Stalking dangerous Russian Boars can be hair raising
I am not sure what caught me more by surprise, the speed at which a wild hog can run or my inability to predict where it will run. Standing in a tangled swamp I found myself in a stare down with two, 300-pound wild Russian boars. Being my first spot and stalk hunt for these prehistoric creatures, it occurred to me that the trick wouldn’t be finding one but instead trying to get positioned for a good shot. Russian Boars are built for battle with only a few areas where an arrow can penetrate the vitals. A nasty thick shield lies immediately behind the shoulder making a quartering away shot the most desirable and sometimes difficult to get.
Every time I would get close enough to take a shot, the crunching of the snow and ice underfoot would warn the hog and cause it to spin, looking “Full Alert” in my direction. A frontal shot with a bow is pretty much out of the question unless you like tracking a pretty ticked off wild hog, which I wanted no part of. Very soon after the hog would pause to assess me, it was off like a flash. My problem was that I had a hard time determining whether it was thinking of running in my direction or away from me. I witnessed both. This time the hogs disappeared crashing through in thick tamarack swamp. No question about it, my success (survival) rate would largely rely on how I could predict what these raging Russian boars were thinking and judge their next move.
Growing up my cousin, Wayne Grunewald, had a pig farm just down the road from my Grandpa’s dairy farm. On several occasions we would stop in to borrow equipment, ask a question or just take a break from our chores. Southern Wisconsin is known for its friendly farmers and back in the day it was not unusual to carry on a conversation while overlooking a pen of heifers, hogs or some other farm animal. At times these discussions would last an hour or so.
Patiently waiting for my dad or grandpa to finish, I would watch the fascinating behavior of whatever animal happened to be within sight. As a kid it taught me how to be a student of the animal. If you observe one long enough and you can pretty accurately begin to know what they will do next. Honing my skill of observation has helped me in training horses for years so I thought that naturally my childhood “hog watching” days would come in handy predicting the wild Russian Boars behavior… Wrong.
All notions of being Dr. Doolittle left my mind when I spotted my first wild boar in the swamps surrounding Bear Mountain Lodge in Marquette, Upper Michigan. It seemed fitting that such an ugly beast would be tucked away in the furthest outreaches of the country as though banned from civilization and hurriedly hidden from view. The mystery and danger of trying to take two of these beasts down with a bow from the ground within the perimeters of a three-day hunt, is what brought myself and my sixteen-year-old daughter here is the first place.
Wild boar behavior is such that even if you spend a lot of time in and amongst them, you still can’t predict. My guide, Drew, would attest to that having in the past to defend himself and his hunters by placing a slug from his twelve gage where it counts to stop a charge. A Russian Boar would just as soon mow you down and slice you up with his cutters as look at you. It is impossible to tell what decision they will make or when. Brittany and I would later witness this first hand.
Mid afternoon on the second day we spotted a large group of hogs and moved in. Slowly sneaking along the woods edge we were within 50-yards when we heard a twig snap directly behind us. Turning around we saw some hogs had slipped in behind us. Now we were between two groups with nowhere to run. Staying as calm as possible, we waited motionless. Within a few minutes they trickled our way cautiously but certainly not in a cowardly way.
Choosing a small shooting lane at a runway, 20-yards ahead I drew back. Hog after hog scurried past us and for a while I thought I wouldn’t even get a shot. These Russians may appear big and lardy but when it comes to moving, they just seldom stop or even pause long enough for a shot. This fact makes a 10-inch shooting lane even narrower. Finally one made the wrong decision by pausing ever so slightly in my shot window. I unleashed my Switchback XT and the Easton Axis found its mark with a perfect quartering away shot. Within minutes the super sharp blades of my Steelforce broadhead were doing their job. One hundred yards later I would claim my first wild Russian Boar with the bow. A 300-pound Russian Warrior brought down with a single quartering away shot through the vitals. What a perfect way to end the day. Now it would be Brittany’s turn…join me in next months issue for her hair raising story!
