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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