Jasper
Senior Member
Sorry if this gets a little long – it’s more of a story than a post - brevity has never been one of my strong suits. 
Just returned from our annual father/son after Christmas hunt and man did we have fun and lots of action. One of my hunting buddies is a member of a 2800 club in Burke County on the Savannah River and is kind enough to invite my boys and me to come hunt every year during the holidays.
Saturday afternoon Austin, my youngest and I hunted together and had a doe step out in the field at 150 yards. As we waited on her to get a little closer we heard a grunt behind us and turned around. Hogs! None of us had ever killed a hog before and neither of my sons had ever even seen one. My boys wanted a hog more than anything else and here comes one…......no two, three…wait, more coming. Nine hogs! Single file and coming right at us. Austin gets the first one in the scope and I tell him to wait as the biggest is in the back. “I can take the first one Dad,� he whispers and I told him to let them get a little closer. The next thing I know the lead pig hangs a left and disappears in the brush and the rest of the crew follows. Just like that they’re gone and I’m feeling really bad! We turn back around and the doe is gone. Now I feel even worse and can tell Austin is disappointed. Great job Dad…………Fifteen minutes later Austin spots a bobcat walking down the road toward us and I explain why he can’t shoot it with his deer rifle. Cool to watch and the first bobcat he had ever seen. Thirty minutes before dark another doe steps out in the foodplot at 90 yards. Austin rests his .243 on the padded rail as I watch through binoculars as he fires. Miss – high! The doe runs into the woods and I break the bad news to him. He didn’t have much time to be disappointed as a few minutes later the doe pops back out. This time he didn’t miss but I’m a little unsure of where he hit her. We waited until well after dark and took up the trail. I’ve never seen woods so thick and nasty in my life as they are along the river - a tracker’s nightmare everywhere you go. A bird dog would have to back up to point in this stuff. We spent a couple of hours, mostly on our hands and knees following a spotty blood trail and finally called it quits until morning. My hunting buddy’s youngest son had killed a big doe and his older son had taken a couple of small hogs.
The blood ran out as we looked for the doe for a couple of hours the next day. I suspect it was a flesh wound judging from the color of the blood. Austin did get some good tracking experience. I heard my older son shoot as we looked and later found out that Andrew killed his first doe – after 7 straight bucks. She weighed 125 pounds and he shot her the first hunt after graduating to my old 30-06 after hunting with my even older .243 since he was 9.
In between hunts there was no time for rest. After lunch each day we headed to the club’s 15 acre pond and had a ball catching bass. They were hitting spinner baits and plastics very well. Most of the fish were in the 2 to 3 pound range and a blast to catch. We let the kids take the Rhino down to the lake and around camp and they thought it was so cool to have their own transportation.
Monday morning was to be the last hunt for Austin and me as I had to go to work on Tuesday and he had a dental appointment to get back for. We hadn’t seen anything by 9:30 so I decided to walk a little strip of timber between the river and the green field to see if I could push something by Austin who stayed in the shooting house. I knew it was a desperation attempt; things like this never work, at least for me anyway. But at least the anticipation gave Austin a little something to get excited about. As I reached the end of the 200 yard field I heard something walking in the woods next to the river. Then I heard the grunts. Hogs! I circled further to get behind them and entered the woods. I slipped along behind them the best I could, following the sound of them grunting and rooting. I was close but it was much too think to see them. This just might work I thought as they slowly worked their way toward the end of the field where Austin was. I never felt the wind switch but the next thing I knew the woods erupted in running hogs. I could see the tops of the cane and bushes moving but never saw a hog. They crossed a narrow neck of the field and ran into the woods on the other side. Austin later told me he saw them, close to 20 in all, but never had a shot. I circled around the back of the field hoping they hadn’t gone too far. Fifteen minutes later I heard them again and slipped in as best I could trying to get to a point I could spook them toward the stand. Suddenly a hog squealed very close and I froze. It was so thick I could barely see 10 yards and that was only in a couple of spots. The hogs had turned and were now moving right toward me. The last