PAPA-PEPPR vs. THE WILD HOGS - Another Adventure Just Found Me!
What do you do when you suddenly see a heard of wild hogs in the woods nearby?
My choice was to grab a 30.06 out of the backseat, load a round in the chamber, jump out of the truck, and head straight for the herd…. on foot.
Since I’m typing this now, I obviously made it out alive, so what the whole story?
The whole story is that ever since I moved to Arkansas, I’ve been hearing about the wild hogs. Terrible, ferocious beasts that’ll tear you apart if they catch you out in the wild. Still, for about a year, I never even seen any evidence of them, just a lot of terrifying, and sometimes humorous, stories.
Then, a few months back, I got to see my first herd. I counted 26, and here a few poor quality pictures taken on my phone from inside a vehicle.
I was on my way to a job with one of my neighbors and his son when we saw them. Quickly we got on the phone with the request for more neighbors and some guns. A couple from up the road came and lined up their shots, and another son of the neighbor I was with was rushing some guns down to us.
While we were waiting for the rifles, a small traffic jam began. Just before the rest of us were able to line some shots, the herd spooked… without even a shot fired. That was in August.
Wild hogs are invasive and destructive. Shooting one will just scare the rest away, so unless you can shoot a lot of them at once, it’s best to try to trap them. Since that herd ran away, we haven’t seen any since… until last Sunday.
Last Sunday some were spotted down the road from where we are currently at. One neighbor and a few of his sons went after them with some guns, despite the protest of some others. Even though shots were fired, no hogs were killed, which probably made the situation even worse. Thankfully though, I saw the herd Friday, which is where my opening story came in.
I had just driven past some deer, and was heading to fertilize some potted trees of mine with a load of rabbit manure. (Yeah, life sure is fun… anyone else up to the same this week?) Anyway, a few hundred feet from my destination, I saw about 15 small wild hogs in the woods. Since I already had a rifle in my truck (I had heard that wild hogs were around) I quickly loaded it and jumped out, leaving my boy “Monster Truck in Pepper” in the passenger seat.
I crept low and slow, and scanned the herd. Every hog I could see was very small. I lined up a shot for one of the bigger ones in view, maybe about a 40 or 50 pounder. The safety was off and the scope was sighted… and then I lowered the rifle.
If I shot one of these little guys, I’d probably kill it. The rifle is accurate and my aim is good. After all, I got three deer with three shots this season.
However, I would only get one, maximum.
The rest would take off, probably for months, and come back much larger. If I didn’t shoot though, there was a chance that I could maybe trap a large one, which may encourage the little ones to stay nearby. So, I called a neighbor with a trap on hand, and then set out to build one of my own.
In this video, you will see me immediately after I saw the hogs. Being on steemit, I figured I had better acquire some good content! When I returned to the land to begin building my trap, the herd was still nearby. In one clip, you can see a little brown hog with black stripes running the length of his body. In the next clip, you can just barely make out the remainder of the herd leaving a field and entering the woods.
The rest of the footage is me narrating the situation and documenting the trap building.
VIDEO: PAPA-PEPPER vs. THE WILD HOGS - Round 1
FOLLOW
Looks like fun! In Texas the feral hogs can be as big as VW bugs. They're massive. We don't have them running around AZ, but we do have javelina.
Yeah, some of the ones I seen here were pretty big... we'll see what I run into.
Hopefully I run into them before the @little-peppers do!
papa that pen ain't gonna hold no wild hog man lol
you need a hog cage, Texas style
That's what friend set up... I was hoping to detain some of the little ones with mine, there's a lot more of those.
OK, I certainly hope you are able to get some "live" footage. lol
I great up in hog country, they ain't all that friendly :)
---edit----
Oh, just so I feel better about knowing I warned ya, 45 ACP. That rifle is just going to make them angry, when they are coming at ya, you're going to want at least a 45. I prefer .357 myself...
I heard hand grenades and dynamite can be effective too, but I don't have any on hand.
The serious trap is also now set up... I'll cover it in the next update.
Got a few of those set up in the area!
This is awesome!!
Ugh, I miss the south, I wish I was able to come join you on these adventures. Who knows the path of life, who knows what our futures hold. Maybe one day!
Hog hunting is a lot of fun, hog trapping and raising is even more fun! I could only imagine catching a few of these! Raising them and letting them reproduce. It would be a lot of fun to watch them grow, and not to mention a great food source.
I hear that it's illegal to possess them down hear, so not sure if I'd risk raising them... but at least I got four hogs right now that I am raising anyway!
Oh really? Nice haha, it shouldn't be illegal, that is insane! I wonder if were were breaking the law in Mississippi then?! Ha, if so... ooops.
Either way, they provided food, supplies, and an array of experience for us while growing up on a farm.
You have 4 already? Did you catch those that fast in the trap!? That is impressive I must say!
No, the four are regular farm hogs we got for food and to breed.
Ahh, I was about to say! Daring little devil aren't you. We had 2 farm hogs as well, they were a lot more docile. Yet, they would still bite you if you got close to them haha.
I'll have to be careful then!
Let's see what will happen during round 2 :)
I am interested in finding out!
Cool pic @papa-pepper
Wild hogs, here always are hunted, that because they are harm for a garden plant. Too bad, pig hunted always in buried, because no one here eat the pigs. :)
Yeah, many are killed and buried here too, but I would like to use them for food.
So either it doesn't exist, or the hog equivalent of buck fever was avoided. Good thinking!
One of the hardest things that I have ever done!
This post has been ranked within the top 10 most undervalued posts in the second half of Jan 08. We estimate that this post is undervalued by $30.45 as compared to a scenario in which every voter had an equal say.
See the full rankings and details in The Daily Tribune: Jan 08 - Part II. You can also read about some of our methodology, data analysis and technical details in our initial post.
If you are the author and would prefer not to receive these comments, simply reply "Stop" to this comment.
be careful!
That's what I hear!
Great meat for smokin'!
Meat is the only thing I smoke these days!
Roger That! %^)
It wasn't always so...
how does wild hog taste? I understand the Japanese wee crazy about it for a while, but that may be outdated info
The smaller ones are tasty, or so I hear, but large ones supposedly taste nasty.
yup, that's what I heard