Just an update here after my first hunt of the season, and get this thread back to the top for folks interested in the Hybrid.
It's been stupid hot way later in the year than is typical, even for south Louisiana. Opening weekend in the area I typically hunt was October 1, and just couldn't make myself sit in a tree. This past weekend we were blessed with a "cold" front which pulled temps down into the mid 50's on Friday night.
I made it to the woods for daylight, anticipating a large crowd. I figured I would kind of see where folks ended up, and then scout away from there for an evening sit. I always seem to forget the effect LSU football has on hunting pressure here. I was surprised to find myself rather alone. I set off to look at an area I haven't been in for a few seasons.
I packed the hybrid, a single stick/aider, some water, and off I went. I eased into the area and up to a pond, and encountered some fresh sign. I picked out a tree, and as I walked up to it, found a climber had been put there since season opened. I have a feeling that feller might kill a deer! I moved one ridge over, and began looking for some more sign heading towards the pond. The acorns don't seem as heavy this year, and the warm dry weather seems to keep them up in the trees. I was able to find a tree that was dropping ok, and there was plenty of sign under it. It wasn't "I have to hunt this right now!" sign, but close. I decided to hunt here, as it looked like the deer were working to/from private land nearby, to the pond, and to this feed tree.
I was only about 300 yards or so from the main trail(after a mile or so pack in), and got up about 25' or so to shoot underneath the oak. I was expecting the wind to swirl bad as I was kind of in the bottom, but I had deer trails coming from 4 different directions. Surely someone would miss my stench. Surprisingly, when I got settled in, the wind was blowing the direction I wanted fairly consistently - sometimes we get lucky.
As I was trying to keep from falling asleep, I caught movement in a blowdown on the side of the ridge. What I thought was a bobcat turned out to be an extremely large rabbit. It made it's way to where I walked in and then froze. It stood up on it's hind legs, and for ten minutes or so, looked in the direction I walked. I didn't know that ground scent was such a problem for rabbits! Eventually, it settled down and took a hop into a small opening at about 20 yards and began nibbling on some grass. I am an equal opportunity grocery maker...so I sent some medicine her way. I hit it just behind the front shoulder and pinned it to the ground. This would be the 4th or 5th rabbit I've shot with my bow. They all do the same thing - spin around on arrow until they die in a few seconds. What happened next still has me laughing.
That critter decided to climb up my arrow, and began trying to run up the ridge it came from. About 6 or 7 different times it would hop/crawl/shimmy up the ridge ten yards or so, only to roll back down to the base of my tree. After five minutes of that, it just began rolling around in a circle for a good five minutes, waking up everything within 100 yards. It let out enough distress calls that I thought for sure I'd be shooting a yote or a bobcat in short order. Eventually it petered out and went into the long sleep. I've never seen anything like that - I damn near cut it in half and shot it through both lungs and heart. Super Rabbit!
The woods quieted down, and I resumed my dozing off in the hybrid. The north wind completely died down about 5:30, and I readied myself for what I thought was surefire action. 6 passes, nothing but squirrels. 630 sunset and still no action. I am feeling pretty bummed out no deer in this spot after the sign I found. With closing time about 10 minutes away, I begin fishing my headlight out of my pocket and as I'm putting it on, I hear footsteps coming my way. I just knew it was a few deer coming down to feed. I had been hiding behind the tree the whole sit, but with it as dark as it was, I repositioned the fork around the tree a little, and swung around on my squirrel steps to have a perfect 9 oclock shot where they would step out.
Right then, I start hearing the grunting and squealing. Pigs! about 6 or 7 piglets (about 20-30lbs) get under the tree and start vacuuming up acorns as momma comes down the hill. I was content to shoot a small one to make for an easy hike out. Two if they sat still long enough. It's now about 5 minutes to legal. I can't quite make them out against the dirt. Momma walked over to the arrow sticking in the ground where the rabbit was. I can hear her sniffing the ground or arrow. She was all black, and really easy to pick out. I drew back and settled my sight on her. I knew the exact distance from the rabbit! I released and knew I made a perfect shot.
Now for the best part - she was facing the direction I walked in. When I shot, she took off in a sprint straight at the trail, which was up on top of a ridge. She ran all the way to the ridge, and I could hear her struggling to breathe as she climbed, then I heard a death rattle. The piglets trotted off before I could get another arrow nocked. I climbed down, flipped up the seat of the hybrid, grabbed my rabbit, my rabbit arrow, and picked up the blood trail. It was of the garden hose variety. How the rabbit lived ten minutes, and the hog lived 15 seconds, with basically the same shot, is beyond me! When I arrived at the dead hog, she made it to about 20 yards from the trail. I had every intention of packing her out, but a friend made an evening hunt nearby, and picked me up on the four wheeler. A 20 yard drag aint bad at all!
I finally drew blood in the hybrid! I filmed the hog, but it was too dark to see. It's just a black screen where you hear footsteps, a bow shot, and a death sprint with a little squealing.
I will be hunting exclusively from the hybrid this season I believe. It's simply too comfortable and convenient. Hopefully the action starts happening earlier in the evening and I can share it with you guys.
