RolandDeschain
Blackhawk
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2011
- Messages
- 508
Well, she wasn't really, but she thought she was, and it makes for a pretty good story.. :lol:
We were out on what we call our weekly adventure today, where we go try to find new areas to explore. I got some decent pics, but first will tell the story with some pics to follow. ( No pics of the hogs though, that all happened too quick...)
As you read this remember - we weren't hunting - we were hiking - meaning I was just surprised and reacting without any forethought - ergo the stupid decisions.
AND - you guys remember how I always say "my woods gun is my Glock 32-357 Sig for bears and boars" . Well - today was such a nice warm spring day I thought - "you know, I have been shooting that little SW Shield 9mm real well - and its so light and thin...I am packing that along today.. :roll:
Well anyway, the wife and I were hiking a new area today and about a half mile into the 4 mile hike I started seeing hog sign - which is pretty common so didn't think much of it. Pretty soon the trail circled down by the creek so we were walking on sand and river rock - AKA quietly. I was carrying a walking stick to flip snakes off the trail (which I had just done not 10 minutes before the referenced encounter) so the wife walks right behind me so she doesn't have to worry about them. We are about a half mile from the truck along the river when I hear some scuffling sounds off right off the trail about 30 yards ahead between the trail and river. Its real brushy so I can't see much but I just think its squirrels because we saw a blue zillion of them out today. But then I see the bushes shaking in several areas...too big and too many for squirrels so I think its a flock of turkeys because we had seen a bunch of them out too - and I stop and motion my wife to stop too. So we are standing there listening to the rustling, now about 20 yds away and I see a flash of red through the bushes... :lol: Oh crap I know what those are gosh I wonder how many and how big. :lol: Just about then a half grown red russian pops out into the trail not 20 yds away stops and looks at me (the wind is blowing hard we are downwind). I slowly draw the Shield with my right hand and reach back to hand the wife my walking stick with my left. She doesn't take it. I reach farther back and waggle it - she still doesn't take it. :lol: Finally I turn around and see that she had started backing up so I waved her forward and when she moved towards me to grab the stick of course the hog goes OINK and takes off up the trail. So now my 20 yd standing broadside shot is a 40d running away shot.
And duh - instead of me worrying about the hogs now 10 yds away I take a shot at the running hog 40yds away with that stupid Shield...Now I can go 9 for 9 on an 8 inch gong with it at 20 yds - but no way in heck can I hit that hog moving at that range but I shoot anyway - which of course is a miss - and mainly has the effect of causing a covey of 150 lb squealing quail to explode in the brush right by us. The wife takes off running back down the trail and so do I - jumping into the brush to try and cut them off because I figure there is no way they will cross the river bcs they can't swim that well. Well the hogs go that way too, so the wife starts running the other direction and gets cut off by a hog going up the trail. And meanwhile I cant get a shot at the ones by the river because the dang things jump right in it and go lickity split across like a cross between a beaver and a bass boat. :lol:
In retrospect - I should have just waited to see where momma was when that first one popped out. And when it spooked I still should have just waited. But the wife was trying to get out of there so it all happened so fast and sudden I wasn't in hunter mode.
And I did have a talk with the wife about "honey - when you see me start to shoot something you really need to work on that STANDING STILL THING!"
Her defense was "how did I know there wasn't 50 of them and they all weighed 300lbs" (which she HAS seen before in close to that same area)
And oh yeah- that Shield thing...its relegated to strictly town carry now. And the next trip to the range will be an experiment in which do I shoot better offhand at 40 yds - the Glock 32 or GP100.
Well anyway - thats my story your honor and I'm sticking with it. Will try to upload some pics from the more relaxing part of the adventure today.
We were out on what we call our weekly adventure today, where we go try to find new areas to explore. I got some decent pics, but first will tell the story with some pics to follow. ( No pics of the hogs though, that all happened too quick...)
As you read this remember - we weren't hunting - we were hiking - meaning I was just surprised and reacting without any forethought - ergo the stupid decisions.
AND - you guys remember how I always say "my woods gun is my Glock 32-357 Sig for bears and boars" . Well - today was such a nice warm spring day I thought - "you know, I have been shooting that little SW Shield 9mm real well - and its so light and thin...I am packing that along today.. :roll:
Well anyway, the wife and I were hiking a new area today and about a half mile into the 4 mile hike I started seeing hog sign - which is pretty common so didn't think much of it. Pretty soon the trail circled down by the creek so we were walking on sand and river rock - AKA quietly. I was carrying a walking stick to flip snakes off the trail (which I had just done not 10 minutes before the referenced encounter) so the wife walks right behind me so she doesn't have to worry about them. We are about a half mile from the truck along the river when I hear some scuffling sounds off right off the trail about 30 yards ahead between the trail and river. Its real brushy so I can't see much but I just think its squirrels because we saw a blue zillion of them out today. But then I see the bushes shaking in several areas...too big and too many for squirrels so I think its a flock of turkeys because we had seen a bunch of them out too - and I stop and motion my wife to stop too. So we are standing there listening to the rustling, now about 20 yds away and I see a flash of red through the bushes... :lol: Oh crap I know what those are gosh I wonder how many and how big. :lol: Just about then a half grown red russian pops out into the trail not 20 yds away stops and looks at me (the wind is blowing hard we are downwind). I slowly draw the Shield with my right hand and reach back to hand the wife my walking stick with my left. She doesn't take it. I reach farther back and waggle it - she still doesn't take it. :lol: Finally I turn around and see that she had started backing up so I waved her forward and when she moved towards me to grab the stick of course the hog goes OINK and takes off up the trail. So now my 20 yd standing broadside shot is a 40d running away shot.
And duh - instead of me worrying about the hogs now 10 yds away I take a shot at the running hog 40yds away with that stupid Shield...Now I can go 9 for 9 on an 8 inch gong with it at 20 yds - but no way in heck can I hit that hog moving at that range but I shoot anyway - which of course is a miss - and mainly has the effect of causing a covey of 150 lb squealing quail to explode in the brush right by us. The wife takes off running back down the trail and so do I - jumping into the brush to try and cut them off because I figure there is no way they will cross the river bcs they can't swim that well. Well the hogs go that way too, so the wife starts running the other direction and gets cut off by a hog going up the trail. And meanwhile I cant get a shot at the ones by the river because the dang things jump right in it and go lickity split across like a cross between a beaver and a bass boat. :lol:
In retrospect - I should have just waited to see where momma was when that first one popped out. And when it spooked I still should have just waited. But the wife was trying to get out of there so it all happened so fast and sudden I wasn't in hunter mode.
And I did have a talk with the wife about "honey - when you see me start to shoot something you really need to work on that STANDING STILL THING!"
Her defense was "how did I know there wasn't 50 of them and they all weighed 300lbs" (which she HAS seen before in close to that same area)
And oh yeah- that Shield thing...its relegated to strictly town carry now. And the next trip to the range will be an experiment in which do I shoot better offhand at 40 yds - the Glock 32 or GP100.
Well anyway - thats my story your honor and I'm sticking with it. Will try to upload some pics from the more relaxing part of the adventure today.
