Stay tuned for the results!!
Saturday, February 16, 2013
More 2013 Javelina Fun!
Check out this short video that my good friend Kevin put together. It showcases some of the amazing success we have all had this year chasing pigs with our bows. Our group of family and friends still have 4 more tags to fill this upcoming weekend on the rifle hunt. Could we possibly go 11 for 11??
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Blake's 2013 Archery Pig
"Hey man, we are looking at waking up to 2-3 inches of snow tomorrow morning for my pig hunt....It's going to be cold as hell with heavy gusting winds too. I'm still headed out, but I'm not expecting much action."
"No worries man. I'm still up for going. Worst case scenario if the weather doesn't break we can just hike until we cut some tracks and try to track them."
"Sounds like a good plan to me. See you in the morning"
That was the conversation between my good friend, Kevin, and I the night before we were to go on my pig hunt. The weather was just down right shitty!! Anyone who has ever hunted javelina knows that when the weather is super cold and wet the pigs bury themselves deep into the nasty thick stuff and are nearly impossible to find. Even with the horrible conditions, I was still going to at least give it a shot. There's always a chance when I am in the field and there is always ZERO chance when I'm sitting at home!
I picked Kevin up bright and early and we headed out. We planned on glassing a big open faced mountain the first couple hours of the day, but the snow rolled in fast and the clouds completely engulfed the mountain. No worries though. In the hunting world if you can't improvise quickly you won't be very successful! We decided to bite the bullet and make a long hike into an area where we could glass into a big creek bottom full of thick oak brush. We knew in this weather that the pigs would be held up tight trying to stay warm.
A quick ground shot of the snow depth. Not really that bad and perfect for tracking.
We hiked to the top of the ridge and did our best to glass in the brutally cold and snow filled wind. I'm not going to lie. It flat out sucked.
The scenery was amazing, but it was miserable. We followed the top of the ridge, while glassing into the bottoms. There was enough snow on the ground that all we were really doing was glassing for tracks. We knew if they were there we would see some tracks and then make a game plan from there. Unfortunately for us not a track was spotted.
I finally told Kevin we should just hike back to the truck and regroup. My new plan was to hit some thicker oak brush country and just call for foxes until the weather broke.
We made the 45 minute or so drive into some amazing country. Found a spot that we figured would be just as good as any other and made our first set. I grabbed my bow, Kevin grabbed his shotgun and off we went. Again, we battled the snow and wind and our set was a bust. Rather than head straight back, we decided to do a big loop and make another set. About 100 yards away we were hiking and BAM!! FRESH PIG TRACKS!!
We both looked at each other sort of shocked and then smiled because we knew the pig hunt was back on! It was at this moment that we made our one and only mistake. We had brought Kevin's big video camera to film my hunt for a little project we are working on for this year's worth of pig tags in our group of family and friends. So far we are 5 for 5 tags with all 5 hunts on film. It was here that we got so excited at the site of pig tracks that it never entered either of our minds to run back to the truck real quick and grab the camera.
We started following the tracks with great anticipation. I know for the first part of the tracking I still wasn't convinced that this was even going to work. I mean these tracks could be hours old and the pigs could be anywhere in this thick stuff. To top it off the first part of the tracking we had the wind blowing 15+ mph right at our back. It was tough to stay quiet in the oak brush and manzanita and impossible to keep the wind right. Nevertheless, we continued on.
When we first started, the snow was still pretty thick but started melting quickly making tracking in the mud pretty easy!
As we continued on the tracks became a little harder to follow in the hard rocky ground and we lost them. It was pretty disheartening. This country was so thick it was impossible to glass. Hell, it was nearly impossible to walk through in some spots! We decided to split up and search the ground for tracks as if we were searching for a spotty blood trail. Finally, I cut one single little track and called Kevin over. We quickly picked them back up and the track was back on!! With our renewed anticipation we powered through. We were soaked from busting through the snow covered waist high brush but it didn't matter. We were determined to find these little suckers!
We finally made it to a spot where it looked like 50 or more pigs congregated in the bottom where three little cuts met up into a bigger cut. The tracks were everywhere!! Kevin went high on one side and I went up the other side. Just then we hear some quads coming down an old two track that was up on top of the ridge above us. Great! All this tracking and we end up next to a road and these quads could ruin the whole thing! The quads left and I looked up at Kevin with my arms spread wide in my "what now?" pose. He looks ahead and pauses. Then his head snaps back at me and he frantically starts waving me over. I ran back as fast as I could knowing that he had the pigs. Sure enough when I get over to him he says "I can hear them fighting right there!" He was just below the top of another little cut that I couldn't see and the sounds were coming from in the cut.
