7-23-11

Today Andy and I guided a group of 4 hunters for pigs. We met in Maxwell and headed for the ranch to see what we could get done. Andy and I decided to split up and he took 2 of the hunters to the South wheat field and I took the other 2 hunters to the North field. We waited until legal shooting and began walking towards the hills in the center of the wheat field to get to a better vantage point. We did not get 50 yards from the ATV when I spotted a lone boar feeding in a small depression no more than 75 yards away. Tim was the first shooter so we got him set up on the sticks and he dropped the boar in his tracks. At the shot I grabbed Mike and told him to stay on my heels as we needed to get up onto the hill so we could see what else was in the wheat and after the shot I assumed that we did not have much time. As soon as we got to the top of the hill it only took seconds to spot another big boar making his way out of the field. I ranged the boar at 200 yards and Mike got set on the sticks and ready to shoot. As soon as he gave me the go ahead I stopped the pig and Mike sent a bullet on it's way. The first shot was just over the boar and the next 2 shots followed suit. Needless to say all we could do was sit and watch as the boar made his way back up into the hills. As we were watching the boar I looked to the left and saw another group of 10-12 pigs but they were already on the move and there was no way to catch them. We then grabbed the ranger, threw Tim's pig in the back, and headed up into the hills to see if we could cut off any of the pigs that we had seen headed that way. In the back of the ranch we saw a few other pigs but they beat us into the brush resulting in no more shots.

At this point it was getting warm so I called Andy to see if he had any luck. Within minutes of hearing our shots Andy spotted a lone boar in the wheat and they closed the distance to 200 yards and got set up for the shot. Andy stopped the pig and the shooting started but the pig managed to escape without injury. Andy and his hunters had also seen a few more pigs but unfortunately they did not get any more shots.

It was getting warm so we decided to call it a day and headed to the shop to get Tim's pig skinned and cooled off before the meat spoiled.

It was another fun hunt with a great group of guys that I am sure you will see on the blog again in the future.

Casey