tjhunt2

Congratulations on your string of pope and young bucks. That's something to be very proud of. Sitting that many days in that weather means you defintely are one tough guy. Thanks for sharing another one of your bucks. TJ

That is one nice looking buck and a great picture of Garrett with his first archery buck. Congratulations Garrett. You are hooked now for life. Can't wait to see what's next for ya. I bet papa is a proud one. Thanks for sharing. TJ

This is really great. My hats off to Garrett and his huntin buddies. I'll bet these kids had some good upbringing and their parents should be very proud of their efforts. You can also bet I'll be a follower of theirs. Great job guys. TJ

Looks to be a big cat. Thanks for sharing. TJ

What a beauty! Congratulations on a buck of a life time. TJ

Do you have to be a member to fish the tournament? TJ

Them are beautiful birds. Let us know how they taste. Thanks for the pictures. TJ

Thanks for sharing. Anytime you can get out in the woods is a good day and to top it off with all the finds is the icing on the cake. TJ

Thanks for sharing that great writeup. Made me feel like I was with you every step of the way. Having a brother that loves to hunt as much as you is a big plus. That's just awesome and so is that buck. Congratulations! TJ

15 days without seeing a live pig must have been pretty frustrating. What was your method of hunting them? I'ld suggest glassing and using your butt more than your feet. If you are seeing a ton of sign then you are in the right area. They normally don't roam to far from day to day unless pressured. Glass the hillsides that get the first sunlight. They will most likely be there especially after a cold night. Pigs will have several beding grounds but only a couple favorites so once you locate them they can be found there on a regular bases. Here is something I figured out years ago. During the off season find them in a bedding ground and then spook them out. Follow their tracks and most likely they will lead you to their next bedding area. Good luck next year and I bet the outcome will be a different story. TJ

I'ld say you definitely have your hands full in that picture of you. So what's the story on how you killed them? Good looking hound by the way. Thanks for posting and welcome to CWT. TJ

Congratulations on a very nice buck. Liked your story and the part about always hitting around the edges. Doesn't look like you hit around the edges on that buck. Thanks for sharing. TJ

Thanks for posting. All I can say is awesome of a year so far. Thanks for sharing all your success. You definitely are on a roll. TJ

That's a great coues buck. Now that you're hooked I can't wait till I see your next. Thanks for sharing and congratulations. TJ

Congratulations to you and your brother on some nice Mexico bucks. TJ

With a buck of that size who cares. Call it what you like. I call it an awesome buck. TJ

Wow, getting a bonus buck when your main objective was an az pig is just awesome. That was your objective I assume. lol All kidding aside It doesn't get any better than that. Thanks for sharing. TJ

Please give my congratulations to your son on a nice buck and a great shot. Kudos to you for getting him up in that country and for carrying all that weight. That pack makes my back hurt just looking at it. There's no doubt he will remember this the rest of his life and he certainly is following in his papa's footsteps.. I'm sure you are one proud father. Thanks for sharing. TJ

First of all congratulations on the over the counter success. Secondly, this just might be the prettiest pig I've ever seen. How awesome!! I've never seen an ugly pig in my life. I'll bet it taste just as good as all the others. Again, way to get it done my friend. TJ

First of all let me just say I would have peed my pants with a blood trail from a buck like yours. That's awesome you had the the family there to share it with. Congratulations on a beauty and thanks for sharing the hunt with us. Great writeup and them pictures look cold. TJ

