Post by phil46 on May 6, 2022 5:51:24 GMT -6
A Long Walk
In February 2015 my wife and I went to south Texas for our annual pig and javelina hunt. We arrived in camp on Saturday and met a couple of buddies from NC that regularly made the trip with us. They had a friend with them that was new to bowhunting and was making his first trip to south Texas, so there were five of us. After introductions to the new guy, we pitched our tent next to theirs. It had been a long trip from Virginia and North Carolina so we spent the rest of the afternoon sitting around camp relaxing. That night we grilled some steaks, and sipped some cool beverages while reminiscing about past hunts.
My wife and I would be using our longbows, while our buddies were shooting compounds. I would be using my A&H ACS, with Grizzlystic Alaskan shafts tipped with 125grain 4 blade Magnus Stingers. My wife would be using her trusty Massie Longhorn with Gold Tip shafts tipped with 125 grain 2 blade Steelforce. We both have Hawglights on our bows for nighttime hog hunting.
Sunday morning we met up with our outfitters. We have been hunting with them for years and have been become friends so we spent some time catching up. They told us they were going to put us on a section of the ranch we hadn’t hunted before. They also told us that a mountain lion had had been spotted several times in that area. We spent the rest of the day setting our stands and doing a recon on the area we were going to hunt. We would start our 5 day hunt on Monday.
Monday was very windy, a condition which prevailed for most of the week. The animals were very skittish due to the high winds. We usually have a leisurely breakfast and don’t start hunting until midmorning. The javelina don’t usually start moving until midmorning and we usually hunt pigs into the night.
We were seeing some javvies but were not having much success on our stalks. We were also seeing some pigs at night, but without any success. My wife was set up on a wooden platform over a waterhole where there was a feeder and a light set up. I was set up on my quadpod at an intersection of 2 senderos where I had seen a lot of both pig and javvie sign. There was no light at my location so I would have to rely on my bow mounted Hawglight. We spread some corn around the location in hopes some pigs and/ or javelina would be drawn in.
On Wednesday we spent the day watching some senderos we had corned. Some javvies came out but we were unsuccessful in our stalks. Just before dark I dropped my wife off at her stand and headed out to my stand. I parked my truck where it would be hidden, about 400 yards from my stand, and hiked to my stand. I got settled in to my stand to wait for dark. About ½ hour before the end of legal shooting light (pigs can be hunted at night, but javvie cannot) 4 javvies crossed the sendero about 75 yards out. One of them was very unusual as it had a blond belt around its body that covered about 1/3 of its body. I had seen many javvies but had never seen one this color. They disappeared into the brush and I somewhat relaxed.
About 10 minutes later I heard something on the sendero to my left. I turned my head slowly and spotted 4 javvies approaching. One of them eased out to where I had a shot. I picked a spot, came to anchor and dropped the string. I watched my fletching disappear into his side, the shot looked good, maybe a bit high. The javvie ran into the brush to my right and disappeared from sight. I could hear the arrow shaft slapping the brush. He suddenly reappeared crossing the sendero in front of me. I heard him thrashing around in the brush in front of me and then all was still.
By now it had gotten dark and I decided I would wait and hunt pigs awhile before I got down, in hope some pigs would come in. I texted the outfitter and my buddies that I had shot a javvie and was going to hunt a couple more hours. I would text them when I got down and they would come out and help me find the javvie. About 2 hours later I could hear pigs in the brush, but they never came close enough for a shot. I texted the outfitter and got down. I went to my truck and brought it to the intersection where I got my shot. Shortly afterwards the outfitter showed up and we prepared to track my javvie. We were not finding much blood and the cactus and mesquite was really thick. I walked toward where I thought I had heard him thrashing around and there he lay. He had traveled a total of about 40 yards.
Thursday, I decided I would hunt the same stand. I parked my truck in the same spot and got on stand about an hour before dark. Just before dark I saw the blonde belt javvie again. He was with 3 other javvies. They came into about 35 yards but would not come in any closer. I really wanted that blond belted javvie. They seemed to be unusually skittish for javvies and finally melted into the brush. There was no moon and there was a cloud cover, so it was really dark, and the night seemed abnormally quiet. Some pigs came out on the sendero. I could hear them milling around and grunting. I didn’t want to turn on my light and risk spooking them as they sounded like they were still out of range. They wandered off into the brush, and again it was unnaturally quiet. I would occasionally hear animals moving around in the brush, but nothing like I was used to hearing when sitting in the south Texas brush at night.
About midnight I decided I had enough for the night and would head back to camp. I strapped my head lamp on, gathered my stuff together, lowered everything to the ground, and climbed out of my stand. Just as my feet touched the ground a mountain lion screamed just down the sendero from me. The scream of a mountain lion will raise the hackles on the back of your neck under the best of conditions, on a pitch black night when you’re deep in the brush it can be overwhelming. I couldn’t tell how far the lion was from me but it seemed like he was in my hip pocket. Since the ranch we were hunting allowed no firearms I was armed only with my longbow. I shined my light all around but could see nothing. I put my backpack on, took one of the arrows out of my quiver so I could stab the cat if he attacked me, and started for the truck. The sendero leading to where I parked my truck was narrow with mesquite and cactus growing thickly on both sides. That 400 yards to my truck was going to be a long walk.
On Friday night I was sitting on my stand and about 10:00 I got a 2-word text from my buddy……..”Big cat”. A mountain lion had walked under the light where he was sitting and stopped about 12 yards from him.
