FirstBoarHuntStory

The First Wild Boar Hunt

by Brad Blaine

I had first got introduced to wild boar hunting through hunting videos. Videos like Dan Fitzgerald's "Ferocious Tuskers" and Bob Eaton's "Hunting Wild Boar" really gave me the urge to give it a try. For a number of years, my father, hunting buddies and I would load up and go to Charleston, West Virginia for the annual "Hunt Show" where outfitters, retailers, wildlife experts and hunters gathered to share information, get ideas and sell stuff. From attending these things a number of years, I had quite a collection of outfitters ranging from Ohio to Alaska and during my junior high days, I'd sift through all the brochures dreaming of the day I'd get a chance to go to one of these fabled places.

As my senior year of high school was approaching its end and my entry into the United States Army started to near, I really wanted to go on one big hunt. After receiving money as a graduation present from all sorts of family and friends, I decided a boar hunt was possible. I sifted through the outfitters and ended up going with Dale Ray Hunting Preserve in Proctorville, Ohio. Jeremy Brown and my cousin Jon Blaine had agreed to tag along as cameramen.

We left late on the night of July 3, 1992 and arrived at the Hog Hunters Haven sometime around 10:00 pm. We met the outfitter, Tom (his last name escapes me) and he laid out the liability releases and discussed the game plan. I had packed enough shit to hunt 5 weeks it seems! But, I decided that I would first try it with a bow. After a hot, restless and anxious night, I met Tom that morning to go after a good hog. With my bow in hand, we crossed into the property and approached a food plot with Imperial Whitetail Clover. At the far end we spotted a pack of boar. They started to skirt the edges of the field and when they came within range, I let loose an arrow but it fell way way low! Upoon further examination I had forgotten to take the cap off of my game tracker spool, causing the string to pull the arrow down! How stupid of me! I swear by the things and they don't affect accuracy at all unless of course you forget to take the spool cap off! With that behind us, Tom led me up to a ridge where he split off but told me to continue to the top and get in a tree stand, next to a wallow. He would try to drive some boar up my way. I went up and found the short treestand - maybe six feet off the ground situated by an active wallow. I waited and waited and finally caught some movement to the right. I looked through my binoculars and noticed a rusty red colored back moving through the weeds. I immediately though - razorback! As luck would have it turn out though, it ended up being a red fox chasing field mice! A little while later Tom met up with me and asked if I had seen anything. I told him about the fox and that surprised him but as the day was really starting to heat up, we decided to head back and get some breakfast.

When I arrived at the Hog Hunters Haven, I found that Jeremy and Jon had finally got out of bed and told them about the morning hunt. After some discussion, Jon and Jeremy convinced me to take a rifle and get the hunt over with as "we can't afford to pay for another night's lodging." What a reason but with the upcoming July 4th celebration back on the farm, I said what the hell. We ate our half raw poached eggs that Jeremy prepared along with biscuits cooked on a pot lid (so much for everything you need being included to fix your own meals as advertised in the pamphlet!) and waited for Tom to come back over. He did and I told him the plans and we decided to get Pepper - the hog hound to go with us. We headed out and boy was it hot! Pepper had taken off up the ridge where we had hunted in the morning and we followed. We skirted around rock ledges and other good boar habitat when Tom stopped us and said "Do you smell that?" We all sniffed and sure enough there was this very musky odor - similar to a wet dog smell. I didn't think boar smelled like that so I asked him what it was. He said, "Goats, probably spanish goats" another exotic animal he had available to hunt and which Jon thought was really cool looking. Jeremy and I kind of thought they probably tasted like shit if you tried to eat them! Anyhow, as we continued skirting over the ledges, Pepper the boar dog raced down the ridge into the valley we had come out of and Tom said that she was on a boar

I walked down there and sure enough Pepper had the boar in the corner of the food plot barking and raising all sorts of hell with it. Fearless Jon moved in to take some photos and I moved in for the shot. As I was shooting toward the houses, I had to reposition myself several times to ensure a safe backstop in the unlikely event I would miss with my trusty Winchester Model 70 30-06 shooting 150 grain factory silvertips. I got into position and fired, striking the boar on the right side behind the tough armor plate. The boar spun with Pepper close on its tail, the boar came with about 10 feet of Jon and pissed as hell but just as Jon was about to get pummeled, Pepper turned the boar at a distance of about 4 feet from Jon and chased it over the hill where it died shortly thereafter. Pictures and handshakes were taken and Tom went off to get the 4-Wheeler to haul the boar out with. Jon was mad that the boar almost nailed him so Jon nailed the pig, a posing example of Andrew Dice Clay's making the boar take it like the "pig that you are baby, like the pig that you are"

I paid and thanked Tom and we headed back to the farm. We told the gang that we were thrown out for drunkenness - a common belief as were teen age boys and everyone believed us for a long time until I hauled out the head and meat to prove otherwise. With Chuck O'Bannon's marinade recipe, Dad made some fighting mad boar chops that were out of this world. We felt rejuvenated and even ripped out 2 limestone foundation blocks that were buried in the old house road that had been ripping off oil pans of every low clearance vehicle that drove over them. A great July 4th all in all.

It was a good hunt and one I would still do again. Unless you've tried preserve hunting or looked into it, don't knock it, it can be challenging if it is true fair chase and is a good operation. Oh yeah, here's Jon with my pig.