The Citrus Opener Hog

I've hunted Chassahowitzka and Richloam during their archery seasons this year without much anticipation. But what I have really been excited about is the archery season of Citrus WMA. A few years ago I found a little honey hole at Citrus that is teeming with game and nearly void of other hunters. This year I went up early and put up trail cams and began tracking the game in the area. I have a few different bucks on camera and a bunch of big hogs. Many of these pictures are during daylight hours as well. That got me really excited!

Jonny's Citrus Archery Buck

Well the opening day for Citrus' archery season came Nov. 3rd and I was laid up in bed with a nasty virus: Fever, chills, sweats, swollen glands and extreme fatigue; I felt like garbage. Later in the morning I received a text from my brother Jonny that he had shot a buck that morning. That got me out of bed. I got my gear together, assured my wife that I would take it easy and hit the road. I thought Jonny was staying the whole day but as I was half-way there he called and said he was heading home. I would be in the woods sick and solo. I asked him if there was a crowd and he told me that there were just two guys at that area with longbows stalking around, not much competition. 

I arrived and decided to take my game cart with me to the stand just in case because I was too weak to make an extra trip back to the truck if I was to shoot something. I slowly made my way to one of my two stands and carefully climbed in. I made sure to bring along plenty of Tylenol and Ibuprofen because a steady cycle of these was the only thing keeping my fever under control. I attached my safety strap to the tree, put my bow on the bow hanger, hung up my pack and sat down.

In Life

No sooner had I settled into the stand when I heard something running through the woods behind me. I peaked over my left shoulder to see a large hog running zig-zags through the woods behind me. He would run about 20 yards, stop, and then run a little further before stopping again. I stood up and grabbed my bow. His next sprint brought him directly behind me. I had to do a spin around to the right side of the tree and then he stopped in an opening at about 30 yards. I drew my bow, lined him up between my 20 and 30 yard pins and released the arrow. I could see that I drilled him with a perfect quartering away shot that got plenty of penetration. I couldn't believe I shot a nice hog at 2:45 p.m. on Public Land. I wondered if one of those guys wandering around with longbows had jumped him out of his bed. 

In Death

I waited an hour and got down to look for him. It didn't take long to find a steady blood trail thanks to my T3 broadheads. He ran maybe 80 yards and piled up under a large palmetto. I retrieved my game cart and began gutting him where he lay to get rid of some weight for the long cart back to the truck. As I was field dressing him, three small pigs came walking right by me. I put my release on and knocked an arrow. I had a shot but decided to pass since I was feeling horrible and I already had my work cut out for me for the evening. 

I was sure relieved to finally see my 4Runner. There was only one other vehicle there, a young guy in a mini van who was just arriving for the evening hunt. He helped me lift the hog onto my hitch & hall and after stopping to fill the hog's cavity with ice I was back on the highway heading to St. Pete. I love driving through St. Pete with a large dead animal on my hitch & haul. You would think I just murdered someone and paraded their body through town judging by some of the looks I get. I called my wife and had her bring my kids to my parent's house where I hoisted the hog on my gambrel. After showing him off a bit I butchered him and put him on ice. After a hot shower I was back in bed with a fever. I continued to be sick for over a week. There's still another week and a half left for the archery season but I'm having a real tough time finding a day to get back. The last week of season I have my anniversary, Thanksgiving, my baby's birthday and my wife's birthday, all in one week! Even If I do find a morning to slip away I don't think I will have money left for the tolls.