Well, a 5 month long chess match has come to an end. I first got pictures of the hog I called "Holyfield" back in October, and from then forward I became more and more infatuated with trying to get him in front of me. One of the first encounters i had with him was a week or so after the first pictures appeared on trail cam, I was deer hunting an area he had been showing up in after sunset. On this day i brought one of Predator Hunter Outdoor Night Snipe bow lights with me in my pack and attached it to the camera after the sun went down. With the light on, and Holyfield's supposed time of arrival (based on what the trail cams were showing) approaching, I heard something coming through the marsh approaching the area where the corn was placed. Trying to sneak a peek and gain confirmation that it was him, i moved the light in the sounds' direction only to hear him/it run off the way it came in. Now i have no confirmation it was him, but to this day im sure it was, as after that night i received ZERO pics of him for approximately a month. Fast forward to the end of November, and he had returned to the trail cam circuit. I had his pattern locked down as he made a big circle around the property, i knew his tracks and could almost set a watch to when he would show up, he was very punctual in that respect, haha. He was favoring an early morning approach at one of my favorite stands, so i decided to get an early jump one morning and got into my stand at 4am, as he typically shuffled through the area around 530am. Well, being the punctual hog that he was, he indeed showed up at 530 that morning........about 300yds west of the stand i was in, and only 20yds away from a stand i had in that area. This type of back and forth went on and on, i would have his pattern pegged, he would be coming to an area religiously everyday within the same 10min window, except the days i hunted. Now, its important to note that the light i was using when he busted me in October, was green, the light i had used since, still green. After spending countless hours in the stand at night hunting this hog through the month of December and into January, i decided that the green light was maybe keeping him from coming into an area when he saw it, associating it from our first encounter. I called Paul over at Predator Hunter Outdoors, talked with him about what was going on and he suggested trying a red LED instead of green, and shipped on out. Fast forward again to this past Sunday. I had gotten my new Obsession Def Con m6 in the week before, and was able to get everything tuned, sighted, and ready to roll. At this point Holyfield had began showing himself in daylight for the first time ever around sunrise and every so often at sunset. Finally, my new found nemesis had revealed a flaw in his pattern, and began to show himself in the daylight. So, Sunday night i get off of work, set my alarm for 230AM so i can get up and get in the stand well before daylight and be ready when he strolled in for breakfast. Monday morning comes around, and i wake up at 630....slept through my alarm, awesome. So i decide to head out early in the afternoon and be setup and ready for the evening's hunt. So im in the stand setup and ready to roll. Sun starts to set, the 530-630pm time frame he generally shows up in comes and goes, no big deal, sit tight he generally circles back around in the 8 o'clock hour, and i click on my light with the shiny new red LED. The time is 700pm, i hear something off to my right coming thru the brush from the swamp, its a heavy bodied critter without question, it gets closer and closer, and then just stops...silence. about 15minutes passes, and i hear something walking down the trail about 25yds in front of me to the right side of the clearing. And for the first time in the 5 month cat and mouse game i see him. FINALLY! He walks into the clearing, circles the edge walking under me at 10yds...and stops. He locks in on the red light and corn. He studies it, looks, takes a step, locks up again.....turns and walks back the way he came. I wait and listen, he doesnt go far, and circles back just a couple minutes later, only to torture me the exact same way, 10yds in front of me stops outside the light and out of frame. He again, turns, and walks away. Im bummed out, even though it was the right thing to do to let him walk given the situation still stunk to have to do it. I decide to sit tight and see what happens, about 815pm i hear the familiar steps walking the woodline in front of me, he circles from my right to left, and then i hear nothing. Only this time, i knew why. There is a trail we cut off of this clearing that goes back into the pine rows....he was standing on that trail scoping everything out. After hearing nothing for 20min or so, i look up and see his shadow walking the edge of the clearing to the corn, he was committed to it. Made sure he was in frame, drew back, settled my pin.......he turns and directly faces the tree as he eats, really? I let down, wait for a shot to present itself, and he spooks off, turns and walks back to the corn perfectly broadside. I drew, quickly settled my pin and sent the Black Eagle on its' way. SMACK! The arrow hits home, he jumps, spins, and takes off through the brush. I watched my green nock make its way through the brush until its out of sight, i hear him hit the four wheeler path as he heads away from me, and finally hear brush crashing, then silence. Now i didnt have a white light on me to search for blood, and at the time i wasnt sure he was dead, and the last thing you want to do is search for a wounded hog in 6ft tall thick nastiness. So i decided to back out and get there first thing in the AM. As luck would have it, it decided to rain all night....heavily. When we got to where the shot was the rain washed away any and all blood. Luckily i knew he hit the four wheeler track, so i started down the road and tracked him by finding and following his tracks. My buddy who was helping, being the optimist he is, decided to say, "Theres a 0% chance he died on the road, we are going to have to crawl through this thick crap to try and find him," to which i begrudgingly agreed. About 70yds down this road following his tracks i look up and see his hind quarter sticking out onto the road.....he went down within 100yds of the shot! I was so stoked to finally have my hands on this hog, and although it was a little bittersweet because of the months of back and fourth that comes with hunting one particular animal, all in all it was a great feeling to finally have the final chapter written on this Florida Swamp beast. Thank you for taking the time to read the story (if you didnt, its ok, i forgive you haha) enjoy the pictures, and as a bonus, I included the video my Bushnell Trophy Cam HD got of the shot (click the link to watch the video)! Keep an eye out for the full episode of this hunt, coming soon! [video]https://www.facebook.com/PinandStick/videos/749499781851683/[/video]
Congrats brother!! Thats a nice sized hog too. Was that sparks I saw or just the lighted nock? Did you get your new Obsession yet?
Yeah I broke in the new Def Con m6 on its first hunt! I do shoot a lighted nock, but that was definitely sparks haha.I had the same thing happen when I shot the hog in the "Hogzilla" episode here, [video]https://youtu.be/6eh5Uh9mfkY[/video], trail camera caught that shot too. No worries, thanks. he weighed 170lbs Good luck!
