Red Hawk

This was back in 2003. I actually just got done writing about it few days ago so thought I would post it on here for everyone to read


Pig Hunting Trip 2003



I decided to tell the story of the last big game hunting trip I took with my dad and few of his friends before his death. I woke up around 4AM when my dad called me but I don’t think I was really asleep to begin with since I was excited about the trip. I was getting into bow hunting but this was going to be rifle hunt. My dad had his 300. Salvage Magnum and I used his old 300. Salvage I waited for him to pick me up about 10 minutes later. We drove out to Buttonwillow to meet up with his friends. We got there about 5, loaded up their stuff and headed out to the hills. We arrived there close to 6 and had some time to kill before the sun came up. My dad’s friends have been hunting this area for over 25 years so they knew it pretty well needless to say. Hagar (my dad’s nickname) and I went hunting out near the area but never saw any wild pigs. Short time later we got into the truck and started driving around (John driving and Berry riding shotgun) Few hours later one of the guys spotted big boar so we pulled over, all jumped out as fast as we could (dad and I being in back, took us longer). I never saw the boar itself so I didn’t know what general area to look. John was in front of me by couple of feet and we were going down this short path then all of a sudden, the boar stepped out of some brush and right in front of us about 30 feet. John got several boars few days ago so this trip was more for Hagar and me. I ran out in front of him but the boar disappeared to our left. I am pretty fast runner so I went to the left and ran as fast as I could (which looking back at it, was not smart to do at all since I had loaded weapon) but that boar somehow got away from us. John and I met back up with my dad and Berry. We got back into the truck and drove for about another hour. I was looking down to my left and my dad the right; the other two weren’t really paying much attention but all of a sudden my dad was saying, ‘pig, pig, PIG!!!” and we stopped as fast as could and kicked up a lot of dust. I didn’t bother asking where he saw it but I was trying to get out as fast as I could, while trying not to swallow not only all the dust that was in fast but trying to avoid getting my teeth knocked out by the suicide door while trying to exit the truck. I ran over to the right side and my dad was already aiming; I just saw the sow and several piglets about 100 yards) before I had chance to take aim (the gun I used didn’t have scope) my dad already dropped the Sow with nice shot to the lung/heart area. The piglets scampered off before we could get chance to shoot. We climbed up the hill; field dressed the sow and got her back and into the truck (it was close to 150 lbs) Hagar was pretty excited about getting this kill since he never gotten wild pig before. He let me use his rifle with scope since he got his kill. Few hours later we spotted a young coyote that wasn’t smart enough to realize we were at threat about 125 yards from us. We stepped out of the truck and I dropped him in one shot with bullet to the heart; I took several pictures of it but sadly, like the pictures of my dad and my Sow, the pictures have long since been lost. It was getting close to lunch time so we left the hills and went to get lunch; Returned about little bit after 1. Some time later we decided to park at the base of rather steep hill and walk up to the top so we would have better view of the whole area. Being the youngest, I made it up to the hill which had a single tree at it, just in time to see group of pigs dash for cover before I could get shot, but they didn’t need to worry because I was laughing too hard at what I saw; When I surprised the pigs, they were laying in the shade with several cows (there were plenty of those around and always in wrong places too) and this one boar literally hopped over one cow that was laying on the ground; I was laughing because that isn’t something you see every day; cow-hoping pig. I told the guys what had happened and they were laughing too. We had some binos but we couldn’t find any of the pigs again. So several hours later we came across this large drop off with little gully in the middle. We parked about 50 yards and walked over to the lip of the drop off; it wasn’t really steep but just enough to be considered as a drop off with the gully being about 450 yards down (we had range finder with us) We all stood there for about 10 minutes and didn’t see anything. I was the further from the truck. I thought I saw some movement down in the gulley (there little stream down there) and saw that it was several sows. I whistled at my dad and gave him our signal (him and I had hand signal system) that I saw two down there. My dad got the other guys attention and they dropped down to one knee. I knew I wouldn’t be able to get down there for closer shot without the pigs getting spooked so I decided to wait and hope the pigs would come out of little opening between some bushes so I could get clear shot; this was about 425 yards from where I was but I was confident I could do that (my dad was ex sharpshooter instructor for swat team here in California). About 15 minutes later, they came out into the opening. I placed my crosshairs on the bigger of the two, right on the back of the neck where the spine and skull connect. As I was slowing pulling the trigger, sudden gust of wind came up. My bullet, although little off target, connected straight in between the shoulder blades and out the chest (heart shot other words) and she dropped, rolled down into the gulley. My dad took shot at the other one as she running but he missed her. I was excited but I waited few minutes. Hagar and I went down to find my Sow; she was lot bigger then my dad and we field dressed her. Getting her back up that hill was difficult so it end up taking all four of us to get back up that hill. This was the last big game hunting trip that I got to take with my dad before his death. I vowed to myself that someday I will go pig hunting and take one with my bow, in which I will dedicate it in his memory

marin888

Hog hunting, also referred to as boar hunting, is the practice of hunting wild hogs and feral pigs which has gained wide popularity in the United States today. A popular pastime for numerous people, hog hunting is also considered to be an act of bravery in various parts of the world. Wild hogs are found in abundance in the United States, perhaps this is the reason hog hunting has become so popular in this part of the world. There are various methods of hog hunting, among which the most popular ones are pig sticking and hog-baiting.
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Van leasing
CJ Prestman Reviews