This past week/weekend I went on one of the most fun hunts I’ve ever been on. It all started Wednesday when I hit the road after work, picked up my great friend David, and we hit the road, destined for the windswept Caprock Escarpment that rises up from the flatlands east of Lubbock, Texas. Armed with various firearms and my bow, we hit the road – excited beyond measure that we were returning to the massive 6500 are property where we harvested our mule deer last winter.
Once we made it past Coleman, we noticed a roadkilled animal that didn’t look like the typical coon, possum or other smaller varmint we’re accustomed to. Stricken by curiosity, I flipped my Tundra around and went back to investigate. It was a badger! This was only the second one I had ever encountered aside from one in Colorado, and it was completely undamaged aside from a little bleeding from the mouth. I tossed it in the back of the truck, since it hadn’t been there but a number of hours, with the intent of skinning and tanning the hide, and resumed the drive up. Then, as we neared Post, we noticed a huge black boar just off the highway rooting through the grasses next to the shoulder of the road. These all seemed like good omens to me, and a little while after dark, we arrived at the camp house of our host. After quickly unpacking and a celebratory whiskey night cap, it was off to bed to rest up for the day to come.
Thursday morning, we were up before the sun, chowing down on a hearty breakfast of wild hog breakfast sausage and eggs, and down in a creekbed to prepare to call turkey off the roost! Well, the morning hunt was slow….until it wasn’t. David wanted a turn on the box call, and after 20 minutes of intermittent calling – during a period of silence between calls – we were both startled by a gobble that wasn’t but 50-60 yards away! I had told David about how mature toms often come in silently and don’t make any noise until they’re right on top of you, and this was precisely what had happened. Hearts racing, we readied ourselves just in time to see a gorgeous longbeard strut out at about 45-50yds! I told David, who was armed with a Rem 850 Super Mag that the tom needed to come in to 30-35 to be harvested since he didn’t have a full choke on at the time. After strutting out parallel to our position, the tom turned away from us and walked out to about 100yds to drink from the creek. Realizing the imminent risk of this gorgeous turkey not coming all the way back to shotgun distance, I decided to claim my first rifle bird and I sniped him with my AR-15 and a 75gr Hornady Black match round – lights out!
After harvesting the meat, beard and 1 1/4″ spurs off the tom, we started stalking the creek and it was not ten minutes in that we came upon a pair of bedded boars who were intermittently fighting! David and I spread out and used our bird sounds to echolocate without spooking the animals. He always does a hoot owl, and I typically use a quail. When they finally got restless enough to move, it was too late. One ran right toward David and ate turkey shot to the face at 5yds!
After that came a hike to the top of the Caprock and a 200yd running shot on a coyote by me. It took a nose dive behind some bushes on the far side of a deep ravine, and I was unable to make it there for the recovery, but I was glad to have taken out a fawn and turkey killer! We hiked back to the truck, loaded meat, and headed back to camp for a dinner I made of jalapeno mule deer burger David prepared a few months ago. From there it was whiskey and sleep – blissfully unaware of what a big was was coming tomorrow….
When tomorrow came, we were quick getting to the action, with me spotting a group of three turkey and setting up an ambush for David, where I let them get just a tiny glimpse of me, which made them nervous and send them fast walking straight to 25yds from David, where one unlucky fellow ate some #4 shot and was doing the flop promptly! Boom – two turkey on the board, plus a yote and a hog! Then…the front arrived…
…and boy did it arrive. We were on our way back as the wind started whipping, and I had switched to my bow when I heard a rustle at my feet! From right next to me, a growling, massively pissed off badger had appeared, and was making it very clear that all the things you’ve heard about a badger’s temperament were true! Thwack! I couldn’t believe it. I had not only seen two badgers within 36 hours (my second and third ever) but had just been able to harvest one with a BOW! Stay tuned for not only the taxidermy, but the badger meat dish I will be preparing!
Back to camp, badger in the freezer, and off to the east side of the ten square miles we were hunting. We were now on pork patrol at 100yds, so it was AR-15 for me, and 300WM for David. We have a long history of successful “1..2..BOOM”, where we each pop a hog at the same moment, and today turned out no different. After the feeder spun, the hogs were there within ten minutes. Just as we got our rifles ready and I was about to count down to the shot, we were surprised hear a very loud and deep hog groan from right behind the blind!! Another dozen big black sows joined the sounder of mostly oreo colored pigs that were already at the feeder, presenting us with a veritable shooting gallery of no less than 40 hogs! We counted down….BOOM! As they scattered, I started dumping rounds into the group, and then lead the dozen that doubled back and ran straight toward us, strafing rounds into them! When the dust cleared, last light was upon us, and we found three that I had killed right away! With freezing weather inbound on the heels of these 40mph winds, we backed out and decided to collect bodies in the morning when we had better light.
After another great meal of pan fried blue catfish, and a breakfast of sausage and egg tacos, we were back on the east side, and collected another two hogs! We had just laid the smack down on six hogs, two turkey, one badger and a coyote – all within 2 days! A few hours later, the coolers were loaded down with hog meat, camp house was cleaned, our host was profusely thanked for his wonderful hospitality, and we began the 5 hour drive home that was punctuated by DQ Heath Bar Blizzards, watching a deer get hit by the truck in front of us and get punted 80yds and across the whole highway, and lots of potty humor. I couldn’t have asked for a more insanely target-rich environment or better company.
Definitely one for the books!