Congratulations on your pig. Thanks for sharing. TJ

I would like to install one on my bow. TJ

As I was sitting, looking at cwt, yesterday morning with a cup of coffe I was wondering if Mr. Murphy was going to ride along with me again. As my partner, Scott Henderson, and I drive to our hunting spot we discuss our stragedy on this particular heard. This would make the 7th day we would attemt to shoot another pig. Mr. Murphy thinks we're buds but believe me we are not and I will try my damest to loose this looser today. Day 1. A 2 hour stalk on a shaled hillside with Scott calling my every move. I cuss again at the radio cord as it hangs up for the 50th time and my legs are full of cactus. I can't get any closer than 50yrds. My legs are starting to shake from the strain I have put in to each step along the way while trying to stay balanced on the steep hillside. I pull out my circe cottontail and give it a blast. Pigs run everywhere. A big male charges me. As I drop my call from my mouth I accidently touch off my release and it had just enough tension that my arrow came off the string and was dangling from my whisker biscut with the pig at 10yrds laughing at me. I continued to call in another but didn't have a clear shot. By now they figured me out and the rest is history for day one. Day 2. I'm busted before the day even gets off to a good start. I should have been walking slower and looking more. Stop pushing me Mr Murphy and let me slow down. Scott gets a shot towards the end of the day with a hit but little blood. Day 3. Scott has to work so I go it alone. My legs are sore from all the hiking the first two days and by the time I get to my glassing spot I'm ready for a rest. As I sit glassing I can't help but wonder back to when I shot my first pig. I was 25yrs old and knew little about these things. I shot it with a 7mm because I knew then how dangerous these things could be, and I needed the stopping power for my own protection. 37 years have past since that day and here I sit pondering over the past. It was a long day with no sitings of pigs. I think about a thicket I called last year's pig out of and decided I would stop there on the way back to the truck. I ever so slowly approached the thicket and had a pig at 20yrds in front of me. Dam, it had a little one with her. I wait and another pig at 15yrds gives me a shot and my arrow slaps her sideways. It hit the any branch in the way of me and it. Pigs scatter everywhere hoofing. I draw back on another and let it fly. There is no way I missed that pig at 15yrds but it runs and stops beside me before leaving me behind. I sit and wait and a third pig gives me yet another shot and that arrow caught some grass and flipped end over end. As I turn and reach for another arrow I see some pigs feeding up the hill not knowing anything had gone on. The vegetation is thick so I stalk within 15ryds and pull back. I have to letup on my draw because she had a piglet with her. I will not shoot a mama with babies. I now have 3 mama pigs that all have little ones and I can't believe it. Then out of no where came the pig that Scott had shot the day before. It had a wound along it's shoulder and I knew it was this pig I wanted. I had a pass thru and it ran past me heading for the thicket. The sun was already down with maybe a 1/2 hr of light left. I found lots of blood for 20yrds and then nothing at all. It stopped bleeding and I seached until dark. I go to pull my light from my pack and realized I hadn't transferred it to my other pack before heading out. Thank god I had my cell phone. I called Peg and told her I would be late and what had happened. As I turned on my downloaded version of brightlite I see a shadow. Of course, Mr. Murphy has caught up with me. At least he was some company, I had to talk with while on the 1 hr walk back in the dark. Day 4. If you have hunted long enough then you know the restless night I had thinking about not recovering that pig. I had been sick with a head cold since opening day and it was getting worse so I took my butt to the Dr.and still made my way back to that thicket by 1pm. I was determined to hunt for that pig I hit the night before. I crawled all thru that thicket and searched every exit in and out. I donated the rest of the day looking for that particular pig to no avail. Day 5. It's now sat. and Scott is back with me. We locate the heard and make our plan to come in from the top and bottom. They are back on that nasty steep hillside and resting quite nicely in the sun. Scott goes high and it stakes me 45 min. to get in position. I hear something I thought was ahead of me when all of a sudden I see movement to my left. It's a big pig at 10yrds. He starts out from behind some brush and I draw back. Bad mistake. He spots me before he clears and now we are at a standstill. My arms are giving out and he decides all is good and walks out. As my finger goes up to hit the trigger, he turns into a she and a piglet walks under her. I let down and they haul butt. There is no way them pigs got by us. Scott and I never seen the rest get by us. Them darn things win again. We are putting our bows in the truck and I notice my site has come loose to the point I could move it up and down a 1/2". What else could go wrong? I told Scott my body needed a rest so I was staying home sun. and watching football and rest my much needed body. Day 6. 