As we drove north from Texas, we had one day off before our hunt in Oklahoma would begin. The weather had taken a turn for the worse and as I sat in the hotel looking at the extended forecast, I knew this would be a test for KC. The weather was going to be cold and rainy our whole trip. We arrived in camp to freezing rain and wind. We met with our hosts Tim and Victoria and we knew we would have some work cut out for us during this hunt. We spent new years eve in Oklahoma in our cabin.
There was a slight break in the weather, enough for us to get our blind setup and ready to go. On this hunt we would be targeting Hogs, Aoudad, and Rams. We had the blind setup on an active feeder and as the freezing rain pelted our blind, we had our portable heater going trying to keep KC warm as possible. I knew with the weather we would not be very fussy on what came in if anything. KC was the first to spot a group of Hogs moving in our direction and he picked out a beautiful red colored Hog he referred to as “Buffalo pig”. We focused on that hog as it made its way into bow range and after a few minutes passed he cleared KC’s opening and he took the shot. I was filming and reviewed the footage which appeared to be a perfect shot. I text our guide and let him know we had an arrow in a hog.
The freezing rain turned to a straight down pour, so he elected to head our way to go look for blood before too much was washed away. It took him about 15 minutes to make his way back to our blind and during that time a lone single Hog came in. I got KC ready, and he took the shot which was perfect, and the hog only made it a few steps before going down. A few minutes later we heard the side by side making his way to our blind. When Tim pulled up KC ran out of the blind with excitement telling Tim he had shot 2 hogs. Both Tim and Victoria were thrilled, and we soon took up the trail for the buffalo pig. We searched for about 30 minutes however with the pouring rain washing away the blood Tim suggested we get KC’s blind moved to another location and then he would come back and keep looking for the buffalo pig. We got setup several hundred yards away at another spot and about 30 minutes later I saw a group of 3 hogs making their way down a trail leading past our blind.
KC got ready for a shot and right as they came into range, I noticed movement out of the corner of my eye and thought I was seeing a ghost… There was the buffalo pig coming down the ridge towards us. I quickly told KC not to shoot yet and to wait, I explained that the buffalo pig was coming in our direction. This was a confusing moment for him but nonetheless he focused back on the buffalo pig. When it turned broadside, he took the shot hitting it perfect, this time we watched him fall over less than 50 yards away. What we learned as I reviewed the footage a second time was his first shot impact was perfect however the hog was turned slightly which caused only a one lung shot. With two hogs on the ground KC was ready to switch gears and see if we could get lucky on an Aoudad or Ram. We had been watching a couple groups throughout the day and Tim had a good plan on where they would be going towards evening.
As we waited in our new spot KC and I reflected on what an incredible trip we had so far. He hugged me many times and thanked me for taking him hunting. What he did not realize is I was probably having more fun than him. His burning passion for the sport I have loved for over 3 decades was a dream come true. After a long cold sit in the blind, we finally saw a group of Aoudad heading our way. I could tell they were much more skittish than the hogs and seemed to take forever to get in range. KC picked out the biggest one in the group and once it turned broadside, he made a perfect shot and we watched it fall within eyesight. He was so excited and shaking after he made the shot.
With a couple hours of daylight left we had been out for 10 hours straight and I asked him if he wanted to continue to sit and see if anything else would come by and he said he did. So, we changed the tank on the heater and had a snack and kept watching. I will be honest I was 99.9% sure we were not going to see anything else but after about an hour to my surprise I caught movement about 200 yards away. After several minutes, a ram appeared and was slowly working its way in our direction. The trail he was walking on was just on the edge of KC’s range with his crossbow, but his confidence level was high, and he had proven to me that he could make the shot. As the ram presented the shot, I told him if he was steady to go ahead and take the shot when he was ready. The shot went off and I watched the lumenock disappear behind the shoulder, with tears in his eyes he said, “Dad can you believe that happened and I made a perfect shot”. I told him he did amazing, and I was getting my phone to call Tim when KC asked me if we could just wait until dark. I figured we had sat for nearly 12 hours so another 30-40 minutes would not hurt. We ended up with one more hog on the Oklahoma leg of the trip, with a total of 5 animals in Oklahoma and 4 animals in Texas.
We met some amazing new friends and can’t wait to go back!
Comments