My First Hunt
By Casey Smith

My first hunt all began last summer when my dad came home from his first hog hunt at South hills ranch. He told the family how much fun he had and what great people the Watson’s are. When I told dad that I might like to go hunting, he was pumped! I thought it might be something I would like to try because my dad and brother had always gone turkey hunting together and I have grown up around hunting. I also loved shooting my bow and I felt that hunting could be my calling. So the next day, dad and I went o the archery range and shot until I was certain my arm would fall off.

I practiced shooting with 3-d’s and any kind of hog target we could find. We spent a lot of time at the Archery Academy because they have a lot of 3-d targets and the people there are great. We also practiced my shot out of a cardboard ground blind and wouldn’t stop till my shot was within the 10 ring. Grover Cassada, the man who runs the Archery Academy, was my hunters education teacher and he helped out a lot.

When we arrived at South Hills Ranch I was amazed at what a wonderful and beautiful place it is. Every thing down there was so green and it was warm most of the time. The bunkhouse was comfortable and the kitchen was complete. The Watson’s were by far the nicest people I have ever met. The next day at 5am we all got up and Will drove us all to our stands. My dad and I had already decided that my best bet for a 20 yard shot was in a ground blind so Bill and Will set us up with the perfect spot. That morning proved successful when two large hogs came in. The larger hog of the two was spotted and just begging for one of my broad heads to zoom through him, but I had already decided on shooting the smaller but better hog behind him. It had jet black curling hair and the strait tail proving it was pure Russian. Unfortunately as soon as I had given the okay that I was going to shoot the hog began to walk away at a fast pace offering no shot. Will had gotten the camera on (dad had decided on having my hunt filmed). I felt discouraged as any hunter would, but I felt better knowing that we had five more tries at a hog.

Later that evening at about 4pm we had another go at harvesting a hog. Will had chosen a great location on a well used trail that the hogs were known to follow. The Watson’s tracking dog, Stank a cute but fierce Jack Russell terrier that rides on the hood of their truck came along Unlike Bill, Stank did not want to go home, she jumped off of the truck and crawled under the ground blind to join us on our hunt. It wasn’t long and I heard the unmistakable grunt of hogs. After a few more minutes they were in sight of the blind, about 30 of them. The excitement was building among all of us , Stank, Will ,Dad, and Me in the blind. The flirt hog that came in was a bigger hog and as red as a crayon. Will turned on the camera and I drew back. I was going to get a hog if it was red or black or had little purple polka dots, but I was going to get a hog. As I drew back and fired the hog must have move some way or another or maybe I was just nervous but my arrow missed the hog completely. The hogs ran off, and I was bumming yet again, but dad asked Will if they might come back since we didn’t spook them to bad and he nodded. At that moment we heard some grunts and here came the hogs ,but this time I took my time. After a while a nice hog came out and it was a beauty. It was black and had a straight tail, curling hair and a long snout of the Russian hogs. I drew back, the camera was rolling, and I took aim,and shot. The hog ran as did the rest and that's when everything went wild! The dog tried to run through the ground blind to get the hog nearly knocking it over completely, Will started whooping for joy and chased the dog through the blind, Dad grabbed me as tight as he could and started telling Will “The force is strong in this one”. I was so overjoyed that I could given that hog a hug. We went out of the ground blind and looked at my arrow, it was purple and red from nock to tip. A complete pass through! We took a look at the video and saw that I had it the hog a little further back than I should have but it had obviously hit a main artery in the hog and possibly a lung.

Will got the truck and the dog and we drove down to get the other hunters and see how they did on their hunts because there was nothing we could do to find the hog it was so dark, and the other hunters needed to find their hogs as well. After we picked up the other hunters and found the only other hog shot that night we went back. The dogs couldn’t pick up a scent or blood trail at first so Bill and Will went in the direction that the entire group of hogs had gone considering that the hog may have followed them out. They were right and a few minutes later we had my hog on the rack on the front of the truck and were headed for camp. Later dad said I looked like I felt sorry for harvesting my hog, but to clarify that I was so tired and worn that even with the gallons of adrenalin that was pumping through my body I probably couldn’t even pull my bow back if I had to. With my first hog harvested I was happy and content. I loved hunting and it was better than I could ever have dreamed it would be. Unfortunately dad did not get a chance at a hog and I had several come in near my blind but with no luck at a shot. It was still a good hunt and an awesome, experience I cannot wait to go hunting again and I plan on taking a deer this fall. I’d like to thank all the people that made this hunt possible for me. Dad most of all, the Watson's of course, and all the people who made my equipment. Also to the hogs, without them I wouldn’t have had a chance.