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No hogs for the JHP crew that I know of. Big Bubba Daddy and I were hogless and Bubba (Jesse)and his elk crew left Sunday before we got back to the FHL campground so I'm not sure if they got their elk or not. Kick left a note on my truck Saturday morning but I never saw him.
This huge boar was taken in area 10/13 Saturday evening by Bill Diaz who we met at the scale. I heard the shot and figured someone had gotten into the hogs, we were across the road in area 7. I gave the Bill a card so he should be along to tell his tale. The hog weighed 298 lbs and change which is in top 2 or 3 in weight for hogs at FHL that I've heard about. I remember hearing about a 325 lb a few years back but never saw it. Bill shot it with a 30-06 180 grain Nosler partition. Shot was head on with the boar turned just a bit to the left. He hit the boar in the right tusk and the bullet went in and came out on the left side just behind the shoulder. No bullet or broken tusk was recovered thatI know of.
The hog girthed 48 inches around the heart, the hoofs were 2 1/2" across and in length and the one ivory left was 3 1/2".
Big Bubba Daddy and I hunted area 7 Saturday. I had a hog coming down Sulphor creek where I was slipping along when the hog popped out of the creek when some quail shooters started banging away behind us. I don't know if the hog smelled me, saw me or got worried about the shooting. I found where he had whirled in front of me, the dirt piles were still crumbling where he turned on the trail. The pig headed for the hills and I couldn't find him after looking for an hour.
All the rain made it a walk in pretty much from only a few certain spots and we couldn't play the wind the way we wanted by parking and walking in from the upper parts of area 7.
Saturday evening we hunted area 7 on the eastern side and found more and fresher hog sign along with a new fresh cougar track. I kept Big Bubba on his toes by blowing my peacock screamer so he wouldn't be catching any zzzzs on me. This track looked small which meant a juvenile cougar. Not what you want prowling the same area when you're blowing varmint calls too. That night a black cat ran across in front of the truck on the way back to billeting. BBD didn't believe me that our mojo had taken a turn for the worse.
Sunday morning we were back in area 7. we saw a bobcat in the headlights driving in. I saw nothing but Big Bubba got to play cat and mouse with the cougar, only BBD was the mouse. He said he was hiking up a hill and his glasses had fogged up a bit and he thought he saw a bobcat. When he wiped his glasses he realized it was a cougar looking at him on a log. BBD said he did bow over the head holler and the cat jumped off the log and started toward him at 70 yards. Another war chant and the cat just stopped and sized him up again. BBD then realized he needed to get his water bag out of his quiver so he could reload arrows if needed. BBD made it to the truck with no scratches but he was puckerd up pretty bad. He was not amused by my meowing on the way back to camp.
BBD left Sunday afternoon and I hunted 7 by myself with nothing but a lot of bird watching for all my walking and glassing. For some reason I kept looking at my backtrail.
Sunday morning I was back in area 7 and after an hour I got bored and was photographing some deer across in another area where I had seen hogs previously when I saw this black line moving across the meadow under an oak. A quick glass and it's a big boar, he's throwing his head and snout into the air every 75 yards to check the wind. He's heading to my area, probably to a bedding area I know of so I grab my camera and head off to cut him off. I huff & puff up a little ridge to get a perch over this meadow the hog is in. I know I can make it in time to head him off but I don't know if I can check my breathing enough to get a stable shot. After glassing the meadow and no hog, I start to wonder. 15 minutes go by and the hog is way overdue.
After more glassing and no hog I hike down to where the hog should have crossed the road. As I peek out into the road and look one way there is no hog. I look the other way and there is "Oinkanator" looking at me from about 100 yards away. He looks like a mini pickup, he takes up one whole lane while standing broadside. He could be the brother to the big hog in the pic above. I drop my binocs for the camera and in a blink he is gone. It's a race again back to my perch, or so I thought. I get back to my elevated hill so I can glass him up in he meadow or under the oaks but the boar is no where to be found. He must of backtracked on me, figuring he shouldn't cross that meadow or try and sneak around under them oaks. Smart Piggy.
And finally, we met these 2 older gents who were also elk hunting. These 2 guys were also hog hunters. This is the door on the one guy's truck. One was an ex Marine of 22 years and the other retired Navy. The Marine owned the truck and he said every pig he gets he puts a sticker on his door like a fighter pilot. Last year he got 14 pigs so he is a pretty good shot I'd say. I hope to make it to my retired days and still be chasing hogs at 60 and 70 years old like these two.
