I had the awesome privilege of hunting wild hogs with my
father to start the 2016 hunting season. Our good friends Ray and Jack Spring
invited us to Jack’s home in Kentwood, Louisiana for a weeklong hunt on his 64
acres. We also had permission to hunt from a few of his neighbors, all of the
land combined totaling in at around 500 acres. Our method of choice was sitting
over bait in the evenings waiting for the hogs to come in to the feeder.
After
three evenings of no hogs breaking cover before dark, we planned a morning hunt
that was to be followed by a moonlight hunt that night when the pigs were most
active. During the morning hunt I chose a spot in the woods instead of one of
the fields hoping the hogs might pass through on their way to bed down for the
day. We got to our stands an hour before sunrise on that cold, rainy morning
merely to watch the squirrels and the songbirds come and go from the bait
sites. After three hours and still no pigs I was wet, cold, and frustrated. I
decided to get up and wander around hoping to sneak up on a group or jump them
from their beds for a shot. I finally found a spot near the creek that had more
sign than I had seen anywhere else and I picked a trail to follow through the
brush. The trail led me along the creek allowing me to maintain my bearings in
that part of the property I hadn’t been before. It was covered with tracks from
the night before and was surrounded by massive holes and ruts made by the pigs
rooting up the mud looking for food. I knew it was only a matter of time until
I stumbled across some hogs in an area like this, which is exactly what
happened.
I decided I’d break off of the trail along the creek to venture into
the brush and within 30 yds. of doing so I found them. It was an explosion! The
piglets went first, sprinting in every direction and squealing as loud as they
could anywhere from 5 yards in front of me to probably 40 yds. ahead in the
brush. I immediately shouldered my rifle and started looking for momma. There
was a medium sized hog, maybe 70 or 80 lbs. about 30 yds. away that I scoped
first but I was still looking for a charging mother. With every step I took
more piglets would run which made it difficult to focus on shooting the pig.
Finally I got to a tree and took a rest as the group circled around me and was
able to pick out the biggest one in the back of the group. She never stopped
running and the brush was too thick for a shot so I took off running after
them. I followed them to the river where I could hear them swimming across.
I
found a tree to take a rest and scoped a hole in the brush on the opposite
bank. Three piglets passed through the scope first before the big one and when
she entered my scope I shot. The 30 yd. shot felt good and it was. The blood
trail was amazing and the pig only went 30 yds. from the spot of the shot. We
had to tie her up with a rope and float her back across the river but it was
worth all of the effort. It was a 125 lb. sow taken with my Remington model 700
30-06, and a hunt that I will never forget.
Happy Easter!