In February 2015 my wife and I went to south Texas for our annual pig and javelina hunt. We arrived in camp on Saturday and met a couple of buddies from NC that regularly made the trip with us. They had a friend with them that was new to bowhunting and was making his first trip to south Texas, so there were five of us. After introductions to the new guy, we pitched our tent next to theirs. It had been a long trip from Virginia and North Carolina so we spent the rest of the afternoon sitting around camp relaxing. That night we grilled some steaks, and sipped some cool beverages while reminiscing about past hunts.
My wife and I would be using our longbows, while our buddies were shooting compounds. I would be using my A&H ACS, with Grizzlystic Alaskan shafts tipped with 125grain 4 blade Magnus Stingers. My wife would be using her trusty Massie Longhorn with Gold Tip shafts tipped with 125 grain 2 blade Steelforce. We both have Hawglights on our bows for nighttime hog hunting.
Sunday morning we met up with our outfitters. We have been hunting with them for years and have been become friends so we spent some time catching up. They told us they were going to put us on a section of the ranch we hadn’t hunted before. They also told us that a mountain lion had had been spotted several times in that area. We spent the rest of the day setting our stands and doing a recon on the area we were going to hunt. We would start our 5 day hunt on Monday.
Monday was very windy, a condition which prevailed for most of the week. The animals were very skittish due to the high winds. We usually have a leisurely breakfast and don’t start hunting until midmorning. The javelina don’t usually start moving until midmorning and we usually hunt pigs into the night.
We were seeing some javvies but were not having much success on our stalks. We were also seeing some pigs at night, but without any success. My wife was set up on a wooden platform over a waterhole where there was a feeder and a light set up. I was set up on my quadpod at an intersection of 2 senderos where I had seen a lot of both pig and javvie sign. There was no light at my location so I would have to rely on my bow mounted Hawglight. We spread some corn around the location in hopes some pigs and/ or javelina would be drawn in.
On Wednesday we spent the day watching some senderos we had corned. Some javvies came out but we were unsuccessful in our stalks. Just before dark I dropped my wife off at her stand and headed out to my stand. I parked my truck where it would be hidden, about 400 yards from my stand, and hiked to my stand. I got settled in to my stand to wait for dark. About ½ hour before the end of legal shooting light (pigs can be hunted at night, but javvie cannot) 4 javvies crossed the sendero about 75 yards out. One of them was very unusual as it had a blond belt around its body that covered about 1/3 of its body. I had seen many javvies but had never seen one this color. They disappeared into the brush and I somewhat relaxed.
About 10 minutes later I heard something on the sendero to my left. I turned my head slowly and spotted 4 javvies approaching. One of them eased out to where I had a shot. I picked a spot, came to anchor and dropped the string. I watched my fletching disappear into his side, the shot looked good, maybe a bit high. The javvie ran into the brush to my right and disappeared from sight. I could hear the arrow shaft slapping the brush. He suddenly reappeared crossing the sendero in front of me. I heard him thrashing around in the brush in front of me and then all was still.
By now it had gotten dark and I decided I would wait and hunt pigs awhile before I got down, in hope some pigs would come in. I texted the outfitter and my buddies that I had shot a javvie and was going to hunt a couple more hours. I would text them when I got down and they would come out and help me find the javvie. About 2 hours later I could hear pigs in the brush, but they never came close enough for a shot. I texted the outfitter and got down. I went to my truck and brought it to the intersection where I got my shot. Shortly afterwards the outfitter showed up and we prepared to track my javvie. We were not finding much blood and the cactus and mesquite was really thick. I walked toward where I thought I had heard him thrashing around and there he lay. He had traveled a total of about 40 yards.
Thursday, I decided I would hunt the same stand. I parked my truck in the same spot and got on stand about an hour before dark. Just before dark I saw the blonde belt javvie again. He was with 3 other javvies. They came into about 35 yards but would not come in any closer. I really wanted that blond belted javvie. They seemed to be unusually skittish for javvies and finally melted into the brush. There was no moon and there was a cloud cover, so it was really dark, and the night seemed abnormally quiet. Some pigs came out on the sendero. I could hear them milling around and grunting. I didn’t want to turn on my light and risk spooking them as they sounded like they were still out of range. They wandered off into the brush, and again it was unnaturally quiet. I would occasionally hear animals moving around in the brush, but nothing like I was used to hearing when sitting in the south Texas brush at night.
About midnight I decided I had enough for the night and would head back to camp. I strapped my head lamp on, gathered my stuff together, lowered everything to the ground, and climbed out of my stand. Just as my feet touched the ground a mountain lion screamed just down the sendero from me. The scream of a mountain lion will raise the hackles on the back of your neck under the best of conditions, on a pitch black night when you’re deep in the brush it can be overwhelming. I couldn’t tell how far the lion was from me but it seemed like he was in my hip pocket. Since the ranch we were hunting allowed no firearms I was armed only with my longbow. I shined my light all around but could see nothing. I put my backpack on, took one of the arrows out of my quiver so I could stab the cat if he attacked me, and started for the truck. The sendero leading to where I parked my truck was narrow with mesquite and cactus growing thickly on both sides. That 400 yards to my truck was going to be a long walk.
On Friday night I was sitting on my stand and about 10:00 I got a 2-word text from my buddy……..”Big cat”. A mountain lion had walked under the light where he was sitting and stopped about 12 yards from him.
