Two Boars for Kristina!

.

This story actually begins three weeks earlier. I was bush hogging a stretch of broken woods pasture and wasn’t’ able to finish before dark so I decided to get back out there first thing the next morning to finish up. When I stepped out from behind a small island of cypress and cabbage trees, there standing in a slight depression in the fog was a heck of a big boar hog. The next weekend I needed to do a little more work out there so I decided to carry my open sight .30-.30 marlin in case I ran into that big boar again.

I eased down to the end of the mow to a small drain that still had a couple pot holes of water in it. Kneeling on some washed out roots over the water, I contemplated whether I really wanted to get across or just get to my mowing. A noise caught my attention down the hammock that sounded like it could be some hogs. A minute later, directly in front of me some movement caught my attention and a big hog head came pushing thru the palmettos. at 10 yds. He turned his head exposing his shoulder. I already had a bead on him and the hammer back. At the report of my .30-.30 the old boar hit the ground hard .

I have killed more than my share of wild hogs but this one was the largest I have seen on the hoof, in the woods.

The next weekend we were on our way over to an anniversary party and I had an appointment to get my hair cut with my niece Kristina.. I had brought some pictures of the big boar I had killed with me and eventually the subject of hunting came up and I told Kristina I have a picture for you to look at! She could hardly believe her eyes when she saw the size of the big pig.

I could see her interest was peaked and she related that she had been hog and turkey hunting a few times with a boyfriend but they were unsuccessful. Actually, at that point she had never even been shown how to handle a gun, never even fired a shot!

Do you want to kill a Hog?

I asked…do you want to kill a hog? There was no hesitation in her answer and she was all smiles!

Well, we planned a hunt for the next weekend. It was mid June and the afternoon rain showers had started. There is no better time to see game on their feet than after a cooling, late afternoon shower. Every critter in the woods will be moving and feeding…especially if it’s a quarter moon! Guaranteed!

The first order of business was to get Kristina comfortable with a firearm and select something that fit her without to much recoil. We set up a shooting bench at a 50 yds and started her off with a .22 LR. to build her confidence and teach her the basics. As with most women I’ve seen shoot, she was a natural!

After burning thru a pile of .22 ammo it was time to step it up a little. Next was the Ruger semi auto in .44 rem. mag., then a Marlin .30-.30 lever action and finally a Browning A-Bolt in .30-.06.

We settled on the Ruger .44 mag.. It a small rifle with a thin short barrel that is pretty easy to point.

Kristina goes to Hog City!

I had a two man tree stand in mind that overlooked the end of a natural grass opening along a swamp. Hog city!

The next morning Kristina, Tammie (my wife)
and I slipped into the stand from the down wind side, squeezed ourselves in and settled back for the wait.

About 30 minutes had gone by when movement caught our attention left and a little behind the stand in the edge of the marsh. It was a big brown Boar! At 20 yds the brute stopped to rub on a knotted cypress sapling that had been rubbed many times in the past. With the hogs attention diverted I started getting Kristina into position for a shot. Unfortunately, the hog caught the movement or a sound and busted off thru the swamp woofing at the intruders.

Kristina was crushed at missing her big opportunity. No other game showed that morning so we called off the dogs with a plan to return later that afternoon.

Right on que, as if it were planned, a light rain started to fall about 2:00pm. We made our way to the stand and got into position with high expectations of seeing some hogs.

Another Missed Opportunity!

The first to show was a small group of does and yearlings. About an hour or so before dark Tammie spotted some hogs coming down a grassy mow from the marsh. Two black and two red, all young boars that looked like they were out of the same mold. The tension was high as Kristina readied for a shot. Instead of moving out into the open and closer to our position they turned up the edge moving down the opening away from us. The closest they came was 90yds. and I thought that was a little far for her to shoot so I waved her off. Man, was she disappointed! The group continued on and out of sight. I reassured her “we’ll see some more, don’t worry.”

About 15-20 minutes later I caught some movement in the high grass and shortly, out stepped the big boar we had seen that morning. It was instant excitement! Kristina readied for the shot. The boar passed thru a small island of black gum trees and out into the opening at about 50 yds. I whispered, “shoot’em when he stops”. A minute later the little Ruger carbine sounded off with a crack! The hog wheeled back and was gone!

