|
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 145
Campfire Member
|
OP
Campfire Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 145 |
I had one of my buddies with his 7yo son out yesterday evening to do some hog hunting. I got them set up in the blind where my game cameras had show constant activity each evening, and then proceeded to walk for about 3 hours looking for new hog sign and trying to figure out where the turkey's have gone (they disappeared on me.) I saw neither hide nor feather of hogs or turkeys and headed back to the truck. While sitting on the tailgate of the truck (it's about 7:30pm at this point) I twisted around to get a water out of the cooler and I saw this pretty sizable hog walking down a ditch about 200yards away. He's slowly working his way towards me feeding and is completely unconcerned that the truck is sitting there. This is always how it seems to work when I take my friends or family hunting. I put them in prime spots and then the animals try to get into the back of the truck with me. When he got to about 50yards my phone dinged for a text and it was my buddy asking if I had seen anything because they hadn't. I replied that there was a hog that was getting so close that I was contemplating taking him prisoner instead of shooting him, but that I was trying to talk myself out of shooting him in general. A text immedieatly came back that just said, "Shoot him!!" I didn't argue, in fact I might not have read the text until after I dropped him in his tracks! I was really pleased to find that he was not just a fat boar hog, but was actually a BAR (castrated male for you non Floridians) . My buddies son was elated to get to see a hog and to see one processed. It was his first outing and he had a fantastic time... which for me was better than taking the hog and having meat for the BBQ. AB
Things that matter the most should never be at the mercy of things that matter the least.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 52,680
Campfire Kahuna
|
Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 52,680 |
I like hunting those but sure glad we don't have any here. Nice job!
Liberalism is a mental disorder that leads to social disease.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 69,403 Likes: 23
Campfire Kahuna
|
Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 69,403 Likes: 23 |
I like hunting those but sure glad we don't have any here. Nice job! Keith. I'll trade you some for some antelopes
"Allways speak the truth and you will never have to remember what you said before..." Sam Houston Texans, "We say Grace, We Say Mam, If You Don't Like it, We Don't Give a Damn!"
~Molɔ̀ːn Labé Skýla~
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 29,670 Likes: 5
Campfire Ranger
|
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 29,670 Likes: 5 |
Nice work; ya can't argue w/ pig headed desires for death!
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 69,487 Likes: 18
Campfire Kahuna
|
Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 69,487 Likes: 18 |
I was really pleased to find that he was not just a fat boar hog, but was actually a BAR (castrated male for you non Floridians) . Do you guys handle pigs like feral cats - castrate and release them again? How do they get castrated in the wild?
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 2,623
Campfire Regular
|
Campfire Regular
Joined: Nov 2012
Posts: 2,623 |
I like, Rock Chuck am an uneducated Idahoan...and inquiring minds want to know...what's the deal with castrated?
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 2,416
Campfire Regular
|
Campfire Regular
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 2,416 |
Great story. Thanks for sharing. Best wishes.
SCI Life Member DAV Life Member NRA Life Member North American Hunt Club Life Member
Your true character shows in your conduct
You cannot solve a problem at the same level of awareness that created it - Einstein
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 69,487 Likes: 18
Campfire Kahuna
|
Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 69,487 Likes: 18 |
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 2,337
Campfire Regular
|
Campfire Regular
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 2,337 |
Very cool! But what did he whack it with?
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 102
Campfire Member
|
Campfire Member
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 102 |
Nice job mate. Just as a point of interest I've shot a heap of hogs over thirty years of chasing them with bow and arrow and two of those were huge barrows. Both had a nice long set of tusks that went way back deep in the jaw, way deeper than any boar with nuts intact that I've seen. Both sets measured just shy of 10" along the length of each tusk.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 32,206 Likes: 5
Campfire 'Bwana
|
Campfire 'Bwana
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 32,206 Likes: 5 |
Now, THAT is a prime hunting story! My only one close to that was the time a buddy and I went Mt. goat hunting on the Kenai Pen. Half way thru day one of a 5 day planned hunt we decided it was a one-goat hunt, tho both of us were permitted. It took us 12 hours to cover 6 miles up that canyon, day one, to where we could start hunting. It wasn't pretty... There was this 60 foot waterfall, for example, that we had to circumvent... Duane drew the coin toss, but I took the pics, using his camera. Damned good pics too, if I do say so myself. Including the goat at 80 yards with a telephoto, before D. shot him on the run.. OK - I might have upset the beast just a little.... . Totally exhausted on getting back to the truck (this involved a dual, and hairy raging stream crossing via canoe, both ways) with his goat, we went a few miles down the road to a friend's place for a lot of drinks, a sauna, and a gourmet meal. In that order. Shortly after we arrived to our friends' empty cabin, and well into our third beer, the lady of the house pulled in and on entering said, all wide eyed, " You will never guess what I saw on the highway on my way back from the post office (2 miles away). Duane and I looked at each other and then... We guessed correctly, simultaneously. I've been trying for 40 plus years since for that same permit....
Last edited by las; 04/17/15.
The only true cost of having a dog is its death.
|
|
|
|
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 10,961 Likes: 1
Campfire Outfitter
|
Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 10,961 Likes: 1 |
I like, Rock Chuck am an uneducated Idahoan...and inquiring minds want to know...what's the deal with castrated? Same here, and I'm not visiting FL until I get an answer.
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,417
Campfire Regular
|
Campfire Regular
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,417 |
Nice porkage! That is correct. Lots of people here either catch them with dogs or trap them, castrate them, and release them. It definitely puts a dent in the breeding population, usually makes them grow larger then intact boars, and they usually taste way better as well. So come on down to sunny hot S Florida and take some home with you. Please!
Craig
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 69,487 Likes: 18
Campfire Kahuna
|
Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 69,487 Likes: 18 |
You can castrate all the boars you can catch and it won't affect the population a bit. The boars left intact will breed any and all sows so the piglet population is kept intact. All castrating and releasing does is make inbreeding more common.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,417
Campfire Regular
|
Campfire Regular
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 1,417 |
Actually very true Rock Chuck. The other viable boars will fill in the gaps so to speak. Scientists around here think that reducing the boars reduces the overall population. That is only true for a short while until the boar piglets mature and begin to breed or new boars find their way into new territory.
After studying these critters for years and observing them in the wild out in Big Cypress, efficiently catching and castrating most of the boars in a fairly isolated area, like we have down here, seems to keep the population in check for a good bit, as long as they contine to be hunted hard and kept off the feeders. Also, the large mature boars seem to run off the smaller ones instinctually, even though they can't breed any longer, and contine getting larger while maintaining decent edibility. I know quite a few people who do this after trapping them (legally), then moving them into fenced hunting concessions up near Lake O where people go to get "trophy hogs." They are definitely a nuisance down here, but fun as hell to hunt, especially with only knives and by hand (no dogs) if you're in the right area and can put the sneak on them.
Now if we can only figure out what to do with the bears...which are cool as hell until you run into a sow with cubs out hunting hogs with only a knife and flashlight at night. That and the rare panther always seems to make you pay closer attention to what you're doing.
Craig
|
|
|
|
555 members (1minute, 160user, 1234, 219 Wasp, 222Sako, 257 roberts, 62 invisible),
2,520
guests, and
1,212
robots. |
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
Forums81
Topics1,193,790
Posts18,515,999
Members74,017
|
Most Online11,491 Jul 7th, 2023
|
|
|
|