"Season of Hogs", by Adger Colley

Some of you may know that I am an avid reader of the Texas Hunting Forum and have been for about 6 years. This article was written by a fellow forum member AdgerC. Adger is a great personality and major lover of the outdoors. Not to mention one hell of a writer. Enjoy , JW

Season of Hogs: “The only decision to be made is WHICH ONES TO SHOOT...”

MARCH 5, 2010- What better to do with spare time in the spring than a little Texas hog
hunting? As it goes during March in Central Texas either the wind is blowing, the rain is pouring
or the sun is shining and beautiful. Well I guess that actually goes for just about anywhere in the
south any time of year. This is one of my favorite times of the year to get out and sit in a tree
stand; turkeys are love struck and gobbling all around, song birds a singing away, rodents are
playing all hours of day and for certain, the hogs will be on the move. As long as the weather
permits, still hunting for hogs in the spring tends to prove quite productive; the dirty vermin are
hungry and feeding while totally content with numerous waller’s and wet spots for play time;
God willing we get our rain.
  Spring semesters for me are much slower at school; no football games to attend, no need
to run off to the deer lease at every given opportunity, and with summe-ritis no intention of
studying! As the stars line up though, my escape to Bell County is greatly anticipated. I can
justify that even if the turkeys are quiet, the hogs are inactive, or perhaps a wily raccoon might
give me the slip; but I still get to head into Belton for some Schoepfe’s BBQ, the Smoked
Chicken in particular. Luckily for me, spring time tends to usually boast a pretty eventful hunt no
matter what. I was all packed up and one the road by midday on Friday afternoon; frustrated of
course that I couldn’t get away on Thursday for a four day weekend.
    As I get through and lock the gate I notice the onslaught of clouds rolling in and feel a brisk west wind connect with my face. I know there was no rain in the forecast so I welcome the
overcast and cool weather with open arms and wandering eyes. I hurry up the house and get
changed and ready for an afternoon stalk before I head the stand. The weather man had lied and
told me Salado had gotten less than an inch of rain in the last week, but my rain gauge said I had
gotten nearly 1.5 inches and it NEVER lies. This was good news so I hurried down the hill and
headed into some thick oak and cedar stands to snoop around. Within minutes I heard some
movement and spot a small singleton piglet working around in a briar patch. To make it more
appealing, the inattentive little booger is white and spotted. As if it was written I make my move
to being the stalk and the little feller plows straight towards me, unfortunately it’s too thick for a
shot. We bob and weave a few times until finally I am paralleling this guy on a road headed
towards a feeder; so I decided to take the initiative and get downwind and set up near the feed
pen. As soon as I can see over the Bluestem I notice more movement just beyond the feed pen
and to my amazement here comes a whole group of pigs in various sizes and colors. I scramble to
get my video camera up on a tripod and ready to shoot some footage while at the same time I
nock an arrow and pick my path to shoot. All is well on my end except that these Bell County
rascals never get the same script I do and they head straight past the feeder and out towards a
nearby tank. Naturally I kept the camera rolling and waited patiently for my opportunity to strike,
but as luck would have it the spring growth was just too thick for my liking. I had been roaming
the woods for a good hour or so and decided to make my way to the stand I had picked out for
night hunt.
    I always make extra sure to slip into this sit as quiet as possible as it is highly likely
