Matt_WY
AH enthusiast
I am new to bow hunting, so when I decided to take a bow on my upcoming trip to South Africa, it was clear some practice was in order. A hog hunt in TX seemed just the ticket, so I messaged Erik (@gizmo) at Rockin' G to see what we could put together. It needed to be a quick trip as I have no vacation left for the year; the date was set for Presidents' Day weekend so that Erik was done with show season and I could capitalize on the holiday weekend.
Fast forward a couple months and I was on my way to Amarillo via Billings and Dallas. Erik picket me up at the airport and we headed out to the ranch in the dark. There we met two of Erik's friends (Shane and Genevah) who were helping out for the weekend. They had dinner waiting for us in the crock pot and one thing for the weekend became clear -- I would not go hungry! These folks can crush it on the cooking!
Awoke to a beautiful TX sunrise. Really pretty country. We had finished breakfast and were getting kitted up when Shane spotted a pig silhouetted on the adjacent hill. Erik and I quickly hopped on the CanAm and headed over to see if we could catch up to them, but they were on the move and stayed well ahead of us.
Soon it was evident that no more pigs were moving and the likelihood of finding them bedded was low, so we went to plan B.... When we were on the phone a couple days before the hunt to coordinate airline pickup, etc, Erik had said "I know it sounds crazy, but do you have one of those training bows? Bring it. We can stalk other stuff while the pigs are bedded without drawing actual arrows on expensive animals." So now we began to play out his idea.
Over the course of our two day hunt, I stalked axis deer, red deer, scimitar-horned oryx, fallow deer, and mule deer (some of them more than once). Several stalks were blown, but on a few of them I was able to slip into bow range, range, draw, and "shoot". This was a great exercise and exactly what I needed; plus, it was super fun. Also, the Accubow makes a pretty loud smacking noise when you release the big rubber 'string' and it hits the stop. Pretty hilarious to watch the unsuspecting deer levitate when it surprised them from 20-40 yards away. We agreed this is an excellent exercise and I would go back just to do more of it. Not very often you get 5-10 stalks a day.
Switching back to the real bow.....Erik wanted to thin the number of Eurasian wild boars in his high fence, so he picked out a sow and we took her. They are cool animals, and big. I was very pleased to see the penetration and blood trails left by the broad heads I am planning to use in Africa. This was also the first real life test of my new Garmin sight. Man, that thing is sweet.
First afternoon we decided the best way to take a couple feral hogs would be over a bait pile so we put out some corn in a field they have been using and set a blind 20 yards away. The pigs appeared to have changed pattern though and never came in.
Day 2 started with a check of the bait pile, which had gone untouched overnight....not good. Couldn't find any pigs at all in the morning but we did find an area with lots of fresh rooting, so we made that the new afternoon plan. More exotic stalks, more awesome food, and then we set up a new blind over a new bait pile right where they were rooting. Lo and behold; we got some pigs! One big boar (Erik thinks) rooted around behind us for quite a while but never came in front of the blind for a shot. We also had a few sows and a piglet come to the bait but they saw the blind and didn't like something new being there, so they buggered out. No shot, but it was fun to get so close.
After dinner on day 2 it was back to Amarillo so I could catch a couple hours shuteye at a hotel and then catch an early flight out. Whirlwind trip.
I told Erik before I came that my goal was not to put a bunch of stuff on the ground. Rather, I wanted reps on stalks and to be in front of live animals with the bow. He delivered and due to his creativity I got full days of practice and a great experience working a bunch of animals up close in a wide variety of circumstances. I pretty much got to test my whole Africa bow system as well, including remounting the optic to the bow and validating no POI change, validating broached selection, testing the new sight, etc. It was a great trip and I am definitely planning to go back.
Fast forward a couple months and I was on my way to Amarillo via Billings and Dallas. Erik picket me up at the airport and we headed out to the ranch in the dark. There we met two of Erik's friends (Shane and Genevah) who were helping out for the weekend. They had dinner waiting for us in the crock pot and one thing for the weekend became clear -- I would not go hungry! These folks can crush it on the cooking!
Awoke to a beautiful TX sunrise. Really pretty country. We had finished breakfast and were getting kitted up when Shane spotted a pig silhouetted on the adjacent hill. Erik and I quickly hopped on the CanAm and headed over to see if we could catch up to them, but they were on the move and stayed well ahead of us.
Soon it was evident that no more pigs were moving and the likelihood of finding them bedded was low, so we went to plan B.... When we were on the phone a couple days before the hunt to coordinate airline pickup, etc, Erik had said "I know it sounds crazy, but do you have one of those training bows? Bring it. We can stalk other stuff while the pigs are bedded without drawing actual arrows on expensive animals." So now we began to play out his idea.
Over the course of our two day hunt, I stalked axis deer, red deer, scimitar-horned oryx, fallow deer, and mule deer (some of them more than once). Several stalks were blown, but on a few of them I was able to slip into bow range, range, draw, and "shoot". This was a great exercise and exactly what I needed; plus, it was super fun. Also, the Accubow makes a pretty loud smacking noise when you release the big rubber 'string' and it hits the stop. Pretty hilarious to watch the unsuspecting deer levitate when it surprised them from 20-40 yards away. We agreed this is an excellent exercise and I would go back just to do more of it. Not very often you get 5-10 stalks a day.
Switching back to the real bow.....Erik wanted to thin the number of Eurasian wild boars in his high fence, so he picked out a sow and we took her. They are cool animals, and big. I was very pleased to see the penetration and blood trails left by the broad heads I am planning to use in Africa. This was also the first real life test of my new Garmin sight. Man, that thing is sweet.
First afternoon we decided the best way to take a couple feral hogs would be over a bait pile so we put out some corn in a field they have been using and set a blind 20 yards away. The pigs appeared to have changed pattern though and never came in.
Day 2 started with a check of the bait pile, which had gone untouched overnight....not good. Couldn't find any pigs at all in the morning but we did find an area with lots of fresh rooting, so we made that the new afternoon plan. More exotic stalks, more awesome food, and then we set up a new blind over a new bait pile right where they were rooting. Lo and behold; we got some pigs! One big boar (Erik thinks) rooted around behind us for quite a while but never came in front of the blind for a shot. We also had a few sows and a piglet come to the bait but they saw the blind and didn't like something new being there, so they buggered out. No shot, but it was fun to get so close.
After dinner on day 2 it was back to Amarillo so I could catch a couple hours shuteye at a hotel and then catch an early flight out. Whirlwind trip.
I told Erik before I came that my goal was not to put a bunch of stuff on the ground. Rather, I wanted reps on stalks and to be in front of live animals with the bow. He delivered and due to his creativity I got full days of practice and a great experience working a bunch of animals up close in a wide variety of circumstances. I pretty much got to test my whole Africa bow system as well, including remounting the optic to the bow and validating no POI change, validating broached selection, testing the new sight, etc. It was a great trip and I am definitely planning to go back.
