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"B.U.S.T Hogs by
Moonlight"
"Proven tactics that work for
hunting
South Texas feral hogs at night."
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By Tyge Floyd,
Editor
Email
Tyge here. |
"Whoa",
I whisper to my hunting partner as he applies the brakes to his
truck, "Three hogs in the road. They're feeding toward us, 200yds
out." Bruce Letbetter and I are both on the binoculars now, getting
a good look at the hogs and determining which route through the
brush would give us a chance at getting within bow range. "Let's go
down the right hand side and catch them before they get to that big
mesquite." We agree on the plan and exit the truck. Two hunters
creep along the road toward the unsuspecting hogs who are feeding on
our corn, bows in hand.
Bruce slows his approach and raises his binoculars again to confirm
our target is still unaware of presence. He takes up a position just
off the road behind a prickly pear cactus. There is a good boar in
this group, but he's at the back of the line. The sow in front is at
less than 15 yards and is the sure bet. Bruce draws his bow, anchors
and releases an arrow. The sow squeals and crashes into the brush
leaving a good blood trail. A couple of hours later we return after
stalking some more hogs and recover his black sow. (shown at right)
I look at my watch, it's 3:10am. The sun will be coming up in just a
couple of hours. I've slept less than four hours in the last 48, but
wouldn't have missed this for the world.
Bruce
and I are hunting hogs in the moonlight on the Cerrito Perito Ranch
in Encinal, Texas. There are 12 of us hunting the 11,000 acres which
is divided into several pastures. Our B.U.S.T. Hunt (Bowhunting
Utopia in South Texas) is an annual get together with several
friends and is outfitted by
Jerry
Gonzalez of Pedernal Bowhunts. Jerry runs bow hunting only hog
and javelina hunts on several hog infested South Texas ranches. This
ranch is a bow hunters paradise!
On the
way to camp and the refrigerated cooler we almost run over a good
sized spotted boar. He's in the middle of the road and again,
feeding on corn in the headlights. Bruce kills the lights and shuts
off the motor. I'm sure this hog is about to explode into the brush,
but he doesn't. Bruce looks at me and whispers, "Kill that hog." I
slowly get out of the truck and grab my bow. The boar is now feeding
away from me at a good pace. I cross the cattle guard and close the
distance as quickly and quietly as I can. At 25 yards I go down to
one knee and draw all in one motion. The hog senses something is not
right and stops, quartering slightly to my right. I release the
arrow from my Mathews Outback bow and get a loud grunt and a squeal
reaction from the boar.
Once hit, the boar ran down a thicket along a creek. I
watched him through my binoculars for over 100 yards. The boar
slowed for a few seconds and stepped from side to side as if looking
for a place to go down. Instead, he blasted into the brush as if on
his last breath. I knew he was down and marked his location mentally
and with some rocks in the road where I had found the first blood.
The recovery was quick as he was less than 15 feet inside the brush.
Another South Texas hog was headed for the cooler. (shown at right)
Our second night of hunting hogs had been a productive one.
Our
hunting tactics for this type of hunting are the main reason we have
such success under the moonlight. Having hunted these hogs on
several ranches, we have developed tactics that can be applied to
any ranch under most conditions. These guidelines can be broken down
into three categories; Equipment, Location and Stealth. If you
follow these guidelines, you'll have a chance to add some moonlit
hogs to your cooler as well.
Equipment
The most important piece of equipment you will need to hunt hogs at
night is your binoculars. You can't stalk a hog that has spotted you
first and departs on the run. I use Nikon Monarch binocs in their
10x40 model. They give me plenty of light gathering properties and
are light, which makes them easy to carry around all night. Cheap,
pocket sized binoculars are useless on a hunt such as this, leave
them at home.
The only
special equipment you will need for bow hunting is a lighted pin on
your sight. I recommend a Twilight Pinlight for lighting up your 20
yard pin. Other lighting devises that shine on all your pins will
wash out your target unless you tone down the light with some
moleskin or tape. You want your pin or pins to barely glow.
Otherwise you will never see a hog in the dark past the bright
pins.
I would
also recommend you install a larger peep in your string if you use
typical, small hunting peep. Small peeps will improve your shooting
in the daylight hours, but for hunting hogs at night you need a very
large peep or nothing at all. I take mine out for this type if
hunting, leaving only my peep aligner installed and looking through
the gap between my string. Test your rig at night, in the dark
before you go hunting. You'll find it much easier to tune on your
setup at home than out on a hunt.
Location
There is an old saying in the real estate industry that states the
three most important factors for success in any business is
location, location, location. Ditto for hunting hogs at night. The
proper location for baited areas is crucial to your success. We only
bait areas that we know we can hunt with ALL of the odds in our
favor; wind direction, visibility and a stealthy approach. Do not
bait an area or road that you can't approach with the wind in your
face. I've had hunters on these hunts tell me, "We stalked a big
boar, but the wind was not in our favor so he busted us." Shame on
them! Hogs have a very keen sense of smell and you will not beat
them on foot without the wind in your favor.
