Arizona Hog Hunt
Sept 13, 2020 23:16:32 GMT -5
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upthewall, Rimfire69, and 1 more like this
Post by azshaun on Sept 13, 2020 23:16:32 GMT -5
Well, finally did my hog hunt. Went to a ranch near Holbrook AZ. Hunt was at 7AM. Friend and I spent the night in Holbrook, and arrived at the ranch at 6:45. Waited for 7 when the guides started arriving. Another group were staying in the lodge from a ‘gold’ level ram hunt and the partner was going after hogs as well. Signed the paperwork, met the other groups and guides outside. Collected our guide and off we went. All said and done, arrived at the canyon on property between 7:20-7:30. Wasn’t really watching the clock, just enjoying the ride, talking to the guide. Saw some long horn cows off in the distance... a herd of rams... standing and starring at us... pretty cool.. stopped and glassed them a minute... then moved on... little further down the trail see a small herd of buffalo (about 4 to 5 of them). Kept going and finally arrived.
As soon as we get out, the guide spots some hogs across the canyon on a slope!! We get to the edge of the canyon and start glassing... see about 5 of them running around. One looks fairly good sized from the distance... we started looking on how to get there when we spot them trotting to the bottom of the canyon. Change positions and spot them meandering through the trees and scrub brush and suddenly see the whole herd of approximately 25-30 pigs! Making their way TO us... watch them go through the passage... and scurry right in front of us. Standing at the top of the canyon, looking down we had the perfect angle, they couldn’t see us. We picked out some of the large ones of the group. Weren’t huge, but big for the group. One stopped below. I could have used my 41 mag, but being with a guide I didn’t want to miss and look bad, so I borrowed my friend’s rifle. Mine is still not sighted in properly. It is a 6.5 a creedmore, with a very light trigger. He had me test the trigger before so I knew what it felt like. He said make sure you are on BEFORE you place your finger in the trigger guard. Anyway, I lined up the scope, and just as He said barely touched the trigger and bang/flop. I saw it flop, but missed where I hit in the recoil. I hit in the neck, bled a LOT! But didn’t kick long. Other pigs scattered, came back and started licking the blood! Found out the pigs will eat the dead hogs. Who knew?
Anyway, since the pigs didn’t scatter like we thought and kept coming back, we changed positions and my friend lined up his shot. After picking one out, he shot.. 1 shot kill as well. Now the hard part... getting down and the pigs out.
As we were watching, the pigs were coming back... milling around... a bigger one came through about 3 minutes after the second pig! 3 minutes later, another shot rang out! Other party got that one! So as we were down, getting our pigs, the other party threw a rope down. We helped them haul up the other pig, and then we got our pigs hauled up! Great timing otherwise, we’d have to carry our pigs back up!
While all that was going on, the pigs would NOT leave! Hanging around for any chance at the dead pigs. Kept shewing them away, but they had blood in their noses. Guide up top warned us to be careful. The herd has Russian Bore blood in them so could be dangerous. So we were being cautious. While we are waiting a HUGE 300lbs+ hog saunters in. Circled a bush with us on the other side, otherwise leaving us alone. Friend said I should be ready, so I hand him my pocket .22. He didn’t think it was all that funny. Still, we remained watchful but Unharassed. I didn’t want to pay for a second hog but could have easily gotten it too. Content with mine, we finished getting them to the top. Wasn’t huge, but descent sized.
Climbing out of the canyon was short work, and soon we had the hogs loaded and heading back to the lodge. Checked the phone, was 10 til 9. Friend said not to get used to this as it is not normally this easy.
Get back to the lodge, guides are finishing the hog we helped bring up for the other group, and begin on ours. They are fast and had them skinned, gutted and quartered within an hour. Loaded into our coolers, paid the remaining balance, and we headed home. Happy, excited, and ready for the next hunt!
As soon as we get out, the guide spots some hogs across the canyon on a slope!! We get to the edge of the canyon and start glassing... see about 5 of them running around. One looks fairly good sized from the distance... we started looking on how to get there when we spot them trotting to the bottom of the canyon. Change positions and spot them meandering through the trees and scrub brush and suddenly see the whole herd of approximately 25-30 pigs! Making their way TO us... watch them go through the passage... and scurry right in front of us. Standing at the top of the canyon, looking down we had the perfect angle, they couldn’t see us. We picked out some of the large ones of the group. Weren’t huge, but big for the group. One stopped below. I could have used my 41 mag, but being with a guide I didn’t want to miss and look bad, so I borrowed my friend’s rifle. Mine is still not sighted in properly. It is a 6.5 a creedmore, with a very light trigger. He had me test the trigger before so I knew what it felt like. He said make sure you are on BEFORE you place your finger in the trigger guard. Anyway, I lined up the scope, and just as He said barely touched the trigger and bang/flop. I saw it flop, but missed where I hit in the recoil. I hit in the neck, bled a LOT! But didn’t kick long. Other pigs scattered, came back and started licking the blood! Found out the pigs will eat the dead hogs. Who knew?
Anyway, since the pigs didn’t scatter like we thought and kept coming back, we changed positions and my friend lined up his shot. After picking one out, he shot.. 1 shot kill as well. Now the hard part... getting down and the pigs out.
As we were watching, the pigs were coming back... milling around... a bigger one came through about 3 minutes after the second pig! 3 minutes later, another shot rang out! Other party got that one! So as we were down, getting our pigs, the other party threw a rope down. We helped them haul up the other pig, and then we got our pigs hauled up! Great timing otherwise, we’d have to carry our pigs back up!
While all that was going on, the pigs would NOT leave! Hanging around for any chance at the dead pigs. Kept shewing them away, but they had blood in their noses. Guide up top warned us to be careful. The herd has Russian Bore blood in them so could be dangerous. So we were being cautious. While we are waiting a HUGE 300lbs+ hog saunters in. Circled a bush with us on the other side, otherwise leaving us alone. Friend said I should be ready, so I hand him my pocket .22. He didn’t think it was all that funny. Still, we remained watchful but Unharassed. I didn’t want to pay for a second hog but could have easily gotten it too. Content with mine, we finished getting them to the top. Wasn’t huge, but descent sized.
Climbing out of the canyon was short work, and soon we had the hogs loaded and heading back to the lodge. Checked the phone, was 10 til 9. Friend said not to get used to this as it is not normally this easy.
Get back to the lodge, guides are finishing the hog we helped bring up for the other group, and begin on ours. They are fast and had them skinned, gutted and quartered within an hour. Loaded into our coolers, paid the remaining balance, and we headed home. Happy, excited, and ready for the next hunt!
