The palm trees seemed so phony to me because I had just ever before seen them in films. Little did I understand, that what I was seeing was just the tip of the iceberg for the terrain I was going to remain in when it was time to go after some hogs.
After 3 days of angling, my pal Jesse Terry and I removed that evening to remain the evening at his 2,300 acre hunting camp. We arrived really late that night, so by the time we were done running our mouths about hunting tales it was quickly 3 a.m. in the morning. I set my alarm and 3 hours later on Jesse knocked on the door and also compelled me to send to my alarm’s demands. I soon discovered myself half-awake drawing on my camo for the early morning search.
If someone had actually told me that I would certainly be running to Florida and also hog hunting I would have called their bluff. As a little Northern girl from small-town Perham, Minnesota, I had never pursued hogs prior to or not to mention seen one! Having befriended two of my co-workers that stay in Florida throughout the off period from the pheasant searching lodge that I operate at in the autumn, it was just an issue of time prior to I headed south.
What I did not mention is the reality that not just have I never ever seen or shot a hog, however that I had actually never gotten on a commercial aircraft. After some unpleasant worried laughing I handled to make it audio as well as safe to Florida wherefore I would currently call the most effective journey ever before.
Upon stepping off the plane I soon understood that I was in a really different environment than I had actually ever experienced.
The minute we tipped outside we began packing up the overload buggy. After Jesse, myself, as well as his huge black lab Jumbo were all filled, we launched the buggy and headed out. If I just had 2 words to explain the landscape I was seeing they would be “Jurassic Park”. It goes without saying, I was totally awake at this point as my inner youngster half expected to be eaten by some freakin’ dinosaur. The ache, aspen, and also broadleaf trees that I am utilized to were significantly unlike the cypress trees and also palms that were all over. We had actually made our way via the labyrinth of hand fronds and climbed into the tree stand for our early morning hunt.
The stand that we sat in over looked a big barrel type of feeder hanging from a tree that got on an established timer to launch corn. The timer was readied to go off around 7:30/ 8 a.m. right after very first light. I sat hyper-vigilant with exhilaration as this kind of a jungle was full of many various sights and also seems for a woman from up north. It had not been long prior to a black hog showed up on the edge of the trees. Lengthy story brief … the hog broke us.
The wind wasn’t excellent for our morning search and it was swirling around simply sufficient for the hog to take off prior to I had the possibility to check out the scope. We decided and left the stand to go drive to a few other areas to stroll in and also see if we might find any kind of other hogs that had actually pertained to get corn. We had one more close experience with a hog that we snuck up on but once again, we were busted.
After a nap and also some food we went out once more in the late afternoon. We parked the buggy and set out to walk to the first tree stand. We sneaked in silently in situation we had the ability to see a hog heading in. Mid-step Jesse quits me dead in my tracks to look through his binoculars, and afterwards whispers to me that there were two hogs resting near the side of the timbers. We calmly snuck our way in and also quit at regarding 30 lawns at the majority of away, and also Jesse stooped down for me to use his back for a gun rest. Just as I am considering these resting hogs via the view, all of a sudden all heck breaks loose. The feeder went off. Expecting the hogs to range from the corn raining down on them, imagine my shock when instantly hogs came charging in!
I was quietly being my most lady-like excitedly murmuring promise words as I absorbed what was happening. I was attempting to choose which hog to shoot, when the huge black and gray hog turns up. I after that recognized what to fire so I intended behind the ear as well as pressed off a shot and he dropped dead quickly! The hogs didn’t understand yet what was taking place. A few scattered however there was still the chance to fire an additional hog! Jesse told me to shoot the big one that simply can be found in and BOOM!
I took off the sand right alongside his head like a loser. Because I was drinking also hard to intend from the adrenaline thrill of eliminating my initial hog, I handed Jesse the weapon and also he shot a pig. After Jesse killed one he handed me the gun back as well as informed me to take my time. I chose a black and also red one, took a couple of deep breaths and also handled to squeeze off a shot as well as hit him right behind the ear to drop him dead in his tracks like the very first hog.
That shot was just one of the hardest shots I have needed to take being so filled with adrenaline as well as the hogs never ever stop moving when they are rutting around for food. After that shot we had 3 dead and the others had actually ultimately captured onto us and ran. I’m extremely satisfied that I was able to retrieve myself for my one missed hog to aid support my bruised vanity.
After a large hug and great deals of photos we packed up our hogs onto the buggy and we were all done.
I have actually never had quite as crazy of a quest as sitting 30 backyards far from a lot of wild hogs playing sniper. The most effective component of the search was the fact that we lost the hogs off the rear of the buggy a minimum of 3 times as well as didn’t discover quickly sufficient so we needed to reverse as well as go find them to re-load them. We managed to lastly return to camp at dark weary from all the excitement of the day. My hog considered in at 161 extra pounds and also I need to confess that this Northern girl would love to head south once again for more!
Due to the fact that I had only ever seen them in flicks,