something will be at the feeder, probably hogs. As I approach I hear the rummaging and excited
breathing carrying down the thick road to where I stood; I offloaded some gear and set the pace
for my approach. In short time I had a visual of a half a dozen piglets and a sow chowing down
on the yellow candy I so graciously provide. With little awareness of what’s going on around
them, these focused little feeders allowed me to sneak in to within 30 yards of their allotted
dinner table. I was able to get in on hands and knees and set up my camera with a great angle of
the quarry in my sights. I had drawn my bow with my G5 Montec ready to find its mark in wiry
hair and flesh and to steady my shot I knelt forward to station my knee on softer ground. As luck
would have it, someone had placed a large dry leaf in the road and my knee made quite a ruckus
on contact. Well things went south in a hurry and the pigs instantly bolted for cover but as the
large sow rounded the feeder leg I decided to loose an arrow for the cameras sake; only 12 yards
into flight my arrow struck a cedar branch and plummeted dreadfully into the dirt leaving a
healthy hog free to terrorize some more.
   Discouraged and frustrated I gathered my gear and headed up the ladder only a few yards
from where I had set up my assault. It was still fairly early and I knew the odds of another visitor
were greatly in my favor. The weather was nice and the breeze was comfortable blowing directly
into my face just as I had suspected. I passed an hour or so by reading and watching the woods
work their magic as the evening sun began to set. On cue with the usual dinner bell a large
sounder of hogs came barreling down a trail from the creek pointed directly towards my feeder. I
was ecstatic when I saw the quickly growing number of bodies passing through the thick brush;
within seconds I had a few dozen dinner table sized hogs enjoying an evening snack twenty three
yards in front of me. I sat quietly and still for a few minutes just to be certain that there were no
bruiser boars hanging at the tree line like I have seen so many times before. Finally convinced I
began to roll footage and get my bow placed and ready for the shot. Ah how it pleases my
Mathews Z7 to be put forth into action so many times in one evening; I was steady and stealthy
as I drew the string and found my anchor on my cheek. The peep sight naturally fell into place on
the lower point of the elbow and a tasty little sow stood quartering away just to the left of the
feeder. My drawing motion had alerted a few other pigs who decided to take quick action and
abort their feeding frenzy, luckily my chosen target was a few seconds to late. The Gold Tip
arrow was set into flight on a deadly path; the kind of shot that you smile upon release knowing
exactly where the broadhead would enter and exit unscathed by any sort of shield or hard bone. It
was all in the snap of a finger; I heard the string stop, the arrow smack and the pig squealed an
agonizing death scream that satisfied my predatory senses. I heard the pigs split up and run in
every direction and moments later heard the distinct crash of a fallen animal. With a blood trail
that looked like a fire lane I was able to recover the kill in a matter of minutes; she had chosen a
thick pile of dead cedar to expire in. The drag out was quick and easy and all the more appealing
after such an eventful evening hunt. The red sow weighed in at ninety pounds and field dressed
into a perfect amount of meat for my freezer at home.
   Another wonderful experience in the woods where things feel into place just as they have
not so many times before. It is a hunt like this that makes me appreciate the fact that I am able to
take advantage of my freedoms as an American Citizen and a hunter in the wild woods of Texas.
God Bless out troops and thank you for your service and dedication to this country!

