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We are naturally very proud of Erin. This was her first hunt; and when I say
her first hunt, I mean the first time she has ever hunted anything.
She had never even fired a gun. So starting hunting by sticking
Russian Boars proved to be a very exciting time.
Since I had hunted boar before, she had heard numerous tales of how we slayed
the mighty boar. Evidently she took the adventures to heart and
asked to join us on our next hunt. Since this was her first hunt, we
had to do considerable shopping for suitable clothes and hunting
accessories. This was something that she was prepared to do. Her
only problem is that hunting boots don't come in pink.
After we arrived at the hunting camp and got settled in, we were off for
our first hunt. Although we did some day hunting, we opted to hunt at
night where the odds of getting a big boar improved. Within minutes on
trail, we bayed a good sized boar in some thick brush. As Erin and I closed
in, the catch dog was released and grabbed the boar. Erin worked her
way into close quarters with me and the boar and I made the first kill.
All went well and it gave her an up close and personal example of what was
expected of her. Little did she know that her first boar would be very
different circumstances.
It was some time later, about 4 AM, before the tracking dogs located
another worthy adversary. However, this time the boar refused to bay
up and gave the dogs a serious run. We tracked them for 45 minutes
until we heard their barks turn to bays along a half-mile slough.
We walked in a mixture of mud and shallow water for about a quarter mile
before we spotted our quarry. It was a very nice young boar and he was
more than a little upset with us. He had worked himself beyond the
head high reeds into about two feet of water. The flashlights turned
his angry eyes into glowing red beads. This was going to be difficult.
Just moving around was tenuous as the mud sucked our boots down into the
muck. Nobody was going to move very fast if he charged us. But that's
what the dogs are for.
Erin and I along with one of the cowboys carefully worked our way out
into the muddy water where Erin made a clean kill. We used a horse and
rope to pull the creature onto dry land. After much celebration and
covered in mud, we worked our way back to the trucks and headed to the
lodge. It was almost sunrise and after showers and a short nap, we
rustled up some eggs and toast. Regaling the abilities of our new brave
hunter.
Erin took two more boars over the next 24 hours, both during the
daylight. However she will not soon forget the big boar in the swamp. |