thing I had in mind initially was for me to shoot a hog – or anything actually as this was all about the kids; but this was getting very interesting very quickly. I had never killed a hog, know next to nothing about hogs and was surprised at how vocal and loud these animals were. It was actually a little intimidating………I had not had an adrenaline rush like that in a long time! I slipped the safety off and shouldered the Remington Model 760 my Dad had given me when I was 13 as I caught a glimpse of a big, brown hog. It fed by at a mere 7 yards and I never had a clear shot. Did I mention it was THICK? The rest of the pack was coming – some to my left, I could hear more to my right and some were coming right at me. I could hear what sounded like two less than 10 yards away and closing. Finally I spot a little patch of black and raise my rifle again. Six yards, no shot. At five yards I actually can make out which small part of the hog I’m looking at. He stops at 4 yards behind a palmetto and I can hear him breathing, snorting, or whatever hogs do. I catch a glimpse of another black one to my left but he’s further – probably 6 yards. I finally can’t stand it anymore and slowly lean to my right. All I can see is a black blob through my scope but can make out his eyeball so I drop down a little and to the right and pull the trigger. Not sure exactly how to describe the scene that transpired next but the word pandemonium comes to mind. The woods seem to explode – loud squealing, hogs running everywhere! The hog I shot darts through a little opening to my left and I fire again. Another black hog races by from the other direction and I pump 2 shots at him. The first hog is on the ground squealing and trying to get back up when I realize I’m out of bullets! I hadn’t bothered to bring my pack with me and rather frantically I ram my hands in my pockets searching for a spare bullet, knife, SOMETHING. All I came up with other than a wad of lint was my Buck pocket knife with its massive 2 ½â€� blade! I felt so stupid. Fortunately I don’t need it as the hog can’t get back up. That was crazy! I didn’t even stop to look at the hog, taking off toward Austin hoping to push the rest of them his way. Unfortunately they must have circled and crossed the road because he never saw them. When I reached the stand the first thing he said was “Daddy, how’d you shoot so fast?â€� I told him it’s amazing how fast you can work a pump when you’re about to overdose on adrenaline! 
That was the first animal I had killed with a rifle since I began bowhunting exclusively 15 years ago and I enjoyed every breathtaking second of it. I could get hooked on this hog hunting.
Shoot a few pictures, take care of the hog, eat lunch, fish for an hour or so and Austin and I are on the way home. A long face and not much conversation coming from the little guy’s side of the truck. I can see his mind working – my brother gets to stay and I have to go home. I’m the only one of the kids that didn’t kill anything. I have to go to the dentist tomorrow. His sadness is killing me and now my mind gets to working – I suppose I could reschedule the dental appointment. And what’s the big deal about work anyway? My boss would just have to get over it. So thirty minutes down the road I do a U turn and start heading back. Austin looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “What are you doing?� he asks. “Going to try and get you a hog or a deer. We can’t let your brother be one up on you.� Boy, did his attitude change hearing those words!
Back in another stand on a different field and its almost dark. Suddenly, we both hear grunting, limbs popping and here they come. I’ve never heard animals make so much noise in my life. Finally, 8 hogs enter the field in single file. “Shoot the big black one in the back,� I whisper in his ear. The .243 barks and the big hog runs back into the woods. The others mill around and Austin fires again. This time a hog hits the ground. I pop off a couple of rounds and miss. Austin’s teeth start chattering, my hands are shaking and we both have to sit down. What an awesome moment. Thank you Lord for guiding me to turn around – divine intervention without a doubt. Apparently Austin missed the first hog. We looked that night and the next morning. But that’s OK. He killed a beautiful 90 pound boar and he’s one happy kid. No tusks to speak of, but he wants me to do a European mount. I’m happy to oblige.
We weren’t the only ones having fun that afternoon. Andrew had 4 bucks- 3 8s and a spike feeding within 20 yards for 30 minutes- no shooters, though. His sidekick missed a big, mature 8 point.
The next morning we stopped to watch 3 alligators, including one real whopper sun themselves on the bank of the river. What a great long weekend of making memories. Too bad it had to end. But there’s always next year………and yes, I’m already daydreaming about it!