HERE'S THE VIDEO OF THE HUNT !

Gear List:

Bow: 2010 Mathews Z7 in 28.5 inch draw length and shooting 70 pounds

o Gold Tip XT Hunter 5575 arrow

o G5 Montec 100 grain Broadhead

o TruGlo Microbrite 5 pin Micro-Adjustable sight

o Trophy Taker Xtreme FC Top Slot arrow rest

o Hawglight Mini-Sniper red light (pictured but not used for kill)

o Sony DCR-SR65 40GBHandycam

o Primos The Truth camera arm

My new obsession

After a 15 year hiatus I have rejoined the ranks of bowhunters. I always loved shooting a bow and the release of being focused on the flight of the arrow and tuning my skills to their finest. Now , as of christmas , I have rekindled my relationship with the stick and string. My how things have changed since my old 87 model bear compound and the monstrous arrows we used to shoot. The main thing that has changed has nothing to do with my bow but with me. When i was fifteen years old 65 pounds on my whitetail compound was nothing. Now , at 36 , 42 lbs on my diamond razors edge is a strain even at 75 -80 percent let off. It has taken me 4 months to finally work up to actually cranking the poundage up to close to 50. Between multiple football related shoulder separations , a 8 year stint of powerlifting , 14 years of baseball , your basic farm, ranch and saturday night idiot accidents , and one very invasive shoulder surgery , I have the shoulders of a 65 year old man. The funny thing about the situation is that I absolutely can't get enough shooting in during the week. I have already started going thru the arrows and having to buy more. My target is getting eaten out from the carbon punishment that it has been taking. Now for the first time in months I can draw the bow without a sharp stinging shot to my left shoulder. I am obsessed.
  The reality of the situation came to me yesterday while i was shooting. I need to fire at something alive. It's time for me to set the trap , lay the bait and bring home the bacon. Feral hog season is on and it's time to find one. The question in the wind with my scenario relates back to a time in my life when I decided I was going to be a cowboy. I roped the dummy religously and honed my roping skills on the ground so that when my time came I would be ready. I could go 50 for 50 on the ground. When i loaded the horse into the chute for that first run I went down like a gut shot dog and never made it to the steer let alone even got to swing a loop at him. Spitting out dirt was my taste of victory that day. Now I only wear a cowboy hat to keep the sun off my bald head while I cook out. Let's hope that the next arrow i shoot at an animal doesnt find the proverbial dirt like I did....adios , thanks for reading and be sure to check out our sponsors. There are some great outfitters and people contributing to this site..

"Turkey Tips 2" by M-O Prostaff writer Kent Thomas

Tip for Spring Time Turkeys: Adding Sound to your Decoy


Anytime I use a single hen decoy in my spring time hunts, I attach what I have come to call as the “Widow-Maker” to her decoy stake. The widow-maker is a simple push-button box call that I affix to the decoy stake and run a string from the plunger in the call box back to my hide-out. When I want my hen decoy to sing, I gently pull the string and the yelping sounds or purrs that are produced, come directly from underneath the hen herself. This pulling also adds a bit of movement to the decoy, which is NEVER bad.

How to Rig the Widow-Maker System:

I use a Knight & Hale Ultimate Push/Pull Box Call.
Tie as tight a loop as you can around the box with camouflage cord.
From this loop, attach another piece of cord with a slip-knot on the end
of it. (This is the end that you will affix to the decoy stake)
You should now have the box itself connected to the decoy stake.
Be sure that you connect the box to the stake so that the push/pull
plunger faces AWAY from the stake. This is very important because you will be attaching string to the plunger that you will have to pull to activate the call.You will next need to attach a small (8-12”) piece of cord to the plunger that causes the call to make its noises.

Attaching the cord to the plunger:
Make a small slip-knot in the cord, slip it over the plunger and push it back as far as you can towards the box. Pull it as tight as you can. Back this with a regular knot or two. Now, tightly wrap the cord, working towards the end of the plunger (the end that will be facing you). Leave about a ¼” and take a skinny piece of camo duct tape and wrap the tape over the knots and the wrap as tightly as you can.Attach 50 lb. fishing line to the tag end of the cord and you now have your Widow-maker system ready to go. I buy large spools of fishing line, leave it on the spool and use it to reel in and reel out the desired amount of line that I will need to activate the call.Use this the next time that you head afield and GET READY !! Good Huntin

Kent Thomas

Campfire Talk :The off season

I am officially in spring cleaning and preparation mode . I have made it thru the school year and am ready to get focused on getting my lease ready for the upcoming hunting seasons. It never fails that this time of year when I have more spare time on my hands , I obsess about my huntng grounds. I have serviced and modified my polaris ranger , cleaned it thoroughly , cleaned and prepared my stealth cams , put at least 100 arrows a week thru my Diamond razor edge , and spent many hours analyzing what i need to scout/hunt via google maps. What I would like to know is what rituals do you guys go thru in the off season? I am curious to see if all hunters are as obsessed with hunting as I am. Do you feed mineral? do you spend time scouting in the offseason? Am I wasting valuable back yard barbecue and shiner bock time to be in that mesquite covered red dirt hole?..Basicly feedback and discussion is what I am looking for. If you aren't able to follow this blog because you haven't got a google membership or cant figure it out , get a clue..find a way , overcome those obstacles that separate you from the enlightenment provided in these hallowed texts created by over worked , under payed and hunt deprived texas educators...discuss..someone throw me a bone or throw gas on the fire..JW , Caprocker , Olinecoacher , jackass , fat boy , coash

