Yesterday evening I went bowhunting with a friend at his secret hidey hole less than 10 miles from my house. By 4:45 I had about 9 deer under my stand (all does from yearling size to quarterhorse size). Doe season closed on Nov. 30 (unless you have a special permit) so I had to wait on some horns. About 10 minutes later the does started running around acting crazy. Then I saw why. I nice 4 pt. buck with a high rack was chasing them around. I know a 4 pt is not a trophy but when you've never seen a buck while bowhunting it is a Muy Grande trophy. I drew my bow back and the deer spotted the movement. They all spooked and started running away. I snorted real loud and the buck stopped in his tracks. He was too far for a shot. He tried to circle in behind my stand to get wind of the mystery buck that snorted at him. He didn't like what he smelled when he got behind me so he took off through the brush. I snorted again and he stopped broadside at what I thought was about 20 yards. I drew back and aimed behind the shoulder with my 20 yard pin. I let loose what I thought was a perfect shot. It went underneath him and stuck in a pine tree....lined up perfectly for a lung shot but about 2 feet low. The buck and his harem disappeared for good then.

 

I was discouraged as I sat there looking at my bright orange and yellow arrow sticking in the base of the tree.There was about 5 minutes of shooting light left when I saw a big dark shape that looked like a texas rhino coming threw the brush towards my stand. He was straight ahead of me about 40 yards out when he put on the brakes. It was a huge wild boar with white and black markings. He was built like a russian boar with the big head, long snout, and broad shoulders. He must not have liked something so he circled through the brush and went behind me just like the buck had done. He was standing right under my stand about 2 feet from the ladder. He sniffed around for a few minutes and finally came out toward my shooting lane. He was facing straight away from me so I couldn't get a shot. By now it was so dark all I could see was his outline (good thing he was light colored) and the glowing pins of my Trophy Ridge bow sight. Luckily there was a full moon to help out with the light. I said a quick prayer and asked God to allow me to harvest this 200 lb pork chop. He then turned sideways and offered up a perfect broadside shot. I took aim with my 10 yard pin and let fly. The arrow hitting him sounded like a boat paddle slapping the water. I've never heard such a beautiful sound. He took off through the brush and I heard him breaking down some serious vegetation. I thought I heard him fall about 50 yards out but I wasn't sure. 

 

I sat in the stand until my partner came to pick me up. We busted out the flashlights and started searching. We found no blood for about 10 minutes and then I stepped on the back half of my broken arrow. From there we were able (okay, my friend Frank was able) to find some microscopic drops of blood. We had to mark the spots and crawl on hands and knees to find the next one. About 30 minutes later the microscopic drops turned into bigger drops. Soon we started smelling the old porker. I took a look around with my flashlight and saw him laying there.  At that point he jumped up and charged me with his gleaming ivory tusks snapping. (Just joking....he was dead. But that made for a better story.)  I had made a perfect shot behind the left shoulder and the Muzzy 3 blade 125 grain broadhead had penetrated the ribs, travelled through the pig and was poking just under the skin behind the right shoulder. Frank was nice enough to drag him out for me. He estimated him at about 175 lbs. His tusks were wore down but they were sharp and about 1-1 1/2" long.  That's when he told me that he had been dreaming about getting this hog after seeing him on his trail camera that he had set up. He was beautiful (beauty is in the eye of the beholder) with black and white markings all over. I'm having some sausage and roasts made out of him. Now I know why people switch to bow hunting only and never go back to a rifle.   

 

Hopefully I can find a scanner for the pictures after they get developed.

 

Equipment used on this hunt: