2011 Ended with a BOOM

New Years Eve 2011 ended in a spectacular, but very different way. Oh sure theusual and customary fireworks flying through the air and exploding were seen throughout the night, but before the the midnight hour, I along with several hunters were out in the field, and we were looking for hogs and doves. Collin and Chase were by the water tank dove hunting and I along with Mark Johnson and my neighbor Carlos were on the other side of the property waiting for hogs.

We set up at the same place where Elliott and I had stalked about 40 hogs two days earlier. Elliott had crawled to within 20 yards of the hogs and put a round into a big hog which took off and died in the neighbors property. Today though we had the big guns. Johnson had his trusty 30-06 loaded with 150 grain Winchester Ballistic tip. Carlos had his AR 15 and he loads his own ammo. He was shooting a 69 grain Barnes Bullet, and I had my 45-70 loaded with 325 grain LeveRevolution made by Hornady.

The wind was in our favor and around 1645 hrs we had a hog come in. It was about 80 yards out and Johnson had his gun up and tracking it through his scope. Carlos was sitting next to a big oak tree so he couldn’t see the hog since it was approaching from an angle that was covered by the oak tree. The hog wasn’t running, (yet) but it was walking at a good pace and never lost a beat as it came under the fence and continued walking. I was thinking someone better shoot because we’re fixing to lose sight of him then, KKAABBOOOMM, Johnson shot. That hog took off running and for a moment I thought he missed, but then we heard this thing crashing through brush, breaking limbs and brushing up against cactus, then silence. From where the sounds were coming from I pretty much knew where it was at so I told Johnson and Carlos to stay put and I would go into the woods about 40 yards and head to where I thought it was. I also told them to stay alert for another group of hogs since we could hear them on the next property and if the did come out to shoot them as they crossed the sendero, but if they made it to the tree line I would shoot. I worked my way up the hill stopping every few seconds checking the area with binoculars and after a few minutes I could see the hog about 30 yards away laying next to some cactus and it wasn’t going anywhere so I worked my way back.

Modern technology is wonderful and works great in the woods. I texted Johnson and asked if there were any hogs in sight or if it was clear to come out, and his response was come on out. I told him and Carlos his hog was down and we still had about 45 minutes left till sundown so lets stay a little longer if they wanted and we did. A few minutes later we could hear hogs in the woods where I was but they never came out and we could hear them going the opposite way. They must have come across my scent and traveled back the opposite way so we called it quits and went after the downed hog. When we spotted the hog off at a distance we noticed it was pretty big and kept getting bigger as we got closer. Once we put hands on it, it was obvious we were gonna need some help dragging this brute. Johnson went back to get Collin, Chase and his truck while Carlos and I went back to get our backpacks and other gear we left behind. Minutes later Collin called me and said he could see Johnson walking back and there was a group of hogs approaching him. It was getting darker and Collin couldn’t see how many, but they were about 40 yards from him and approaching him, then we heard KKAABBOOMM, KKAABBOOMM. I hung up with Collin and Johnson called me, and he sounded a little excited. He said he shot two more and one was down and one ran off and some ran back towards us.

After getting our equipment and walking back to the downed hog we heard a twang coming from the barbwire fence close to us and heard pigs running from us through the field. A few minutes later Johnson, Collin and Chase drove up with the one of the hogs Johnson at shot.

Johnson said he was walking back to get the boys and his truck and was walking along the fence line when he heard the hogs to his left. He said saw Chase and Collin with their light to his right and they were flashing their flashlight at him. He looked back to his left and with his flashlight shining he looked beyond the hogs and to their left and right just to make sure there were no cows around. Once he saw they was nothing else but hogs in front of him he picked one out as they were still approaching him and fired and hit one. Johnson said that’s when things got crazy because it looked like they were gonna charge him and as they ran towards him one stopped about 20 yards in front of him so he shot it in the middle of its head and dropped it, while the others ran past him. Apparently Johnson started waving his arms in the air and jumping up and down trying to spook them but one still ran about 4 yards from him. What a time to do the hokey pokey. It was an exciting evening for sure.