I somehow have been lucky enough to make friends with an 80yo rancher from Central Florida. I've done my fair share of hoggin, but after being around this man I truly have realized how little I know and how much more to it there is, than just catching a hog with a dog.
Don't know why the old man tolerates me and all my questions, but sure am glad he does. Priceless knowledge that, in a state quickly becoming "city-fied", won't be around too much longer I'm afraid. He's got two young grandsons that have taken a likin' to me and hog hunting(lucky for me
). I'm hoping they'll turn into future hunting companions down the road, if they can just make it through the temptations of youth
If I had a nickel for every time he's said to me "I just hope I live long enough ta' teach you somethin', you might just make a pretty good hand".... so do I, so do I. He still manages several large woods cattle ranches and does all work a horseback. Still ropes renegade cattle at 80
. Trained a horse for 4 mnths for free just to be introduced to this family. Late nights after work, weekends, worth every minute of it too...even the broke finger
The guy's forgot more than what my friends and I have learned combined. The majority of what I've learned from him has been simple stuff, or should I say, things that make what we do more simple. From using this stuff that he calls "bed ticking", to using a cut down tree branch as a "yolk" across the hip of two or more men to drag a hog out. Every time I hunt with this man I learn something new. Recently, I've begun carrying a 10' length of rope after hearing stories about boars baying in "un-catch doggable" scenarios.
Granted, most of these old timers hunted back when mostly domestic "free ranging" hogs were everywhere, there's still so much applicable knowledge from these "working" stories.
Another story he told me about was tying up a good boar in a thicket, when after 10 minutes of noise and action another big boar, hidden in the bushes, charged in, knocking everyone on their head.... until the dogs realized what was goin' on and came to the rescue. Since then, I've always got my radar on when handling a hog, and a loose dog just in case.
There's so many more things I need to write down.. Hopefully someday when I'm his age, I'll be able to show the next generation how they did it back in the "good ol' days"... that is
if there's still somewhere left to hunt...
