I know its my first day here. But I figure its as good a time as any to do a little story tellin.
So a few years ago I was getting onto my bird hunting buddies that we needed an off season activity. I explained what I had read about predator hunting and they seemed interested. Those two guys had hunted deer for years. Me, only birds.
Not long after one of my buddies called me up all excited. "We got a place, we got a place to hunt coyotes!" He proceeded to explain how a guy he knows has a ranch up in north Texas. 1000 acres. It has a double wide that we can use. All we have to do is show up.
We set the date and drive up to Knox county. We are all from the Austin area. And we arrive to a really large ranch. The old man greets us and asks, would you like me to show you around? Our excitement picks up when the old man says, grab your guns. This is the part where my lack of experience and excitement get the best of me. One of my buddies grabs his 5.56. The other grabs a lever action 30-30. I grab a shotgun loaded with #4 buckshot. Off we go to get a feel for the ranch.
Now, I have done plenty of land surveying in my day. But soon enough I was not convinced that this ranch was a mere 1000 acres. We had loaded up in a Kawasaki mule and were working our way around the ranch. We dropped down into a low area next to the Brazos river. We drove for what seemed like a couple of miles. We had the Brazos on our right at about 25 yards with a barbed wire fence separating us from the river. On the left it was clear for about 15 yards and then wooded so we were traveling down a corridor. River on the right, woods on the left. The old man kept eyeballing the woods. I was getting suspicious. My buddy with the lever action handed it to me and said, gimme that shotgun.. I got a feeling pigs are gonna come out of those woods. We traded guns. The lever action was a nice gun. I had never seen it before nor had I shot one similar.
Shortly thereafter, there was quite a commotion to our left in the woods. A group of mature swine were hauling ass about 40 yards in front of us, in the woods, in the same direction we were traveling. The old man stepped on the gas. When it became evident they were gonna make a run for the river he slammed on the brakes. The 5.56 shooter and I jumped out of the mule and stepped in front to position ourselves for the shot. The group of about 6 hogs exploded out of the woods and tore across the opening. The first thing I did was look down at the rifle I was holding in hopes of locating the safety. Then it hit me, the first pillow, then the second.. pumf pumf pumf pillows hitting me in the side of the head. I look over and my buddy with his semi auto has a muzzle brake that is throwing hot gas right at my face like giant pillows pumf pumf. I finally locate the safety as the last 3 hogs are still in the opening.
That lever action married right to my shoulder like a browning over and under. I fired off 3 shots seeing one hit for sure. I suppose it was the adrenaline that made a telescopic view down those iron sights. I estimate we were around 80 yards from where they crosed... pigs at full sprint from left to right. When the dust settled I was surprised to see my buddy running the distance to get down there. I soon discovered why. And it is a lesson that has stuck with me ever since. There were 3 hogs down 80 yards away. Down but not done. He delivered coup de grace shots on them to send them on their way.
It was the first time I had ever hunted anything larger than a dove. It was amazing when I finally got upon them. They were big! Kinda cool looking but ugly. I field dressed one and brought it home. 130 bl boar. The other two were too big to get into the back of the mule. They went, as you guys say, to the buzzard society.
Back in the mule the old man drove us up onto a plateau. We stopped and he was pointing off in the distance at a radio tower. He explained that it was the north east corner of the ranch. I could barely even see it after giving some effort. I finally asked the old rancher, how big is this place? He replied, 7,000 acres. I looked over at my buddy who had excitedly told me about this thousand acre ranch. His eyes were wide open.
We did manage a couple of coyotes during that weekend. Could have been worse for a group of rookies. We are planning our 3rd trip to that ranch in about 6 weeks. I hope to have photos and more stories to share with you fellas.
Pew pew life,
Andrew
So a few years ago I was getting onto my bird hunting buddies that we needed an off season activity. I explained what I had read about predator hunting and they seemed interested. Those two guys had hunted deer for years. Me, only birds.
Not long after one of my buddies called me up all excited. "We got a place, we got a place to hunt coyotes!" He proceeded to explain how a guy he knows has a ranch up in north Texas. 1000 acres. It has a double wide that we can use. All we have to do is show up.
We set the date and drive up to Knox county. We are all from the Austin area. And we arrive to a really large ranch. The old man greets us and asks, would you like me to show you around? Our excitement picks up when the old man says, grab your guns. This is the part where my lack of experience and excitement get the best of me. One of my buddies grabs his 5.56. The other grabs a lever action 30-30. I grab a shotgun loaded with #4 buckshot. Off we go to get a feel for the ranch.
Now, I have done plenty of land surveying in my day. But soon enough I was not convinced that this ranch was a mere 1000 acres. We had loaded up in a Kawasaki mule and were working our way around the ranch. We dropped down into a low area next to the Brazos river. We drove for what seemed like a couple of miles. We had the Brazos on our right at about 25 yards with a barbed wire fence separating us from the river. On the left it was clear for about 15 yards and then wooded so we were traveling down a corridor. River on the right, woods on the left. The old man kept eyeballing the woods. I was getting suspicious. My buddy with the lever action handed it to me and said, gimme that shotgun.. I got a feeling pigs are gonna come out of those woods. We traded guns. The lever action was a nice gun. I had never seen it before nor had I shot one similar.
Shortly thereafter, there was quite a commotion to our left in the woods. A group of mature swine were hauling ass about 40 yards in front of us, in the woods, in the same direction we were traveling. The old man stepped on the gas. When it became evident they were gonna make a run for the river he slammed on the brakes. The 5.56 shooter and I jumped out of the mule and stepped in front to position ourselves for the shot. The group of about 6 hogs exploded out of the woods and tore across the opening. The first thing I did was look down at the rifle I was holding in hopes of locating the safety. Then it hit me, the first pillow, then the second.. pumf pumf pumf pillows hitting me in the side of the head. I look over and my buddy with his semi auto has a muzzle brake that is throwing hot gas right at my face like giant pillows pumf pumf. I finally locate the safety as the last 3 hogs are still in the opening.
That lever action married right to my shoulder like a browning over and under. I fired off 3 shots seeing one hit for sure. I suppose it was the adrenaline that made a telescopic view down those iron sights. I estimate we were around 80 yards from where they crosed... pigs at full sprint from left to right. When the dust settled I was surprised to see my buddy running the distance to get down there. I soon discovered why. And it is a lesson that has stuck with me ever since. There were 3 hogs down 80 yards away. Down but not done. He delivered coup de grace shots on them to send them on their way.
It was the first time I had ever hunted anything larger than a dove. It was amazing when I finally got upon them. They were big! Kinda cool looking but ugly. I field dressed one and brought it home. 130 bl boar. The other two were too big to get into the back of the mule. They went, as you guys say, to the buzzard society.
Back in the mule the old man drove us up onto a plateau. We stopped and he was pointing off in the distance at a radio tower. He explained that it was the north east corner of the ranch. I could barely even see it after giving some effort. I finally asked the old rancher, how big is this place? He replied, 7,000 acres. I looked over at my buddy who had excitedly told me about this thousand acre ranch. His eyes were wide open.
We did manage a couple of coyotes during that weekend. Could have been worse for a group of rookies. We are planning our 3rd trip to that ranch in about 6 weeks. I hope to have photos and more stories to share with you fellas.
Pew pew life,
Andrew