Just returned from our annual father/son after Christmas hunt and man did we have fun and lots of action. One of my hunting buddies is a member of a 2800 club in Burke County on the Savannah River and is kind enough to invite my boys and me to come hunt every year during the holidays.
Saturday afternoon Austin, my youngest and I hunted together and had a doe step out in the field at 150 yards. As we waited on her to get a little closer we heard a grunt behind us and turned around. Hogs! None of us had ever killed a hog before and neither of my sons had ever even seen one. My boys wanted a hog more than anything else and here comes one…......no two, three…wait, more coming. Nine hogs! Single file and coming right at us. Austin gets the first one in the scope and I tell him to wait as the biggest is in the back. “I can take the first one Dad,� he whispers and I told him to let them get a little closer. The next thing I know the lead pig hangs a left and disappears in the brush and the rest of the crew follows. Just like that they’re gone and I’m feeling really bad! We turn back around and the doe is gone. Now I feel even worse and can tell Austin is disappointed. Great job Dad…………Fifteen minutes later Austin spots a bobcat walking down the road toward us and I explain why he can’t shoot it with his deer rifle. Cool to watch and the first bobcat he had ever seen. Thirty minutes before dark another doe steps out in the foodplot at 90 yards. Austin rests his .243 on the padded rail as I watch through binoculars as he fires. Miss – high! The doe runs into the woods and I break the bad news to him. He didn’t have much time to be disappointed as a few minutes later the doe pops back out. This time he didn’t miss but I’m a little unsure of where he hit her. We waited until well after dark and took up the trail. I’ve never seen woods so thick and nasty in my life as they are along the river - a tracker’s nightmare everywhere you go. A bird dog would have to back up to point in this stuff. We spent a couple of hours, mostly on our hands and knees following a spotty blood trail and finally called it quits until morning. My hunting buddy’s youngest son had killed a big doe and his older son had taken a couple of small hogs.
The blood ran out as we looked for the doe for a couple of hours the next day. I suspect it was a flesh wound judging from the color of the blood. Austin did get some good tracking experience. I heard my older son shoot as we looked and later found out that Andrew killed his first doe – after 7 straight bucks. She weighed 125 pounds and he shot her the first hunt after graduating to my old 30-06 after hunting with my even older .243 since he was 9.
In between hunts there was no time for rest. After lunch each day we headed to the club’s 15 acre pond and had a ball catching bass. They were hitting spinner baits and plastics very well. Most of the fish were in the 2 to 3 pound range and a blast to catch. We let the kids take the Rhino down to the lake and around camp and they thought it was so cool to have their own transportation.
Monday morning was to be the last hunt for Austin and me as I had to go to work on Tuesday and he had a dental appointment to get back for. We hadn’t seen anything by 9:30 so I decided to walk a little strip of timber between the river and the green field to see if I could push something by Austin who stayed in the shooting house. I knew it was a desperation attempt; things like this never work, at least for me anyway. But at least the anticipation gave Austin a little something to get excited about. As I reached the end of the 200 yard field I heard something walking in the woods next to the river. Then I heard the grunts. Hogs! I circled further to get behind them and entered the woods. I slipped along behind them the best I could, following the sound of them grunting and rooting. I was close but it was much too think to see them. This just might work I thought as they slowly worked their way toward the end of the field where Austin was. I never felt the wind switch but the next thing I knew the woods erupted in running hogs. I could see the tops of the cane and bushes moving but never saw a hog. They crossed a narrow neck of the field and ran into the woods on the other side. Austin later told me he saw them, close to 20 in all, but never had a shot. I circled around the back of the field hoping they hadn’t gone too far. Fifteen minutes later I heard them again and slipped in as best I could trying to get to a point I could spook them toward the stand. Suddenly a hog squealed very close and I froze. It was so thick I could barely see 10 yards and that was only in a couple of spots. The hogs had turned and were now moving right toward me. The last thing I had in mind initially was for me to shoot a hog – or anything actually