Finding Bedded Boars: In Unlikely Places

Chad with his first hog

I did another hog hunt at Cracker Heritage Hunting Preserve and it turned out to be a really fun hunt. I have a friend, Chad, who is a Pinellas County sheriff's deputy and also a S.W.A.T. team member who had never been hunting in Florida. After talking about taking him hunting for a while I finally pulled the trigger and scheduled a private land hog hunt. My goal was to put him on a hog and make sure he had a great time. We arrived at the ranch at 5:45 a.m. and Dennis took us to a spot he calls the Heifer Pasture and put us in stands overlooking corn feeders. It was cold and windy and I wasn't sure if the hogs would be moving. The plan was to sit for first light and if nothing happened, get down and stalk around together.

He brought his AR 15 and I brought my bow and my 30-06. After sitting for a little bit after 1st light I decided to get down and meet up with Chad to try to find the hogs. I have hunted this area many times and knew some spots where I had found bedded hogs before. The plan was to sneak through the swamps and try to either come on some bedded hogs unawares or spook them up and get them on their feet. After meeting up and stalking through the front swamp with no luck we headed to a thick ditch line in the back of the pasture. There was fresh hog sign everywhere so I was surprised we had not jumped a single hog. As we were stalking the ditch line I noticed a well used hog trail going out into the open pasture towards the corner of the field where there was no cover except for an old set of tractor discs overgrown with weeds. I wondered out loud, "Why would that trail be going out there?"

fat bar hog

I decided to investigate. As we neared the set of discs about 7 big hogs stood up and began running along the fence line. I felt like Troy from Swamp People as I shouted to Chad, "Shoot em!" After letting Chad shoot twice I picked out a big boar and dropped him in his tracks. "Which one did you shoot?" I asked. "The one that dropped." He replied. Oops, I shot the same one. I quickly picked out another big boar that was running full speed and led him with my scope. As I pulled the trigger he rolled to a halt. It was exciting! It was also the first thing I had taken this season with my rifle.

After congratulating Chad on his first hog, we took some pictures and called the rancher to pick us up. It was 8:30 a.m. and we had gotten the job done. They were both about 225 lbs. and had nice cutters. The only difference was that mine was a bar hog which usually means better eating. Lucky me!

This place gets a lot of pressure and the big boars don't get that way from coming to the feeders. These guys had survived other hunters by bedding in a spot that wasn't a usual suspect. If their trail hadn't given them away I would have never expected them to bed in the middle of a grass field under old farm equipment. I'm going to keep that spot in mind for next time though. Mature hogs get smart and the challenge of outsmarting one is what makes hunting them so much fun.

This was a great way to cap of my season and also my freezer. He was a big clean bar hog and I've have never seen so much fat on a wild hog. With four deer and two big hogs for the season I should be able to feed my family all year. I did make sure I left room on top of my freezer for a turkey or two though.