2020 Hog Log

2020 has been an odd year, but it has been fantastic for taking pigs at night with a bow!

  • Early Bird Gets The Carbon

    It was a windy, cold morning, and I was bundled up walking into my spot about an hour before daylight. As I came around a corner, my headlamp's beam swept across the feeder, and lo and behold there were pigs already there. I quickly turned my head and hit the switch on my headlamp. I retraced my steps, moving to some cover as efficiently as I could. Once I had some space, I nocked an arrow, and put my bow light switch in my bowhand where I could use it, and began working my way back, but behind cover this time. When I reached a spot I knew to be about 20 yards, I came to full draw and hit the low switch on my light. One of the pigs was quartering away on the near side of the feeder. Pin settled, began pulling, zip... smack. All hell breaks loose. The pig crumples, and then scrambles about 6 feet with an ear piercing squeal. I nock another arrow, but by the time I raise my bow it is all over. No complaints, as sitting up in a tripod in 20mph N winds when its 30 degrees outside, is not on my favorite things to do list. Bow : 70# Bowtech Revolt X Arrow: 500gr Easton Axis Broadhead :100gr Rage 4-Blade Extreme

  • A Few Firsts

    This first pig this year, was a few other firsts. It was the first harvest with my Bowtech Revolt X, and the first time I used my Zbros Sight light. The Zbros is the way to go! I don't think I'll ever go back to the cheap twisty lights that come with most sights.

  • What Was That?!

    As a rule I've discovered that hunting my tripod for off-season pigs is a dumb thing to do. They circle and take circuitous routes making it almost impossible to beat their noses. However, on this day I succumbed to laziness and sat in my tripod enjoying a beautiful spring evening. A little while after sitting down, I heard what I thought was a turkey taking flight to my southwest. My head snapped that direction and caught that it wasn't wings flapping, it was ears. Those ears were attached to a big boar's head. He was moseying down a trail that would take him behind me through some thick brush. I could see a volleyball sized gap in the brush behind me, so I spun my seat and squared my shoulders as I heard the footsteps come closer. Guessing he was going to pass through the tunnel in a few seconds, I came to full draw and settled into my anchor. When a nose came into view I made a soft grunt, and something magical happened. The boar stopped with his shoulder right in the middle of the hole I could shoot through. The pin swung low and into his armpit and I pulled through the release with purpose as I knew he wouldn't stay frozen for long. There was a soft thump as I saw the lighted nock disappear into the black void of his chest, and he was off to the races running to my right. About 20 yards later he made a hard left, and I heard brush snapping as the beast made new paths through what is solid brush. A few seconds later everything was quiet. Bow: 70# Bowtech Revolt X Arrow: 460gr Easton Injexion Broadhead: Iron Will V100

  • What Was That?! Part 2

    My pit mix Bowie has been invaluable to my bowhunting success the last few years. He has made some impossible recoveries possible, and greatly reduces the time I spend finding animals after the arrow hits. This big boar, left a pretty good blood trail, and Bowie was stuck to it like they were rails, until it dead ended into a tree. It was a mystery, he circled the tree, and I began looking around. It was literally like the pig got to the tree and took flight. No blood or ground disturbances in any direction. I was stumped and Bowie was puzzled, he did a 180 and started running the trail backwards. After 10 yards or so I stopped him and we skipped to far side of the tree where a pig trail descended down into a draw, nothing. I was baffled, the hit had looked perfect, and blood was consistent for the first 50 yards or so, what were we missing. I took Bowie to the downwind side of the whole area and he wandered up to a spot where there was an increase of elevation and there was an impenetrable thicket. He simply stood there staring, but the hill and dense brush dissuaded me from pushing up and through it blindly in the dark. It was so thick my headlamp provided no clue to what lay beyond the first few feet. I looked at Bowie with a look of.... you sure buddy... that's some nasty stuff... So I marked the spot on my phone, and we called it a night. I planned to return at first light. Shortly after first light I re-traced the blood trail we had followed the night before. I came to the same conclusion, the big boar had taken flight after running into a tree. My imagination began to wonder what that had looked like. I returned to the spot Bowie had pointed out the night before. As I stared up into the brush, I saw a dark shadow.... just a downed log... or is it.... logs don't have ears. I squinted and craned my head around a little, and dang that does look like a pig. I circled around to the opposite but level side of the thicket. This put me about 10 yards from where the blood trail ended. I then looked back to where I had been standing on the other side. Yep right there stretched out was a really big boar. It was then I glanced back at the blood trail and realized I had made two mistakes. One was that looking at the blood splatter, the trail had obviously reversed directions doing a 180 for about 10 yards and then veered into the nasty thicket. Two I didn't trust my dog, when Bowie doubled back... he was right, and I redirected him before we hit the spot the boar had veered off. Luckily it had been cool over night, and after skinning the meat seemed fine so into the cooler it went. The big boar tipped my digital scale at 186# and was a challenge to pull out of the thicket and get back to camp.