"Turkey Tips" by M-O prostaff writer Kent Thomas

Tip for Windy Spring Time Turkey Hunts :
I’m sure that most of you, as you have headed into the spring turkey woods, have encountered a windy day that played havoc on your decoy(s). I found a way to combat the wind and use it to my favor as it added great movement to my decoys.
When using a single decoy, I strongly recommend you purchase a Primos decoy stake. The one that I am speaking of is the one that primos came out with when they introduced their B-Mobile gobbler decoy. What makes this stake great on a windy day is the wing-nut on the top of the stake. Once screwed down, your decoy will simply sway from side to side on the stake and you won’t have to worry about it suddenly catching a gust of wind that fills the inside of the foam body and launches it straight up into the air!!
I am very fond of the Feather-Flex breeding pair (Jake that sits atop a hen), but my use of these has been very limited because of our windy West Texas days that happen so often in the spring. Well, I solved that problem this season. I, once again, use the Primos stake and punch it straight through the hen’s tail and sit her directly on the ground. I then position the breeding jake on top of her and mark two spots, one on each decoy, where I then attach fishing swivels to attach the two. I affix the swivels to the decoy body by using a fastening brad (the thing in a folder that a kid uses for school to keep loose-leaf paper). You should be able to get these by the box at any office supply store. If you have trouble finding a box of these fastening brads, simply buy a folder that has them and gently remove them. I paint them with a flat black spray paint as well as the swivels and they worked like a charm this spring. What you will end up with is the swivels coming out of the jake’s chest and snapping to the swivels on the hen’s back. With the jake being screwed down by the wing-nut on the Primos stake, he will dance from side to side as he sits on top of the hen. Very realistic looking!! This particular set-up withstood an hour’s worth of 30+ mile per hour winds on one particular hunt.
Hopefully this tip will help you as you fight the wind on your next spring turkey outing. Good huntin.

