Memorial Day Weekend to Remember

Got up this morning and headed out to my FIL's place to meet M12Gunboy and my old man to put the smack down on some hogs. We arrived at 9:00 a.m., and I got everybody situated for what I thought would be about a 45 minute wait till the hogs came out. I couldn't have been more wrong. We waited around till noon, and the only thing we had to show for it was that we got to watch the deer, squirrels, doves, and cardinals eat all the corn around the feeder. While I can sit all day long watching the deer and turkey out there, but this morning, I needed to get rid of a few hogs. We trapped 6 already, and are raising them for butchering. Then a whole new herd moved in; 2 grown sows, a decent 70-80# young boar, and 6 or 7 little ones about 50# each. The problem is that they are running all the deer and turkeys off, and the mother-in-law said they have to go.

So, I figure that I'll just go ahead with my chores and make a cage around the feeder to keep the squirrels and coons from emptying the sucker so fast. And, since the little tree rats have eaten most of the edge of the feeder lid, I had to cut down a piece of galv sheet metal with a lip to attach to the top. Well, I finished putting up the wire and cutting out the sheet metal. So, to make sure that I didn't crimp over the edge too much, I walked out to the feeder and positioned the piece of metal on top of the feeder, and out of nowhere comes the pig parade. Go figure. They were out there all day yesterday and didn't flinch at all with me walking around, but get my old man and a buddy out there, and they make me look like a fool.

Very calmly, I walked back to the truck and got the 10/22 22WMR and headed back to my "staging spot" back behind the house. By now, there are 7 hogs out there going thru the corn like it was the last food on Earth. So, I raise the rifle, settle the cross hairs right behind the ear of the smaller of the 2 sows and drop the hammer. Down she went deader than a door nail. The rest just kept on feeding, so I picked out a small boar in the front and dropped pig #2. I tried for a 3rd pig, but I couldn't get the job done.

So, I call M12Gunboy and ask him to come back to help hang and quarter em. A frog-choker of the thunderstorm and 2 hours later, and we had them skinned, quartered, and in the cooler. Another hour at home, and it's all cut, wrapped, and in the freezer.
I gotta say though, that if I do it again, I think I'll stop after the first pig drops. Shootin em is the easy part, but in the heat of the moment, you forget about the work ahead of you (or at least I did).