Choppers: March 14th-16th hunt stories

[wtpops]

First off i want to say Choppers place has spoiled me, this was my fifth trip there and i have been into hogs everyday of every weekend ive been there with the exception of a December hunt when a storm from hell blew in, I only got into hogs one day that weekend (poor me). Even when the hunting is hard like it was this weekend it is still better than any place i can remember or think of.

This is the last year Chopper is going to put on hunts and sitting here wrighting this i am at a loss as to where im going to hunt where the hunting, acomadations and guide (Chopper) are going to be any where close to what i have become acustomed to. I have been spoiled like a little kid.

Time to get off my soap box and tell my weekend story.

It was a great weekend, we had some rain, hail, wind and snow and a lot of sun shine none of which was bad enough to keep any body out of the field. The hogs were held up tight to the cover but there was sign all over the ranch. The group of hunters we had in camp where willing to put down the shoe leather to find them.

Kelly106 bumped up a couple one morrning but it was still to dark to see, one evening he got on two more and chased them around for awhile. Orso glassed one up and got close to getting on it. Ill let them teel the stories if they want to.

For me we will start at the begining of the weekend. I met Kelly106 at the cabin, of course we start talking hogs right off the bat. On the road right below the cabin there was some active wallows and that will get the blood flowing every time. We kept an eye on them during the weekend and realised that every time Chopper drove up to the cabin for the morrning wake up call he was jumping them up and they were going stright up the ridge and over the top, Kelly had gone to the top to check it out and found the tracks and hair in the barbed wire where they were crossing the fence. A few of the hunters had gone up on top to hunt in the morrnings but after Chopper had came up.

On Saterday night I let every know that i was not going to be there in the morrning when they got up, my plan was to be up on top of the ridge before Chopper drove by and hope the hogs took there time comming up the ridge so I would have enough light to shoot.

More to come Ive got to take my great wife out to dinner, its the least i can do, she keeps saying yes go a head and go hunting.

 

[THE ROMAN ARCHER]

WTPOPS, i am glad i had the chance to share a weekend hunt with you at Chopper's, i really enjoyed talking to you about hog hunting and the passion you have for it and that passion rubbed on me and i to am now addicted to hunting wild boars with a bow more then ever and i cant wait to get back up there in May and enjoy that last weekend hunt at Chopper's, it will be special! great story pop's you got me going cant wait to here the rest, have a great dinner....................tra


P.S.and for Kelly106, he's cool and good people and a hogslayer for sure! I hope to see him agian!

 

[Huntr Pat]

Was there anyone successful this weekend.?

 

[wtpops]

Ok im back, lets see where was I, o ya Saterday night, pigs comming up the ridge, would I have enough light to shoot. So its Sunday morrning, I get up early stuff my face with some hot oat meal and head out. I get to the top of the ridge and the wind is howling, a good thing and a bad thing, good thing because the wind noise covers all my noise and its in my face, bad thing because its got to be in the high teens with wind chill and im freezing my $%^ off.

I find the saddle that Kelly told me about and get set up under a pine tree for a very cold wait. I hang my bow from a limb and cover my head with my coat to stay out of the wind, it helps and the cold is bearable. After about 20 minutes or so i hear the wakeup call comming down the road (Chopper). A while later, not quite enough light to shoot yet, I hear the unmistakable sound of pigs comming up the ridge crashing through the brush, I drop my coat grab my bow and drop to my knees.

Looking down hill, I am on the right side of the saddle and my right side is facing down hill, the pigs sound like they are going to come up behind me instead of through the saddle, at that moment they stop, no more sound from them at all. I sit there on my knees for about five our ten more minutes, by now im shaking from the cold, I stand up hang my bow up and put my coat back over my head. About 10 to 15 minutes go by, just enough light to shoot now, and i hear the pigs start moving, drop the coat grab the bow, down to my knees and hear they come they are side hilling comming right at my back, I look over my right shoulder and they pass right below me at 15 feet, two black hogs about 150 to 175 lbs each, i am out of postion , i cant turn to my right to take a shot. Just as they pass me they angle up hill a bit and at about 15 yards i have a hard quarting away shot. I draw anchor and lead the last pig just a little bit, they are at a slow trot, and release and bam i kill the side of the ridge.

