Met Blake at 4:30....well, I was there at 4:30. Blake was a little late, lol. Drove out to the new spot and dropped the dogs about 5:45 I guess. It wasn't 5 minutes and they ALL lit out....to the left towards the pasture then a beeline back towards the river and straight North, up the river.
They got out about 800 or so before we heard Buck open up...the bay was short lived though and they were eventually out about mile before they sat down and bayed solid. We knew they were on the river but weren't quite sure how to get to them.
I had originally planned not to hit the spot for a few more weeks...try and let it cool down so I could run it in the daylight the first couple times. Well, the land owner told me the hogs were tearing up the hay in his feed lot so I told him I would go ahead and get out there.
Because we weren't quite sure how to get to the dogs they were bayed for a bit over an hour. We finally got within a couple hundred yards and headed to them, CD's in tow. We come to the river and the pig and dogs are just on the edge of the far bank....it was a sow about 80lbs. We went down on a gravel bar and assessed the situation. We KNEW they would end up in the water so instead of climbing the bank we let the bulldogs go and waited. The bulldogs got almost to the pig and she bailed into the water. The dogs went in after her and I emptied my pockets and followed.
The water wasn't real deep...around my thighs and waist mostly. The dogs caught up to her and finally shut her down. I dispatched her and floated her to the gravel bar.
Tater had rolled out of course and shortly there was another bay. I hadn't even gathered my bulldog at this point...he was on the opposite side of the river. I went over and tried to coaxe him in but he heard Tater.....and by this time Jasper and Buck and went to them. Dang I was hoping it wasn't a big boar because they were near 450 yards out.
Well...Emmett caught but got thrown I guess because the hog was heading back towards us. They actually ended up bayed for a short time at nearly the exact spot we caught the first one....down in the river. Emmett caught back up and locked down this time and Blake turned out Stone to just be sure. It was a nice sow...somewhere around the 180lb mark.
We snatched up Tater and the Bulldogs before dispatching this one...we had 2 on the ground and I decided that was a good first day. We went back to the truck...doctored a bit (both these sows had decent teeth) and got into some dry clothes. I like the place but I can see....more often than not......were gonna end up in the river. Its gonna make for some interesting winter hunts, lol.
Kevin Nevil
817-300-3241
