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PIGTALES ADVENTURES IN HOGHUNTIN
GRANGER LAKE, TX
By Wendy White
Prostaff member for:
We decided that we were going to try the public land hunting for hogs, so we headed to Georgetown with high hopes. Duane and Royce were going on this trip with us, so between the four of us, something exciting was bound to happen. This property, is arrow only unless hunting squirrels. Then a shotgun was permissible. Being Royce didnt have archery equipment, and Duane borrowed my extra crossbow, he was hunting squirrels and Duane walking along with him, was hunting pigs.
The hunting area is behind the dam of Granger Lake, so Royce and Duane took the far side, and Butch and I took the other.
We hunted, walking and stalking, until about 10 am before I heard Duane on the radio. I had just happened to stop to strip some of the clothing off as it was warming quite nicely, so I stopped to listen to the conversation. I heard Duane calling Butch. Curious to see what they saw, I listened and then, I really listened. I heard the word HOGS. Apparently, as the story was being told, they came upon a group of very large hogs, and they wanted to know if we wanted to walk in with them together. I want you to know right now, nothing was mentioned at this time about a shot, mad sow.
I chimed in and said I was done on my side, and I would meet Butch at the parking area and ditch all the clothing and equipment I wouldnt need to be stealthy stalking in on the hogs. Man, I was excited thinking they had found a herd of hogs, but not just hogs, Duane said they were in the area of 500 pounders. They were relaxing with small babies in a ravine in the sun. Wew! I cant wait.
Well, Butch and I headed to where Duane said hed meet us outside the woods. When I saw him, I got a funny feeling something wasnt being told. You do that when you raise kids. You get this feeling when somethings up. You see, Duane is Butchs oldest son. At the time, I also didnt notice he didnt have a weapon- My borrowed crossbow in his hands. When we followed Duane in on the trail, I did notice Royce with his shotgun sitting up in a tree. (Theres my sign. Duh!)
I just figured Royce was worried about being found out, but Duane said to us that Royce was there to watch the hogs in case they moved out. You know, I really shoulda known what was gonna happen at that moment, but I didnt because I hadnt been told the whole story, and took for granted, we were just stalking in on some relaxing 500 pound hogs. Right!
Butch and I ended up in the lead on the trail. Thats funny in itself since we were the invited guests on this shoot. Butch was leading and when we got to the top of the ravine, there were about five little biddy babies lying on the top ledge. But then, there was big mama just below them, sleeping in the sun. We backed out so we could get a game plan together. Duane then volunteered to circle around the hogs and push them up top on the trail we were standing on, and we would ambush them as they ran up. Then, Duane told us he had already shot one. Hmmm.
I quickly looked for a tree I could climb fast. I found a good one with a triple trunk. The bad part is all behind where Im supposed to stand and shoot is thick briar vines. Oh well, I can shoot at them as they climb the hill of the ravine. Not to worry about that direction.
We got set, and I noticed Royce was hanging rather closely to where I was. I guess Butch had asked him to be my backup since Im the one that seems to have problems with charging hogs. The problem being, they are not afraid of me for some reason. It wasnt a good plan for Royce though he would find out later. Butch set up on a hanging tree limb at the edge of the ravine, that he could see the hogs coming out. Great spot for a brave lightweight soul. Me? I loved the spot but with my luck and my big butt, the limb would break and Id land on top of a big mad mama hog. I decided Id move back from the edge about fifteen yards. Thats as close as I want to shoot anyway. Royce was somewhere behind me and to the left with his trusty shotgun.
Okay, here they come! Man the noise of the five hogs is sounding more like a herd of twenty! Oh, hell! Here they come, but not as planned. The hogs are running right at us from our right side on a different trail. Here comes a pig, and another, and another, and hey, there goes one with an arrow in it. Must be Duanes I figured. And another hog. Theyre still coming. What happened with the five-five hundred pounders? There are hogs everywhere! Theyre now crossing behind me and Im trying to get turned around in the briar to get a shot with my peep sight without getting too far from my tree. You never know whats gonna happen with mama hogs. Finally, I get a line on a very large sow. She wouldnt stop though. So, looking down, I see a bunch of the little biddy babies right at my feet. The light bulb in my head went off. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Royce figuring out what I was thinking. Im real sure he didnt like it either. Funny how someone real nervous can move and squirm so much and yet still be standing in the same spot. His eyes got real big too.
