“There’s got to be hogs moving today, these clouds and drizzle are gonna make ‘em walk,” I said to Manuel, as we made our way to the creek bottoms. The time was 2:30pm, and we were planning on brushing up a stand and spreading some sweetened corn in the kill zone, before sitting down for an evening hunt. We intertwined the stand with an array of cedar branches and the remnants of last season’s duck blind, until we were satisfied with what we had accomplished. At 3:45pm, we settled in beneath the gray skies and oaks, and prepared for what was to come.
Time passes at different lengths when you’re in the woods, usually being dictated by whatever critter decides to show itself. Squirrels are short entertainment, usually good for a laugh or two. Armadillos are great because you can hear them from fifty yards, they move slowly, and you swear that any animal that makes so much noise is bound to be huge. Today though, there’s nothing. The occasional leaf falls my way, a warbler flutters here and there, but overall, it’s up to my mind to produce distraction.
At 4:47pm, seven wood duck rouse my attention with their infamous squeal, announcing the presence of the rainbow teal. How a bird can be so acrobatically talented is a testament to the Lord’s talent. They fly through the trees, wings cupped in preparation for a creek landing. A light splash and some ripples make it apparent that somehow they once again have not crashed in the gauntlet of oaks and briars. I wonder if there are any…sqqquuueeeaaalll! They have arrived.
The next twenty minutes is painfully long, but it does wonders for my adrenaline. The Nikons are glued to my face, and my hearing senses are greatly heightened. They have to be close, they just have to be. The noise they’re making isn’t for the weak at heart, and by the ensemble of leaves and breaking branches, it’s obvious we are being approached by quite the herd of animals. “Why can we not see them yet?!” is the only thought racing through my mind. We are well hidden, our weapons are poised, and we are ready for a reckoning.
“At your 2 o’clock,” I whisper, trying my best to retain any bass in my voice, as to not alert our now visible prey. As they approach, our initial assumptions to the noise proves to be spot on in accuracy. I count fourteen in all, as they rudely push, shove, and grunt their way to our location. They’re close now, and by close I mean fifteen yards close. You can smell them. You can smell the mud, the musk, and you know what else. The spectrum of size and color is impressive, ranging from 50-275lbs, coal black to chocolate chip, boar and sows alike. We’re after a good pig for the smoker, and an 80lb boar, black as 2am, is looking like the perfect candidate.
Manuel is twice my age, and has killed more wild game then most of us have. His disciplined breathing tells me that we are about see blood on the leaves. I’m watching every single bit of this hog’s movement, when the percussion and surprise shakes me from my focus. It doesn’t matter though, because I saw the truth. The bullet found its mark right in the neck, and the hog has already been dead for three seconds, and Manuel only shot two seconds ago. The proximity of the kill, the ferocity of the animal, and the instinctual pursuit, keeps me chasing tusks at dusk.

cool read but if I read that much I want some pics at the end. lol

I'll see what I can do lol

wow......................and not one pic ?

Cool write up..

Ranch Dawg, I don't have a picture. I could post an old picture and lie to everyone, but that's not my style. Manuel is the landowner of one our leased properties I use for guiding, and can pretty much shoot a hog off his property whenever he wants to. So getting a picture with a hog, as you can imagine, wasn't on his wish list. I have a hunt taking place this evening, and will be getting pictures and conducting a full write up of the hunt sometime this week.

Blue Duck, if you're not a professional writer, you ought to be.

That was a very interesting account of some real fun. As Dave said your writing ability is amazing, thanks for the story,well done.

Some of the best writing I have seen on the forum!

Enjoyed the read. Good job

Great writing keep the hunting stories coming

Wow ! Great words !!!

Nicely done!

Wow, like others said "what a read" I need to meet Manuel and
he could take me and you could write a story...