Saturday Public Land Pig Hunt Recap

Big boar track on the trail gave us hope!

 
My legs are dog tired! I have hiked mile after mile in sand and up and down hills before, but Saturday my legs and feet took a beating. The funny thing is, I had a blast doing it! My buddy Chris and I were after wild pigs on public land and worked our tails off trying to catch up to them. Prior to meeting up with Chris, I packed up my Badlands 2200 with snacks and a gallon of water and prepared to do some hiking!

Fresh rooting that destroyed a huge plot of land.

Early Saturday morning I met up with Chris at a potential local spot to find him raring to go! He was as eager to hit the trail as I was. We no sooner got into the area and found rooting ALL OVER! I know pigs are destructive, but seeing the damage first hand is something else altogether. Our emotions were ramped up as we scanned the forest for signs of movement or dark shapes. We saw nothing, but we hiked on.

After hours of hiking and seeing no pigs, we ran into some fresh tracks, but they disappeared into an area we couldn’t go. It was promising and disappointing at the same time. None the less, we kept on as I felt my boot rubbing the inside of my arch. My boots were rubbing because of the uneven terrain and I knew by the end of the day I’d be popping a blister.

More fresh tracks from some sows and piglets.

No idea what this pig was rooting for, but it was on a mission!

Sweat soaked layers of clothing and rumbles in our stomachs reminded us we needed to change tactics. First, we needed to shed clothing, but get something good to eat! At lunch, we hashed out a game plan to try two other areas. We opted for plan number two due to it being so late in the day.

There was rooting like this all over, so we know we are in the right spot!

Our biggest challenges lay ahead of us as we had to hike even rougher terrain. My legs ached, feet burned, and pack felt heavier than normal. Being as focused on killing a pig as I was, I pushed on. Trails lead into other trails which all lead to more and more rooting. We were in their backyard for sure, but we couldn’t find them. I remained positive as we hiked further into the forest, but we came up empty handed.

By the time darkness fell upon us, we had hike nearly ten miles, my gallon of water was gone, and my legs pleaded with me to sit down. Back at our vehicles we just smiled, laughed, and talked about the day. We were surely disappointed, but it didn’t get us down. We had a successful day of hitting the trail and going on a pig hunt. We’ve done it before and we’ll do it again. We are going to keep doing it until we get into those pigs on public land and then we are going to arrow one. I look forward to that pig roast!