I don't have kids (long story) so about noon Christmas day I had had enough Macy's parade, etc that I could stand. So I loaded up Monkey and my young dog Crash and just thought I would go to the woods and ride around...by myself as usual. It had rained most of the day before so I just rode the roads looking for tracks and such and to see what I could see. I had Monkey and Crash on the scooter and every now and then I would let them out one at a time to run ahead of the scooter and just let them enjoy the woods. I hadn't seen any hog tracks/ sign made since the rain so I didn't really expect to get on anything at 2 PM.
I was a couple miles from the truck and saw a trail going off into some hardwoods where the acorns were still falling so I let Monkey out and just walked in a ways to see if anything had been on it. I saw a few deer tracks and one decent size hog track but the hog track had been walked on by deer so I figure it was old. Monkey had gone ahead of me on the trail with his nose down and I could tell he could smell where the hog had been but it was old. He doesn't have a real cold nose, but what he does have is persistence!
I had left Crash on the scooter as he is going to be ROUGH and I didn't want him & Monkey out together. I checked the Garmin and Monkey was about 250 yards from me. I looked at the map and he had made a half circle and was coming back. He got within 30 yards of me and I saw him and even talked to him, but he went right on by me, just walking along and smelling. He went by me and went out into an overgrown clear cut that was fairly thick. A good place for a hog to lay up.
I was just easing along and looking, saw a fresh scrape made since the rain (mental note- it IS still deer season!) and when I checked the Garmin again Monkey was about 550 yards away out in the cut. He was going north and the scooter was south (about 650 yards) so I figured maybe I better mosey back to the scooter...just in case I had to go find Monkey. When I got to the scooter I checked on him and it said "Lost communication". That told me he was moving...away.
I got on the scooter and headed north. Stopped to look at the Garmin and Monkey was .6 mile NW of me. I looked at the map and he had been making circles out in that cut...then a straight line.....which tells me he jumped the hog. He was moving pretty quick so I tried to catch up to him, but you know the roads never take you where you need to go! I drove out to the highway as he was headed right for it (which always worries me) and just about the time I started to run the scooter down the side of the 60 MPH highway, he turns & heads south. So I turn around and head that way too. He is about 500-600 yards west of me in a big block and no easy way to get to him. I drive down to a spur road that cuts into the block a ways then dead ends. I was driving pretty quick (I think Crash still has jet lag..
and went down the spur road almost to the end. Turned the scooter off and heard Monkey bayed! And only 135 yards off the road. Hot dang!
I headed into the woods and was trying to get there pretty quick as he bayed like it was a big hog. I didn't turn Crash loose as I didn't know what he had. I got within about 60 yards (too thick to see anything) and I heard the hog run him...then break. Crap! Off they go. Monkey is 110% silent, he doesn't yip, bark, yodel .....or anything behind a hog so without the Garmin you wouldn't know where he was. I looked at the Garmin and he was over 400 yards away...headed north again!
So back to the scooter I go, back out to the N/S road I had already been on and head north. I have the Garmin out and as I am looking to see where Monkey is it shows him treed at about 630 yards west of me. I turn the scooter off and listen and sure enough, I hear him bayed. No road to him, so off I go, into a nasty overgrown clear cut. Without my backpack....or phone...or more bullets......probably not good!
I am going over knocked down trees, under vines, through briars and brush...trying to get there quickly. I get within about 50-60 yards again and slow down. I circle a little to come in from the downwind side and can see Monkey through the brush. He looks at me for a second then looks back at the hog, baying, but its thick and I can't see the hog. All of a sudden the hog comes to Monkey, and I mean he came right NOW! He ran Monkey just as hard as he could for probably 50 yards, peeled off and ran...again! It was a REAL good spotted hog but I couldn't tell if it was a boar or a barr hog. But he seriously had an attitude and wanted to hurt something.
Off they go and within seconds they are 300 + yards away . Then I hear Monkey bay again. Hot dang! I hurry to him and he is bayed in a thicket...even thicker than before. I can just see part of him, but again, can't see the hog. This is where I need a 25 year old 6'3" 250 lb hunting buddy with a vested up sure enough catch dog! I ease around and can see part of the hog through the brush. I am only about 20 yards and as fast as that hog came to Monkey I am thinking there is NO way I am will be able to get out of his way if he decides to come to me!
So I lean down...Monkey knows what is coming and gets closer to the hog...I aim my pistol and ...BAM! Away they go! am like...WTH? I didn't get a good look at the hog as it was facing me, but I thought I should have hit it in the head. Monkey bays pretty quick so I get there and see the hog and its a black hog....huh?? So I aim and BAM...again. Down it goes, Monkey piles on and I run in and grab a leg...and it gets up! Me, the hog and Monkey go round and round in knee deep water. I don't want to shoot it as Monkey has it caught. It is fighting Monkey and trying to turn around on me at the same time! I have the pistol in one hand, the hog by the leg in the other and things are starting to get interesting again!
I holster the pistol while trying to hold the hog and finally get it put away, get my knife out and stick it. I hold on (and so does Monkey) until it gives out and sinks down into the water. I finally get a chance to look at the hog and its a big old black sow!! Not the spotted hog he was on to start with. I don't know when he swapped hogs or maybe he just ran the spots off of it...
...but this hog was black..and a sow!
Now I have a dead hog...its 5 PM...I am miles from the truck....probably 3/4 mile from the scooter....and I am alone again! How do I get in these messes?? Oh well, sure beats sitting at home watching the Macy parade any day! LOL
I leash Monkey as at this point he is tired, I am tired AND I have to work the next morning... and head out. I just go to the closest road. Get out on it and look at the Garmin and its a long ways to the scooter. We head that way and get to the crossroad and turn north and the Garmin says it is 740 yards to the scooter. We get there, I load Monkey and head back the way we came. I find an old 4 wheeler trail going off into the block where the hog is so I follow it. It meanders around and I am driving slow looking at the Garmin and low and behold I can drive within 130 yards of the hog! I grab some mule tape and go to the hog. I tie a piece around its snout, hook a lead to it and start pulling it in the water which is WAY easier than on land. i follow the water as much as I can and only have to drag it maybe 40-50 yards through the thick brush on dry ground.
I get to the scooter.....and try to load the hog....and try some more.....its like trying to load a garbage bag full of jello. A 160 lb bag of jello! Which is what the hog weighed once I got home! Finally got it loaded (with some redneck ingenuity) and headed to the truck. It's dark when i get there so I leave the hog on the scooter, load the dogs in the truck and head home. Still have to clean the hog when i get home, it is an hour and a half away and its already 6 PM. Going to be a late night!
Here is the only pic I have. Monkey is asleep standing up..he was wore out. Ran the hog(s) 4.38 miles on the Garmin. Crash is wondering where the hog came from and I a ready to go home.
Had to work today, but me and Monkey have another day planned tomorrow!!
