4-9-13

Today I guided Brett Nystrom on a turkey hunt. We meet up in the morning and headed for the hills to see what we could do. At first light the wind started to blow and the birds were dead silent. We tried a set up in a small valley with no success, however, we did see a lone hen walking the creek so we knew there were birds around. We made a few more stops in the same general area with the same results, so we decided to jump in the ranger and head down the valley a ways. At our next stop we got the decoy setup and started calling. Within a couple of minutes we heard a faint gobble off in the distance and a short while after, another gobble, but this time it was closer. We sat tight and called ever so often and we could tell the gobbler was on his way! This went on for about 20 minutes when all of the sudden, out of no where, he came out of the trees, full speed ahead for the decoy! The gobbler put on quite a show as he strutted, spit, and drummed for his new girl! Unfortunately for him Brett had other plans. Brett was ready and as the gobbler got within a couple feet of the decoy Brett put the hammer down and it was all over but the laughing and high fives!

But wait there's more! We got done early with the turkey hunt and Brett just happened to have a rifle and a pig tag in the truck, so we switched out guns and headed out on a new adventure! We started working the ranch checking all of the ponds with hopes of catching a pig getting a drink, but all we could find were ponds with muddy water and it looked like we had just missed them! We continued to push on and as we made our way back towards the truck Brett spotted something up on a finger ridge. We stopped and I put the glasses up, confirming what he saw was indeed a couple pigs! I ranged the pigs at 189 yards and Brett got set up and ready for the shot. When he was ready he touched it off, however, the bullet missed high and all hell broke loose! All of the sudden the couple of pigs turned into 15 and they were running straight at us. Brett got ready to shoot again but I told him to wait as they were coming closer to us.The first  pig to come out into the open was a huge boar in the 300+ pound range. Brett took aim and let a few rounds fly but none hit the mark, apparently the pig fever had set in! As the big boar trotted off we both stood on the hill side cussing in disbelief, but that did not last long as there were other pigs still on the hill side. Brett reloaded and off we went to try and get another shot. As we rounded the corner the pigs were standing on the hillside at 200 yards. We waited for a small boar to clear the rest of the pack and then Brett made him pay! This shot was perfect dropping the pig in it's tracks. The pig was on a steep hillside and as he flopped, he began to roll and ended up at the bottom of the hill, almost on the road. As we approached the pig it was a nice sized meat boar around 175 pounds. It was a great ending to the day and both Brett and I had a blast!