2026 Hog Hunt Day 2 - Settling In

After an early morning spent putzing around on the computer, I went with Rick to drop off kids for school.  Then after running some Rick errands, we fed up stands.  All but one had been hit well.  It was fun seeing all the stands and one cow pasture had several hogs in it.

There had been a rather grisly murder the previous night in a nearby township the previous night.  And one of Rick's neighbors had got stuck in a ditch while going out to assist the family.  We pulled him out - although I was concerned that Rick might pull the car apart given its state of disrepair.  But all was well.

As an aside, the murder - which was originally believed to be a robbery-gone-wrong - was more likely due to the spouse who also shot himself in the gut in the process.  The world can be a terrible place sometimes.

There was a scheduling mix-up with the other guy coming in to camp, meaning I would likely have the lodge to myself for the week with Denis and Claude staying at Denis' house.  This works just fine for me.

I had some down time at the lodge which allowed me to get a pseudo-nap in.  Then it was off to hunt hogs.

I was dropped off at the Fish Snatch stand.  This stand had treated me well previously so I was hopeful it would again.  I was glad it was a big box blind since I had a hard time sitting still at first.  The air was cool and dry and there was absolutely no wind making the afternoon breathlessly still.  This did force me to calm down and just settle in the for the afternoon since every movement felt unbelievably loud in the still air.

After sitting for a while three bucks popped out onto the corn.  They were followed about 10 minutes later by a whole bunch of does.

The deer milled around the area for a while.  A turkey came walking down the 2-track, and while this same turkey had been nearby when the deer first came out, the deer now seemed bothered by it.  The deer bolted away.

At least I think that is what happened.  I did hear a gunshot from a nearby stand, so pigs were moving and they could have been in the area as well.

About a half an hour later most of the deer came back and stayed in the area until it got too dark to see.  As the light dimmed, I shook my head about how age-related changes have hurt my low light vision; I don't suppose this will get better.

After dark, I packed up as quietly as I could and walked the 2-track back out.  While waiting to get picked up in the still dark evening, I heard a group of pigs to my right.  It is highly possible they were making their way through the pines to my bait pile.

Claude had shot a very large and healthy sow.

Denis had seen a lot of deer, but not pigs.  

The forecast was for a cold night, so after cleaning the hog, we left it hang.

I had a quick noodle bowl and was ready to turn in early.