Hog Hunt For Veterans Ends With 3-inch Cutters

Holy Southern Outdoors had the honor and privilege to team up with High Tailin Outdoors over the first weekend of March in Dougherty County on a hog hunt. The weather was amazing, and we were able to get veterans Keith Grivois, a retired ranger, and Justin Tomlinson, a retired medic, out behind hog dogs.

Daylight found us loading up and meeting for our first drop in our Southern Cross Cut Gear and Garmin tracking collars, and the chase was on. Those good ol’ cur dogs didn’t disappoint, and they had one jumped and on the run. After a short chase, the first hog was quickly caught by the dogs, and Justin was in the thick of it to a quick and efficient discharge. After all, even though it’s been a while since he’s hunted behind dogs, with the thrill of the chase, it all quickly came back.

Catching our breath, we loaded up and moved to the back side of the property. Turning out fresh dogs, they made it look easy. Within 15 minutes, they had a hog bayed. At this bay, it was time for Keith to shine with his first harvest behind dogs. Smiles were all to be found with two good-eating hogs on the tailgate. We made a decision to head down the road to a new location.

Upon arriving at the pecan grove, the adrenaline was still pumping but scouting showed no fresh sign. We decided to try one last hot spot. At a huge wallow, one of the dogs, Sadie, a catahoula, went out about 500 yards and hit big. The race was on!

Thanks to the Garmin, we had an idea where the hog seemed to be heading, so we loaded up and jumped ahead of them. We were just in time to see the hog run across a food plot with Sadie about 60 yards behind. Knowing she needed some help, we turned out Creed and Karma. Creed went out after the hog. After 500-plus yards, they had raced into the middle of a swamp and across property lines.

Creed and Sadie went and bayed, and after what seemed like forever, we got permission to cross the property line. We rushed in to find them still caught! Creed and Sadie were holding strong. We sent in some back-up dogs, along with a catch dog, for support. Much to our surprise, once we were able to get in to dispatch the hog, we were looking at what might be our personal best yet. Thanks to Southern Cross, along with quick thinking and response from everyone involved, no dogs were injured.

Once we got out of the swamp and cleaned all the dogs up and people, too, we headed to the scale to see what exactly we were looking at, and boy howdy. This hefty hawg with over 3-inch cutters on each side ended up bottoming out the scale, which goes up to 320 pounds. So yes, this would be our personal best to date. We want to thank God for His hand of safety upon us all! As always, make memories and keep traditions alive one hunt at a time.