i never caught up w/ another pig, but saw atleast 10, i was able to connect w/ my first turkey at 18 yards wearing the newest in western camo: blue jeans, t-shirt, cowboy boots, and sunglasses....luckily i found the dumbest jake in the west and was able to score a nice 19lb jake.

One pig, one turkey, and one hellofa good time

Thanks chopper for a great hunt, congrats to LureDiver for taking his first pig, and to Pigig for a fine shot on a turkey.

Pictures to follow shortly......and i would like to welcome Spec to the wonderful world of wheeled bows.......i'll let him tell the story, but it's a good one!

Almost forgot, 4" of clearance on a car and a 6" rock do not mix

, my vehicle was unable to make the trip home and after an 8 hour wait on a tow truck,
i'm still unclear on when i'll get it back....next time you're at choppers and you see an oil covered rock, pick it up for me.

 

[BDB]

Wow sounds like you got into them pretty thick the first night, congrats

. Sooooo I guess the 270 pounder with 4" tusks was a bit of an exageration huh??? Can't wait to get a report from Spec, sounds like it will be interesting

 

[HOGHUNTER714]

Way to go AS!!!

Let's see those pics..................

 

[Lurediver]

Alright here's my version of events as follows! Saturday mid-day, Arrowslinger and I were driving around the ranch and we had spotted an area across the valley from us up a hill that looked like it would be worth trying! Since I hadn't hunted this exact area before I decided to leave the cabin a little bit earlier that evening to get where I wanted to go and scout it out. Hiking in I was admiring the almost 360 degree view from the top of the hill I was on, views from all angles. I hiked the dozer cuts trying to find the best way to get to the spot I had seen with ArrowSlinger. I popped up over a ridge and noticed a red cow at 300 yards moving down a saddle between me and the hill I was hiking toward. Taking a closer look I realized this wasn't no stinking cow but one huge Red Pig. Seeing the direction he was moving I had a doser cut to my right that I thought might intercept him. I hauled butt down the steep dozer cut and took up position in the intercection of 2 dozer cuts below. Not taking any cover and still in a short sleeve shirt because of the heat, I wasn't in full camo and wasn't very prepared for what was about to happen next!
Standing there for 15 mintues I heard the pig grunting and eating his way down a small dry ravine, covered with thick brush! 10 minutes of this noise it seemed like he was coming right toward me. I saw the brush moving in a few different spots and realized there was pigs everywhere! 2O-25 yards down from me one black pig finally stepped into a 2 foot clearing which just gave me enough space to take a shot at him! I put the 25 yard pin on him and pulled back and took a shot with my Whitetail Carbon Arrow w/ custom pink fletchings!!! NOTHING, no movenment from where I had shot, no squealing, NOTHING. The pigs continued feeding and moving toward me, I didn't know what had happended. I knocked another arrow, and another pig stepped out in a grassy area directly in front of me. I lined him up perfect and shot again with my "Super Special Broadhead", the shot stuck him perfectly in his right side. I watched him jog down hill, while the other pigs still were eating and moving in front of me. Could I have a chance at a Double? I knocked another arrow and a medium sized red board appeared in front of me, pulled back and shot just below his feet. He walked 4-5 feet and started eating again. Knocked another arrow and shot right under his chest, this time he scattered up into the brush. One arrow left and the pigs were still moving in the brush in front of me and I was questioning what to do!
After waiting 15 minutes and not seeing any others pigs but still hearing them I got on the radio to see if Arrowslinger w/his limit of kills for the weekend would want to help me go on a little blood trail, no answer! Luckily Speck got on the radio and came over from where he was and helped look for the pig. We blood trailed it in some thick brush for 50 yards and I had my pig! Some would say he was Arrowslinger's pig's twin brother! He probably weighed 50 lbs., wasn't the big pig I was looking for but I was still happy with my 1st pig kill and even happier that I did it with a bow! Thanks Speck for helping locate it and gutting it!!! Had a great weekend, just hanging out with everyone and shooting animals! Pics will be posted soon!!!

 

[SierraExplorer]

Congratulations everyone !!

 

[Speckmisser]

Dang.

I know there are more stories. Where's Lurediver? Pigig? Orso? Congrats to the folks who got hogs and birds!

Well, Rancho and Dilprxo...hate to let you guys down. No pork for the 'Misser household on this trip, but it wasn't for lack of opportunity!