I reached down to grab one of those babies, and the sow stopped, very abruptly I might add. I pulled up on her again, and she started running again. I tried to pick up the baby again, and she stopped again. I pulled up and she started running. That second time she stopped, she swirled around and gave us the very evil eye. I now knew these were her new babies. Not only that, she was intimidating enough for me and my buddy Royce to start up the tree at the same time. I grabbed the tree when she swung around, and Royce and I looked at each other. I 'splained to him at that point, that this was my tree, go find your own. Royce spun around to try and quickly find his own tree, but before having to climb, the sow once again turned and ran. I bet there were twenty hogs in that group. What an adrenaline rush!
Duane walked to us, and then confirmed he had shot a sow earlier. Then, we get the disclosure we should have had before this event. Let me tell you how his story went.
It was something about he and Royce hunting, Duane seeing and shooting a sow, and the others charging them. When Duane started running from the hogs, he threw the crossbow down. Each time he would try and retrieve the crossbow, they were charged by a big sow. The same one I was trying to shoot. They climbed the tree until Duane decided to call backup-us. Thinking back, seeing Royce in the tree when we entered the woods, it made sense. Duane actually needed us to distract the hogs while he went back for the crossbow. If he wouldve lost it, He would have never heard the end of it from me.
We recovered his sow, but the one I saw with the arrow in it run by was Butchs shot. He said he got off two shots from that tree. Royce and I never heard the shots, so we didnt know what had happened. Thats why the hogs changed trails to come out of the ravine from our right side and behind us, instead of the trail in front of us. Aint nothing like hunting with your friends and family. Especially your kids!
Good Hunting!
GRANGER LAKE, TX
By Wendy White
Prostaff member for:
We decided that we were going to try the public land hunting for hogs, so we headed to Georgetown with high hopes. Duane and Royce were going on this trip with us, so between the four of us, something exciting was bound to happen. This property, is arrow only unless hunting squirrels. Then a shotgun was permissible. Being Royce didnt have archery equipment, and Duane borrowed my extra crossbow, he was hunting squirrels and Duane walking along with him, was hunting pigs.
The hunting area is behind the dam of Granger Lake, so Royce and Duane took the far side, and Butch and I took the other.
We hunted, walking and stalking, until about 10 am before I heard Duane on the radio. I had just happened to stop to strip some of the clothing off as it was warming quite nicely, so I stopped to listen to the conversation. I heard Duane calling Butch. Curious to see what they saw, I listened and then, I really listened. I heard the word HOGS. Apparently, as the story was being told, they came upon a group of very large hogs, and they wanted to know if we wanted to walk in with them together. I want you to know right now, nothing was mentioned at this time about a shot, mad sow.
I chimed in and said I was done on my side, and I would meet Butch at the parking area and ditch all the clothing and equipment I wouldnt need to be stealthy stalking in on the hogs. Man, I was excited thinking they had found a herd of hogs, but not just hogs, Duane said they were in the area of 500 pounders. They were relaxing with small babies in a ravine in the sun. Wew! I cant wait.
Well, Butch and I headed to where Duane said hed meet us outside the woods. When I saw him, I got a funny feeling something wasnt being told. You do that when you raise kids. You get this feeling when somethings up. You see, Duane is Butchs oldest son. At the time, I also didnt notice he didnt have a weapon- My borrowed crossbow in his hands. When we followed Duane in on the trail, I did notice Royce with his shotgun sitting up in a tree. (Theres my sign. Duh!)
