First Hog with a bow bug
 

The thermo cell was working over time trying to keep the swarms of mosquitoes at bay. Not a breath of wind only the sound of a single Whippoorwill broke the stillness of the dark east Texas swamp. Hearing the leaves crunching to the south I slowly stood and picked up my bow. Having spent the afternoon rigging up a new Hawglite to a strap on bow fishing mount I felt sure I had a trick for the approaching hogs.

The two 100 pounders stood for a long minute straight under the stand some 20 feet below me. When they felt the coast was clear they moved under the feeder and began to crunch corn. Waiting for the closest to turn broadside I leaned out bringing the 66# Blackwidow to half draw and pressed the button to activate the Hawglite. The bright red light blasted the darkness and much to my disappointment not only did it blind me for a second the pigs busted out like they had been shot at. After a tense minute or two the hogs moved back in and began to feed again. Having learned from my first attempt I brought the recurve to full draw and triggered the light over the top of the hogs to give my eyes a chance to adjust but once again they busted out as soon as the light touched them.

I told you that part of the story so that you could understand my desperation when five minutes later a group of ten eating sized pigs came boiling up out of the swamp in a dead run. The moon was not out yet but the last hogs had proved to not tolerate a light at all.

Reaching down I turned the switch from a spot to flood hoping not to spook this new group. The instant the light touched them pigs went every direction. Thirty seconds later one of the group growled to my right, turning as I brought the bow to full draw the light picked him up as he slowly eased away through the brush. Trying to pick a spot behind his shoulder blades in the SiFi glow of the red light, I let the string slip away.

With the recoil of the shot the light danced to my left leaving me with no idea where I had hit the hog or even if I had hit him at all.

I will confess a secret, I

Congrats, Buff!! You are a hunting machine!!

Congrats Buff.

I will confess a secret, I’m color blind. As luck would have it 90% of the animals I stick fall within sight but for the others a blood trail is a terrifying nightmare. After loosing a super nice boar last summer I purchased a space age piece of gadgetry called a Bow Bug.

In theory this setup should be the answer to my biggest fear, not finding an animal after the shot. The Unit consists of a tiny radio transmitter and a directional antenna.

For nearly a year I had been attaching the two pronged transmitters to my arrows but as luck would have it everything I shot fell within sight. Thanks mostly to heavy arrows and super sized broadheads. My latest Hog setup is a 190 grain Sasquash broadhead attached to a Grizzly stick Safari arrow for a combined weight of 778 grains.


Climbing down and finding no sign of my arrow I had to assume it was in the hog but if there was any blood I couldn’t find it. As it already 10:00pm and not knowing where I had hit the pig leaving it until morning seemed to be the thing to do.

The next morning found me standing with the new fangled antenna over my head hoping for a beep. It was like someone had let all the air out of me as I slowly turned the unit only to hear nothing but static. Starting down the hill on a well used trail I was suddenly surprise to pick up a faint ping. It was too good to be true gadgets like this never work in the real world but the ping was there what else could it be but my pig. With every step the signal grew stronger until it was banging all eight bars. Kneeling down to peer under the brush I knew I had to be right on top of him. Sure enough the hog was not 10 steps from me buried up in the leaves.


He had only travel 200 yards but I do not believe I would have ever found him without the Bow Bug as the blood trail was poor and even if I had searched the area around him I would have had to almost step on him to find him in the brush.

That sounds like a heck of a gadget. Is that the only time you have needed it?

no it has helped me find several Hogs

Congats on the hog,for those of yall that don`t have a thermo cell its really worth it. I have three just incase I lose one or someone needs one.

Congrats on the hog, how about more info on the bow bug ???

Hillbilly,

here is a link to their site. Alot of good info on here.

Just click below:
Bowbug

txhunter, they look good, I like this ideal as we can find lots of game that would have been lost without it. How do they hold up?? I see the website says they are reuseable, but really how many times could we reuse them??? Buff how times have you used this bowbug with out replacing it ???

I have shot as many as 3 animals with the same unit. The little prongs finally break off. If they have a weak spot, it is the little antenna. they break off pretty easy. Bowbug will replace them if that happens at no charge.

That is good to hear. A company that has great products and great customer service is hard to find..

Congats Buff I have only one question.How much does the bow bug system cost?I have used similar devices when running dogs so I know what a difference having such a device makes.