as this was all about the kids; but this was getting very interesting very quickly. I had never killed a hog, know next to nothing about hogs and was surprised at how vocal and loud these animals were. It was actually a little intimidating………I had not had an adrenaline rush like that in a long time! I slipped the safety off and shouldered the Remington Model 760 my Dad had given me when I was 13 as I caught a glimpse of a big, brown hog. It fed by at a mere 7 yards and I never had a clear shot. Did I mention it was THICK? The rest of the pack was coming – some to my left, I could hear more to my right and some were coming right at me. I could hear what sounded like two less than 10 yards away and closing. Finally I spot a little patch of black and raise my rifle again. Six yards, no shot. At five yards I actually can make out which small part of the hog I’m looking at. He stops at 4 yards behind a palmetto and I can hear him breathing, snorting, or whatever hogs do. I catch a glimpse of another black one to my left but he’s further – probably 6 yards. I finally can’t stand it anymore and slowly lean to my right. All I can see is a black blob through my scope but can make out his eyeball so I drop down a little and to the right and pull the trigger. Not sure exactly how to describe the scene that transpired next but the word pandemonium comes to mind. The woods seem to explode – loud squealing, hogs running everywhere! The hog I shot darts through a little opening to my left and I fire again. Another black hog races by from the other direction and I pump 2 shots at him. The first hog is on the ground squealing and trying to get back up when I realize I’m out of bullets! I hadn’t bothered to bring my pack with me and rather frantically I ram my hands in my pockets searching for a spare bullet, knife, SOMETHING. All I came up with other than a wad of lint was my Buck pocket knife with its massive 2 ½â€� blade!
I felt so stupid. Fortunately I don’t need it as the hog can’t get back up. That was crazy! I didn’t even stop to look at the hog, taking off toward Austin hoping to push the rest of them his way. Unfortunately they must have circled and crossed the road because he never saw them. When I reached the stand the first thing he said was “Daddy, how’d you shoot so fast?� I told him it’s amazing how fast you can work a pump when you’re about to overdose on adrenaline! That was the first animal I had killed with a rifle since I began bowhunting exclusively 15 years ago and I enjoyed every breathtaking second of it. I could get hooked on this hog hunting. Shoot a few pictures, take care of the hog, eat lunch, fish for an hour or so and Austin and I are on the way home. A long face and not much conversation coming from the little guy’s side of the truck. I can see his mind working – my brother gets to stay and I have to go home. I’m the only one of the kids that didn’t kill anything. I have to go to the dentist tomorrow. His sadness is killing me and now my mind gets to working – I suppose I could reschedule the dental appointment. And what’s the big deal about work anyway? My boss would just have to get over it. So thirty minutes down the road I do a U turn and start heading back. Austin looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “What are you doing?� he asks. “Going to try and get you a hog or a deer. We can’t let your brother be one up on you.� Boy, did his attitude change hearing those words!
Back in another stand on a different field and its almost dark. Suddenly, we both hear grunting, limbs popping and here they come. I’ve never heard animals make so much noise in my life. Finally, 8 hogs enter the field in single file. “Shoot the big black one in the back,� I whisper in his ear. The .243 barks and the big hog runs back into the woods. The others mill around and Austin fires again. This time a hog hits the ground. I pop off a couple of rounds and miss. Austin’s teeth start chattering, my hands are shaking and we both have to sit down. What an awesome moment. Thank you Lord for guiding me to turn around – divine intervention without a doubt. Apparently Austin missed the first hog. We looked that night and the next morning. But that’s OK. He killed a beautiful 90 pound boar and he’s one happy kid. No tusks to speak of, but he wants me to do a European mount. I’m happy to oblige.
We weren’t the only ones having fun that afternoon. Andrew had 4 bucks- 3 8s and a spike feeding within 20 yards for 30 minutes- no shooters, though. His sidekick missed a big, mature 8 point.
The next morning we stopped to watch 3 alligators, including one real whopper sun themselves on the bank of the river. What a great long weekend of making memories. Too bad it had to end. But there’s always next year………and yes, I’m already daydreaming about it!
Attachments
Last edited:
