Author Topic: A Blast from the Past Gray Ghost Whumpus Hog (Read 1790 times)

Graybeard · « **on:** December 31, 2009, 07:05:47 PM »

Mark asked me about the old Gray Ghost Whumpus Hog in another thread so here is a photo of me and Kevin with him down in the swamp where we recovered him. If you look closely you can see blood running from the hole near the eye where I finally got a killing shot into him. The eye is quite buldged out from the impact and expansion of the .41 Magnum 210 Hornady XTP-HP.

Graybeard · « **Reply #1 on:** December 31, 2009, 07:10:57 PM »

And one more of me and the GGWH. Notice how young and handsome I was back then?

BTW I'm the one with the S&W.

Siskiyou · « **Reply #2 on:** December 31, 2009, 07:16:26 PM »

Like to hear about the shot and the performance of the 41 Magnum.

mirage1988 · « **Reply #3 on:** December 31, 2009, 07:21:50 PM »

You would get a bit more respect if you used that pic for your avatar!

Skunk · « **Reply #4 on:** December 31, 2009, 10:29:08 PM »

Awesome pics GB. Thanks for sharing those with us.

markc · « **Reply #5 on:** January 01, 2010, 03:38:21 AM »

Fond memories GB. I remember the night before, the shot heard round the uh,, camp and the long tracking job in the dark. Wish I had stayed loner the next day to be in on the recovery. I am glad that you clarified who was who in that 2nd photo. LOL

Skunk · « **Reply #6 on:** January 01, 2010, 04:50:18 AM »

Quote from: markc on January 01, 2010, 03:38:21 AM

I am glad that you clarified who was who in that 2nd photo. LOL

Now that was indeed a good little piece of humor there.

Graybeard · « **Reply #7 on:** January 01, 2010, 06:24:10 AM »

The full story used to be in the Campfire Tales section here but it seems to be missing now. It also is not in my MS Word files on this computer but might still be on my old one I'll have to do some searching to see if I can come up with the orginal story.

We lost a lot of the Campfire Tales during a site crash after we got hacked a few years back. All of the old files were on Matt's computer when they had the fire at his home and while he got the computer out and saved them temporarily the computer crashed and he lost over a terabyte of data that was on it to include all of the really old GBO files from the early days of the site. I'm not sure there is anyway to reconstruct all those old files. Google might have it archived I'm not sure.

AtlLaw · « **Reply #8 on:** January 04, 2010, 01:28:47 PM »

Quote from: Graybeard on December 31, 2009, 07:10:57 PM

Notice how young and handsome I was back then?

As the saying goes "perky as a ruttin buck!"

I do see you got all the curly hair in the fambly... $:-\$

elmer · « **Reply #9 on:** January 04, 2010, 04:14:03 PM »

Bill,

Do you happen to remember what part of the ranch you took the Gray Ghost on?

Charles

Dee · « **Reply #10 on:** January 04, 2010, 04:20:35 PM »

Quote from: Graybeard on December 31, 2009, 07:10:57 PM

Notice how young and handsome I was back then? BTW I'm the one with the S&W.

I was gonna ask it this was one of those "Make a Wish" hunts. I thought you looked like you had just got out of the hospital.

Graybeard · « **Reply #11 on:** January 04, 2010, 06:24:57 PM »

Wal yeah kinda more or less recall where on the ranch but it was a LONG time ago. I think it was Malcolm's stand I was in. It was just before ya enter that back swamp area that leads down to the river. There is a long narrow open field area that stretches pretty much all the way across the ranch there. I was in a metal shooting shack over looking a feeder about 60 yards out front of me.

I could see over into the open field and saw some black hogs coming from back in the swamp that's on the next property over. In fact that's where we found him the next morning laid up watching his back trail. I could prolly pick out the spot fairly well on that map Jim handed us out I think.

Oldshooter · « **Reply #12 on:** January 04, 2010, 07:09:58 PM »

That is a an ugly old gray whumpus, I mean the hog of course!

Wonder how far he went with that bullet in his head? or did you see him drop.

Graybeard · « **Reply #13 on:** January 05, 2010, 03:47:36 AM »

The bullet hole in the head by the eye is the one that dropped him like a sack of bricks. It was placed there from close range, don't recall the distance now but 10 yards or less I guess.

I had hit him the night before with a .44 magnum hard cast from a S&W 629. They were feeding about 60-75 yards from me under the trees on a moonless night. The scope mounted light failed to work so I had to hold a Mag Light flash light in one hand and the revolver in the other to shoot. I only had a Leupold 2X scope and under the conditions picking a spot to shoot was a challenge. I really couldn't tell head from tail. I saw one move so assumed I knew the head end and fired for what should have been a chest shot. Turned it he had backed up not gone forward and I hit him thru the hams. After a long track of the blood trail that night Kevin called it off when it left Jim's property and went into the swamp next door. It would not have been good had he charged us that night.

