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by Rick Philippi
I hung up the phone with my good friend Robert Hoague, we decided to go on a wild boar hunt in East Texas. I lined up the hunt with Merle Smith who owns a Texas S ranch that is located in East Texas. Merle said there were a lot of hogs and he also had some good rams. My son Ricky was going to try for a ram and Robert and I were looking for wild hogs. Merle mentioned that he had some hunters out the previous week and that one hunter was treed by a big wild boar. I took this with a grain of salt. I have been hunting pigs for years and have taken my share and never had any type of problem with this type of encounter. Boy, was I in for a rude of awakening. Robert met Ricky and I at our house. It was a three-hour drive to our destination. Merle met us as we parked the truck. After all the introductions, we were ready to hunt! Everybody headed to the cabin; we all changed into our Sticks' n Limbs camo and were off. Ricky went with Merle to hunt for a ram. Robert and I took off in the opposite direction to see the lay of the land. The terrain was flat with a lot of big cottonwood and pine trees. Walking a road on the perimeter of the property we jumped a big spotted boar that was bedded in a blow down. In another hundred yards and I heard a hog grunt down in a brushy swamp. I whispered to Robert that I was going in to check it out. We split up and I headed into the swamp. I noticed some movement off to my right, there were about twenty hogs laying in some muck and brush piles. I crouched down and started working my way towards them. The wind was perfect, directly in my face. Getting within thirty yards I studied the group and decided there was nothing worth trying for this early in the hunt. As I made my way out of the swamp Merle called me on the radio and informed me that Ricky took a beautiful merino ram with a perfect shot. This was his first bow kill. I asked if I could talk to him and congratulate him. Merle responded by saying Ricky didn't want to talk. He wanted to go after a pig. A kid on a mission. I smiled to myself and wished them good luck. Further into the timber I met up with Robert and told him about Ricky's ram. He smiled broadly. I think Robert was happier than Ricky was. We went back down in the swamp. No pigs. We saw some hogs in the brush and then found a tree stand that was on a heavily used game trail they appeared to be using. Robert wanted to go back into the swamp so we split up and I climbed in the stand and I got prepared for what may come by. Before long I heard some pigs coming my way. Looking through the heavy brush I noticed about ten porkers. I raised the High Country Four Runner to a shooting position. Resting the bow on my knee I watched motionless while the pigs came within twenty yards. Raising the Four Runner to a shooting position I picked out the largest of the boars and sent the AFC shaft on its way. The 100-grain Spitfire did its job. I hit the spine and dropped the big boar in his tracks. I got on the radio and told Merle I had a large boar down. He had me explain where I was and told me to continue hunting and he would come out and pick up the boar with his truck. I slipped into the brush and started looking for more hogs. A few hundred yards later I noticed a group of pigs in a hog wallow that was three feet deep and full of mud and muck and the nastiest smelling odor a nose could handle. I got down wind and worked my way through some thick brush towards the critters. They were wallowing and making all kind of noise and that enabled me to get within six yards of their location. I picked out a large black boar and picked my spot. I drew my High Country to full draw and sent the AFC shaft on its way. A perfect hit. Mud flew everywhere as the hogs took off, my boar went down in forty yards. The Spitfire broadhead did its job again. I got back on the radio and told Merle there was another one down. I decided I would hunt with Ricky and see if we I could help him get a shot at a hog. Ricky and I covered a lot of ground and saw quite a few pigs but something always went wrong. Walking through the big timber I noticed some movement ahead. It was a group of pigs rooting and tearing up good old mother earth. Studying the situation I felt like I might be able to drive the pigs by Ricky. I told Ricky to follow me. We circled behind and ahead of the pigs and I put Ricky along a trail that I thought would be a great bushwhack point if the pigs would cooperate. I told Ricky to be attentive and watch the pigs and if they moved his way to be prepared because if they came by it would be some quick action.Once Ricky was situated I backed tracked and worked my way toward the pigs. Sixty yards away a large sow noticed me, she slowly started to walk away. The entire group followed her. She headed out on the trail that led past Ricky. The pigs started moving at a rapid pace. From my position I could see that the critters had to be close to my son's location. I heard a loud squeal and I saw hogs scatter in every direction. A large black porker dropped like a ton of bricks on the game trail. I picked up my pace and got to where I thought Ricky should be. Ricky popped out of the brush with a large smile on his face. We high fived each other. The hogs had filed by his location at six yards. The kid picked his spot and sent an arrow deep into the vitals of the pig. Ricky's High Country Sky Force had claimed his second big game animal with a bow. I wish you could have seen the smile on that boy's face. Two big game animals in two days, what an achievement! For years I have read about wild boar attacks. I have always respected the animals I hunted over the years. I have hunted the United States, Canada, and Africa but never once have I been attacked. Back years ago I made a pact with myself. If ever attacked by a critter and there was no escape route I would stand my ground and put up a good fight. On this particular hunt I got to put that theory to the test. Earlier in the day when Ricky and I were looking for pigs he was walking thirty yards to the side of me as we combed the brush. As I walked around the corner of a brush pile I noticed two hogs walking towards me. Freezing in my tracks, the hogs kept walking in my direction. The lead hog stopped thirty yards from me and glared a hole through me. He must have pegged me as something he didn't like. HE CHARGED!! Things happened quickly. Standing my ground as the hog closed the distance, I went to full draw. The pig was about four yards away when I settled the sight pin on his chest and released. Unbelievably, it was a clean miss! Instantly the big hog was at my left leg -- trying to chew it off. I started yelling and used my bow like a baseball bat to combat the attack. The hog bit and snapped to get at my legs. Jumping sideways I hopped out of the way, (Michael Jordan would have been proud) but the pig made another charge. I screamed some words I can't repeat while I swung my bow at the pig as it made a lethal attempt to tear me apart. Again I jumped to avoid the pig's snapping and slashing jaws and swung the bow again, but missed. Suddenly my attacker took off through the big timber. The fight was over. My son Ricky stepped out from behind a tree 30 yards away. The first words out of mouth were, "dad that was awesome". Well, I didn't think it was all that awesome, in fact, at that very moment I was pretty mad about the whole situation. To be honest if the pig would have come right back I would have gone another round with him. I am not a tough guy but when that critter tried to tear me apart it did not make me happy. There is a lesson to be learned from this. I feel that if you absolutely can't avoid an altercation with a wild hog and your only options are to run or fight, your best bet is to stand and fight. Of course if you can get up a tree or get the heck out of the area, that is definitely the best bet. In my circumstance there was no where to go. If I would have ran the hefty pig would have knocked me to the ground. By standing my ground and fighting saved me from serious injury. Hopefully most hunters are never faced with this type of situation. I feel that all outdoorsmen need to be mentally prepared ahead of time to know what they are going to do if they are confronted by a wild critter. I love hunting wild pigs. Our hunt in East Texas was a success to say the least. Ricky got a ram and a pig and I arrowed two porkers. Robert could have shot some pigs, but none that came within range was up to his standards. Here in the great state of Texas we can hunt hogs all year round. This keeps me busy in the off season when deer and turkey season is over. If I had one tip to give all hog hunters, CONTROL YOUR SCENT. Before I hunt hogs I take a shower and put on my Scent-Lok suit. Then I spray my camo with Scent Shield. If a hog gets an inkling of a smell that is not natural, you will never seem him. The good news is hogs have very poor eyesight. So if you are stalking and can get down wind you will have some good opportunities to arrow a porker.

Good hunting