  • Baseball Slide Pays Off

    It was a warm morning during turkey season, and I decided to check a feeder I was in the vicinity of. Our lease website said it would throw corn at 7:15AM and it was about 6:45AM when I started walking its way. I arrived at the setup about 7:10AM and wasn't sure if it even had corn. As I had a few minutes before it was going to throw, and the area looked quiet, I walked up and gave the barrel a shake. There was indeed corn in the barrel, so I turned around and started walking to the ground blind about 20 yards behind me. I had taken a few steps when the feeder spun. Out of pure instinct I took off running for the blind as fast as I could being encumbered with my pack and bow in hand. About half way to the blind, I saw something out of the edge of my vision. A big boar running toward the feeder, perpendicular to my path. As I got close to the blind, I went into a baseball slide and came to a stop laying down with the ground blind between me and the boar. As I sat there getting my breath back my only thought was.... there is no way he didn't see me running, no way. I gradually and quietly worked my way into a kneeling position. Then I heard a sound I knew only to well, smack, smack smack..... a hog chewing corn. I don't know how that happened, but I'll take it. It took me a few minutes to get in a position where I would have enough room between the blind and me to draw my bow, and still use it as cover. A minute or two later the boar fed into my view. He was quartering to and he was close... around 10 yards, and we were on eye level with each other. I picked an appropriate spot on his shoulder leaning back to use the blind to hide the movement, then leaned forward to get my target in view, and sent an arrow his way. It slammed home with a thwack and the pig ran straight away for about 60 yards, paused, looked around, and trotted off all with a foot of arrow sticking out of his chest. I was worried, I don't like shots that don't pass through, and I definitely don't like pigs that seem unphased after 60 yards while having a broadhead in their chest. After a few minutes I walked over to where the pig was standing, and there was no blood. I decided it was best to continue looking for turkeys and return in an hour or so and see what I could find by going to the last place I had seen him. My "turkey" hunt turned into another pig hunt, that is cataloged here, and after that arrow was loosed I returned to this spot to begin a search. I walked to the last place I had seem the pig pause before trotting off, I had mentally marked it before I had ever stood up after making the shot. I checked the ground... no blood. However, it was on a well used trail, so I simply started following it. 30 yards later, and there he was, laying in the middle of the trail dead as could be. He covered almost 100 yards, never left a drop of blood, and I had taken out both lungs. Tanks, that's what boars over 150# are... tanks. Bow: 70# Bowtech Revolt X Arrow: 460gr Easton Injexion Broadhead: 100gr Grizz Trick 2

  • Sounders = Ping Pong Balls

    The morning of the baseball slide, after sending an arrow at the big boar, I decided to work my way back to where most of our turkeys like to hang out, and I had a hen decoy and calls in my pack. There is another feeder in the area, and when I was 100 yards from it I could hear grunting and squeals.... a sounder. I quickly thought about where they were, where I was, and the direction the wind was blowing. It sounded like a whole sounder, and I knew they would only be there for a few minutes as the would vacuum up what little corn was on the ground quickly. I jogged along a brush line staying downwind, but with the goal of arriving at a shooting location in a spot I would have the group side winded. It worked, and as I peaked around the cover I was greeted to the sight of over a dozen pigs jockeying for position and bullying each other over the corn. I came to full draw with no particular target picked as they were like an angry swarm of ping pong balls. Every time I lined one up it would move, or get blocked. After maybe 20 or 30 seconds at full draw, a sow caught my attention. She was broadside and had paused. I went ahead and started back tension and pulling through the release even as the pin swung to her shoulder. The pin had no sooner gotten to where I was looking, and the arrow flashed through her chest and clattered on the rocks beyond. There was good blood at impact, but none from there on out. Fortunately the pig had only traveled about 30 yards and after some searching was found in some brush. Bow: 70# Bowtech Revolt X Arrow: 460gr Easton Injexion Broadhead: Iron Will V100

  • Another One Bites the Dust

    After May, all my hog hunting became a nocturnal affair. Good nights ended up with a new tradition. As I cruised back to camp in the dark, relishing the truck's air conditioning I would blast Queen's Another One Bites the Dust while singing along and having a frosty beverage.

  • Shouldn't Have Paused...

