I own a small hunting property in Red River county. I was out there Sunday for the last day of rifle season. Unfortunately, I didn't see anything. Turned out that a coon had jammed my spin plate on the feeder and it didn't throw anything. Anyway, just after dark, I left the blind, walked to the truck, unloaded my rifle, put it away, and drove back to the feeder to fix it and replace the game cam battery. Just as I was downloading the camera pics, I saw a truck on the neighbors property pull right up to my fence and turn off their lights. this struck me as odd, so I went into the truck and grabbed my snubby 44 special and stuck it in my back pocket. It turned out that my neighbor's daughter was playing hokey pokey with her boyfriend in the pasture. I flashed my flashlight at them and they drove off. I went back to working on the camera when I heard what sounded like a stampede coming through the brush. In a matter of seconds a group of twenty or so pigs were right on top of me. the truck was turned off, and I was alone in the dark with a game camera in my hand and a flashlight in my mouth. As I turned around, the pigs made a semicircle around me and they were all staring at me like they didn't know what I was. I stomped and yelled and they didn't move. They were ten yards out and not moving. I dropped the camera and reached in my back pocket and pulled the 44. I shot the closest one and yelled again. The shot pig ran off, but the rest just started shuffling around. They were between me and the truck, so I started moving toward the truck, shooting as I went. One last pig stood his ground between me and the truck. I took very careful aim at him and let him have it. He moved, but not vary far. Critical defense in a snubby 44 special will kill a half grown pig. I got to the truck and started it. That finally startled them into brushing up. I hurried to get the game camera a left. I have hunted and ran the woods my whole life. I have pushed cows for some very big and very little outfits, and I was a rodeo cowboy for 17 years and nothing ever spooked me like a herd of pigs in the dark. My pulse raced for twenty minutes. I will never leave the truck after dark without a sidearm again. Thank God the neighbors were amorous or the 44 would have still been in the truck. I just thought I'd share.
Thanks!!
Matt

have to be the first...

Man, I wish the camera had been working. I'm sure I must have looked funny, waving my arms around like a dang fool and yelling. That would be a funny picture for sure!!

Wild stuff right there.

You just never know-----and I don't own a pistol. Glad you are ok.

Honestly when things like this happen to me I love it, I love the rush, I don't want to really die and not trying to sound like a BA or anything but very often will take my bow with light attached and walk the woods alone in the dark and stalk things then hit em with a light and shoot em with my bow. My buddies call me nuts and I'll prolly wake up dead one day because of it but something about having a fear that I may have to fight my way out of a situation gets me going. Glad you made it out though.

That feeling is the best in the world, lets you know your still alive. I have walk up on many pigs and sounders, but never had them run up on me. That must have been an awesome rush. Cool story thanks for sharing, you might want to go thank the nieghbors daughter.

Where you by the feeder ? They prolly were wanting to come eat I have had hogs do it at the feeder they are use to coming in an eatting an they thought you were eattin there corn prolly

my son and i shot a hog after dark under the feeder and it hit the ground DRT. we headed to the feeder and found the rest of the group was just outside of the lights inside the woods watching. the coyotes have also started towards us after the few kills and followed us back to camp and circled the camp while we are cleaning the kill.

i carry a side arm but this is also why i switched from a bolt action to a 6.8 AR which we carry during the recovery.

I like you reference to the "snubbie.44". I have a Bulldog.

I also have a simular story. In 1983 or so, I was north of Laramie, WY about half way to Bosler on a county road when I got stuck in a show drift. It was about 8pm at night and totally dark with only a few stars showing. I decided the best thing to do was to walk to a rancher's house I had worked for that was only a few miles away to get some help. It was very cold out and I decided that the shortest way was across country. I grabbed the 2 1/2 in Ruger Security Six .357 I had with me and took off. I could finally see the lights of Buddie Kremers house in the distance when all of a sudden I started the very familular grunts of the buffalo herd that Buddie raised on his 30,000 acre ranch. I had walked right into the middle of them. Keep in mind that it was Janurary and the cows were calving. It was totally dark and I could not see them and I had no light with me. I just stood there froze for a few seconds (minute, hours, days, weeks, months) to see what was coming next. I ended up emptying that 357 into the air and I could hear them running off. A couple of them went right past me by about 3 or 4 feet.

Haha! I was scouting last night and had a similar experience. I just got done hunting a field and wanted to check the game cams. I pulled the truck up at about 6:30 to the feeder and hopped out, walked to the camera, and heard pigs about 15 yards in the brush. I stomped my foot and assumed they saw me. Well, I got on my knees to get the SD out of the camera, and here they come walking out about 8 yards from me. Truck was on and headlights were pointing right at the feeder.... Scared the hell out of me.

I'll admit it... I hauled A$$ to the truck and sat in the seat.. Watched the pigs for 2-3 minutes. Not sure why they didn't care. They didn't stay long, but man... They must have been hungry.

crazy. i load up my sidearm when i cross over into the property every time.

We had them all around us once, but not that close, and the rifles got them moving fast. Once they started moving they ran on all sides of me. I got one, never will forget it.

Wild and crazy story! Glad they left you alone

Awesome. Been there before with a friends two boys, at the time both were under 10yrs old. Lots of laughing and crying going on then. The boys would laugh, the hogs came closer. They'd start crying and screaming, the hogs would back off a little. Crazy animals...

Stay safe!

Outside Odessa Tx in 1964 about 11:00PM I walked into patch of mesquite to relieve myself and must have hit a rattler with a stream because they all buzzed right at the same time. Only weapon I had was my lunch bucket. I don't ever want to have a rush like that again. Didn't know a person could move through mesquite so fast.

I walked up on a hog or hogs on Sat. it was dark and I never saw them, but I'm not sure I'll ever forget that growl. Stopped me in my tracks. I put my 25-06 (bolt action) on the ground and shouldered my AK-47 and made a bunch of noise. It/they finally walked off.

JR

You need to go hunt Alaska.

I think I know what you're talking about though. I had never been physically afraid while I was hunting until I stalked after a sounder into a hardwood stand in pitch black with a No. 1 .243 and a flashlight. The sound when they winded me was pretty chilling, but not quite as chilling as the thundering herd noise when they ran past me. I haven't been able to get very mad at deer since then.

cool story

I've had a couple close calls with hogs. Also deer at night are quite aggressive. Now, I always carry back-up when I'm along in the woods.

Always have a side arm if I go out in the pasture after dark. I started this about 10 years ago when a mountain lion, who must have been just passing through, screeched at me from sonewhere down a gully I was crossing. Guaranteed to make the hair stand up on the back of your neck. Lots of times I've walked up on a pack of yotes trying to grab a new calf. They always run, however, when I squeeze off a round.

I had that happen to me one time when I was squirrel hunting off in the Sabine bottom. My ex father-in-law (God bless his soul) and I were walking out of the bottom through a cedar thicket about dust and all of a sudden we surrounded by about 40 pigs. Some were mean mama sows and they were pretty p.o. that were there. Scared my ex father-in-law so much he headed for the nearest tree and started climbing. Make a long story short after shooting my shot gun a few times and yelling and screaming they all hauled butt. My ex father-in-law never went back there to hunt again with me.

I bet it was a sure enough rush!

Wild story, good to have that 44 on ya.