I am a late comer to hunting. Been a fisherman all my life, though. About 5 years ago, at age 55, a fishing buddy prevailed upon me to go hunting. After running out of excuses not to go, I finally capitulated and went out to Spicewood on a hunt. He had been telling me about the hogs out there. I guess I found it hard to believe that pigs were actually running around the Hill Country. Deer, yes...but pigs? I had no gun, so he leant me his .300 Winmag. Sitting, sitting, sitting in the blind...well, isn't this fun! It was January, I think, very cold, light rain. We are staring down the shooting lane about 100 yards to the feeder. No activity, nothing. See, this is why I go fishing! I looked back down towards the feeder and nothing. I shut my eyes, opened them, and saw something that looked like 8 or 9 small black Volkswagens run under the feeder. Immediately my heart started pounding. Something like denial set in: was something like this really possible? I mean, I would have thought 1, maybe 2, pigs, but not a big group of little hippos. Long story short, we had agreed to pick out one hog, do a 3-2-1 shoot! thing. Which we did. After the shot, I sat back in the blind and started trembling all over. What the...? I couldn't control it. My buddy looked at me and started laughing, said "Feeling a little shaky?" My teeth were chattering. It wasn't that cold. "Adrenalin rush," said my friend. Man, and what a rush it was! We spent about 45 minutes tracking the blood trail and then came upon the big, hairy black sow--about 180 lbs. I couldn't believe how big it was. We spent about an hour butchering it up out there in the cold drippy woods. And as we were doing this, something came over me. I realized how much I loved what I was doing. Loved being out in the woods at night, stalking a big hairy beast. Loved being out with the guys in the cold. This might sound corny, but I felt "primitive", felt like an (no disrespect in the age of hyper-political correctness) Indian, or a stone age hunter. That hog was ground zero for a major paradigm shift. To sum up: my whole life changed on that hunt. I have never been the same since. My fishing rods still get used, but not nearly as much as they did in the past. I went on other hunts with my buddy, deer hunting. That was another whole level of excitement. I found myself thinking about hunting constantly. It resembled, probably, something like a convert to a religion must feel. I just wanted to "be out there" more and more...which became a bit of an annoyance to my buddy, who was getting me in on his lease as an extra gun. It seemed like the more I pleaded with him to go out, the more he dug in his heels. It pissed me off to the point that, a few years ago, I began looking for a piece of land that I could afford and that had lots of animal sign on it. I finally found a place north of Lampasas that had most of what I was looking for. My wife wanted in on the deal and she went in 50/50 with me on the property. It was a good price and she, too, had become convinced that "there are groceries running around out there". Self disclosure: my wife is Chinese and there has to be a practical reason for everything. Now we have harvested deer and Axis off that property. I now lease that property to another hunter, who also hunts hogs with me. I have since been invited onto the lease that my buddy first took me to hunt. A few years ago I knew nothing about hunting, rifles, hand guns, etc. I now own a 30 aught, a .308, a .243, a revolver (and looking for a new one). I know how to clean them, bore sight, zero them in at the range. I understand about the different types of bullets. I have learned how to field dress deer, how to field dress a hog, and how to decape a hog. My wife and I have become amateur experts at butchering hog, processing it, wrapping and freezing the meat, and utilizing it's succulent meat in many kinds of dishes. My wife, being Chinese, is probably an expert on how to stir-fry Texas Hill Country wild boar/feral hog. In a few short years, I (and my wife) have developed a vast skill set I never had before. It is a skill set that frees us from the grocery store factory farmed meat that I never really liked anyway. I have taken my grandson on hunts with me, and he bagged his first 8 pt. buck last November right before Thanksgiving, so I am slowly in the process of transmitting all that I have learned to the next generation. Then there is the meat, which not only my wife and I eat, but also share with our children, grandchildren, friends and neighbors. I must admit to some self-satisfaction knowing that I provide high quality free range meat for them all. It's as close to our predecessors of the not-so-distant past as I will ever know. I know that some people disdain this meat. All I have to offer is this: my wife and I have been eating it for 5 years and have experienced no ill effects from the consumption of wild boar so far. However, our hard and fast rule is NO RARE PORK. Duh.

