After dinner this evening, I decided to take a walk and see what there was to see. As spring has been bumping up against summer around here the past week or so, I was dressed as much for chasing elephant in Miatengwe as for anything Coleman County has to offer…climate and vegetation being similar. Shorts, gaiters, culling belt, binos, double rifle…yep, if I stumbled across an errant Ndlovu I’d be kitted out just fine…

The wind was still ripping as it’d been all day, a recipe for skittish animals. As proof, a hog sprinted across a flat 150 yards ahead of me…and there was NO way that he’d either seen or winded me. He was just LEAVING.

Since he’d headed west, I’d do the same. I waited a few minutes, then made my way across the same flat. Stepping across a dry wash, I made my way toward the side of a rocky ridge ahead of me. Following a game trail through the mesquite and greenbriar, I slowly worked my way toward the top of the ridge. Two thirds of the way up, I heard hogs in the thick stuff to my north and downslope from me. Quickly easing forward, I found another trail coming up from below…and hog sounds approaching.

Slipping the safety on my SIACE .45-70 double, I watched several hogs working their way up the slope through the tangle of oaks and greenbriar. As the wind was in my favor, I let them come to about 30 steps and them put the right barrel thru the top of the lead pig’s head, dropping it on the spot. The second hog, likely a sister to the first, wasn’t sure what had just happened but was determined to get clear of the wrath that had just descended on its littermate, and charged past it up the slope. Swinging with the moving hog, I fired the left barrel as the second pig’s head cleared the brush and watched it fall. Break the gun, dump the empty cases, reload…listening to the rest of the bunch trying to put a zip code between me and them.

Easy, peasy, Japaneazy. Except now I had photos to take and a green hell between me and my subjects. I got it done, but when finished I looked exactly like I HAD been hunting Miatengwe…and the wait-a-bit had taken their toll! Fair enough…blood for blood…Africa OR Texas.

Mark

You earned those two for sure. Look like good eats if you can get them home. Be Well, Packy.

Nicely done...and with such a beautiful rifle as well!

Yes, the Texas vegetation can be unforgiving. A couple years ago, I shot a hog at the edge of an open field. It made a few steps into a small area left for cover. I was wearing shorts and inappropriate shoes, but I figured I could just drive down there, step into that tangle and retrieve the hog.

It was easier said than done -- and not the best decision I've ever made. (Pardon the red, swollen knee. That's not from the vines and thorns but the product of aggressive rheumatoid arthritis)

Bobby--my shins looked a lot like yours 2 weeks ago after a dewberry picking session--

Hey Bobby!

Yep, that's them...a full-blown case of "Texas Shins"!

Good to hear from you; hope y'all are doing well!

Mark

Been there done that! Still healing from my last fence repair adventure.
Nice pigs, beautiful rifle!