Over the weekend of 17-19 July I had a repeat client, who is also an AR member come down for a feral hog hunt.

This was his third hunt with me, on the first he killed a 108 and a 208 pound boars on a three day hunt in October a couple of years back.

He and one of his daughters hunted with me earlier in the spring, before the rains started and after a couple of hard days hunting we never got a chance at anything.

His wife had an event down at Abilene Texas, which he was not all that keen on attending, but considering where she was going, passing thru Olney was not that much out of the way. When he contacted me about the possibility of a hunt I told him it was doable and since the drought had broke finding pigs should be easier.

After confirming the dates I got four set-ups running, feeding three times daily. One feeding timed for right after day light and two feedings timed to do off 15 minutes apart about an hour before dark.

Two of the set up also have lights at them for shooting after dark. Wanting to make up for the water haul earlier in the year I also began taking extra bags of some soured feed out to the set-ups on a twice a week schedule. Hog sign had increased and on the Wednesday before they arrived I saw a 200/225 pound boar a few hundred yards north of one feeder.

I had began thinking about it more on the Monday before the hunt and on the place south of Olney where I have two set-ups on 320 acres, I decided to start placing feed around a 4 foot x 4 foot x 9 foot hog trap that I occasionally set.

I rarely set it, because I can never catch just one or two pigs and they are never little.

The hunter and his wife arrived Thursday afternoon and after a short tour on the 680 acres where the cabin is located and a close up viewing of the buffalo herd we returned to the cabin for a supper of grilled buffalo steak/grilled bacon wrapped shrimp and scallop and all the trimmings.

Next morning we were in the stand around 5:45 AM, ready for oinkers. We stayed until 9:00 or so and saw nothing. We left that stand and circled by a pond where I have jumped pigs during the day but Nada. After brunch the hunter took a siesta and I went to do a couple of projects.

I picked the hunter up about 5:00 PM and we went to a different spot for the evening hunt. At Point B during the process I eased by the trap, baited it and set up and told the hunter I was going to see if I couldn't stack the deck in our favor. After the hunt I mentioned earlier I wanted him to take some pork home.

That afternoons hunt was a repeat of the mornings effort so we went back to another good meal that Lora put together, grilled rainbow trout and the fixin's.

Next morning we were headed to the stand about the same time as the day before and that day we were hunting the set up in the pasture where the trap was set. On our way past, I could see the trap and could see at least one pig in it. We were in high cotton now, because if something came into the feeder that we could get down, it would be gravy.

Nine o'clock came and went, but nothing showed up. We got our gear together and headed toward the trap knowing that we were not going to the cabin with an empty sack. As is my normal luck when setting that trap, I didn't catch one pig, but three, and none of them that could really be described as little.

When I pulled up I got out the Model 60 Marlin .22 I have been carrying for years now, handed it to the hunter and said get'em. He tried to talk me into just shooting one of the pigs, but one thing you don't do is turn a trapped pig loose, if they are trapped one time and get out or are turned out they will be permanently trap shy.

He finished shooting the three and we began working on getting them out of the trap and into the back of the truck. This was when I realized the flaw in my game plan. More so after we got back to the cabin. After we got the pigs unloaded, I began weighing the bodies. We had not gutted them, and they weighed 128 pounds, 129 pounds and 130 pounds.

We ended up doing a lot more work than I intended, but it was a good weekend spent with some good folks that took home a bunch of fresh pork.

Good job Randall!!

Better trapped pigs than none.
At least this time he got some pork for the effort.

Oh, read the cats thread last night, I like your "hunting cats". What do they hunt??
George

They really don't hunt, but one of them likes going to the stand with me and Lora. We have had two that don't mind it when a shot is taken and the first one we had would actually get situated so he could look out the window as if he were trying to spot game.

A happy ending there, Randall.
Better to get pork by trap than not at all.
Sounds like You and Lora treat folks right.

We try our best. I love to hunt, and I love to introduce people to Texas.

Lora is a damn fine cook and a real people person. Over the years we have made some really good acquaintances with the folks that have hunted with us.

I would not trade the experiences I have had guiding/hunting with folks for anything.

Randall..Sounds like you are still having big fun down there!

Z

I keep trying.

Well, I will admit to being the hunter in this latest episode.

I had a great time. Although not the way I prefer to shoot pigs, it certainly provided me with a cooler full (about 200#) of great pork. There is one constant when hunting with Randall...he ALWAYS tries his best to make sure his hunters have a good time and come home with the bacon.

Lora is no different. As I recall, we also had skewered shrimp and scallops to go with the buffalo and trout. Lora always wants you to go home weighing more than you came.

I told Randall going in that I was not concerned with getting any pigs. We would hunt, see what we could find, and if nothing happened, that was good by me. I saw it as a friend helping me out. I did not have to go to my wife's class reunion this way. She was more than happy to oblige.

There are a few things I came away with on this trip that will stay with me.

1) When you get the pigs out of the truck and set them in the shade while you work, do NOT set them down on top of the fire ants. I will not make that mistake again. Randall was skinning the first as I was going to do the ground work on the others to speed things up. Things like make the cuts for the gambrel, start the cuts down the inside of the legs, etc. I figured out quickly my mistake. At least he did not laugh.

2) ALWAYS use the knives Lee Baumgart makes for you. It was my first chance and they worked great. I had Lee make me two knives and I can't say enough about them. I will post pics on the knife making forum when I get them off the camera.

3) Drink twice as much water as you think you need. Although it was not as hot as here in Kansas, it was certainly hot enough. Kansas City is just having more humidity than Olney. Yesterday it was only 94 here, but with the humidity the heat index was 115. It was a long hot day skinning.

4) Shoot 1-2 and let the others go! I know this is against Randall's beliefs, but did I say it was HOT?

Thanks again to Randall and Lora for a great time and getting me out of that reunion.

It is not so much my way of doing things, as once a pig is in a trap, if it is released, it won't go back in another trap.

I really do appreciate the amount of work you did helping with those pigs, and Lora and I both enjoy spending time with you and it has been really special meeting your wife and one of your daughters.

That's what is called: Win Win.

Good for all of you.
George