Thursday evening I got out to the ranch which was tucked up in the hills of San Saba County just north of Cherokee, Texas.  It was a beautiful 11,000 acres and the many hours maintaining this ranch were obvious when I pulled up to the gate.  I met Ricky, the ranch foreman, at the headquarters and he took me over to the house where the guests were being put up.  Keith was out touring the ranch with a couple guys that flew down from Oregon for the hunt.  When they got back from the tour we built a bonfire, cut our own steaks from a full tenderloin and wrapped them in bacon, and then shared hunting stories under a blanket of stars.  We knew we needed plenty of energy so we all turned in shortly thereafter.

Morning came not soon enough as I woke up about every hour making sure it was not time to get after those Texas Grizzlies.  Around 6:30am we had some pigs-in-the-blanket and coffee.  This was the perfect meal to start the day off.

We saddled up the horses, trailered them and were off to meet up with Regan and Rocky on another pasture of the ranch.  These guys were the professional hog hunters.  It was a perfect morning as the front the night before had brought in some cold air, but the wind had died down.

After meeting Regan and Rocky and seeing their dogs and equipment I knew this was serious business and these guys were the real deal.  Everyone got saddled up, received a few instructions about how the hunt would happen and the dogs were off.  Keith and I were taking the trailers to the camp site where we would all meet in a while.  Not 5 minutes went by and the dogs were on some hog scent and had one bayed.  I could not believe it was that quick! One of the guys from Oregon, Bruce, was quick to get to the hog and with Ross’ (Keith’s son) help they had the hog flipped and Bruce had the knife in him (yes not a gun, but a knife!).  10 seconds later it was over.  I had not known Bruce long, but by the look on his face he could not have been more excited.

This time Bruce went with Keith and switched with me, so I saddled up.  About 5 minutes went by and we heard the dogs barking again.  Immediately we all took off straight through the thick cedars and oaks.  Some places were so thick I wasn’t sure what was on the other side, but we went straight through them anyway.  I’ve never ridden a horse like that.  I was not worried one bit about falling off.  I was thinking about not getting hit and knocked to the ground by a tree limb!

I was racing through thick cedars and down through dried up creek beds.  I didn’t know where the next turn would be. I could hear the dogs really close now.  I wasn’t sure where anyone else was.  I made a right turn, busted though some more brush, and I could see a few dogs on the other side of an oak thicket.  I got closer and realized Regan, Rocky and Ricky were all already there and had hog tied this Texas Grizzly.

This showed me what these guys were all about.  This wasn’t some kind of blood sport to them.  It wasn’t about dogs attacking hogs or vice versa.  It wasn’t even about letting the hunter harvest the animal at the animal’s expense.  It was about working their dogs to locate the hogs and get them bayed up.  It was then up to the hunters to do the rest.  If the hunters were not quick enough to get to the hog then they got the dogs away and either let the hog go or tied it up to transport.  I was seriously impressed.  This also taught us hunters that when the next one got bayed we better ride like the wind if we expected to harvest it.

After checking out this hog we all saddled up to see what excitement this hunt would bring next.  It was only about 9:30am and I thought for a second about what most people across Texas were doing at that moment and I was not jealous of them at all.

I swear it was only another 5 minutes when the barking started out once more.  It seemed like the action would never end.  I was on a high that a junkie could never think about relating too. It was awesome!

Regan, Rocky and Ricky were all so quick to get to the bayed hogs I found it amazing. This hog was a quick chase and I was the first hunter to the scene.  I arrived to all three yelling “GET HIM!”  I could feel my blood pumping like never before.  I jumped off the horse and ran to the cloud of dogs circling this hog.  I swear I never touched the ground.  There were instructions coming from every way – “GRAB HIS LEGS!!!” “DON’T GET YOUR KNIFE OUT YET!!!” “HURRY!!!” “GET HIM!!!”

I’m pretty sure all I heard was “HURRY!!!” and that I did.  I ran straight in and grabbed the boar’s hind legs.  I pulled back as I rotated his body.  Trying to get him on his side.  Of course, he was not interested in doing that, but only standing up.  After a couple more twists he fell and I held him down with my knee. I reached for my knife on the dirt and he jumped back up.  This was one tough (and extremely strong) beast!  Once again I got him on his side and put my knee down a little harder this time.  I quickly grabbed my knife, lifted his front shoulder, and inserted the knife between two ribs right below his arm pit. The vitals were hit and 10 seconds later it was over.  I had exerted all of my energy and could barely stand up.  WHAT A RUSH!

One thing I noticed was that the chase with the dogs went on for about 10-15 minutes baying the hog, but once it was bayed there was only a couple minutes to harvest the animal.  After the knife was inserted it only lasted about 10 seconds at most.  It was nothing like I pictured it.  I’ve seen plenty of hogs shot with large caliber rifles that run off and take 10 minutes to an hour to die.  This sure was a quick way to harvest the Texas Grizzly.

We saddled up and dropped this hog off at a camp site a few hundred yards away.  As soon as it was in the truck someone caught a glimpse of a dog sprinting across the road.  It was obvious he was hot on a trail. No words were spoken. We just all got our horses going as fast as they could again.  We ended up running up against a fence and had to get down and run.  We ran for about 300 yards through some thick brush and plenty of big rocks.  This was no tame part of the country.  At one point I rolled my ankle and crashed to the ground.  This was no time to think about the pain so I got back up and just kept running.  You couldn’t stop because you knew you had to help out where the hog was being bayed.

We came to a dried up creek bed and up the creek Regan had a real good sized hog cornered up against a dry waterfall.  He had no place to go and we pulled the dogs back while Regan tied him up.  This was the hardest chase yet.  It took us way too long to get there and I barely had it left in me to even gasp for air.  I knew I should have been jogging every morning to prepare for this!

The morning went on and after a few more chases the total came to 6 big Texas Grizzlies.  We had a couple that went 200lbs, but they’ve bayed them up to 450lbs.  Most hunts I go on I’m always looking for the biggest, but I think for this trip an average sized animal will do just fine.

At the end of the hunt I was lucky enough to be able to chase after a hog and tie him up.  I've always watched events like calf roping, but have never been able to experience it myself.  I guess I just skipped the calf roping and went straight to wild hog roping!  I could not believe how much energy it took!

Check out this video of me doing my best to make it quick.

I want to say thanks to Keith Williams and his son Ross for allowing us to come out and enjoy their ranch.  Special thanks also to Regan and Rocky who brought the dogs and horses and whose expertise in hog hunting made this happen as well as it did.

If anyone needs some adventure in their life this is the way to get it.  I promise there will be enough to last you a long time.  As I told Keith, I don’t think I could do it every day, but I sure want to again soon.

Find more information about this hunt go here: http://www.williams-ranch.com/

You can also email Regan directly at hawgwild@centex.net