I forget who was keeping tally if hits and misses, but you can chalk up four of those misses to me, and add in an equipment malfunction. That's right.. FOUR misses. Wanna talk about humiliation and frustration all running together in a big, aggravating mix!

I can't make this short...I tried and can't do it. Ya'll don't really expect anything else from me, though, do you?

Arrive Thursday evening at about 1930. Everyone else is already out in the field or not yet arrived. Chopper is at the cabin, and suggests I take a little walk not too far from the cabin. May as well hunt, right?

30 minutes later, I'm looking at a medium sized boar, about 35-40 yards out, head down and broadside. I know, I can hear you wheelbow guys drooling. But I shoot a recurve, and 20-25 yards is my max. Wind's in my favor so I start to move. At 20 yards, he turns his butt to me... still unaware of my presence. I follow along, but there's zero cover so I don't want to get too close. After a minute or two of this (seemed like hours), he finally starts to turn. Quartering away, I raise my bow and start to draw. He sees me and bolts as I release. Strike One!

Strike two came on Friday evening. Almost dark, when I walk right onto a group of hogs. They scatter everywhere and I'm right in the middle. Under the shadows behind some trees, I see two hogs step out broadside. I make at least two bad judgement calls. First, I underestimate the distance. Second, it's very dim and I can't see all the little branches. I decide to sling it anyway, thinking of the AssShooter Maxim..."can't kill 'em if you don't shoot at 'em."

Not sure if the shot was short or deflected, but the arrow ended up in the dirt and the hogs left for higher ground without any loss of blood.

Strike three came on Saturday evening. Lurediver was kind enough to shoot his hog at 1745, and we had it tracked, located, and gutted with plenty of hunting light left. I hunted back toward the truck while he got his pig down to the nearest road. I stank of pig and blood, and didn't have high hopes of seeing anything, but I had a favorable wind and tried to work with it.

As I came around a bend, almost back to the main road, I heard a limb break in the ravine below me. I froze and listened to the distinct sound of a pig picking his way up the trail. There was an opening about 10 yards from me, so I crouched down to wait for the inevitable shot. Except he didn't come out there. He came out further down the hill, and before I could adjust had stepped across the road and into the thick stuff.

He meandered around, and I stalked along the road paralleling his course. Just around the next bend, the thicket ended and I could see well-used trails exiting. If he'd just step out on one of those trails... and then he did. Less than 20 yards away stood the biggest boar I have EVER seen alive. He must have sensed something was up, and he froze in the opening. I drew without being seen, then released and watched in joy and wonder as the arrow flew right at the pocket behind his shoulder. Textbook shot...

Except for some pine branches that I didn't notice.

Not more than a few feet from the hog, the arrow suddenly diverted 60 degrees with that telltale "clack!" The hog didn't get that big by being stupid twice, and he spun and dug out.

At this point, I was ready to hang it up. This archery stuff is HARD.

'Nuff crying for now.

On to the one that hurts the most... strike four!

Sunday morning I was back in the area where I'd missed the hog Friday night. As I stalked down the trail, I spotted a black hog eating the remains of a dead cow. He was totally into that stinking meat, and munching so loudly I could have marched an army up to him. But, he was also obscured by a screen of oak branches. After Saturday night, there's no way I was going to try to slide an arrow through that, so I tried to work around him.

The breeze in my face carried the stench of rotten cow, and I actually considered not shooting anything that fed on that filth... but only for a second.

I was only ten yards away, but the umbrella of that oak simply wouldn't give me a break until I'd almost circled halfway around. Another step would give me a clear shot on the still oblivious hog. As I moved into the gap, I heard a grunt and a big black sow stood up less than a yard from me. She had a nest full of babies, so even as she stumbled back away from me, I turned and drew on the boar. He was looking up now, but nearly broadside. I pulled back.

And pulled the nock off my arrow.

He bolted, the sow bolted, and I almost bolted too. I sat down on the ground and wondered what I'd done to deserve this.

But all that wasn't "strike four." That was yet to come.

After all the commotion, I figured the area was dead. I cruised around, checking sign and trails, but not really counting on anything else showing up. So I was pretty surprised to see a pine sapling whipping back and forth just downhill from me. I slipped over the rise to a position about fifteen yards from the tree. A nice-sized boar was scratching his butt on the tree, just as unconcerned as you could hope to see. I got comfortable and waited for him to step out of cover. A chip shot.

After all the frustration, it was going to pay off. Finally done scratching, he started up the trail. He stepped into the open and the moment came. And went, as I sent the arrow sailing over his back. He didn't wait around for seconds.