I should not have lead the pig at all they were going slow and away a dead on shot would ave resulted in a dead pig but they did not react to the shot, 5 more yards they are out of sight under a pine tree and still troting away. I jump up run down grab my arrow, run up hill 20 yards to the road turn right and run about 80 to 100 yards, turn down hill, go about 30 o so yards and set up again and to my suprise i made it in front of them, thank god for the winds or they would have heard me for sure, any way i see them comming but my luck had run out, they troted by at about 30 to 35 yards, out of range for me and my long bow so i had to pass on my second chance at these two.

What a great morrning just icing on the cake to a great weekend of hunting.

All in all a great weekend, a few of us got to chase some hogs around, I got a shot, my bad should have got him and as the weekend progressed the pig sign just got thicker and thicker.

 

[wtpops]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Huntr Pat @ Mar 16 2008, 08:05 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Was there anyone successful this weekend.?[/b]

Nobody killed a hog this trip but great people, great eats and camp fire stories and great hunting, successful in my book

 

[THE ROMAN ARCHER]

good story and thanks for sharing your wild hog adventure weekend at Chopper's wtpop's! hogs passing you at 15 ft., that will get your blood going! thanks for sharing...............tra

 

[sancho]

wtpops. that is a great story! can you email me at

mediumsmart@yahoo.com ?

i have a few questions. thanks

 

[kelly106]

Just smilin readin youre story pops, spendin the day with my family,I'll get back later!

 

[tradman]

Had a GREAT time at the ranch. First class company, first class food (you all have NO idea what you missed), and a first class host in Chopper. No, I didn't see any pigs, except Chopper's son's pet Tisha, who was probably getting more and more nervous as the weekend went on. The only thing I killed was some time and some brain cells, but I had a heck of a good time. What can you say, these are wild, free-ranging hogs, and they aren't always where you want them to be.

It's a real shame these hunts are coming to a close. This was only my second trip down and only now was I beginning to really get a feel for the property. We're losing an awesome resource here, but that's life I guess

BTW any of you guys who are booked for one the upcoming turkey hunts should have a very good chance at a gobbler. They were sounding off all over the place and we were all seeing them every day. I even saw one fly up to his roost one night.

So that's all. Thanks to all the fellas I met over the weekend, and a very big thanks to Chopper for giving us all the opportunity to share his beautiful property and his gracious hospitality.

Cheers!

 

[kelly106]

Well had another great weekend at choppers, saw plenty BIG toms, a bobcat, to many deer, and an occasional couple nice pigs ! One morning about 10 minutes before first shooting light while walking into a prime spot, I smelt that god awful wrank smell of a big boar(you know), only to take two more steps and bust two pigs bedded down right off the road, well needless to say they ran off to the next county in no time, I hunted for three more hours seeing fresh wallows abundant, which made it worse that I blew a good oppurtunity before first light, oh well I thought, next time! Another evening after walking forever it seemed like, I noticed a bunch of ticks all over me, while gettin most of them off me I heard some pigs makin some noise below me what seemed to be over 80 yards, I hung out for over 20 minutes and heard nothing more, made my way to the top of a hill, and glassed 10 minutes before dark, while looking all around with the binos I spot 2 pigs about 600 yards across canyon, feeding on a hillside, drop my pack, and run as fast as I could(WHICH ISN'T THAT FAST ANYMORE), to get no more than 20 yards, only its dark! Strike two! On the last morning in the same area as the first, at first light, I spotted a nice boar goin into the brush to bed down, never coming back out, 5 pigs in all, no shots, but a hell of a good time! Everyday there was more sign, pigs were out there, no one could close the deal! Had some great food, enjoyed meetin some new faces( Travis, Jaimie) and got to see pops, orso, scott again, youre all great people, hope to cross paths with all of you again, and last, thanks Chopper, some of the best times Ive ever had, have come on youre ranch!

 

[Speckmisser]

Sounds like a great hunt, even without pork on the hook.

But what else would I expect from a weekend at Chopper's? It's always a great hunt!

Dang, wish I could get up there one more time!