Getting Close

The toughest part of hunting with archery equipment is getting the animal close enough for the archer’s shooting ability. It may be a tripod, tent blind, brush blind, tree blind, or many combinations of the above. However, it will always come down to outsmarting the sharpest animal in the woods - the feral pig.

First, archers must realize that the feral pig is one of the hardiest animals in the woods. Feral pigs have adapted to human encroachment even more than the coyote. No matter what we do, they prosper. I know there are the pigs that are trained to feeders and have clock- work arrival time. But place 25 to 30 bow hunters on a nine thousand acre ranch for one week, and the pigs develop from deaf, dumb, and blind to having a nose that can pick up your scent at a 100 yards down wind. They will also be able to catch movement and area change better than a turkey or elk and hear the quite slide of an arrow across its rest. I have often felt totally whipped, out smarted, and beaten by a mature sow that I know was teasing me at each one of my futile attempts to place my arrow in her heart.

There was this one sow we’ll call Betty. She would check to see if my vehicle was anywhere in the area, then check for my foot prints, and finally go down from the stand and check the air. She would send 10 to 15 smaller pigs ahead to test me. I would let them feed by my one shooting hole in the cactus - waiting, playing her game. I watched corn disappear from the first pigs, never seeing her. Then I would discover that she had circled the area and was now leading the pack, getting her fill of the corn. She had whipped me again!

I never did get her, even though I tried many combinations of stand placements. It was great fun, and I did harvest a couple of nice pigs. However, my trophy probably died of old age. Since then, I have been successful with others and found Betty’s classmates that as we say "learned me more". I’m telling this story for archers to learn from and am including the following hints for getting closer.

Setting feeders in prime pig areas can be very successful for you hunters with tripods, ground, tent, and brush blinds. Although, if not set properly, a hunter will not even have a bird to look at. You can do almost anything you want around a feeder as long as you are just filling it, working on it, or checking the time of activity. However, when you hunt the feeder, you must be meticulous with your pattern and careful not to let any pigs know that you are in your stand. Always set the stand in an area with the prevalent wind in the hunter’s face, which is normally a southeast wind during our spring hunts. I always try to have more brush behind the hunter than in front.

However, when dealing with really smart pigs, I may only leave small shooting holes or lanes. To get to the tripod or ground blind, I use a very short trail (if not next to it) that I can drive to. I want the hunter to be able to step out of the truck and onto or into the stand. It may not always be possible to get that close, but I try. You do not want any footprints on the ground. Many hunters go to their stand, park the truck close, walk down the road to the feeder, walk around the feeder, and tap it to see how full it is. Then they walk off into the brush, relieve themselves, and finally climb into the stand. I did that for years until I started taking people hunting and learned that you can’t change patterns.

So then I started driving to the feeder once or twice a day, scattering corn in different directions from the feeder. I always drove with the feeder on the truck never carrying or scattering on foot. While at the feeder I would check for problems, slam truck doors, have the radio on, and maybe even add a bag or two of corn if needed. Then I would drive to the tripod or stand I planned to use that week. Again I would slam the truck door as if someone was getting out, make some noise, and wait as if helping a hunter into the stand. I continued this all through the week. The pigs got accustomed to this pattern, and we ended up with many successful hunts. It sounds like a lot of trouble, but I had to produce successful hunts or have sad hunters.

You must also be prepared for weather changes. I always had a stand or ground blind for that north wind. It did not come often, but when it did, I was prepared.

I also went so far as to make manikins out of my jeans and shirts for the tripods when I had no hunters. It works!!!

Always remember the pig is the smartest animal in the woods and a total challenge for the archer. Study your hunting area and come up with a strategy for getting close to your pig for a successful hunt.