Posted: 8/23/2009 7:39:02 PM EDT
Son and I had but few chances to fish this summer. Now that I have a bit of spare time on the weekwends.....algea bloom has killed all the fish in our nearby lake!
The shale farm where I shoot, plink, and do a bit of bird hunting has a fair size pond. I consider it, and decide to take a couple guns to plink with in case the fishing sucks. We go and fish, and fish, and fish, and fish  .....catch a couple small channel cats, and a perch or three. Nothing worth keeping. Day gets hotter, and humid, fishing continues to suck.
Turtles begin jacking around with our bait....pisses me off. Turtles begin popping up all over...a big one crawls up on a half submerged log and leers at us. I go get my Marlin Cowboy carbine in .45 Colt.
Son doesn't want to blow the fishing just yet with a turtle murder...so I put the rifle on a rag on top the tackle box and continue to not catch fish...and sweat...sweat a lot!  Turtles continue to play on the log, when they're not eating out bait.
Finealy we catch a couple more cats...some approaching keeper size, but we throw them back in. Then we see the hog! Big sucker too, sneaked in on us to get a drink!  Wind is in our favor, and the hog doesn't see us because we're backed into the shade of some cottonwoods....but I ain't got my carbine in hand either! It's ten feet away on top my tackle box with an empty chamber. We sit perfectly still and gawk at the pig.
The hog mucks around at the edge of the water for a bit, then heads back up the bank, and then around the west edge of the dam. I grab my carbine and follow with son in formation behind. We sneak to the top of the dam, and peer over. I catch a glimpse of the hog about 80yds away snuffling along in some heavy brush. The hog seems to be unaware of us still....saved by the wind and rustling brush and weeds. We sneak around the dam ourselves and gain some ground on the hogs last seen position.  Problem is the hog meanders even further away, still upwind, but in the trees now. I just catch a glimpse of the pig in all the brush and brambles in this little neck of trees.
Can't decide whether to try get into the trees behind the hog(more downwind), and try to stalk him into a shot....or try get into the trees ahead of the pig, and bushwhack his ass (more upwind)! I figure as soon as I hit the trees...the pig will smell us anyhow. I decide to hit the trees downwind and stalk some more. I want to get close as I can 'cause the carbine is loaded with 250gr cowboy plinking ammo, and I've only fired it at maybe 50yds or so during plinking anyhow. I want to get close close. We make it in the trees with the assistance of a bit available terrain for some cover. Not for sure if we spooked the pig or not...we slowly creep through the cedars and hackberry trees towards where I think the feral hog will be. The copse of trees isn't very big, like maybe three or four acres and not very wide either. Just a bunch of trees along a waterway on the edge of a field. We stalk our way to within maybe 60yds of the end of the trees, open shot three directions across either wheatfield or pasture. But don't see the hog. Not in the trees, not anywhere to be seen in the fields either. I figure the pig may have smelled us and bolted, us not noticing him bugging out because of the wind noise and brush. Hot in the tree-line, so we go the windy side of the strip of trees. We see the hog rooting along the fence separating the pasture and field. Close enough to shoot, but has his ass towards me, plus weeds and small trees in the fenceline obscuring a decent shot!
I've left my binoculars in the truck, what with not needing them fishing.  My glasses are sweaty, so I wipe them off and try hard to see my shot. Pig is eating something in the brush along the fence? Not paying a lick of attention to us. We get down along the dirt berm at the fields edge and I sight the Marlin(buckhorns and brass bead man! ). I set the carbines sights where I want to shoot the hog.
The hog just barely cooperates. Giving me a bad shot angle everytime he shows much of himself....I'm wishing for a scoped hunting rifle instead of a cowboy plinking carbine with open sights.  Then the hog 'screws the pooch'! Turns his tail towards the fence, and stares out across the field! Perfect broadside standing shot at 60 paces. I fire the Marlin.....BOOM, and we hear....THOCK!
Pig knows we're here now! he try's to run, and plows out into the open field in a bizzare little running circle that takes him right back to the field fence! Hits the fence with a SPROING, that sends fence steeples flying and wire whipping. Big feral pig plunges through the fence and cuts another funky little rodeo circle in the pasture. Then falls over at a dead run and does his final flop act!
Was wild plums that killed the pig. Kept his attention enough to get his ass shot through the lungs with a .45 Colt carbine! Hog is dressed and hanging in my retired buddys garage now. Hope it tastes better than the last one. That one was gamy as hell, and ended up smoking most of it.
Hunting gamey feral hogs on a hot August Sunday afternoon is just the shiznits. Son claims it's way better than fishing!
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