This huge boar was taken in area 10/13 Saturday evening by Bill Diaz who we met at the scale. I heard the shot and figured someone had gotten into the hogs, we were across the road in area 7. I gave the Bill a card so he should be along to tell his tale. The hog weighed 298 lbs and change which is in top 2 or 3 in weight for hogs at FHL that I've heard about. I remember hearing about a 325 lb a few years back but never saw it. Bill shot it with a 30-06 180 grain Nosler partition. Shot was head on with the boar turned just a bit to the left. He hit the boar in the right tusk and the bullet went in and came out on the left side just behind the shoulder. No bullet or broken tusk was recovered thatI know of.
The hog girthed 48 inches around the heart, the hoofs were 2 1/2" across and in length and the one ivory left was 3 1/2".
Big Bubba Daddy and I hunted area 7 Saturday. I had a hog coming down Sulphor creek where I was slipping along when the hog popped out of the creek when some quail shooters started banging away behind us. I don't know if the hog smelled me, saw me or got worried about the shooting. I found where he had whirled in front of me, the dirt piles were still crumbling where he turned on the trail. The pig headed for the hills and I couldn't find him after looking for an hour.
All the rain made it a walk in pretty much from only a few certain spots and we couldn't play the wind the way we wanted by parking and walking in from the upper parts of area 7.
Saturday evening we hunted area 7 on the eastern side and found more and fresher hog sign along with a new fresh cougar track. I kept Big Bubba on his toes by blowing my peacock screamer so he wouldn't be catching any zzzzs on me. This track looked small which meant a juvenile cougar. Not what you want prowling the same area when you're blowing varmint calls too. That night a black cat ran across in front of the truck on the way back to billeting. BBD didn't believe me that our mojo had taken a turn for the worse.
Sunday morning we were back in area 7. we saw a bobcat in the headlights driving in. I saw nothing but Big Bubba got to play cat and mouse with the cougar, only BBD was the mouse. He said he was hiking up a hill and his glasses had fogged up a bit and he thought he saw a bobcat. When he wiped his glasses he realized it was a cougar looking at him on a log. BBD said he did bow over the head holler and the cat jumped off the log and started toward him at 70 yards. Another war chant and the cat just stopped and sized him up again. BBD then realized he needed to get his water bag out of his quiver so he could reload arrows if needed. BBD made it to the truck with no scratches but he was puckerd up pretty bad. He was not amused by my meowing on the way back to camp.
BBD left Sunday afternoon and I hunted 7 by myself with nothing but a lot of bird watching for all my walking and glassing. For some reason I kept looking at my backtrail.
Sunday morning I was back in area 7 and after an hour I got bored and was photographing some deer across in another area where I had seen hogs previously when I saw this black line moving across the meadow under an oak. A quick glass and it's a big boar, he's throwing his head and snout into the air every 75 yards to check the wind. He's heading to my area, probably to a bedding area I know of so I grab my camera and head off to cut him off. I huff & puff up a little ridge to get a perch over this meadow the hog is in. I know I can make it in time to head him off but I don't know if I can check my breathing enough to get a stable shot. After glassing the meadow and no hog, I start to wonder. 15 minutes go by and the hog is way overdue.
After more glassing and no hog I hike down to where the hog should have crossed the road. As I peek out into the road and look one way there is no hog. I look the other way and there is "Oinkanator" looking at me from about 100 yards away. He looks like a mini pickup, he takes up one whole lane while standing broadside. He could be the brother to the big hog in the pic above. I drop my binocs for the camera and in a blink he is gone. It's a race again back to my perch, or so I thought. I get back to my elevated hill so I can glass him up in he meadow or under the oaks but the boar is no where to be found. He must of backtracked on me, figuring he shouldn't cross that meadow or try and sneak around under them oaks. Smart Piggy.
And finally, we met these 2 older gents who were also elk hunting. These 2 guys were also hog hunters. This is the door on the one guy's truck. One was an ex Marine of 22 years and the other retired Navy. The Marine owned the truck and he said every pig he gets he puts a sticker on his door like a fighter pilot. Last year he got 14 pigs so he is a pretty good shot I'd say. I hope to make it to my retired days and still be chasing hogs at 60 and 70 years old like these two.
