Saturday, October 13, 2012

CAZANDO CHANCHOS (HUNTING HOGS) IN URUGUAY, DAY 2


Ron, Luiz and I enjoyed our three-day hunt in Uruguay at a lodge called Rincon de los Matreros.
            Here’s what happened on the second day of our adventure:
I’ve finally learned that pacing myself makes my travels more enjoyable, and Ron had no objections when I suggested that we hunt only in the afternoons on this trip. Today I awoke around 8:30 and Luiz wheeled me to the breakfast table just as Ron was returning from a morning stroll. (He said a white cat had followed him around like a puppy.)
We took it easy for much of the day and then headed out at 3:30. This stand site occupied a 20- by 100-yard flat spot at the base of a steep hill. Laurindo had scattered corn about 60 yards from the shooting house. After we got situated in the blind, Ron and I tested my trigger control to avoid the need for last-minute, hurried adjustments.
The first critter to appear was a young red stag that trotted down the hill on our left, nibbled at the corn for a few minutes, and then disappeared back up the hill. Soon after that, Ron pointed out two larger stags on the brushy hillside. They lowered their heads to click antlers a couple times but didn’t do any serious sparring.
Suddenly we heard a series of evenly spaced, high-pitched yelps come from behind the blind. I gave Laurindo a questioning look. “Axis deer,” he said. “They know we’re here.”
The barking continued for several minutes as three axis does voiced their disapproval of our presence. Then…silence. A long silence. When the sinking sun touched the hilltop, Luiz said, “Looks like the hogs won this round.”
As soon as the words left his mouth, a pair of 100-pound porkers sauntered in from our left. Unlike the restless bunch we saw yesterday, these two settled right down to business and started feeding. Laurindo, who really enjoyed watching Ron and me shoot as a team, urged us to act quickly: “Kill one of them. We might have time to get another one tonight.”
A hog stood broadside long enough for Ron to hold the crosshairs on its ear; I inhaled on my trigger tube, and—BOOM—that chancho was brain-dead before I could exhale.
Laurindo went out to check our work, dragged the hog away from the corn and returned to the blind to resume our stakeout. Twenty minutes later, in the gathering dusk, we decided to call it quits. Laurindo went to get the pickup. He took two steps from the blind and did an immediate about-face.
Chanchos!” he whispered.
We had barely enough light for my scopecam to work as two big sows and four yearlings came into view. Ron got on target quickly when one of the smaller hogs moved to the left, turned to face us, and lowered its head. We tallied an instant kill when our bullet entered the base of the hog’s skull.
When Laurindo loaded the 60-pounder on the truck, he said, “Perfect size. We’ll put it on the grill tomorrow.”
Here’s the video:

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