I guess it really doesn't count as a miss. I think!!!

We've all heard the term “buck fever”. Well it seems someone had “hog fever” last saturday. Along on this hunt was me, (of course), Johnson, Shawn, T, and a new hunter by the name of Angel. Angel works with me and I’m trying to put him in front of a hog so he can knock one down. We stopped at the local Bill Miller to grab a bite to

eat and versed Angel on what to expect. We also told him, there's no pressure but if you miss, well everyone is gonna read about it on my blog. After lunch we headed to the happy hunting grounds and after chronographing some new reloads we headed to the back of the property. Johnson and T wanted to the back of the property like last week, while Shawn, Angel and myself sat by the tank waiting for the hogs to show up. It was only about 45 degrees, but the wind was constant about 13 mph, and sitting on top of that tank the windchill seemed to be in the 30’s. Right before 1800 hours, I could see a group of hogs coming into the field from the wooded area which is 500 yards away. Shawn and Angel could see them also,

and they were looking through their scopes and I was looking at them through my binoculars. We watched as hog after hog kept coming into the field totaling 15. I asked Angel if he could make that shot since it was over 400 yards, and he said no, then I asked Shawn if he could make that shot, and with sort of a grin and smile he said oh yeah, I can make that shot. Since we were trying to get Angel a shot I took Angel underneath the barbwire fence behind us and we walked eastward to the next field. There Angel would go under the fence and walk towards them in hopes of getting a shot. I would stay at the fence that separated the two fields in case they ran my way. Shawn was on the tank and I could see another group of 10 hogs coming into the field while the first group was at the opposite end of the fence that I was standing at.

Angel had worked his way into the field when Shawn fired his 7 mm mag, and about two seconds later the distinct sound of that round hitting the hog could be heard over 500 yards away where I was at. WHACK!! The two groups took off back where they came from and they were gone. Well, we thought they were gone. We met Shawn in the field as we walked towards the area where we thought the pig he hit was and sure enough we had one dead hog. Another long distance shot from 489 yards, now that's one heck of a shot with a constant 10 to 12 mph

cross wind.

This is where the fun begins. Before I walked back to get my jeep I told both Angel and Shawn to use caution and be alert, and keep your ears and eyes open because that big group of hogs might come back. I got back to my jeep and since it had been raining the last couple of days I put it in 4wheel drive and headed back. As I approached along the fence line it was still daylight but the sun was falling quick. I could see Shawn and Angel dragged the hog to the fence but I didn’t see them. I looked into the field and could see them about 60 yards from the fence kneeling down, but looking towards the fence. I stopped and it was then that I could see the large group of hogs about 50 yards to my left in the next property. This was going to get interesting since the hogs looked like they wanted to come back out, and it was getting dark. I turned the my jeep off and sat there looking at the hogs. They were looking at me also and I guess they got comfortable with my jeep because now they were moving towards the fence and they were gonna come out into the field again where Shawn and Angel were kneeling in.

We were getting ready to have a standoff with 2 hunters in the field 50 yards away facing about 25 hogs getting ready to come into the field to eat, and I was gonna watch the show about 50 yards off to the side. Too bad I didn’t have some popcorn and an icee cuz the show was starting. The first hog poked it’s head through the fence and looked around, then continued into the field. Then one by one more hogs worked their way into the field straight towards Shawn and Angel. I could hear the music from Clint Eastwoods movie, the Good, the Bad and the Ugly. Ten hogs were in the field and I told myself, self it’s a good thing you’re sitting in the jeep because if them hogs charge, there’s no way you’ll outrun them. Then, KABOOM, now hogs are running everywhere, with 2 going right towards the gunfire. I could see Shawn stand and the two hogs turned going to the left, KABOOM, one hog tumbles, what a shot, he got it on the run. Within 3 to 4 seconds of the first shot all the hogs ran back into the treeline and were gone, but Shawn now had 2 hogs. That was some fast action that took place in front of me. I asked Shawn if Angel got

the hog and he said no. What happened? Shawn said “he had his rifle on safety”. huh, safety???? What the..... Hey guys, all I can do is put you in front of hogs, you gotta shoot them. Don’t get me wrong, I surely believe in safeties and it’s good to use them, but when you have that many hogs working their way towards you, one important thing is to take it off safety. It’s like sitting on the toilet and realizing their isn’t toilet paper. That stinks! I guess technically it doesn't count as a miss since he really didn't shoot. Does it??? Oh well, there will be a next time.

Sometime during all the action we had in the field we were in, Johnson texted me and said he also had shot a hog where they were at. Three hogs for the night is not a bad night.

Johnsons hog weight 119 lbs.. The first hog (white socks), Shawn shot at 489 yards weighed 150 lbs, and it’s back legs looked like it had white socks. The second hog he shot weighed 153 lbs. Johnson picked up a scale online that is rated up to 500 lbs, and we hung each hog up, weighing them if you’re wondering how we figured their weights.

By 1900 hours we had 3 hogs knocked down and we decided to wait a little longer in case they came out again. Greedy huh. Well they never came out again so we called it quits at 2200 hrs, but what an evening it was. Maybe next time Angel.