Haney’s Ranch – A Hog Weekend, Day 2

It was the second day of our hunt and we had collected only one hog.  It was late February and the cold front, ‘norther’ in Texan, hit just before sun up with the wind howling from the north and the temperature dropping like a rock.  We had been dressed and eating breakfast when it hit so this required a quick addition of long johns to our apparel.

Out into the teeth of the storm we went and set up our ambush and waited for the hogs.  Our wait was a short one and the hogs, probably 10 or more, exploded from the bait and scattered, headed toward the northwest, except for one that was headed our way.

Brad and I were about 5 yards apart and here came a hog, a 200 pounder, right at me and I was square in the middle of his path of escape.  Brad couldn’t swing on it for fear of hitting me and all I could do was get ready.  The hog charged closer and I put the sight on its nose, tracked down with its movement and the .223 cal., Boomed and the hog rolled right at my feet!  The shot hit right above the hog’s eyes and thinking back, I would have gotten “rolled up” by him if I had missed!

After another chase, Brad collected a nice one out of the bunch and we called it a day.  With the “norther” howling, we cleaned the 2 and then loaded all three on to the luggage rack of the Suburban, tied them down securely for the almost 300 mile drive to Houston, bid Rick a fond good bye and headed out.

We had a tail wind all the way home, but the cold followed us and turned into sleet and rain by the time we arrived at my northwest Houston home and found to our surprise that our hogs were frozen solid.  Hopefully, we’d process them the next day.

I even had a water pipe freeze that night!

Outdoors Pictures

Knowing about this blog, a lot of folks send me some pretty neat wildlife pictures and I gather them up and post the most interesting. Some recent ones follow.
{Clayton Gist}, a Goldthwaite local, trapped two more Bobcats. That makes 4 he gotten this year. I’m sure he’s a favorite of the goat and sheep ranchers!
My Daughter, Suzanne, sent me this picture of a huge 30+ point buck taken in Wisconsin, supposedly, by a 14 year old Amish boy armed with a homemade longbow!

Dave Lazor, a softball buddy, sent me this picture of a 260 pound, mountain lion, that was hit by a car, west of Aspermont, in the middle of the Texas panhandle. I don’t know who the lucky ‘hunter’, or driver, is, but that’s some lion!

Randy Pfaff sent me this unusual picture of a big, white tail buck on ice in the middle of a river. Also this “shooter” snapped from his back porch.

Comedy Show

As a high schooler, my spare time, when not involved in athletics, hunting or studying (ugh) was spent fishing and most of the time this was around the south Galveston Jetty, either walking the slippery rocks or wading along the Gulf or channel side.                                                One Saturday afternoon in early October, Bobby Baldwin and I were wading along the channel side of the south jetty, casting into a small gut at the base of the rocks. Bobby had a backlash and as he was removing it, his Dixie Jet spoon with a yellow buck tail attached, floated to the sandy bottom.

Pictured is a Dixie Jet Spoon with a yellow buck tail. Getting the snarl out Bobby began retrieving the excess line and when his line came tight, he grumbled, “I must be snagged on the rocks,” just as his line headed east for deep water and he was into a nice fish, what kind, we didn’t know.                                                                                                            After a short, spirited fight, a big Flounder, 2 or 3 pounds, was on the surface. Of course we didn’t have a landing net. That would have been too easy! So Bobby tried to grab the Flounder like a Spec, across his back. It was more like pinching the fish since a Flounder doesn’t have the width or “grabbing” surface that a Speck has. When grabbed, the Fish flopped away, the hook came loose and the fish headed for the bottom.                                                             Sensing something, we cast our spoons toward the rocks, let them settle to the bottom, slowly retrieved them and for the next hour had some terrific fishing, not catching, but fishing! Without a net trying to grab one was next to impossible. We tried hugging them to our chest and they just squirted up, away from us. Trying to use both hands proved fruitless. Anyway we had fun hooking them and trying to “capture” one. We probably hooked 25 or 30 and landed zero!                                                                                                             The tide changed and the fish quit hitting and as we were wading out a man fishing from the rocks yelled at us, “Boys, that was a great show, and it was free!” Being well brought up and taught to respect our elders, we said nothing and walked back to our car.

Vote

Since 2006 when the Democrats took control of the House and Senate, our Country has spiraled down a dangerous path; amnesty and immigration, high fuel prices, rising unemployment, bank failures, the completely manufactured ‘housing’ crisis, Government bail outs, and now, the election has become all about The Economy.

Today, the future of our nation as we know it hangs in the balance, and today, we vote and there are so many more crucial items that we should consider before casting our ballot. All of the following are extremely important to me and should be to everyone:

Second Amendment Rights and Gun Control
Halting Illegal Immigration
Reducing Our Reliance On Foreign Energy Sources
The Rights of The Unborn and Partial Birth Abortion
Judicial Appointments Including Supreme Court and Federal Judges
Free Speech and The Reimposing Of The ‘Fairness Doctrine’

Isn’t it strange that these topics were glossed over during the debates? I wonder why. We all know why, that it was because of Obama’s extremely liberal/socialistic/Marxist views of them!

I have already chosen to cling to my gun and my religion and have cast my vote, straight Republican, for McCain/Palin.

Today, please do the same.