We sneaked up and there they were!! Finally after all that tracking we found what we were looking for. Two problems though. The wind was dangerously close to blowing the whole thing and it was so thick where we were that I had no way to shoot. We could see pigs walking through the manzanita 5 or 6 feet in front of us! No way I'm slipping an arrow through that crap though. After a few minutes we decided to back out and loop around on them, getting the wind right. It worked perfectly! We crawled to within 40 yards but we got pinned quick! They had no idea we were there, but one of them had fed up the side we were now on and he was only 10 feet away! Again, I couldn't shoot because it was so thick, but now we couldn't even move cause he was so close! Eventually he fed off far enough that we were safe again.
At 40 yards, all these pigs are well within my range but I was nervous about the wind. I didn't want to risk a shot that long when the wind was blowing 15-20mph. I needed to get closer. 10 minutes later we had gone a mere 10 yards but that was enough. Kevin was behind me calling ranges at various pigs. 35, 37, 40, 30 but all of them were hanging tight in the thick stuff. I attempted to draw 4 different times only to stop because the pigs wouldn't stand still long enough. Finally at 35 an average sized pig stepped out. I drew, settled the pin and once again he stepped back into the brush! I let down as slow as I could. Luckily the didn't catch any movement. The biggest pig was now at 30 and playing cat and mouse with me and my only shooting lane. After a few minutes it finally stepped out. I knew I had to be quick. I drew, Kevin confirmed 30 yards. Just as I was settling my pin it turned broadside and I touched off my release. THWACK!!! It was the loudest impact I've ever heard on a pig! It hunched backwards onto it's hind legs and fell over instantly! We looked at each other like "That just happened!!!" and slapped a big high five!
We stood there for a few minutes in serious disbelief to what just went down. Not only did we find pig tracks in the snow, but we followed them in some of the nastiest weather for pig hunting and it actually worked! Here is when we realized the reality of the mistake of not going back for the camera. From the moment we first saw the pigs to when I shot mine was some of the craziest and intense hunting I've ever been involved with. The footage that we would have had would have been awesome!!!! Oh well though. We won't make that mistake again! haha
A quick shot of the arrow as she lay. The thwack we heard was the sound of my arrow blasting right through both shoulder blades! The Slick Tricks did the deed yet again! The arrow actually went into the ground as it went through her and she snapped it in half when she fell over backwards.
And finally here she is! This pig was far and away the biggest in the herd and I though for sure it would be a boar but it wasn't. I've never shot a female this big before!! We didn't weigh her on a scale, but we both estimated her to be around 55-60 pounds on the hoof. Figure you only take 5-8 pounds of guts out of them and that's one big piggie!! No photo trickery here either. I'm only sitting about 4 inches behind her!
Hope you enjoyed the story as much as I enjoy writing it. It gives me an excuse to relive the hunt over and over again!!
"No worries man. I'm still up for going. Worst case scenario if the weather doesn't break we can just hike until we cut some tracks and try to track them."
"Sounds like a good plan to me. See you in the morning"
That was the conversation between my good friend, Kevin, and I the night before we were to go on my pig hunt. The weather was just down right shitty!! Anyone who has ever hunted javelina knows that when the weather is super cold and wet the pigs bury themselves deep into the nasty thick stuff and are nearly impossible to find. Even with the horrible conditions, I was still going to at least give it a shot. There's always a chance when I am in the field and there is always ZERO chance when I'm sitting at home!
I picked Kevin up bright and early and we headed out. We planned on glassing a big open faced mountain the first couple hours of the day, but the snow rolled in fast and the clouds completely engulfed the mountain. No worries though. In the hunting world if you can't improvise quickly you won't be very successful! We decided to bite the bullet and make a long hike into an area where we could glass into a big creek bottom full of thick oak brush. We knew in this weather that the pigs would be held up tight trying to stay warm.
A quick ground shot of the snow depth. Not really that bad and perfect for tracking.
We hiked to the top of the ridge and did our best to glass in the brutally cold and snow filled wind. I'm not going to lie. It flat out sucked.
The scenery was amazing, but it was miserable. We followed the top of the ridge, while glassing into the bottoms. There was enough snow on the ground that all we were really doing was glassing for tracks. We knew if they were there we would see some tracks and then make a game plan from there. Unfortunately for us not a track was spotted.
I finally told Kevin we should just hike back to the truck and regroup. My new plan was to hit some thicker oak brush country and just call for foxes until the weather broke.
We made the 45 minute or so drive into some amazing country. Found a spot that we figured would be just as good as any other and made our first set. I grabbed my bow, Kevin grabbed his shotgun and off we went. Again, we battled the snow and wind and our set was a bust. Rather than head straight back, we decided to do a big loop and make another set. About 100 yards away we were hiking and BAM!! FRESH PIG TRACKS!!
