Bad luck hog hunting on monday

[howie1968]

Monday  was     my  1  yr  aniversary  for  hunting  hogs  on  the  Tolar  ranch,  i  had  planned  on  a  hunt  and  felt  really  great  about  it  after  putting  some  corn  out  monday  mornng  and  finding  great  sign  i decided  to  hunt  from  4  til  dark  for  a  good  meat  hog  so  me  and  Mr. Tolar  could  make  some  sausauge.   on  my  way  to  the  stand  while  walking  through  the  clover [which  the  hogs  have  torn  up]  i  looked   in  the  woods  where  the  feeder  was   and  the  hogs  had  already  beat  me  to  the  feeder  i  counted  at  least  13    4  sows  and  some  shoats   i  was  about  80  yards   from  them   i  seen  a  big  sow   go  into  a  small  opening  about  70  yards  from  me   so  i      waited til  she  turned  broadside  and  shot  her   i  felt  confident  of the shot  until  i walked  to  where  i  shot  her  no  blood  i  searched  for  at  least  an  hr  before  i  found  some  drops  of  blood   i  kept  traiing  er  for  about  100 yards  through  the  thickest  nastiest  brush  you could  find  anywhere    well  to make  a  long  story  short  after  about  3,5  hrs  looking  for  her  i  lost  her   shot  her  with    the  gun  i  feel  the  most  confident  in  my  30-30 a  lot  of questions    has  gone  through  my  mond  being  this  is  the  first  animal  in  20  yrs  hunting  that  i  have  not  recovered,   i  thought  my  gun  was  off   so  i went  to  the range    it  was  dead  on   so  i decded   to  shoot offhand  at    about  75  yards   yeeks    the  groups  scared  me,   i  always take  a  good  rest  while  shooting  at  animals  either   from  a  branch   kneeling  r sitting  this was  my  first  big  animal  shot  while  standing.   the  bad  thing  is   the  hogs  never  knew  i  was  there  i  was  camod     and  scent  free   with  earth  scent  as  a  cover   i could  have  snuck  to  easily  30  yards,  i  know  why  in  the  past  i  have  been  succesfull  i usually  shoot  from  50  yards  or  less  and  always  good  shot  placement   i wish  i  could find  her  to  at  least  know here  i  hit  her  at  any  advice  will be APPRECIATED

[DennisB]

Howie:  Keep going back.  Them critters can absorb a lot and keep going.  Similar story:  Last March, a buddy on my place shot a fair sized hog by red light, over corn, with an '06.  He trailed blood spots for two hours and found only a bone chip that looked like a leg, not rib.  About a month later, over the same plot, he killed a 200 + pig with a limp.  Seems it was healing nicely from a missing piece of leg bone.  Go figure!

[howie1968]

thanks  for  the  motivarion!   i  am  going  back  on  tuesday   i  used to  hunt  around  chico   lake  Bridgeport   man  there  was  tons  of  hogs  up  that  way   kind of  miss  it