The Boar of Boars

 Well it was a late July day in central Mississippi and I was sitting on the porch with my grandfather. A friend of his came by and they started talking. He had a farm near the Mississippi River . About 1000 acres mostly crops, but some woods and swamps. Well he was saying that his Boar population was out of control and invited us to come down and see if we can get some. Well being 16 and full of energy I said, “Sure I will be there tomorrow.”

 I left early the next day with my grandfather. When we got there we could not believe our eyes. We walk up behind the barn and there were 15 or more pigs in the fields. We hurried to shoot, only got one, and the others fled to the woods. I walked up to the one we shot, and it was a young boar, not that big.  We dressed it and put it up.

I wanted to go look for the others and my grandfather said he would wait by the house. “They will come back,” he said.

But not me I wanted to go track them. I set out thinking I was the best tracker in the world and a great hunter; not knowing I was going to get a lesson in hunting that I would never forget. I made it to the edge of the woods where I saw the boars go and tried looking for signs. I went into the woods a little farther and saw a creek bottom and some flood plains. In there, there were some pretty good size wallows that some boars had made. I was thinking sure would be nice to get that one. Well anyway, I walked for a while till I was at the river, walked the banks, and then I saw some boars on the edge. I slowly walked up to them on the edge of the woods, got close enough and made my shot, but missed. It was not my fault, the wind got me. Remember I was 16 and perfect, nothing was ever my fault. So I went back into the woods, found a nice oak tree, climbed up, and waited. Sure enough one came up this time; there was no wind to mess me up. So I got it in my sight, pulled the trigger, and bam it was on the ground. I waited a little bit then climbed down and walked over to my kill. I was so proud; a good size boar 2-1/2” tusks, about 5 ft long. Then I realized I have to carry this thing back to the barn on my back. Well I field dressed it, put it on my back, and started walking. I made it to the edge of the woods and a corn field; I was tired so I sat a spell. That’s when I heard some grunting and scrapping going on. I got up, got my rifle, and walked toward the sound. I was in a corn field, not to quite. Then I saw what I heard, the biggest boar I ever saw. I only saw them this big in magazines. Well my heart started pumping, got on my knees, and aimed. It was only about 20 feet from me. Then it saw me, and did not like me. I tried to shoot, but missed. Then I started running. Man those animals can run when they want to. I made to a tree and climb it. In the hustle and bustle, I left my rifle at the base of the tree. He ran right past the tree I was in, into the woods, and then came back to the corn field. I said I got to get this one. I got my courage up again, got down, and walked back over there. I saw the beast again and aimed, before I could shoot, it saw me and charged. Well I thought it saw me. I stood there, tried to fire again, but before I could, it ran past me. I was thinking what is going on. I step to the side, and the pig charged, not at me, but where I stepped. So finally I got a shot off and bam it fell to ground. I was so excited.

I ran back to the house and got my grandfather and his friend.  We climbed into the truck and went to retrieve my two pigs. I was telling my grandfather what had happened and the way the pig acted. After giving me a speech on how I could have got killed, we saw the boar that I had shot. It had only one 4 inch tusk. Then my grandfather was looking and said, “I know why this pig did not get you. He was blind. It looks like he got into fight with a cat.” Both its eyes were scrapped and cloudy. He could not see. Man, I got lucky that day and learned a good lesson. Never think you know everything!

written by Bryan Edgeworth