Kristina immediately asked….”did I get him”! “I couldn’t tell”. Well, to be honest I was pretty much thinking she probably had missed and decided we would give him some time and see if anything else showed. About that time, here comes the group of boars from earlier, running back down the pasture! They had spooked from the shot and couldn’t tell where it had come from. Now this is a handy tip to remember…..you can bet the farm, if you shoot at a deer or hog, its going to run back the direction it came from! They know there’s no danger on their back trail and there’s usually thicker cover that direction.

I started barking out orders, “get ready, get ready”, covering my ears and leaning over I told Kristina to shoot off my shoulder! Shoot the black one”, shoot the black one!“ The last hog stopped broadside at about 60yds and once again the little carbine cracked! The hog dropped in its tracks! As soon as Kristina recovered from the recoil and realized it was down she started hollering….”I got him, I got him”!

We all climbed down for a look at Kristina’s trophy. She could hardly believe what she had done! The hog weighed about 90 lbs. and she had made a perfect shot. It was spitting rain and the grass was wet so I told her to follow me, we need to make sure you did not hit the first hog. We started tracking in the wet grass and in short order cut a fresh blood trail headed south towards the marsh. “Oh no! you hit the first one too!”

Kristina could hardly believe it, she was grinning from ear to ear.

Two Shots, Two Hogs Down!

We started tracking but it was a short trail job. After 30yds, there just in the edge of the tall marsh grass lay a 200lb plus brown boar! A real trophy! She had put the .44 ball thru both lungs, right behind the shoulder. Kristina was absolutely amazed that she had downed such an animal!

The white spot in the photo above is one of the thousand mosquitoes we saw that evening that flew to close to the flash

We took some time to enjoy the moment and started our picture taking secession.

The Fun’s all over now Kristina!

Luckily, the pasture was still pretty dry and we were able to get the truck right to them without to much trouble. We got them loaded and headed for the house.

I kind of figured I’d get stuck with all the hog cleaning duties which is why I said "oh no!", when I cut the second blood trail. I guess you can’t judge a book by its cover though, Kristina, our beautician and modeling niece jumped right in there. She helped with everything from dragging, to skinning, quartering and disposing of the carcasses. I don't think she had ever experienced anything like this but you would have never known it.

We were finally wrapped up about midnight and we were all whipped. It was quit a day to say the least.

 

After it was over I told Kristina, “In the future, I’ll be more careful about telling you to shoot!”

Best of hunts

Larry Stephens

p.s.

All of the hunting photo's above were taken by myself and my wife Tammie. However, the top photo was taken and provided by Debbie Gainey Photography. Anyone in need of professional photography services in Central and North Florida can contact Debbie at her web site,  debbiegaineyphotography.com.

Larry

How to Measure & Score a Marco Polo Ram!

I recently received a call from my friend Bill..."can you measure a Marco Polo for me?"

The Marco Polo is a subspecies of  the Argile wild sheep and  is found in the mountainous regions of central Asia.

The next day Bill dropped off his ram's horns and I got to work prepping to begin the measuring chore.

I'am a certified measurer for the Safari Club International Organization and the first item to gather was a measuring form specific for the animal. There are a handful of useful tools for the job and they include, proper measuring tape, calculator, steel cable, calipers and measurer's manual.

I don't expect many people out there will be harvesting Marco Polo sheep but for those who are interested, the following is the proper procedure for measuring your Ram. The SCI  form to use is  Method 11 and pertains to all wild sheep.

I. LENGTH OF HORN (Fig. 1)

Measure the length of each horn on its outercurve. With most sheep, the line of measurement is on the front surface of the horn fairly close to the frontal-orbital edge (or ridge), which is the one that begins on the forehead.

Measure from the lowest point at the base of the horn to the tip, following the hair like grain of the horn material.  Do not deviate from the direction of the grain; it must be followed carefully the full length of the measurement. Keep the cable or tape tight; do not press it down into depressions.