    It was early evening, the sun had just gone to bed, and my cell cam alerted me that my feeder had some swine visitors. A quick wind check, and an equipment double check and I was on my way. Using a low clump of brush for cover, I closed to 25 yards, and peeked over the brush. There were 2 boars about 20 yards away feeding aimlessly. At this point, I got a little over confident. I stood straight up and drew back.... now this is when I was humbled. It was dark, pigs don't have great eyesight, but dang they are not blind. The boars both headed for cover, but fortunately one paused as he wasn't quite sure what he had seen. I swung my 20 pin high on his chest and let it rip. The arrow disappeared into his shoulder and reappeared on the ground behind him. My dog, Bowie, made short work of the 25 yard trail that ended with a pig at the end of it in some nasty thick brush. Bow: 70# Bowtech Revolt X Arrow: 440gr Easton Injexion Broadhead: Iron Will Wide 100

  • Pigs Can't See Red Light....

    I often hear and read that pigs don't see red light well at all. This is in my experience misleading. Here's the catch, light casts shadows, and if the light moves, shadows move. Shadows moving are noticeable and very un-natural. After a very sweaty stalk on a monster boar I had seen on camera for a few weeks, I briefly turned my bow light to low. When that light came on, you would have thought a firecracker went off at his feet. Pigs scattered everywhere, and I was left there standing in the dark confused. I decided to stay put as I had the wind in a good spot and wait for a bit. A smaller pig worked his way back in but stayed in the brush. I would periodically try to figure out if he was shootable by using my low beam, and after a few attempts he trotted off. This was not going as planned. In order to not melt, and catch more of the breeze I decided to climb up in the tripod nearby. while moving that direction another pig came cruising through. I once again tried to setup a shot, and he immediately trotted off. It was then I realized there was some brush in front of my location, and when I hit my light, it was throwing a shadow into their field of view abruptly..... lesson learned. I was about half-way up into the tripod, when I realized the dark spot in the night 10 yards away wasn't a shadow, it was a pig. He was not entertained by me climbing up in the tripod and headed to the next county at warp speed. This night was not going as planned, but I was feeling stubborn. I made it into the tripod seat and settled in. I'll admit I was surprised when 10 minutes later yet another pig wandered in. He turned in front of me presenting a quartering away shot. I came to full draw, hit the light, he didn't seem to react at all, so shot process ensued and ended with reflective arrow wrap burying to the fletch in front of his right hip. The rushed footsteps of the fleeing hog had ended with brush breaking a short distance away. I was confident he was smoked and down nearby. When able, I let Bowie run even the easy tracks, as he genuinely enjoys it. It took Bowie about 3 minutes to cover the 50 yard track and locate the down pig. Time for another sing-a-long to Queen. Bow: 68# Bowtech Reckoning Arrow: 420gr Victory VAP TKO Elite Broadhead: Iron Will Wide 100

  • Redemption

    A moment came when I got a shot at a true monster I had been after for months. I failed when it mattered and went home empty handed. This night I was looking for redemption. The camera had let me know I had a smaller pig that had become a regular, and I wasn't feeling picky. I just needed to get back on the horse and deliver a death strike of carbon and steel from the shadows at night I was sitting in camp, having a frosty beverage, when my phone lit up, and the cell cam said the store was open for business. Sure enough my brave little pig was getting dinner. Loaded up and headed out. Thirty minutes later I was standing behind my newly installed feeder light, and observed that the little pig had been run off by a very nice mature boar. I gave myself a mini pep-talk and picked a spot low on his shoulder. Draw, anchor, pull...... solid thump. I hear pigs running in all directions for a few seconds. When the running sounds go quiet, I can hear brush breaking a short distance away. Always a good thing as the sound is fixed and not moving further away. Another very short track for Bowie, 25 yards, and another sing-a-long with Queen on the way back to camp. I felt redeemed. Bow: 70# Bowtech Revolt X Arrow: 420gr Victory VAP TKO Elite Broadhead: Iron Will Wide 100

