pmillerusa
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 20, 2009
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Day 2 –
Nathan and I were up at 4:30 and we had breakfast (eggs, bacon, and potatoes) in anticipation for a long day. We packed food and water in so we didn’t “have” to come back to camp if we didn’t want to. We started closer to the top of the ridge on day 2, and we immediately saw a train of hogs working over the saddle and into the valley below. They were a long ways off and it was still pretty early, so that didn’t pan out. We decided to split up. Nathan and I headed down to the lake on the right, Mel and RM headed down to the valley where Nathan and I saw the hogs the night before.
We worked the road to the lake pretty slowly. The wind was howling and in our face, so noise wasn’t too much an issue. Once we caught sight of the lake, eagle-eye Nathan spots a group of hogs working along the backside, headed towards some tough terrain. We scrambled sown some steep hills well off the road and made our way on the other side of the lake, hoping to catch them coming around the end towards us.
Once we made it to the lake, the hogs had all but worked up into the brush and there were two in the open under the trees. We were on a hill still and I took an offhand shot at about 120 yards and it was high and to the left (more on that later). They took two steps and were gone into the brush.
We met up with Mel and RM later in the morning, and learned of their hogs. Awesome, we were batting .500 for the foursome at that point. Trying to take some pictures, my DSLR crapped out, so I switched to the backup “point and shoot” camera. After we helped a bit with their hogs, Nathan and I decided to work the lower drainage back towards camp. We stopped halfway through the day and Nathan grabbed some zzz’s on a rock.
We worked that whole area for the rest of the day and didn’t see or hear anything. It was a long one and we put on the mileage for sure.
As we were headed back to the gate (pickup point) I kept hearing what I thought were grunts down below me to the right. (where we had been for the later part of the afternoon)… We listened for a few carefully and then heard a thunder from down below! Right where we had been an hour before, about 20 pigs (6 or 8 large ones and a dozen or so piglets) were making there way across the dry creek and thundering on the cobblestones. I told Nathan to grab his gun and get prone where he had a good rest. We saw 2 deer get busted out of the trees, but no hogs. The hogs finally made there way out of the trees across the valley, but at about 450 yards. They had stopped to make a turn, so I told Nathan to shoot while they were still and while I glassed. His shot was perfect left/right, but about 2 feet low. I told him to get about a “pigs distance” hold-over and try again if they stop. They hog all milled around for a second after the first shot, but never fully stopped. Nathan sent another round down range, but hit about a foot behind them, dead level (they where moving by now, but he had the hold-over right on the money)… We heard 2 shots up the ridge where they went so we were hopeful that they got pushed into someone.
At this point we had chalked the day up as a miss, and were already planning for the next morning. When the “shuttle bus” stopped to pick us up, we piled in with Mike and headed back towards the lake where two of the other guys (can’t recall their names) had shot a boar. We helped them get it back from behind the lake (right where we had been that morning?%^$#@!!) and then headed back to camp.
We got back to camp with the hog we were hauling and it turns out 2 other guys hooked up, so we have 5 out of 11 (I think) with a pig hanging.
Nathan decided that it had been too cold in the tent the night before (and it was a bit colder on day 2) so he wanted to sleep in the car. After some pork steaks from one of the kids 4H hogs, some veggies and canned peaches, we had some cocoa and coffee and settled in to get ready for day 3.
... more on day 3 ...
Nathan and I were up at 4:30 and we had breakfast (eggs, bacon, and potatoes) in anticipation for a long day. We packed food and water in so we didn’t “have” to come back to camp if we didn’t want to. We started closer to the top of the ridge on day 2, and we immediately saw a train of hogs working over the saddle and into the valley below. They were a long ways off and it was still pretty early, so that didn’t pan out. We decided to split up. Nathan and I headed down to the lake on the right, Mel and RM headed down to the valley where Nathan and I saw the hogs the night before.
We worked the road to the lake pretty slowly. The wind was howling and in our face, so noise wasn’t too much an issue. Once we caught sight of the lake, eagle-eye Nathan spots a group of hogs working along the backside, headed towards some tough terrain. We scrambled sown some steep hills well off the road and made our way on the other side of the lake, hoping to catch them coming around the end towards us.
Once we made it to the lake, the hogs had all but worked up into the brush and there were two in the open under the trees. We were on a hill still and I took an offhand shot at about 120 yards and it was high and to the left (more on that later). They took two steps and were gone into the brush.
We met up with Mel and RM later in the morning, and learned of their hogs. Awesome, we were batting .500 for the foursome at that point. Trying to take some pictures, my DSLR crapped out, so I switched to the backup “point and shoot” camera. After we helped a bit with their hogs, Nathan and I decided to work the lower drainage back towards camp. We stopped halfway through the day and Nathan grabbed some zzz’s on a rock.
We worked that whole area for the rest of the day and didn’t see or hear anything. It was a long one and we put on the mileage for sure.
As we were headed back to the gate (pickup point) I kept hearing what I thought were grunts down below me to the right. (where we had been for the later part of the afternoon)… We listened for a few carefully and then heard a thunder from down below! Right where we had been an hour before, about 20 pigs (6 or 8 large ones and a dozen or so piglets) were making there way across the dry creek and thundering on the cobblestones. I told Nathan to grab his gun and get prone where he had a good rest. We saw 2 deer get busted out of the trees, but no hogs. The hogs finally made there way out of the trees across the valley, but at about 450 yards. They had stopped to make a turn, so I told Nathan to shoot while they were still and while I glassed. His shot was perfect left/right, but about 2 feet low. I told him to get about a “pigs distance” hold-over and try again if they stop. They hog all milled around for a second after the first shot, but never fully stopped. Nathan sent another round down range, but hit about a foot behind them, dead level (they where moving by now, but he had the hold-over right on the money)… We heard 2 shots up the ridge where they went so we were hopeful that they got pushed into someone.
At this point we had chalked the day up as a miss, and were already planning for the next morning. When the “shuttle bus” stopped to pick us up, we piled in with Mike and headed back towards the lake where two of the other guys (can’t recall their names) had shot a boar. We helped them get it back from behind the lake (right where we had been that morning?%^$#@!!) and then headed back to camp.
We got back to camp with the hog we were hauling and it turns out 2 other guys hooked up, so we have 5 out of 11 (I think) with a pig hanging.
Nathan decided that it had been too cold in the tent the night before (and it was a bit colder on day 2) so he wanted to sleep in the car. After some pork steaks from one of the kids 4H hogs, some veggies and canned peaches, we had some cocoa and coffee and settled in to get ready for day 3.
... more on day 3 ...