5 days had past since I last hunted. This friday couldn't get here any to soon. Scott had to work so I head out and hunt all day without a glimpse of a pig up until now. I was working my way back to the truck when I hear a piglet over near the thicket. It's the opposite way but I have a flashlite now so off I go and I know I don't have much time to waste. I manage to get within 15rds of the pigs with 10 min. of shooting light left. The wind is perfect and I have to make one more push thru some brush to clear a shooting lane. I wait for the pigs to fight again and I bust thru. Of course they hear me and now are hoofing and I still can't see them. I hear a pig to my right I didn't know was there and he made his way towards the others which meant he had to pass a clearing. I drew back but he never stopped. I let down and now they really know something is there. One pig was determined to figure me out so he circled me at 15ryds till he was down wind. I pulled back at least a half dozen times. Everytime, my shot was blocked by something. They regrouped and I was left there standing like what the he!! just happened. I get a tap on the shoulder and you guessed it. Mr. Murphy saids let's take it to the barn. Day7. Scott and I head out from the truck and it's 22deg. I have on 4 Tshirts. I hate to wear a jacket and then have to carry it all day after it turns hot. What a mistake that turned out to be. It never warmed up yesterday. Peg said I deserve to be sick if I'm that stupid but been doing it for years and this old dog might give it another thought if tomorrow has us back here in the morning. We figured we would head for their bedding ground and wait for them to arrive. It's now 10am and the pigs don't show. I tell Scott to go check the flat on top while I check out another spot. Scott heads up hill and within minutes of reaching the top he calls on the radio and saids he has pigs at 50yrds and for me to get my butt up here. Oh yeah, and his pig is dead. This is the same nasty shale hillside I don't really want to climb but I haven't a choice if I want to get on these pigs. I make it up in record time but find myself bent over breathing like a honeymoon night. My lungs were burning like never before and Scott is motioning for me to get my butt over here fast. Yeah right, I needed some oxygen. He shows me the pigs and I start my stalk when something catches my eye to my right. I see a lone pig closer that had seperated from the heard. I turn and start towards him and a rock comes flying by me. I look back and Scott motions that I was going the wrong way. He doesn't know I see a pig. I continue and another rock hits by my side. I look back once again and he is furious I'm not listening to him. I motion it's alright and signal I'm after another pig. I reach my pig with the help of a palo verde tree and step out around to see my pig 30yrds away. As it starts feeding towards me I see a cactus waving back and forth to it's left. I'm thing back at everything that has happened up til now and can't believe this might be a baby pig. I can't see what's moving the cactus so it must be. Sure enough it's a little guy but it's mother steps out from behind some cactus and now I know my pig doesn't have any young. I figure 20 yrds by the time it hits my shooting lane. It's head and front leg enters and I pull back. No way in He!!, it stops, and I'm at full draw. It was the longest I ever held a draw. The mama pig was now approaching me and I could not let down without being detected. My arms were beginning to shake and my pig took it's final step of her life. A perfect double lung and she ran straight towards me and dropped at 5 yrds. I turned to signal Scott pig down. Of course I didn't have my camera and forgot I had my cell phone but that didn't seem to important at the time. We just scored on a double and it was only 11:15am. As Scott approached me with high fives I ask him if he saw him. He said, "saw who"? He was nowhere to be seen. I said, "Mr. Murphy. We just kicked his a$$." It's been a frustrating hunt on the one hand but a fun hunt as well.Thanks for those who suffered thru this marathon. TJ ps Sorry no pictures but having a problem posting for some reason. OH NO! Don't tell me he's back.

That sure is a sweet picture and congratulations on sticking with it for 7 days. Thanks for sharing. TJ

Congratulations on a nice buck. It's to bad you lost the meat but on the other hand you followed up and have a very nice trophy for your effort. Archery hunting is full of woulda coulda shoulda and it will happen to anyone who continues to chase deer with a bow. Thanks for sharing. TJ