RWGS Featured Hunts
Amber graduates from camera to Rifle to bow!
If she were going to get close enough to film boars or take one with an arrow, she would have to overcome this fear. Weeks go by and there are more encounters with wild hogs and some of those encounter being quite close. Her fears subsided to some degree as she began to understand the hogs. She learned how they move and where they feed and how they scatter when spooked. She also learned that they really would rather run to get away than to challenge someone. She also learned that the "line not to cross" is rather wide and if safety is observed, getting close enough to film or hunt with a bow is realistic.
She practiced with her bow and increased the draw weight as her back and arm muscles developed from archery. It would take some time and practice to be proficient with her arrows but really wanted to hunt for a wild boar. She decides to try it first with a rifle. She thought that if she could get close enough with a rifle, that a bowshot could do it, than she would put down the rifle and pick up her bow.
We went to find her a hog. I hiked up to a trail that could yield some sign and she went to look in a wallow 40 yards down the hill. Minutes later she come up the hill fast breathing hard and saying that she was face to face with a big group of hog and that the hogs were coming up behind her. I could see by the look on her face that she had indeed seen the boars up close and personal! The mixed look of fear and desire. She had spotted what would become her first hunt on a wild boar. We quickly chose a vantage about 30 yards up hill from the hogs. Amber lay her and the rifle down on a mound of earth to steady for a shot. But the hogs were on the move through the forest and never offered and broadside opportunity before moving out of sight to our left. We collect our thoughts and gear and begin tracking to find where they went. About 150 yards from where we first tried for them, I found them feeding in a field a little further down hill. We positioned ourselves in an old bay laurel tree that overlooked a field where the hogs were rooting. She held off firing a shot until the red & black boar she chose was broad side and she felt steady. Her first hog to harvest was feeding 105 yards away. She made a great shot. The hog rolled over right where it was standing.
She did it! She killed a wild boar. She also helped field dress and drag the 165-pound beast uphill to where the truck was. As she tagged it, her face was a glow and she couldn't stop smiling and staring at the hog that she harvested. I was so proud of her I couldn't speak because I was so choked up and emotional for her. It was everything we set out to accomplish. She wanted to have it butchered and to choose what the butcher would make with her first wild boar. About a week later we get a call to pick up the meat from the butcher. How excited were we?! She was strutting around al proud because we going to get what she has provided for our freezer. When we get there we are amazed at how much meat we are handed. In the boxes there are pork chops, back straps, ribs to BB-Q, smoked hams, smoked hocks for making soup, and Italian sausage!
There is no greater feeling than providing for others. We not only enjoyed the meat ourselves, but we also shared with friends and neighbors. Not only did we enjoy seeing our friends and sharing a great meal, we also enjoyed seeing their faces when Amber would show the picture of her and the wild boar!
Here she is with her first boar!
On her first hunt she found herself 105 yards away and squeeeeeeezed the trigger to dropped this nice boar.
As weeks went by the excitement was tempered by the fact that the boar was still too far to consider taking it with a bow. Amber was becoming less fearful of wild hogs. She began filming closer and closer, often saying "I'm not afraid this time" and "Lets try to get closer to those hogs". She developed a confidence. I could see it in her eyes when she would say "Take Me Hunting"! As time passed and life kept us busy on all fronts, she always took time to shoot her bow. Her groups were getting very tight and she starting hitting 2-inch dots at 50 yards. She was still not sure if she could get into arrow range from a wild boar. There was still a little apprehensiveness to overcome. So we went for another hunt with the rifle hunt in one of our favorite places. A place where the blackberry picking was as good as it gets. The same place where I had harvested boars in the past and the very place where I had been charged and bitten by an upset wild hog. The creek still had water in it and the oaks trees were sparsely scattered throughout the hills while a blanket of fog kept the morning cool. The scene was perfect. As we worked our way around an old farm we could see a boar standing in a field near the creek. What a nice hog for Amber to harvest. We were both excited to see such a fine hog. He was marbled with colors and stood tall. He was alone and very wary. He kept picking up his head to stay to check the wind for the scent of intruders and listening for any hint of danger. In between moments of caution he would put his head down feed. We thought he winded us a couple of times, as he would make irregular movements away from us. It could have been that he was just getting ready to move back into the cover of the forest for the heat of the day. Once he just left the field and headed into a blackberry-covered creek. We held our position for a minute or so and what a good decision that was. A little while later he came right back out into the open and started feeding our way. We watched as he meandered towards us. He was feeding frantically as f to get as much as he could before the sun rose. Had we let him, he would have walked right up to us. If there had been a bow in the picture, we would have let him. At less than 40 yards we decide to take him at the very next broadside opportunity. Amber settles in to shoot and becomes very calm and focused. We watched him turn to our left offering up a complete broadside opportunity. I say to Amber "Take the shot". She locks in and after a few seconds she squeezes the trigger… BANG!At 38 yards she hits the hog perfectly. The hog didn't look hit as he trotted away. But he only made it another 35 yards and fell right in the open. We got to watch another one go down in sight!