I just figured Royce was worried about being found out, but Duane said to us that Royce was there to watch the hogs in case they moved out. You know, I really shoulda known what was gonna happen at that moment, but I didnt because I hadnt been told the whole story, and took for granted, we were just stalking in on some relaxing 500 pound hogs. Right!
Butch and I ended up in the lead on the trail. Thats funny in itself since we were the invited guests on this shoot. Butch was leading and when we got to the top of the ravine, there were about five little biddy babies lying on the top ledge. But then, there was big mama just below them, sleeping in the sun. We backed out so we could get a game plan together. Duane then volunteered to circle around the hogs and push them up top on the trail we were standing on, and we would ambush them as they ran up. Then, Duane told us he had already shot one. Hmmm.
I quickly looked for a tree I could climb fast. I found a good one with a triple trunk. The bad part is all behind where Im supposed to stand and shoot is thick briar vines. Oh well, I can shoot at them as they climb the hill of the ravine. Not to worry about that direction.
We got set, and I noticed Royce was hanging rather closely to where I was. I guess Butch had asked him to be my backup since Im the one that seems to have problems with charging hogs. The problem being, they are not afraid of me for some reason. It wasnt a good plan for Royce though he would find out later. Butch set up on a hanging tree limb at the edge of the ravine, that he could see the hogs coming out. Great spot for a brave lightweight soul. Me? I loved the spot but with my luck and my big butt, the limb would break and Id land on top of a big mad mama hog. I decided Id move back from the edge about fifteen yards. Thats as close as I want to shoot anyway. Royce was somewhere behind me and to the left with his trusty shotgun.
Okay, here they come! Man the noise of the five hogs is sounding more like a herd of twenty! Oh, hell! Here they come, but not as planned. The hogs are running right at us from our right side on a different trail. Here comes a pig, and another, and another, and hey, there goes one with an arrow in it. Must be Duanes I figured. And another hog. Theyre still coming. What happened with the five-five hundred pounders? There are hogs everywhere! Theyre now crossing behind me and Im trying to get turned around in the briar to get a shot with my peep sight without getting too far from my tree. You never know whats gonna happen with mama hogs. Finally, I get a line on a very large sow. She wouldnt stop though. So, looking down, I see a bunch of the little biddy babies right at my feet. The light bulb in my head went off. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Royce figuring out what I was thinking. Im real sure he didnt like it either. Funny how someone real nervous can move and squirm so much and yet still be standing in the same spot. His eyes got real big too.
I reached down to grab one of those babies, and the sow stopped, very abruptly I might add. I pulled up on her again, and she started running again. I tried to pick up the baby again, and she stopped again. I pulled up and she started running. That second time she stopped, she swirled around and gave us the very evil eye. I now knew these were her new babies. Not only that, she was intimidating enough for me and my buddy Royce to start up the tree at the same time. I grabbed the tree when she swung around, and Royce and I looked at each other. I 'splained to him at that point, that this was my tree, go find your own. Royce spun around to try and quickly find his own tree, but before having to climb, the sow once again turned and ran. I bet there were twenty hogs in that group. What an adrenaline rush!
Duane walked to us, and then confirmed he had shot a sow earlier. Then, we get the disclosure we should have had before this event. Let me tell you how his story went.
It was something about he and Royce hunting, Duane seeing and shooting a sow, and the others charging them. When Duane started running from the hogs, he threw the crossbow down. Each time he would try and retrieve the crossbow, they were charged by a big sow. The same one I was trying to shoot. They climbed the tree until Duane decided to call backup-us. Thinking back, seeing Royce in the tree when we entered the woods, it made sense. Duane actually needed us to distract the hogs while he went back for the crossbow. If he wouldve lost it, He would have never heard the end of it from me.
We recovered his sow, but the one I saw with the arrow in it run by was Butchs shot. He said he got off two shots from that tree. Royce and I never heard the shots, so we didnt know what had happened. Thats why the hogs changed trails to come out of the ravine from our right side and behind us, instead of the trail in front of us. Aint nothing like hunting with your friends and family. Especially your kids!
Good Hunting!
