Little Fellers and Hog Hunting

Is there anything more satisfying than taking a kid hunting and watching them learn? Nothing swells my heart faster than witnessing the new generation of hunters and outdoorsmen coming along and developing that same passion for nature that I did. I guess I’m guilty of taking a few things for granted when I go to the woods after having been at it for more than half a century. I tend to overlook a lot of the things that I used to become awestruck by. These are the things that kids today still get so excited about.

Things like a bluebird landing on a nearby branch, watching a family of raccoons following a river bank, that perfect pine cone lying on the trail, or finding “face patterns” in the bark of an old oak tree. I once complained that being an adult was stupid because nobody ever wants to show me the really cool rocks that they have found. But kids will! And when out on the hunt, that first sight of the species they are targeting can flood the little guys with adrenaline to the point they can barely contain themselves. Especially when hog hunting!

Hogs are the very best big game animal for kids to begin honing their skills as hunters. The pigs themselves aren’t nearly as wary as, say, a whitetail deer or wild turkey. For the youngest of our fellow sportsmen, it’s often hard to remain perfectly still and perfectly quiet, and the hogs can remain so fixated on their feeding that they become oblivious to the shaking and noisy, hopeful hunter attempting to take aim. And at the shot, I’ve seen kids completely come unglued from the adrenaline, shaking, squealing in delight, and on occasion, joyful tears will wet their eyes. It brings back a flood of wonderful memories of when I was a kid learning from the old-timers and going through similar floods of emotion in my own youth.

Well, now it’s me who’s the old-timer, and it’s such a wonderful privilege to pass on some of the savvy I’ve picked up over the decades. I reckon one day will come when I just won’t be here anymore to sit in the woods and wait on a big old boar to wander in close. Makes me feel good that maybe some fellow somewhere might carry my memory with him to the field and think about me while waiting for his own old boar hog to wander in.

I was blessed again just this weekend to accompany a young fellow, ten-year-old Hunter Watson. He’s the son of Liz Foxworthy, one of five of my favorite waitresses at Bree’s Riverside Restaurant in Nobleton, and he had never enjoyed an opportunity to go to the woods in order to procure meat for his family. My best good buddy Sean Cummins, figured to remedy that and brought him out to a farm I manage along the Withlacoochee River. I am grateful to have been a part of his mentorship.

Young Hunter borrowed my Ruger, Single Six revolver in .22 Magnum and centered the forehead of a 170# boar, with a .45grain Jacketed, soft-point bullet, which was the perfect invitation to dinner. His pride in the success we all enjoyed was overridden by the pride he had in bringing meat home for his family, as he couldn’t wait for his mom to put some on his plate. God, I love going to the woods with the little fellers!

If anybody has any comments or questions about wild hog hunting or would even like to share a story of their own, reach out to me at [email protected]. God Bless, and good hunting!

Toby Benoit is a best selling novelist and professional outdoors-man with thirty-five years of experience guiding and outfitting for big game all across America. Toby is a renowned archer and turkey hunting expert who manufactures custom game calls and is a regular judge at NWTF sanctioned turkey calling events across the Southeast.