  • Cool Front Sow

    A small thunderstorm had worked its way across West Texas, and in the process the temps had dropped from the high 90s to the low 80s. It felt like air conditioning. I was having daydreams of a monster boar cruising by enjoying the cooler weather as I made the 3 hour drive to my hunting property. Sunset came and went, as did dinner, and I had not seen any pigs on camera. Just as I was about to chalk it up to a blanked trip, my phone buzzed, and it was time to load up and head out. There were two sows scarfing up 3 throws worth of corn, and seemed quite content. That was good, as the storm had blown some broken limbs and brush onto my path I use to sneak in from downwind. By the time I made it to a spot to shoot I was soaked in sweat, not from the heat, but from the fear of spooking the pigs as every time I had to move a piece of brush to move forward. I inched my way to where I could see most of the area, and noticed the larger of the sows was broadside. I mentally picked a spot low on her shoulder and came to full draw. As I was settling into anchor and centering my peep sight, she turned... now all I could see was hips... I waited, she turned again stutter stepping to the right. Kernel of corn here, 1 step, kernel of corn there, 1 step. I recognized she was never going to stand still. Fortunately this is a scenario I practice. Aim at a dot, then mid-shot stop and swing to a new dot on my target. In that moment my brain and body did what it had done before, and the pin swung smoothly as she stepped right and then a heavy arrow with a big broadhead was on its way. It hit a solid thump, then I heard it hit rocks beyond. Hooves scurried in a few directions, and I heard some brush break in a stationary spot nearby. Sounded good. Bowie and I returned about 45 minutes later and followed a very heavy blood trail for about 30 yards. She, thank goodness, was laying right in the middle of an open area, 30 yards from where I parked the truck. Managed to her back to camp, weighed, and in the cooler without sweating to death thanks to the cooler temps. Bow: 68# Revolt X Arrow: 500gr Easton Axis Broadhead: 100gr Rage 4 Blade Extreme

  • What a Beast!

    Having already doubled in the month of August, I was ready to push my luck and see if I could drop 3 in one month. There was a medium sized boar that was coming in pretty late regularly, but I was not deterred. So I loaded up and headed West. After checking my bow for a few minutes in camp, I made some dinner and turned on the TV. Time started to roll by, and I was somewhat surprised when around 10pm my phone buzzed. Oh pig in front of camera... hrm looks big.... nah he's just right in front of camera... better get moving. Twenty minutes and 5 gallons of sweat later, I was 100 yards from my spot, and hit the up button on my light remote switch. As I worked my way closer, every few steps I bumped the light. There was a decent wind from the perfect direction, and I was somewhat concerned I couldn't hear any chewing as I got closer. I eased into position and there was a single pig posed broadside just a tad under 20 yards away. I took a deep breath, and found a spot on his shoulder that I could lock onto. My pin found my mark, the pig took a step forward, and my pin slid with him.... somewhere in the back of my mind was the thought... that's a big pig.... *thump* I could see pink fletching against his hide as he sprinted away. The shot looked perfect, and I could tell I put two holes in him. Something odd happened then, I heard something running back toward the direction I had snuck in from, and then an awful racket in the brush. I was unsure what was happening. I thought it had to be a second pig; because, I simply couldn't fathom even a big pig making that big of an arc hit that hard. I snuck out a different route and headed back to camp to gather my dog. Upon our return, we quickly found my arrow covered in bright red blood, and a generous and immediate blood trail. Huge splotches every few feet confirmed my initial assessment of the hit. He wouldn't be far I told myself, maybe 30 yards. 50 yards later I was starting to second guess... 100 yards later and still following a foot wide heavy blood trail. We were headed right to the area I heard all the noise. The trail dead ended to a nasty thicket, I couldn't see anything inside, but I did see blood. Bowie looked at it, and wanted no part of ducking into it. "Its ok buddy I don't blame you, let's circle to the other side." I had a legitimate concern something weird had happened and we have a live pig on our hands, a live and very angry boar. We circled around the downwind side, and found a less dense area to make our way back toward the other side. I reached down and grabbed Bowie's collar with one hand, and un-holstered my pistol with the other. We cautiously moved forward until Bowie froze pointing at a dense patch. I started moving my headlamp around, and caught a glimpse of a blood covered snout. The boar was very dead, and I think we both breathed a sigh of relief. Bowie plowed forward to check the pig out, and when he did, I realized how big the head was. A medium pig this was not. A few minutes later, some more sweat, and a few scratches and I had managed to get ahold of an ear and pull the beast out of the thicket and into the open. He ended up weighing 192.6# with some respectable cutters. He was hit perfectly, he had just refused to go down, instead barreling forward to the very end. Bow: 68# Bowtech Revolt X Arrow: 450gr Easton Injexion Broadhead: Iron Will Wide 100

