THE BEST FIRST HOG HUNT
by Zach Pacquette
This was Christmas night 2008. Ryan (my uncle) had told my dad that he should come hog hunt with us tonight. My dad has never really been a hunter and didn't really want to but Ryan talked him into it. It was about 5 o'clock and we headed towards the meeting place. We all met up and headed towards one guys house where we were hunting behind. It's about 5:30 now. We all got out of the truck and were talkin when my uncle says listen and all I can hear is something all hog hunters know is a good sign - squeals.
Ryan immediately said to let Bullet are best tracking bay dog out and off he ran. Everyone was grabbin leashes to leash the catch dogs. By this time Bullet came out the woods looking at us like he needed some help so we let our other bay dog Bobo go and we didn't hear nothin. We all started walkin straight were we heard the squeals coming from. The dogs went to a dirt road in between to pieces of woods and walked straight down it right towards the river. The dogs went to the end of the road and went straight into the woods and right away Bullet started barking and he was running away from us. Bullet ran and barked probably about a mile away from us then we heard his bark getting louder and louder then Bobo joined in and we knew that something was up then. We let our best catch dog Crowley go and knew if something was going to happen she would be the one to cause it. The dogs ran by us about 50 yards off to our left and we didn't hear nothing for a while. Crowley came back and we leashed him.
Now our two bay dogs were out but all barking had stopped. Ryan, Brandon (other uncle),and myself went down the power line while my dad and Brad (uncle's friend) went in the woods we were hoping to go around and cut the hogs off if they were running. While we were walking Crowley wouldn't stop trying to get off the leash very unlike him so Ryan looked at us and said I have to let him go. About a minute later Bobo started barking the way he does when he is baying. Ryan looked at me and said this is a big one. Right about the time Bobo started barking my dad started yelling for us and we let Duke our other catch dog off the leash.
When we got to my dad we saw Crowley pulling one ear of this hog and Duke pulling the other. Crowley pulled the hogs right ear all the way off. We got Bobo on a leash and pulled him away and leashed Duke. Ryan started juking the hog in the left side of the neck. Then my dad took and held the hog's head down and Ryan reached in and cut the jugular vein. The hog took about 5 or 6 good breaths and that was it. We killed this boar with 2 bay dogs both curs and 2 catch dogs both pits and a 5 inch browing knife and a sharpend small tree. We took the hog to Ryan's friends who is a big hog hunter who had a party and couldn't come with us and weighed the boar. The boar weighed 420 pounds with 3 1/2 cutters. My dad said that was the best thing he has ever done and the most fun thing he will probably ever do. I don't think a first time hog hunter can have any better of a first hunt. We found out the day after Christmas that the hog we killed was a county record.