Yesterday I went hunting for my first time. In short, it was a good time and I look forward to future hunts!

If you’d like to know more detail, read on!

Background

My buddy Foo.c seems to get me into all sorts of things and first times, and this was no different. I can’t recall exactly how the subject of hunting came up… probably just casual conversation and next thing you know, Foo.c’s looking up places to hunt and I said “Sure, I’m in.” Hunting never appealed to me. I never was against it, but it was just never something I had interest in. In fact, I admit I used to be a bit turned off by it… the mounting of animal heads on walls is just not my idea of decor (well, wasn’t but now… maybe, tho I know Wife doesn’t want it *grin*). But as I got into guns well, hunting just felt like another logical step. I actually used to say that if I ever did go hunting I’d want to go bow hunting as I felt that was more of a challenge. It is and I may well do that eventually. One step at a time.

So what’s in season right now? Texas feral/wild hogs. They’re everywhere, considered a nuisance, no bag limits, you can hunt them 24/7/365. Plus, they’re good eatin’ apparently. To my knowledge I’ve not eaten a wild pig but the word is they’re tasty. Plus, such a hunt isn’t too expensive, so it sounded like a good way to go. Another buddy of mine told me about DB Hunting Ranch out in Bertram, Texas; it’s about an hour drive north-northwest of Austin. Foo.c booked a hunt, and off we went.

The Hunt

The way DB runs things it tends to be feeder/stand hunting. That is, you sit in a stand that’s some distance from a feeder, maybe 25-50 yards. There are such setups all throughout the property (fenced in, probably 300+ acres). Feeder goes off, then you sit and wait. When/if a piggy comes along, you shoot, and there you go. This is why previously I used the analogy that this was more like “catching” than “fishing”. However, since we were the only folks on the property, our guide asked us if we wanted to walk and so we did. The property is dense brush and cedar and such, but with some “roads” throughout. So a little corn sprinkled on the roads, and off we walked.

Foo.c went first. We were walking, see some hogs, try to sit and get a shot, the hogs move… and boy, did they move. It was rare for them to stand still. But eventually one did. In fact, it was a lone hog, trotted out and was facing Foo.c, he got lined up for the shot, couldn’t take it but then the hog turned sideways and Foo.c let him have it. Nice neck shot, DRT (dead right there). 

I was up. We got to a point on the property where we saw a huge group of hogs feeding; some were big and may have been some of the bigger pigs we saw on the hunt. But the pack was too thick, the road/brush too narrow, and they were just moving too fast. I couldn’t get a shot. But we were next to a stand and a feeder and somewhat in the corner of the property (fences) so the guide put me in the stand, set off the feeder, and then he and Foo.c went elsewhere while I waited. The hope was that that group of hogs was still around and hungry and would trot on over to the feeder.

So I sat in the blind and waited. And waited. And waited…… and waited…. and….. waited……. the feeder went off again on its own…. and I waited…. and……….. waited………… and…………….waited………. Hrm. I wonder if Foo.c shoots one if I’ll hear it, probably so….. more waiting……… and then I hear it.  BOOM. I mutter to myself “Damnit! He got 2 and I don’t have any….damnit! Fucker!” 🙂  more waiting….. and waiting…. oh look, a pretty red cardinal…. he likes corn apparently…. more waiting….. And eventually the guide and Foo.c came back to the blind. Nothing. I didn’t even hear anything. So we started walking again.

Came upon some hogs on the road at one point. Lined up, shot, missed. I have theories on the miss, which I’ll talk about later.

Kept walking. Didn’t find much. At one point the guide heard a bunch of hogs in the brush off the road. So we got down, crawled a little bit, and lay prone. There were a bunch back in the trees. Lying prone I could have been able to get a shot under all the brush and such just fine IF I had a line of sight on any of them. I couldn’t get a clean line. There was a little bush (I mean, not even a foot high and 6″ wide) that was perfectly between me and the hogs. Just couldn’t get a shot. But hey… lying prone and digging through things? A lot better than sitting in the stand. 🙂

Got up, kept walking. Found one just through some trees. Kneeled down, waited. “Come on… keep walking to the right… come on…. a little more…. BOOM”. Got him, but unfortunately, it wound up being a gut shot. I wasn’t aiming for a gut shot (aiming for neck/shoulder region), but something happened. I think it may have been a combination of me moving/wobbling (more on this later) and the fact piggy don’t stand still. I also think that I had a bit of “hog fever” and “just wanted to get one” so I probably should have waited until he cleared the brush all the way. The shot I took was a clear enough shot but if he had walked another 3 feet to the right it would have been clearer. I had opted to take the shot when I did because a few seconds prior another pig was annoying him and almost ran him off, and yes I didn’t want to go home empty-handed so I took what I could when I felt it was a good enough shot. The gut shot was unfortunate, but our guide eventually ended his suffering.