I could feel the forces of the darkside, whispering in my burning ears. "Get a compound, young man. Forget this traditional stuff! Get some sights. Get an 85% letoff. Shoot 2" groups at 40 yards, all day long."

But, so far, I have resisted.

Insult to injury... Sunday night, I went back up on the ridges where Lurediver had killed his hog. About an hour before dark, I spotted two big hogs across the canyon, but nothing else was moving. I started back to the truck, following the same trail from Saturday. As I entered the same bend, I heard a familiar sound.

He'd already crossed the road, and was in the same poison oak thicket that he'd been in before. Through a tiny gap in the brush, I could see him, ten yards away (and yes, I thought about slipping arrow through that gap... but thought better of it. No more Hail Mary shots for this boy). This was another big boar, but not the same one I'd missed. He meandered around, then started out in the same direction as before. The wind was pretty steady, and blowing across my face, quartering behind me. I had to stay just behind the hog to keep the wind off of him, but was still able to follow quietly, less than five yards away.

He stopped to munch on something, and I froze, listening to the crunching and contented grunts. Must've been tasty. And he must have missed some, because he began to backtrack over the trail he'd just covered. I guess he got some of my wind at that point, and it was all over.

When my heart quit thudding and my knees quit shaking, I slumped back to the truck and the knowledge that it was over. Time to go back to the (un)real world.

For all the frustration and disappointment over the weekend, I still had an absolutely awesome time. As so many others have said so many times, the ranch is beautiful. The view from the cabin is almost worth the price of admission, and the fact that the ranch is crawling with wildlife makes the hunting fee seem like a bargain. I was into pigs the entire trip, and was within bow range of hogs on every hunt (morning and evening).

Chopper's is one of those places where "getting away from it all" is a reality. For three days, I relaxed and forgot about the crap at work, the responsibilities on the homefront, and everything else that wasn't either hunting or having a great time with some great people.

The lights and traffic of Hollister were a shock, as I drove home, and by the time I'd made it back through the Bay Area traffic, the magic was only a lingering memory.

Obviously, I have to get back. Soon.

 

[BDB]

Spec, sorry to hear of your misses but it sounds like you had a blast. It always makes the trip better when you are seeing that much game. Keep at it you are definitely due. Don't give in to the dark (wheelie) side

 

[Rancho Loco]

Well, at least you got some good shots off, and had some fun...Although I am wondering if there were some shots that you were carrying a handicap on..

Looking forward to Tejon - Speckmisser will be a man possesed.

 

[wmidbrook]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

I drew without being seen, then released and watched in joy and wonder as the arrow flew right at the pocket behind his shoulder. Textbook shot...

Except for some pine branches that I didn't notice.

Not more than a few feet from the hog, the arrow suddenly diverted 60 degrees with that telltale "clack!" The hog didn't get that big by being stupid twice, and he spun and dug out.[/b]

Man, flashbacks of that bull @ 7 yds in NM this last year....

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

I could feel the forces of the darkside, whispering in my burning ears. "Get a compound, young man. Forget this traditional stuff! Get some sights. Get an 85% letoff. Shoot 2" groups at 40 yards, all day long."[/b]

Can you say, "Switchback?"

It does sound like an awesome place and worth the admission price regardless of whether ya bags one or not.

 

[rusman66]

Nice write up speck, I was there for a few moments. Thanks

 

[One Track]

Wow! Sounds like an incredible ranch. I'm gonna give myself a fat lip for not jumping on that trip. Ouch. (That's hard to do. Give yourself a fat lip that is. I tried.)

Congrats to the killers. And, to the missers, you're just that much closer to a kill. Sounds like y'all had a great time, and I'm happy for you guys.

 

[Cal hunter]

Congrats

to everybody on what sounds to have been a succesful trip for game food and good friends.

 

[Kentuck]

I knew it! I knew it! Great job guys and hey Spec, I shoot wheels and feel a 30-35 yard shot is far enough. I commend your discipline. Really sorry I missed this one. Hopefully next fall will bring another good one. Besides, I'm setting up a new bow and bit the bullet and even got some carbon. Can't wait to try it out.

Dad is holding his own right now. Pretty medicated so still not out of the woods.

 

[Orso]

Kentuck, I hope your dad improves each day. Definitely more important than one trip... You'll make the next one.

 

[HOGHUNTER714]

You guys have been tellin some great tales. A few of them made me feel as I was right there on the hunt. Any pics of the hogs or turks?