Monday March 20th,
My wife had plans with her friends for the evening so I was turned loose on Normangee.
I spent most of the morning calling all of ya'll trying to find someone to go with me.
After being shot down several times I was getting really dejected until I ran into Jim who
just started working with me at the USDA. Despite coming to god's country from the land of
fruits and nuts Jim was willing to go hunting with me.
We got to the property and I noticed that the record-setting rainfall that we had received over the
last 24 hours was evident. We drove to the pond in the north pasture, climbed up the hill and looked down the pasture to see
the trap still empty. The whole place was a muddy mess, there was often an inch of water on top the the pig routings, I didn't want
to get stuck out there by ourselves so I played it safe with the truck.
Drove back to the creek, stopped just short of it and looked across, while the concrete culvert was crossable the area beyond was a mudhole.
I decided to hoof it from there rather than try to turn around in a mudslick
As we walked back through the woods I was glad I left the pickup, mud through the woods was slick and deep.
Saw a couple deer right where Brian and I saw the pigs last time out, then turned the corner to see the second concrete culvert was totally underwater.
THe water over the culvert was probably 8inches deep, definately 6. I saw a tree down that fell across the creek bed a few feet to the left, down the creek, so I scampered across it.
We walked back to the southern pasture, Jim spotted something at the extreme southern end of the pasture that proved to be a deer, investigated the other empty trap and then headed north, The creek here was even wider and deeper than I had imagined, we walked along the creek into the woods
looking for a narrow spot to cross, I found what I thought looked like a narrow spot but not narrow enough to jump with a rifle and flashlight, but luckily there was dead tree lying right there.
I set my rifle down and Jim and I picked up the large piece of wood, intending to lay it across the creek and cross like we had the last time. All was going according to plan when SPLASH!!! I suddenly found myself up to the belt
in water. Since I was wading anyway I took my rifle from his side of the creek and placed it on the destination side, I waded across and crawled out of the water while Jim reconsidered the plan, I was constructing a wooden crossing
from another downed tree for Jim and when I went to get another big hunk of wood I saw Jim preparing to Jump. I was just saying that I didn't think he was choosing a very good spot to attempt such an aerial manuever when he splashed chest deep into the creek.
we squished and squashed in our shoes through the woods to the truck and feeling utterly defeated put the guns in the back and started to drive out.
Just as we approached the edge of the woods Jim felt the need to investigate something suspicious off to the right with the binoculars so I stopped. I glanced to the left where I knew there was a feeder and I almost missed them, there were so many pigs the entire corral around the feeder was 100% full of a solid mass of pork. I initially noticed the few outliers.
I excitedly told Jim "there they are!!!" Jim strained into the binoculars and admitted he didn't see them, "to the left Jim, Real close, get the guns!!!"
We dismounted and as I laid down and scoped the pigs up a couple of the outliers seemed to notice and moved away, not in a panic but they didn't want to stick around. It seemed for a moment like the entire mass was moving, I got a little nervous, I looked back and jim was still very near the truck holding a .22. The pigs were 50 to 65 yards away and slightly downhill. I made my decision not
to pass a sure thing by trying to let the newbie shoot first. I strained to pick out a pig shape in the last moments of light the day provide. I wanted to shoot through the herd so I found one shape in the front to aim at, I found a head, slid back a bit to rest on the middle of the shoulder and I pulled the trigger.
The 130grain Ballistic Silvertip entered the 50 to60lb black pig just below the spine and exited low on the ribs on the far side with a horrific wound that was 1.5 to 2 inches wide and 3.5 inches long. Entire segments of ribs were missing. Pandemonium erupted, pigs flew in every direction, all but one, the black target was flopping in the mud...I ran up to the feeder trying to pick up any good targets I could.
I saw one straight ahead of me dip down into a little creek and not come up. I ran to the creek bed and saw it come up the far side very slowly five yards away, I turned my rifle so the scope was at 10:00 rather than 12:00 and put the front quarter of the pig in the 90 degree corner between my scope mounts and receiver, I used both of them like the beads on a shotgun barrel and when I pulled the trigger the 50lb brown sow with long faint white stripes dropped in her tracks.
Further examination showed this pig to have a shattered back leg and a bad bullet wound through the lower GI track with a fairly severe hernia, which accounted for her slow escape.
Danced a little Jig, got real giddy, then loaded them up and drove around looking for a tree.
GOt them both strung up at the same time on the old Hoe handle I was just starting to take the skin off of blackie when catastrophe struck, my hoe handle which had been involved in the skinning of numerous deer and pigs broke.
Despite the obvious heartbreak I continued the fun until both pigs were neatly stacked into the shiner bock 11-beer cooler.
Drove home where my wife accused us of smelling bad, took a wonderful hot shower, put on some dry clothes and had a peaceful nights sleep.
2 down about a Thousand to go...
