I have mentioned blind stalks on this property before. There are lots of hills and terraces and valleys on this property that if I spy something from a high spot and go after it, there is a good chance I will lose sight of it during the stalk if it is very far away, or as in this case, if the target is also on the move.
At the start of the hunt, I spied a hog going into the high brush horse pasture and I opted not to go after it. I have tried going after hogs there before and they are easily lost from view. So I let it go. About 90 minutes later, a hog came out of the high brush horse pasture and out into the open. The only problem was that it was too far to reliably shoot and was on the move, trotting northward. My plan was to intercept the hog to the north. I had about a 100 - 150 yard head start on it and figured I could close the distance to make the shot. While I was able to keep an eye on the hog for much of the way, it was eventually lost from view, being lower down in a valley.
As I approached the terrace edge, I spotted the top of my hog still moving north at a good clip, maybe 50 or 60 yards away. I figured it would come out of the little valley maybe 50-75 yards further north where I would have a good position for a shot. So I stopped, got on my sticks, and got my recorder turned on as I started scanning for the hog. After having spotted the hog, it apparently turned westward toward me and came up out of the valley only about 40 yards from where I was, still moving quick. This was not what I had anticipated!
Also in the video is a demonstration of how I go about finding wounds on hogs. I regularly see posts from folks where they mention that they were unable to find and entry or exit wound (one or both) because the hog "sealed up" after being shot. So I do a little hog surfing. I roll the hog over to the side where the wound is supposed to be, stand on top of it, and bounce several times. Hogs are pretty squirmy if you try to stand on top of them, but the bouncing action along with gravity will force blood out of the wound channel and mark the wound's location. ALWAYS make sure your hog is absolutely dead before attempting to do this - just sayin'.
At the start of the hunt, I spied a hog going into the high brush horse pasture and I opted not to go after it. I have tried going after hogs there before and they are easily lost from view. So I let it go. About 90 minutes later, a hog came out of the high brush horse pasture and out into the open. The only problem was that it was too far to reliably shoot and was on the move, trotting northward. My plan was to intercept the hog to the north. I had about a 100 - 150 yard head start on it and figured I could close the distance to make the shot. While I was able to keep an eye on the hog for much of the way, it was eventually lost from view, being lower down in a valley.
As I approached the terrace edge, I spotted the top of my hog still moving north at a good clip, maybe 50 or 60 yards away. I figured it would come out of the little valley maybe 50-75 yards further north where I would have a good position for a shot. So I stopped, got on my sticks, and got my recorder turned on as I started scanning for the hog. After having spotted the hog, it apparently turned westward toward me and came up out of the valley only about 40 yards from where I was, still moving quick. This was not what I had anticipated!
Also in the video is a demonstration of how I go about finding wounds on hogs. I regularly see posts from folks where they mention that they were unable to find and entry or exit wound (one or both) because the hog "sealed up" after being shot. So I do a little hog surfing. I roll the hog over to the side where the wound is supposed to be, stand on top of it, and bounce several times. Hogs are pretty squirmy if you try to stand on top of them, but the bouncing action along with gravity will force blood out of the wound channel and mark the wound's location. ALWAYS make sure your hog is absolutely dead before attempting to do this - just sayin'.