The Big Red Boar

Several weekends ago I received a call, a large red boar was decimating crops and making a general nuisance of himself about 90 miles south of me. Grudgingly (raise your hand if you believe that), I headed south to see what assistance I could lend to this problem. A few hours of scouting told me where he was bedding down at, where he was eating, where he was wallowing and the routes he took during these events. But he was nowhere to be seen.

Most of the scouting was being done on four wheelers, now most of you know that I am not a huge fan of hunting on quads, but, this hog was causing problems and had to be found. It had recently rained several inches and there was a bit of mud scattered about. This led me to my fateful decision of the day, I left my rifle in the truck. Instead, I loaded my Ruger revolver with some super powerful loads that should put your average boar down. After all, who wants to clean a muddy rifle after a hunt?

We came across some VERY fresh sign in a field that still had quite a bit of last years corn stubble in it. Parking the four wheeler, I walked some brushy stuff along the edge of the field, the tracks were fresh. I knew that at any moment I was going to smell him. My revolver was in my hand, at a low ready, thumb poised like a old west gunfighter, ready to instantly cock the hammer. A glint of movement caught my eye. Almost 100 yards away was this big red boar, making a run for the fence line, and safety.

What is that rule again? Never take a pistol when you can take a rifle? That choice was the only reason I wont be having home made sausage tomorrow morning for breakfast. But, this weekend I will try again, and maybe I will have some tusks to show off, and more importantly, fresh sausage.