Hey fellas-

I thought I’d share some pictures from the first bow hunt of the season. Well, there is no real season for hogs, but you know what I mean. My buddy shot a video too, but it is so pixelated when it’s uploaded that I won’t even waste your time with it.

We were hunting along a bayou levee in the marsh about 30 minutes away from downtown New Orleans.

We spent a little too much time fishing for redfish on the way to the hunting spot, so we hurried to scurry up the tree like a bunch of monkeys at the last minute. I thought we were too late, but after an hour and fifteen minutes of throbbing feet (we were standing on narrow branches instead of tree stands… remember, I said monkeys), we heard the pork wads rooting our way. They popped out of the brush along the levee and were making their way through the marsh. The biggest sow gave me a quartering away shot in the tall salt grass at about 40 yards and I let one fly. She squealed, hopped, and hauled ass. We could see she was hit well right behind the shoulder. My buddy Francois slid out the tree like a banana as we gave chase to three 20+ pounders We were trying to get a shot with the handgun. Unfortunately, the thick dark marsh mud pulled at our shoes and kept us at a slower pace than our cloven-hoofed friends.

We went back to the spot where I shot big mama to start tracking. It looked like a 9th Ward murder scene with a good amount of bubbly blood splattered on the grass and ground, which is of course pathognomonic for a lung shot.

It was getting dark as we followed the blood trail back into the thick brush on the levee. We flicked on our headlamps as we crawled on our hands and knees tracking her through the underbrush and briars. It took us about 30 minutes before Francois found her piled up and dead as a door nail. No finishing shot needed (sorry, Francois).



We loaded her up in the boat and headed home to try out the new skinning pole Francois built for his wife. He, very cleverly I might add, told her it was an "arbor for [her] garden." Unfortunately, she is out of the country right now and didn’t get to see how wonderful it worked for hanging the hog, resting our beers, cutting the meat, and of course sitting down to bask in the success of a good hunt. Thanks, Katie!



I shot her using my “pig arrows” which are Easton A/C/C with a 100 gr. G5 Montec broadheads and Quicks Spin vanes. The bow is a solid black Mathews DXT at 70 lbs.

As you can see below, the arrow blew through ribs on both the entrance and exit wounds.

ENTRANCE



EXIT





The shot went a little higher than I would have liked, but after inspecting the shot directly through the aorta and seeing the MASSIVE blood clots in the pleural cavity, I was happy. Makes it kind of hard to stay on your feet for very long when your biggest pipe is blow out below the arch. In retrospect, I noticed the meat was more pale than usual and had little bleeding when we were skinning her… no wonder! I’ve never “bled” my animals other than blowing holes through them, so I don’t know if will truly make the meat taste any different. I assume it serves some purpose since I’ve see them do it in the big slaughter houses where time = money. Anybody know the reason behind it? (On a related side note, I'm sure we've all seen capes on very nice mountable trophies ruined by some dumbass cutting the throat to bleed it after the animal is down. I'm sure it makes taxidermists weep too.]



Anybody have a good recipe pulled-pork? I’ve always enjoyed eating it, but have never attempted it on my own. The best I ever had was a little spot south of Waco, Texas. Wish I could remember the name.

Thanks for reading this. Hope you enjoyed a quick story.

Yee-hah!! That was a perfectly placed shot IMO.

I have a local place where I shoot pigs about once a week, but the winds haven't been favorable for me to use my bow--only tree within reasonable range for night shooting doesn't work with our SE winds, so I have to wait for a "norther" to come through.

Kenati -- nice shooting! Should make for great table fare -- congratulations!

You guys are having WAY too much fun. That is a lot of candy for a dime.

Great pig and great shot...especially standing on branches.

Keep em coming!
Matt

quote:

Originally posted by Whitworth:
Kenati -- nice shooting! Should make for great table fare -- congratulations!

I took these for you, Whitworth:


Oven roasted pork loin and apples

Before the oven...


After...



The wife loved it! ...and she doesn't even care for pork that much. That's why I put it on one her fancy purty plates. Turns out I didn't even need to.

Thank you for the photographs! That looks great and now my stomach is rumbling! LOL!

First of all great shooting and great story. Secondly I have to know that recipe. That just looks delicious.

I second the request for the recipe.