We both looked at each other sort of shocked and then smiled because we knew the pig hunt was back on! It was at this moment that we made our one and only mistake. We had brought Kevin's big video camera to film my hunt for a little project we are working on for this year's worth of pig tags in our group of family and friends. So far we are 5 for 5 tags with all 5 hunts on film. It was here that we got so excited at the site of pig tracks that it never entered either of our minds to run back to the truck real quick and grab the camera.
We started following the tracks with great anticipation. I know for the first part of the tracking I still wasn't convinced that this was even going to work. I mean these tracks could be hours old and the pigs could be anywhere in this thick stuff. To top it off the first part of the tracking we had the wind blowing 15+ mph right at our back. It was tough to stay quiet in the oak brush and manzanita and impossible to keep the wind right. Nevertheless, we continued on.
When we first started, the snow was still pretty thick but started melting quickly making tracking in the mud pretty easy!
As we continued on the tracks became a little harder to follow in the hard rocky ground and we lost them. It was pretty disheartening. This country was so thick it was impossible to glass. Hell, it was nearly impossible to walk through in some spots! We decided to split up and search the ground for tracks as if we were searching for a spotty blood trail. Finally, I cut one single little track and called Kevin over. We quickly picked them back up and the track was back on!! With our renewed anticipation we powered through. We were soaked from busting through the snow covered waist high brush but it didn't matter. We were determined to find these little suckers!
We finally made it to a spot where it looked like 50 or more pigs congregated in the bottom where three little cuts met up into a bigger cut. The tracks were everywhere!! Kevin went high on one side and I went up the other side. Just then we hear some quads coming down an old two track that was up on top of the ridge above us. Great! All this tracking and we end up next to a road and these quads could ruin the whole thing! The quads left and I looked up at Kevin with my arms spread wide in my "what now?" pose. He looks ahead and pauses. Then his head snaps back at me and he frantically starts waving me over. I ran back as fast as I could knowing that he had the pigs. Sure enough when I get over to him he says "I can hear them fighting right there!" He was just below the top of another little cut that I couldn't see and the sounds were coming from in the cut.
We sneaked up and there they were!! Finally after all that tracking we found what we were looking for. Two problems though. The wind was dangerously close to blowing the whole thing and it was so thick where we were that I had no way to shoot. We could see pigs walking through the manzanita 5 or 6 feet in front of us! No way I'm slipping an arrow through that crap though. After a few minutes we decided to back out and loop around on them, getting the wind right. It worked perfectly! We crawled to within 40 yards but we got pinned quick! They had no idea we were there, but one of them had fed up the side we were now on and he was only 10 feet away! Again, I couldn't shoot because it was so thick, but now we couldn't even move cause he was so close! Eventually he fed off far enough that we were safe again.
At 40 yards, all these pigs are well within my range but I was nervous about the wind. I didn't want to risk a shot that long when the wind was blowing 15-20mph. I needed to get closer. 10 minutes later we had gone a mere 10 yards but that was enough. Kevin was behind me calling ranges at various pigs. 35, 37, 40, 30 but all of them were hanging tight in the thick stuff. I attempted to draw 4 different times only to stop because the pigs wouldn't stand still long enough. Finally at 35 an average sized pig stepped out. I drew, settled the pin and once again he stepped back into the brush! I let down as slow as I could. Luckily the didn't catch any movement. The biggest pig was now at 30 and playing cat and mouse with me and my only shooting lane. After a few minutes it finally stepped out. I knew I had to be quick. I drew, Kevin confirmed 30 yards. Just as I was settling my pin it turned broadside and I touched off my release. THWACK!!! It was the loudest impact I've ever heard on a pig! It hunched backwards onto it's hind legs and fell over instantly! We looked at each other like "That just happened!!!" and slapped a big high five!
We stood there for a few minutes in serious disbelief to what just went down. Not only did we find pig tracks in the snow, but we followed them in some of the nastiest weather for pig hunting and it actually worked! Here is when we realized the reality of the mistake of not going back for the camera. From the moment we first saw the pigs to when I shot mine was some of the craziest and intense hunting I've ever been involved with. The footage that we would have had would have been awesome!!!! Oh well though. We won't make that mistake again! haha
A quick shot of the arrow as she lay. The thwack we heard was the sound of my arrow blasting right through both shoulder blades! The Slick Tricks did the deed yet again! The arrow actually went into the ground as it went through her and she snapped it in half when she fell over backwards.
And finally here she is! This pig was far and away the biggest in the herd and I though for sure it would be a boar but it wasn't. I've never shot a female this big before!! We didn't weigh her on a scale, but we both estimated her to be around 55-60 pounds on the hoof. Figure you only take 5-8 pounds of guts out of them and that's one big piggie!! No photo trickery here either. I'm only sitting about 4 inches behind her!
Hope you enjoyed the story as much as I enjoy writing it. It gives me an excuse to relive the hunt over and over again!!
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