Next day we went roaming and I was over at the feeder looking for blood sign to be sure if I hit two not one. I fired three times as the hog ran by me one handed and still am not sure the ham shot wasn't fired then as there was no blood at the feeder. Kevin went to where the trail had been left the night before and began trailing it but had no gun. I was the only one with a gun and it was the 4" S&W 657 Mtn. Gun loaded with 210 XT HPs. Kevin called me over and we went in to finish the job. The big hog was laid up in thick brush but again like the night before we really couldn't tell which end was head and which the tail. We took our best guess and I fired at which the hog was up and on the move. We chased after him with me shooting every time I had a shot. I emptied the gun and reloaded without slowing him down.

I finally did get one in that slowed him and he made his stand against us. With Kevin kinda distracting him I slipped around to that side and placed one into the brain at close range and then it was finally all over.

There were four or five of us dragging him out of that swamp and I'm glad as I sure would never have gotten him out and I don't think me and one ohter would have either as I was already beginning to have breathing problems back them and wasn't able to do my fair share of the dragging. But we all together got him out and loaded him in Jim's Jeep for the ride to the skinning rack. I'm still searching for the story I wrote up of it back then but have not found it yet.

Skunk · « **Reply #14 on:** January 05, 2010, 04:16:42 AM »

GB,

Found this picture of the GGWH on another site while trying to search for the Campfire Tale. The picture puts the size of that hog in perspective. He's bigger than you.

By the way, good report on the Sunrise River Custom Knives.

AtlLaw · « **Reply #15 on:** January 05, 2010, 04:35:36 AM »

That's a sizeable P-I-G HOG!

I've never seen one that color either... $:-\$

Siskiyou · « **Reply #16 on:** January 05, 2010, 04:39:44 AM »

That hunt had to be an adrenalin high.

Of the two handguns which did you favor?

Graybeard · « **Reply #17 on:** January 05, 2010, 05:11:20 AM »

Oh I always favor the .44 magnum and in fact not long after getting home from this hunt I traded off both of my S&W 657 .41 magnums and have not owned another since. But my real favorite which like a fool I let go of was my old S&W 29 with 10-5/8" barrel. I hunted all over the country with that one and took a variety of native game, hogs and exotics with it. I sure wish I had it back.

The light was poor that night as I said they were 60-75 yards from me and all I had was a four or five D-cell Mag light and I was looking thru a Leupold 2x scope but it appeared to me the entire sounder of hogs I was watchin under the feeder were gray like this one. They sure looked it at least. I think Jim got one photo of another gray one like it on a game cam but other than that no one else to my knowledge has seen the gray ghost hogs before or since.

I have two regrets from that adventure. First is that Faye decided not to go out and hunt that night and second that I didn't get him mounted. It was seriously cold for that time of year in TX and we didn't take proper clothes for the temp we encountered. Faye had fallen going down the steps into the garage and hurt her knee quite badly the week before we left for the trip. The cold and hurt knee in that cramped little shooting house did her in after one night and seeing no hogs. It was even colder the next night and she stayed in camp leaving me to hunt on my own. I sure wish she had been there to shoot one rather than me as I've killed lots of hogs and at the time she had taken none I think or maybe had taken the one in FL which is still all she's killed.

Oldshooter · « **Reply #18 on:** January 05, 2010, 05:35:40 AM »

Quote

The bullet hole in the head by the eye is the one that dropped him like a sack of bricks. It was placed there from close range, don't recall the distance now but 10 yards or less I guess.

OK I was confused from the earlier post, and was thinking he had run off and you had tracked and recovered him, That did not look like a bullet hole that one would run off with.

good post GB, we need to keep you on Regular!

Oldshooter · « **Reply #19 on:** January 05, 2010, 05:38:25 AM »

OK I'm still a little confused that fella in Skunks post with the hog seems to have no hair, is it me or is that someone else standing by the hog?

Graybeard · « **Reply #20 on:** January 05, 2010, 05:47:06 AM »

Dat's me in both taken same day so same amount of hair. My hair is quite white tho and it just isn't showing well in that photo. I was wearing a cap that day and it most likely had my hair pushed down a bit. I took it off for the photos.

All photos on the internet of that hog have either me or Kevin or me and Kevin in them as best as I can recall. Jim has both the photos I posted on his site and might still have the story there I'm not sure.

markc · « **Reply #21 on:** January 05, 2010, 12:16:37 PM »

GB, if I recall I was hunting over in the swampy area not too far from you that night. I remember hearing all the shooting, thinking maybe Faye had unloaded on one, but didn't remember until now, that she had not gone out that night. I can't remember which BHO I took Teresa on, but it was right after I had bought that Kawasaki Mule that I completely trashed in the mud and water out there. Wonder where all those pictures went? Were you there when the house cat attacked one of the hog hunters? That as wild..Kevin had a picture of the cat after it took 3 rounds from my Glock to put down. It was nicknamed Whompus Cat.

Graybeard · « **Reply #22 on:** January 05, 2010, 12:47:22 PM »

Nope the cat attack was when they were cleaning up the barn getting things ready for BHO I. I'm pretty sure it was BHO I when I shot the GGWH and it was BHO II when Rick came out with us and I used his 4x2 four wheeler and you had Teresa with you. You took Faye back with you in the Mule. We sat one of Kevin's high stands that night. It was just a couple days after the river went back in banks and man was that black Texas gumbo mud thick down in the flats.

Yeah I think the night I shot the GGWH you were down there kinda close if I recall correctly.