Kent Thomas

"Rios On the Red " by M-O Prostaff writer Kent Thomas

“Rios on the Red”
The multiple gobbles thundered along the bed of the Red River as the early morning sun lit the eastern sky with pinks and oranges that no artist has ever duplicated on a palette. We were on ‘em. The mischievous little grin that stretched across my face was soon replaced as I remembered one of turkey hunting’s most famous sayings, “Roosted ain’t Roasted.” As the birds pitched off their nighttime limbs, no truer words were ever spoken. We estimated some 100 or more birds roosted over the big wheat field that separated us, and when all was said and done, we were left watching a group of only nine, one big Tom and eight of his girlfriends. We had placed a set of breeder decoys out in front of us and ol Tom would glance occasionally at them, but his female companions had other plans and he faithfully followed them out of the field and left us shaking our heads and quietly snickering at the two foam bodies that remained in the field.
It was time for a move. We headed west in hopes of getting in front of the Tom’s band of beauties, and ended up alongside a road that gently sloped uphill for a distance of about 200 yards. We figured that the group of birds was just on the other side of the hill carrying out their spring time ritual. We were right! We began calling and had an immediate response from a lone gobbler. Over the course of the next two hours, I became engaged in the most “blissfully, frustrating” day I have ever spent in the turkey woods.
A lone hen came heading down the road and ended up a mere ten yards from my partner and me. My immediate thought was, “Awesome, we have a live one here now, won’t be long until he follows her.” Was I ever wrong. What took place next was something that I never dreamed I would witness. She roamed about in the jungle thicket that Tyler and I had set up in for the next ten minutes. It was driving her crazy that she could not find the other hen who had been making such sweet sounds. As she turned to exit the thicket, she dipped well under a fallen branch, and laid down. I was astonished. I have witnessed deer bed down within plain sight, but never a hen turkey. In my very simple mind I started to put 2 and 2 together, and I came up with this: WE WERE SUNK in this particular spot. If she was coming to nest, the Tom was already finished with her and would very likely not come to our calls. If she was simply resting, we had to re-position without spooking her out of the area and “putt” calling to the Tom on the other side of the hill. We managed to ease her out of the thicket, and sure enough, two eggs lay in her cleanly, swept-out nest.
I told Tyler that we had to get closer to that hill. He devised a plan, and with the stealth of a ninja, we crept to a large oak tree that stood 85 yards from the crest of the hill. We settled in and began another calling sequence. Three different gobblers sounded off from behind the hill and our excitement rose. We waited, then called again. The gobbles crushed the air around us. They were moving closer. We waited, then called again. This time, the gobbles sounded muffled. They were now moving away. “This is no good”, I whispered to Tyler. Another lapse in silence was disturbed by our plea on an M.L. Lynch fool proof box call to come back. No luck. Still they gobbled, and still they sounded a thousand miles away. “We need to move again”, I told him. “We need to position ourselves where we can see the other side of that hill.” He agreed, and I told him that if we could get that done, I would call one in close enough for him to choke it. I needed to see what was going on over there. Just as we prepared to exit our hide-out, a booming gobble erupted followed quickly by the following sounds….. “FWAP, FWAP,,,,,PURR, PURR, PURR, GOBBLE, FWAP, FWAP, FWAP”. We eased ourselves back down and I whispered to him, “Geez-oh-Pete, I think they are fighting over there!” The fight lasted for about 10 seconds, and then came one last gobble that almost blew our caps off. Here they came! Two mature gobblers, over the top of the hill, one looking for the hen and the other in full strut. As the lead gobbler closed the distance to 35 yards, Tyler’s 12 gauge belched a load of #4 shot at the bright, red head of the Tom. It was done, but my heart pounded for the next 30 minutes and I sported a smile that industrial strength 409 could not have washed off. As we carried the Tom back to the truck, I made a point to take in all of the spring sounds that were singing along the banks of the mighty Red.
Kent Thomas

A HUNTING STORY

This Saturday morning I went on one of very few turkey hunts I have ever been on with a couple of great friends Kent Thomas and Nick Dickson. Kent is a football coach at Midland Lee high school and Nick is the head football coach at Roby c.i.s.d. We were hunting on Nick's farm between Roby and Rotan. Straight from the get go we found birds. We hadn't even made it one mile from the house and spotted 2 birds crossing the road into the pasture we were hunting. Immediately we bailed out and set up. Kent is a turkey calling fanatic and was ready immediately with breeder decoys and the perfect set up. Kent's first set of calls from behind me were very consistent with the normal first set;relatively aggressive with gobbler location in mind. No answer was obtained on that first set or any of the rest for that matter but there were birds coming. After 10 to 12 minutes of calling on the M.A.D. Cherry Bomb Box Turkey Call
and a super realistic compilation of HS strut reed clucks, a couple wrinkly old heads popped up in the switch grass in front of us. Kent's tell tale purr from his Lynch's Jet Slate Turkey Call resounded signalling to me that he knew we were on birds. Tension started filling my gut and totally overshadowed the fact that i had a very large mesquite thorn penetrating my ass cheek. The birds came in together right in front of me and moved to my 2 o'clock at 12 yards addressing the breeder decoys as if to peek in on the show and get a freebie. At that point I could see that the hunt was futile. HENS! DAMN...no beard in sight besides my goatee that was really getting irritated by my head cover...I was overwhelmed with a few different feelings. The immediate feeling was consistent with any other hunt I had ever been on where animals got really close. Damn that was cool! the next thing that entered my mind was this ; we better enjoy that encounter because it could be the last one this weekend. Unfortunately ,I was right.we didn't call in another bird all weekend due to excessive west Texas wind. I have no regrets about the hunt keeping in mind that a bad day of hunting is always better than the best day of work...we'll get on'em again soon...

Firearm : winchester model 1300 20 ga. #4 shot
Calls: M.A.D. cherry bomb slate and box call , HS strut reeds
location : Roby , T.X.
outfitter : Mesquite Outfitters