  • What a Mess

    The property had received about 8" of rain in 24 hours, and I knew it was going to be a giant swamp.However, you can't kill'em from the couch, so I headed West. Sure enough my truck was Dirt Road Brown when I pulled into camp and unloaded my gear. However, it was a semi-enjoyable 82 degrees. After dinner my phone buzzed, and I could see a shadow lurking behind the feeder. Well that shadow was about to have company. After a slip and slide ATV ride to the area, I was grateful for the damp grass to make a stealthy sneak up on a nice looking boar. I came to full draw and placed my pin about 2" above his front leg. I got bad case of boar fever and my ping was doing figure 8's over this chest. I paused, moved my head so I wasn't looking through my peep, took a deep breath, and then lined everything back up. My pin still looked wild, but I focused on his shoulder. *CRACK* the arrow slammed into his shoulder! He whirled 180 degrees, took 2 steps and feel over. I was confused. There was 20" of arrow sticking straight up in the air out of his shoulder. He seemed down for the count. Just in case I nocked a second arrow and hooked my release back up. His back feet stirred, I wasn't taking chances, *smack* the second arrow buried to the fletch in his back. A minute later I moved forward and verified to he had made the trip to Valhalla (can a dominant boar go anywhere else?). I immediately knew I couldn't load him on the ATV and had to come back with a trailer. An hour later after photos and a mini-autopsy I was exhausted. Another Shiner and watching Vertical Limit on TV put me to sleep, and I made sure to not set an alarm. Bow: 70# Bowtech Revolt X Arrow: 450gr Easton Carbon Injexion 330 Broadhead: Iron Will Wide 100

  • Pop a Top

    Well Hog #11 for 2020 bit the dust while I was out hunting for opening weekend of the Texas bow season. As usual, after dinner and a few beers, my cell cam let me know I had a customer. The truck was still packed, so I jumped on the ATV and headed toward my parking spot to start a stalk. When I got within view of my feeder, no pig. I checked my phone and about the time I parked the ATV the camera caught the pig high tailing it. Huh, guess we have an ATV shy pig. I had parked about half a mile away. I trudged back to the ATV, cruised back to camp, and popped another top. As everyone was headed to bed, my phone buzzed again... pig was back. This time I threw everything back in the truck, and slow rolled to the same spot with my headlights off the last several hundred yards. When I was 40 yards from the feeder I could hear chewing... ah hah, gotcha. I finished my stalk, picked a spot just above the elbow and sent the Iron Will Wide on a mission. The fletch disappeared behind my pin and then vanished into the pigs shoulder. I heard the pig scramble and then tip over just on the other side of the feeder. He never even made it to the brush. I texted for some backup to get him loaded into the truck, and when we returned we were greeted with one of the most horrific looking and short blood trails I've ever seen. The boar had made it about 12 yards and he bled... well ... like a stuck pig. When we hung him up to weigh him (154# btw) we had to solve a mystery. The first piece of the mystery was we only found about the back 6" of arrow, no broadhead to be found. That was odd as everything was out in the open and it was hanging out his left side away from any brush. The second piece of the mystery was that his back left leg had 2 4 blade broadhead holes all the way through down by his hock. What the heck. The next morning I found the broadhead end of the arrow on the right side of the trail a few feet into the brush, and then had a working theory on what happened. The arrow came to a stop with about 16" protruding from the boar's left side. His first move after being hit was running through the feeder legs, and at this point, the Easton Injexion snapped....but didn't break. The aramid fibers held on one side and the arrow bent backwards. As the pig made his next 2 bounds, his left leg came forward impaling itself on the broadhead which was now pointed to the rear but still attached to the shaft lodged through his shoulders. After the second impact with the rear leg, it appeared to have generated enough force to finish snapping the arrow in two and sending it flying over the pigs back and into the brush. Bizarre, really bizarre. Bow: 70# Bowtech Revolt X Arrow: 450gr Easton Carbon Injexion 330 Broadhead: Iron Will Wide 100

  • The Small Ones Are Harder to Hit

    Its mid October, and pigs are getting scarce. With the increase of deer hunting pressure on my hunting lease, the pigs get less frequent quickly. I decided to sit in a spot that people had been seeing a group of smaller pigs are regularly. Sure enough about 10 minutes after the feeder spun I could hear grunts, squeals, and brush breaking as they headed my way. I had purposely hand corned about 12 yards in front of the blind just for this occasion. About 10 pigs made a big circle before all chowing down on the golden nuggets in front of me. I picked one that was broadside, drew, found the shoulder.... and the pig turns.... but another one is broadside. Gently shift my pin to the new target's shoulder, target takes a step... my pin keeps pace... pull... *THUMP*. The pig heads to my right looking like a wheelbarrow as both front legs are out of commission. I knew it wouldn't be far, and sure enough it was about 30 yards from where the arrow hit. Both of the shoulders were torn up, and blood trail was decent. This little pig was significant because it was the 12th pig I had recovered in 2020. Bow: Bowtech Revolt X 70# Arrow: VAP TKO 350 with Taper Lock Outsert Broadhead: Iron Will 100