The interesting thing was after shooting the one and we were walking down to fetch it, as soon as our guide hit the road he turned and looked the other way and saw a lot of hogs down the road feeding. There were a lot, and some big ones. I knelt down, tried to get a bead on one. It felt like I was holding it there for a few minutes just trying to find one worth shooting and then getting a clean shot that wouldn’t be a rushed shot. I found myself numerous times taking deep breaths trying to calm myself and steady myself. I didn’t feel like an adrenaline dump sort of excited, just being tired, a little out of breath (our guide walked fast and we had to keep up), and after having just gut shot one I wanted this one to be clean. Well, I did get a bead on one and shot. Unfortunately, he ran off. 😦  Still, we walked down there and found blood, then a bit of a blood trail. He ran probably 50 yards before he dropped. Looked like this one was “quartering towards” me when he got hit…. looks like he was hit in the shoulder but exited out his side through the ribs.

And so, that was that. The sun was starting to set, so things worked out alright. Walked back to the truck, picked up the hogs, then off to clean them. I’ve no clue how to skin/quarter a pig, so I let the guide do it. He made quick work of things and I watched as he cleaned them. I think next time, especially if I’m in a situation like this (i.e. just me and maybe a friend, a few hogs, no real time or “other customer/hunter” pressure to get the processing done quickly) that I’ll give cleaning a go myself, especially if I can have the guide there to mentor me a bit. I think that could be do-able, especially if I went out on a weekday hunt and thus would be the only guy out there.

Aftermath

I did enjoy myself. Was it my notion of a “dream hunt”? No, but then, any “dream hunt” notions I have would be just that — dreams, as I have no reality to frame it against. I did enjoy how the hunt wound up not being as “canned” as I thought it would be. I feel like I got a bit of a fair sampler/overview/introduction to hunting, which is what I wanted. I got to sit and wait and wait. I got to walk. There was some interesting shooting situations (e.g. crawling and lying prone). And I got to take a couple piggies. I thought it was a nice way to get my feet wet with hunting, and I certainly enjoyed it.

As for taking the piggies, I had no problems with that. I didn’t know how I would feel about it, and it was OK. I didn’t feel any sort of pleasure from killing the pigs, but the hunt itself was exciting and I can also be thankful to the pig for providing food for my family. There’s respect for the animal, if I can get a little Uncle Ted here. I will say a couple moments did “touch” me. First was the gut shot. I was mad at myself for that. I know that’s not a clean kill and it makes the animal suffer. I certainly didn’t intend for that, but it happened. But I’m trying to find the positive in that it was a learning experience about taking shots, not taking shots, ensuring you do everything possible for a clean kill (more in a bit), and well… just seeing the reality of a gut shot and learning first-hand about it. As a kid I had a hard time learning from the experiences of others (Mom said the stove is hot but I’d have to touch it anyways to learn what “hot” really was). As an adult, I of course know better but I still know that first-hand experience is a great teacher, so I chalk this one up to that.  The other “moving” moment was during the skinning/quartering of the hogs. I was moving some quarters from one cooler to another. I picked up a quarter and it was still warm; the warmth of body heat warm. I just held the quarter for a moment and let that heat soak into me, which really brought in some reality about the situation. I can’t verbalize what it was, but moving, heavy, and reinforced the respect and thankfulness that one should have for the life given and how it will nourish other life.

Then there’s the gun. I went with my M1A because it’s the biggest rifle I have. And while I know it’s fine to use for hunting, I just did not find it ideal for hunting. First, it’s heavy. I’d guess it weighs in at 11 or 12 pounds. While that’s not that big a deal, lugging it around for 2 hours, holding it at “port arms” position because we didn’t know when the shot might come, and eventually your left arm gets mighty tired. I think that was part of my problem in getting the clean kills was I had a difficult time holding the rifle steady because my left arm was just tired. So the solution is to use a sling so that only the bones and no muscles support. Fine and good, but 1. it’d be tough to get into the sling because the pigs move so fast that the 2 seconds to get into the sling could be critical, 2. there was too much noise. The sling just made enough racket that the hogs would notice and take off. In fact, it wasn’t just the sling, but the sling swivels, and the safety… boy, the safety was loud. First time I clicked it off, the hogs took off running. When we were lying prone the guide whispered to me how noisy the gun was (and that wasn’t shooting it). It’s just difficult to be stealthy with this M1A. Then of course, there was the shooting. Because of the muzzle brake, the gun was wicked loud. In fact, my left ear is still ringing a bit this morning. 😦  I know, hearing protection. I need to find a solution that works so that 1. you can shoulder the rifle and the protection isn’t in the way, 2. still allows you to hear the quiet sounds needed when hunting. I did have some foam ear plugs but they muffled the sounds we’d need to hear when walking around. Bottom line: I need to find me a bolt action rifle in .308 for the purposes of hunting. I’m currently looking at a Remington 700 SPS or a Savage 11F. 

In the end, I learned a lot. That’s what I wanted out of the hunt: 1. to learn all that I could, 2. to have fun, 3. to get some pork. I succeeded on all 3 counts. I look forward to hunting again. In fact, supposedly DB Ranch is pretty dead on the weekdays. I may just have to take off one early morning for another solo walking pig hunt… after I get a new rifle. 🙂  And to that end, today I shall be BBQ’ing some backstraps and doing a little rifle shopping.

I should also give some credit to our guide. His name now escapes me, but he was a young guy. Very friendly, knew his stuff, and he worked his ass off. We were pleased with the service. I’m certainly willing to go back to DB, and if he can guide me again that would be great.

Foo.c has his write-up here. Thanx for the experience!

Updated: Buddy of mine reposted this to the TexasBoars forum.