But what I really want to say about Texas Sus scrofa is this: God bless the hawgs! Yeah, I know, as we all do, that they are a scourge, a disaster to the environment, a plague that seems to be growing exponentially. There is a plague of pigs upon us! But I am ambivalent on the subject. Yes, all the above is true. But, yes, I am so glad that we have hogs to hunt. We can get out there anytime, day or night, and hunt these beasts with no restrictions as to size or numbers. And you must admit, all attempts to eradicate them have proved futile. When I am not out hunting them, I am thinking about them. It kind of reminds me of Steven Rinella in his book "American Buffalo"--he thinks about them all the time, is obsessed with them (I recommend this book to any serious hunter. It is so much more than a story about a Buffalo hunt in Alaska. Here is a man obsessed, who almost lost his life in pursuit of his quarry. I would also recommend, by the way, anything written by Peter Hathway Capstick). But this is Texas and my quarry is near at hand. What do I think about? It's like the line from Apocalypse Now: Charlie is out there in the bush getting stronger. Think about it, if you will. They are out there making a living with what is available. They do this when it is 105deg F or 10deg F, rain or drought, day in, day out. These creatures are tough, persistent, little hombres--more like hairy battle tanks. And all I have to do is think about the hog I brought down a few weeks ago. I cut off a ham and gave the rest to the fellow who leases my property in Adamsville. He took it to his processor who informed him that he found a .40 cal slug inside the meat. Not from our rifles! Or the huge boar I shot at 50 yards with my .308 150gr game loads. Never could find him. Then 2 weeks later he comes limping in to the feeder and my buddy finally takes him out. These hogs are so tough they are bullet absorbers (admitting to my poor shot placement at times).

Finally, I have discovered over the years that there is a kind of mystique surrounding hog hunting (sounds so much more dangerous and exciting to call it "wild boar hunting", and, hey, it actually is that). I can't tell you how many times I have shared with people at work, or at parties, etc., that I go "boar hunting", and they say to me, "Man, I want to do that." I rarely get reaction when I mention deer hunting. My son-in-law's boss in Chicago is champing at the bit to go "boar hunting". I send him photos from the gamecam all the time and he is endlessly fascinated by the fact that they are all over the place down here. I now have 3 other guys in the rotation to do hog hunts with me, so friendships have developed over hog hunts. I am taking out a fellow who moved here from California who has just been itching to go hog hunting. It is so hard to do this in California, he tells me. Well...not here! We are so very, very fortunate to live in a state that has such few restrictions about guns and hunting--and may it always remain so. You want to know where the happy hunting grounds for hawgs is: right beneath your feet--Texas! Yeah, I know, there are hogs in other states...but we live here.

As a post-script to this lengthy blog, I would share this: my friend in Koln, Germany told me that a hunting license over there will set you back 4,000 euros (roughly $4,360) and then you have to fork over, every year, another 1,000 euros ($1,090) to renew. For us: $25 for all the hogs you can get... and 5 deer! What a deal! Anyway, that's how they do gun/hunting control in Germany, a country that is literally as overrun with "wildschwein" as Texas.

Ladies and Gentlemen, be well, happy hunting, and may your aim be true.

Enjoyed the story!

they call me caveman

FIFY

Was a great story though. Honestly though, I just breezed through the last half. Danged A.D.D.

I agree!

PS.......I used to be a fisherman also.

Wait till you get it really bad and go Thermal....

It is refreshing to hear from somebody who gets this much enjoyment from something most people despise,sounds like you always see the glass as half full,not half empty.I hope you are always this happy.

PM'ed ya....

tis true...

And yall thought I wrote a lot. Ill have to come back to that one, because it set my aDd in overdrive and I hadn't even read it yet. Ill check it later need more sleep.

What would have been great would be to sit around the fire and listen to him tell it with a cold beer in hand. That kind of excitement is what keeps me waking up early and going to bed late. Pig hunting is greatness. No size, age or bag limit. Good eating and plenty around.

Great story... I have transitioned from a hard core deer hunter to a hard core hog hunter. I love that I can hunt them 24x7 365 days a year with no limits.

The 50/50 got me. Other than that, all good.

Your story is exactly how I felt when we started hunting again. Used to when I was 10-12 and didn't do any hunting for 15 + years. Now it's all I think about and want to do. I still fish a lot but Friday evening I'll look at my rods, then turn to my rifle and smile cause I'd prefer to go hunt and get excited about even the thought. I get excited to go check the camera and fill the feeder, I feel like a crazy man sometimes cause I think I'm obsessed, but maybe there's more like me out there. I know one thing, the is always saying I spend to much money on hunting and fishing.

Good stuff pedrov23. I am going for 52 pigs (wild boars ) this year. I am a bit ahead of schedule. And loving every minute of it.

Let's substitute the word "passionate" for "obsessed"...Oh, okay, obsessed.