Go Amber!
The moment we had anticipated had occurred. A close encounter that would end all doubt that she can get to bow range from a wild boar and be courageous enough to make the right shot. It was amazing! After the work of field dressing the hog and taking some pictures we had one of those moments that make life worth living. One of those moments where you look at you're hunting partner and marvel in the togetherness of an amazing experience. The moment was right for Amber to look me in the eye and say, "My next boar will be harvested with my Bow."
The Next Boar: Ambers 1st Bow Harvest!
In her words
"Last night I was walking down to pick walnuts when I glanced over to the neighboring vineyard and saw a group of hogs feeding on the hill side. The sun was just sinking over the horizon so I went tearing up to the house to grab TJ and my bow. Time was precious. TJ called the farmer and got the "go get 'em" so we grabbed the gear and camera and drove as fast as we could to the other side of the canyon. Getting out of the car the wind seemed all wrong. It was shifting in all directions but with the pressure of sundown, and being almost out of video light, we just had to take the chance of them winding us so we made a B line to where I had seen the hogs. We were trying to cover as much ground as quickly as possible, thinking that they would still be on the back side of the vineyard. But as we were cresting the hill at the edge of the vineyard we came nose to nose with the hogs! They were literally right in front of us! There were three large black dry sows, all about 150 lbs, some 40 pounders, a couple odd sizes and one size-able boar. All in all about 10 pigs. Everybody froze. The three sows were the closest, all looking at us with ears up about 5 yards away! They were big! It didn't even cross my mind to run or try and back out! This was the moment I was waiting for! I knew that as long as we were still and the wind didn't shift than there was a chance we would not be detected. We all stood there with the camera rolling for what seemed like forever. Then they started to continue feeding by us to the right. As soon as I realized that we hadn't been detected I nocked an arrow and locked on one of the sows. Meanwhile, TJ was getting nervous because the boar, whom I could not see because of a tree stump, was feeding toward us. I wanted to wait until the sow moved out to about 20 yards before I shot so if the herd was spooked they would not accidently run into us. As soon as she turned broadside at 17 yards I drew back and let my arrow go. It felt like I was flying with my arrow. It was shocking how completely different it felt in comparison to using a gun. I felt totally connected to the animal, to my bow, and to my arrow. My physical strength made that arrow fly. All that practice and time in the field paid off in a way I had not expected. It was amazing. I was not afraid.
She dropped right where I hit her and I moved in immediately to do a follow up shot. It could not have gone smoother. With in an hour of spotting the pigs we were loading one in the car and driving home. The moment we talked about for almost a year, that we had worked so hard for, had finally come. It was such team work. I immediately felt closer to TJ because of what we had just shared and everything he had taught me that prepared me for this very moment. We had achieved our goal. I harvested a pig with an arrow and we have it all on video!! I loved every minute of it and I can't wait to do it again! And I can see that it will take hunting to a new level for me because I now understand what a bow hunter is going through and I am not afraid to get in close...and close...and closer! I am excited to get back behind the camera and see what happens next!" Amber10-09
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