With Cyprian mouflon, Armenian mouflon, bluesheep, aoudad, east Caucasian tur and many*mid:..Caucasian tur, the measurement differs from

that of most sheep in that it incorporates the"three-inch rule" (Fig. 2) at the beginning, then pivots and follows the frontal-nuchal edge (or ridge) of the horn to the tip. (The frontal-nuchal edge does not begin on the forehead, but near the center of the skull where the horns are nearest each other.) To locate the pivot point, measure three inches (7.62 em) from the base of the frontal-nuchal edge toward the tip, and mark this point with a pencil. The actual measurement then begins at the lowest point of the horn base on the forehead and goes in a direct line to the pivot point (pencil mark), crossing the grain of the horn enroute, then pivots and follows the frontal nuchal edge to the horn tip. Keep the cable or tape tight; do not press it down into depressions. The three inch rule was adopted in 1987. Before then, our instructions were not specific enough for these rather confusing horns, and different measurers were interpreting them differently The purpose of the three-inch rule is to ensure that all these horns will be measured the same way

If the horn tip is broken so that its far end is not on the line of measurement, it should be carded off (see General Instruction 25); do not measure across the flattened end of a broken horn tip. *Mid-Caucasian tur are intermediate between east Caucasian tur (which have horns like a blue sheep) and west Caucasian tur (which have horns like an ibex). All tur with horns like a blue sheep should be measured by the three-inch rule.

II. CIRCUMFERENCE OF HORN AT BASE (Fig. 3)

Measure the circumference of each horn at its

base, or as close to the base (or hairline) as

possible while holding the tape tightly in a

continuous loop and keeping it above any scallops or malformations. Keep the tape on horn material at all times--not on bone or hair, or across air space. The measurement should be at the same angle as the base of the horn; it need not be at a right angle. Do not press the tape down into depressions. Do not "walk" the tape around the edge of an irregularly shaped base.

West Caucasian tur horns (Fig. 4) have protruding rings or cross--ridges like an ibex, however, there mayor may not be a ring at the base of the horn. This is because horns grow continuously from the base and produce new rings throughout the life of the animal, so that at different times there may be either a protruding ring or a depression at the actual horn base. If there is a protruding ring at the exact base of the horn, take the circumference measurement around it. If not, in order to be fair, take the measurement around the ring that is nearest to the horn base.

III. CIRCUMFERENCE OF HORN AT QUARTERS

(Fig. 5)

Measure the circumferences of each horn at 1/4, 1/2 and 3/4 the distance from the base to the tip, based on the length of the longer horn. First, divide the length of the longer horn (Measurement I) by four. (Quarter-length tables are provided in the measuring kit.) Then, beginning at the base, mark both horns with pencil at these same distances--the shorter horn must be marked at the

same distances from its base as the longer horn. (It may be helpful to put pieces of masking tape at the points where the quarter measurements will occur, and put the pencil marks on the tape for easier viewing.)  Measure the circumference of each horn at these three marks, using a tight tape in a continuous  loop at a right angle to the axis of the horn.  (Note: If the shorter horn is broken off very short, the third quarter mark may fall beyond its

broken end, making Measurement C-3 impossible to obtain.)

Should a growth ring or other depression occur at one of the quarters, it is permissible to avoid it by taking the measurement further toward the horn
tip (but not toward the base). With west Caucasian tur horns, which have protruding ringsor cross-ridges like on those of an ibex, if a quarter does not occur at a protruding ring, it is permissible to take the measurement around the
nearest ring toward the horn tip (but not toward the base).

Record each circumference on the proper line. Circumferences are numbered in sequence, C-l, C-2 and C-3.

IV: TOTAL SCORE

Total all measurements. When measuring in inches, record fractions in 1/8ths of an inch. Record metric measurements to 0.1 cm.

This scoring method is taken from the SCI measurers manual. Anyone interested in having their trophy scored can either contact myself or go to the SCI web site @ http://www.scifirstforhunters.org/ to locate a measurer near you. If you are not a member you should consider joining. SCI is a great advocate for both hunting and gun rights.

Best of hunts,
Larry Stephens