Once
you've located hog sign on roads or senderos, take another look at
it. Can you glass this part of the road from at least two hundred
yards away, at night? If not, this is not a spot you need to be
hunting. Find a stretch of road that offers a visibility advantage
in your favor and you will kill hogs. We spot our hogs from the
comfort of a truck from hundreds of yards away. On moonlit nights,
you may only see a black blob on a light colored road, but that's
all it takes. Creep forward slowly until you have determined what it
is and plan your assault. Spotting the hogs before they spot you is
the key to our ambush tactics. Only baiting areas we know we can
glass from a distance is just smart hunting.
You've
spotted some hogs in the road. They're 100 yards away and feeding
toward you. You can't stalk down the right side of the road because
there is no cover to hide your approach. The left side is wide open
as well. What do you do? Quit baiting that area! Your perfect ambush
spots will have cover down both sides of the road. I usually try to
approach down the side of the road that has shadows casting across
it. These shadows give me a place to stop without fear of being seen
moving as a glass ahead. Mesquite trees and other brush to hide your
movements are the only way you will sneak up on most hogs, a
stealthy approach is the last leg of your attack. Plan your baited
areas accordingly.
Stealth
I can't express how important it is to be stealthy when hunting. I
have made some friends mad over the years by my insisting they keep
their voices down while on my leases or a hunt. The sound of a human
voice carries further than most hunters realize. Keep your voice
down at ALL times, even in camp. If game animals hear you speak,
they know you are there. If they know you are there, you're going to
have a long weekend. Bruce and I are much the same when it comes to
how passionate we are about our hunting. We think alike and work
well as a team. Even in the cab of the truck with the windows rolled
up, we whisper. It's just the predator in me, I guess. When stalking
hogs, you must never speak at any volume over a whisper. Keep your
mouth shut when within the last 30 yards of so.
When
driving around any ranch in a pickup or other vehicle, you must keep
as much noise as you can to a minimum. On our hunts, empty drink
cans go in an ice sack or back in the cooler. Doors are shut very
gingerly. Lights are blacked out on the inside of the cab to
decrease the glow from the inside of the truck and reduce glare
while glassing ahead. Bows are kept where we can grab them fast and
silently, no opening and closing cases every time we spot something.
You must keep any noise that is not natural out of the picture to
stalk hogs.
Glassing
ahead every time you approach a baited area is a must. We glass
ahead then pull forward, sometimes no more than 10-20 feet. Every
time we see new country, we glass. Only after we have confirmed the
road is clear will we continue our slow roll down the road. Spotting
these hogs from several hundred yards away is easy IF you take the
time to glass ahead. When hunters tell me, "We saw some hogs in the
headlights and they ran off.", I just shake my head. This game is
all about stealth, either get stealthy or go home.
On one
recent hunt, another hunter joined Bruce and I for a couple of hours
of touring our pasture at night. It was like a light went off in his
head, once he saw how we take the time to really look over our
baited spots. He understood how we are able to beat these hogs at
night in short time and is looking forward to using these same
tactics on his next hunt.
Hunting
hogs at night is best during a full moon. The moon is strong enough
to cast shadows during these periods and offers hunters plenty of
light to hunt. I try to plan my hunts for these periods well in
advance, as most quality outfitters stay booked during the spring
months when hunting is at it's best. Take plenty of water, some
short ropes for dragging game back to the road and snacks for an all
night excursion. I'm betting once you try these tactics for yourself
you'll see why when the moon is full and the nights are cool, I'm
restless unless I'm peering through a pair of binoculars at some
hogs in the distance!
At full draw,
Tyge Floyd
Editor-TexasOutdoorsman.com
On our first evening of hunting we sat in a portable bow blind
near a feeder that was covered in hog sign. Our blind location was
directly downwind of the feeder and brushed in to conceal our
presence. Right before the sun went down, we got a visit from a big,
black boar. He fed around the feeder for several minutes before
offering Bruce a shot at less than 20 yards. While the boar was
feeding on hand tossed corn in a good shooting lane, Bruce anchored
his Bowtech VFT bow and sent an arrow on it's way. At the shot, the
big boar dove into the brush and put some distance between himself
and his unknown attacker. We waited for several minutes before
taking up the tracking duties. The shot was a good one, taking the
boar cleanly and quickly. I was able to capture the hunt on video.
(Click on the
image on the left to watch the video)
For more information
on hunting with
Jerry
Gonzalez of Pedernal Bowhunts, visit their web site
at
www.pedernalbowhunts.com, send him an
email at
huntandfishadv@usa.net or call Jerry at
(956)-645-2775. He offers great rates on group hunts. Jerry hunts
over 50,000 acres of prime, South Texas hunting ranches and is one
of the best outfitters I've ever worked with. He'll take good care
of you and your group.
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