Matt

Sure! (sorry I missed seeing your requests until now)

It's much easier than it looks. Here ya go:

===================================

Roast Pork Loin with Apples

Ingredients

* 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
* 1 (2-pound) boneless center cut pork loin, trimmed
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 1 medium onion, thickly sliced
* 2 carrots, thickly sliced
* 2 stalks celery, thickly, sliced
* 3 cloves garlic, smashed
* 3 sprigs fresh thyme
* 3 sprigs fresh rosemary (removing the whole sprig is better than chewing on the little "needles")
* 4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
* 2 apples, such as Cortland or Rome peeled, cored and cut into 8 slices
* 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
* 1 cup apple cider
* 2 tablespoons whole grain mustard

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large ovenproof skillet heat the vegetable oil over high heat. Season the pork loin all over generously with salt and pepper. Sear the meat until golden brown on all sides, about 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer the meat to a plate and set it aside.

Add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic, herb sprigs, and 2 tablespoons of the butter to the skillet. Stir until the vegetables are browned, about 8 minutes. Stir in the sliced apples, then push the mixture to the sides and set the pork loin in the middle of the skillet along with any collected juices on the plate. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast the loin until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the meat registers 140 to 150 degrees F, about 30 to 35 minutes. (You can roast it until it's 160, but you run the risk of it being too dry... your call).

Transfer the pork a cutting board and cover it loosely with foil while you make the sauce. Arrange the apples and vegetables on a serving platter and set aside. Remove and discard the herb sprigs. Return the skillet to a high heat and add the vinegar scraping the bottom with a wooden spoon to loosen up any browned bits. Reduce by half then add the cider and reduce by about half again. Pull the skillet from the heat and whisk in the mustard, and the remaining 2 tablespoons of cold butter. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper, to taste.

Slice into 1/2-inch thick pieces and arrange over the apple mixture. Drizzle some sauce over meat and serve the rest on the side.

================================

Good luck!

Thanks for sharing your recipe! Looks great! I have some fresh backstraps in the freezer......

Kenati,

Thank you so much for that recipe. I will trying it out very soon. I don't have any ferral hog meat so I will just have to use the store bought but I am thinking this will taste good no mater what meat you use.

Thanks again.

Kenanti I just had to post to let you know that I made this recipe this evening. I have to say this is one of the best pork recipes I have ever made. My wife and I were blown away. I think I am getting lucky tonight.

Thanks again

quote:

Originally posted by Palladin8:
Kenanti I just had to post to let you know that I made this recipe this evening. I have to say this is one of the best pork recipes I have ever made. My wife and I were blown away. I think I am getting lucky tonight.

Thanks again

HaHa!! Then I would say that is a great recipe!

Kenati, Many Thanks for sharing that with us.

Excellent story and pictures, and the recipe sounds great, the best part being that it is one recipe that my wife will be able to try without having to make any modifacations to.

Most folks have got to where every recipe they post has a certain level of either Jalapeno or one of the other peppers or Tabasco sauce.

My wife has a severe allergy to Capsasin, so she either can't eat the meal once it is cooked if it is cooked to the recipe, or has to modify the recipe and it may come out as good but not just taste the same.

This way, once the pork is done and served I can drown it in McIllheny's if I want to and not affect her.

Congratulations on great sounding hunt and kill, by the way, did you catch any Reds before the oinkers showed up.

That would make for a slightly different kind of Surf and Turf.

quote:

Originally posted by Palladin8:
Kenanti I just had to post to let you know that I made this recipe this evening. I have to say this is one of the best pork recipes I have ever made. My wife and I were blown away. I think I am getting lucky tonight.

Thanks again

I'm happy I could "wingman" for ya! Glad you enjoyed the recipe.


[Loco]horse,

We were only able to fish about 20 minutes before we decided to climb into the tree. Unfortunately, it was during a lull at maximum low tide. I mainly caught algae and cypress stumps on the bottom.

If work permits, we'll have to get an earlier start next time and pick up some live bait shrimp or croakers along the way... that usually gets their attention.

As a side note, I think we are going to kick it up to a higher rung on the primitive weapons ladder and take out the muzzleloader on the next hunt. I just sighted it in with one of the new Leupold 3-9X40mm Ultimateslam scopes. It has the really cool SABR reticle that seemed to print on target just as designed. I'll post most about it over on the muzzleloading forum sometime in the near future.

Look forward to the story and the pics and hopefully you will have some pics of some Reds to go along with the hogs.

Kenati,

Very good post !! It seems it was very tasty

Thanks for sharing the pics.

L