I have had trail camera pictures of 2 nice sows and a shoat showing up at a feeder that I run year round for hogs. 2 recent hunts on the site were unsuccessful. I went out Saturday afternoon and checked my camera. In 2 weeks I had 1,442 pics. I checked the 2 days prior to Saturday and saw the same pigs were showing up around 8:30 pm. I came ready to sit the ladder stand. On the 45 minute drive to the property, I passed 3 banks showing temperature on their digital signs ranging from 96 degrees to 106 degrees. Suffice it to say, it was warm. Once I climbed my stand and got situated, I noticed there was an intermittent light breeze in my face and to my left side, which should be perfect for this stand. Around 7 PM I had a young fork horn buck come in and feed prior to the feeder throwing at 7:16. He spotted me in the stand, or at least it seemed like he looked directly at me, but was not at all alarmed. He fed along a creek bed and worked his way to within 10 yards of me without ever alerting on my scent. He actually worked back to just over my right shoulder. He only blew and left as I reached down to switch from my Henry Big Boy .44 to my AR in 7.62x39 with thermal optic. Feeder threw and it began to get dark around 7:45. I generally make visual sweeps with the thermal every couple of minutes while hunting with it. I spotted a doe coming in along the creek about 50 yards out. I watched as she fed for about 20 minutes, watching for a few seconds and lowering the thermal for a couple of minutes before making another visual sweep. She was cautious, but never alerted to my presence. After about 20 minutes of her feeding, I heard a sound that I wasn't sure about. I picked up the thermal and looked. The sound happened again as I got my eye to the optic. It was a big sow grunting and moving towards the doe. The shoat was a couple of yards behind the sow. The doe ran off and the 2 pigs moved past the feeder and fed to the left in the edge of the brush. I looked again to the right and saw another heat signature working towards me along the creek bed. I watched back and forth between the 2 larger hogs to see which would present the best shot. I trained my focus on the hog to the right. Through the thermal, you can see trees and bushes quite clearly. I picked a tree and waited for her to clear the tree. She passed the tree and stopped at about 40 yards out. I clicked off the safety and settled the red dot of the reticle in the optic behind her left ear. I squeezed the trigger and she dropped where she stood. I took another shot as the other sow took off, but apparently missed. I swung back to the downed hog and she was already still.
I got her dressed out and rinsed out, as I take a 5 gallon bucket of water when I go out for a hunt. Once I got her to the processor and inside the cooler, I saw that she was a hog I had nicknamed "Patch". I hadn't been able to see the white patch in the first pic, as she had been "chilling" in the muddy water of a pothole in the creek before she came in.
She was an easy 150 lbs on the hoof. I was sure to thank God for sausage and ground pork for the fall and winter. Backstraps will be cut in about 3/4" thick slices and tenderized for breading and skillet frying. I soak them in buttermilk for a couple of hours, then dredge in flour, dip in eggwash and batter in a mix of blended townhouse crackers and French's french fried onion rings. It will make your mouth water!
I got her dressed out and rinsed out, as I take a 5 gallon bucket of water when I go out for a hunt. Once I got her to the processor and inside the cooler, I saw that she was a hog I had nicknamed "Patch". I hadn't been able to see the white patch in the first pic, as she had been "chilling" in the muddy water of a pothole in the creek before she came in.
She was an easy 150 lbs on the hoof. I was sure to thank God for sausage and ground pork for the fall and winter. Backstraps will be cut in about 3/4" thick slices and tenderized for breading and skillet frying. I soak them in buttermilk for a couple of hours, then dredge in flour, dip in eggwash and batter in a mix of blended townhouse crackers and French's french fried onion rings. It will make your mouth water!