HOGS OF THE LONG ROAD

By The Old Hog Hunter

Peach Creek traverses the Kokernot Ranch in east Gonzales County. It’s a spring-fed, all-season stream that runs to the Guadalupe River. The creek is home to many Russian-type hogs, and this story is about my favorite hunting road where I enjoyed 22 years of hunting hogs on one of the finest ranches in Texas.

The Kokernot is a mecca for wildlife, with whitetailed deer, Rio Grande turkey, Russian hogs, squirrels, coyotes, bobcats, and a pair of golden eagles. Hunters leased the ranch, but I was permitted to hunt hogs, doves, ducks, varmints, and squirrels. I killed a lot of hogs for meat and trophy skulls.

The ranch’s Russian strain of hogs were brought to east Gonzales County by a neighbor who kept the Tennessee rooters in a big pen and fed them dead chickens from his chicken houses. As the hogs reproduced, they were released on the river and soon inhabited Peach Creek and adjoining areas.

Don’t confuse the Russian hogs with “feral hogs,” which are domestic hogs gone wild. Feral hogs usually have spots, with curly tails and short snouts. The Russian hogs have long, straight tails, are a solid color of black, gray, or red, and have long snouts and big tusks. To a hog hunter, they’re a rare animal to hunt, and I found the perfect place to hunt them.

A ranch road in the Mesquite Pasture runs parallel to Peach Creek for about 300 yards. In summer, the hogs stay on the creek, where the water is cold and the shaded creek makes a perfect place for them to lay up and wait for nightfall, when they go out for a night of feeding. Their eastern route takes them directly to the long, straight road—a perfect place to corn and shoot hogs.

I made a ground blind from four wooden pallets midway down the long stretch of road for me and my black lab, “Belle.” While I sat on a 5-gallon bucket, the side of the blind was perfect for a rifle rest. Corn was scattered on both sides of the blind, from about 75 yards to 150 yards. Belle would peer through the cracks of the pallets, watching for hogs.

Sometimes 25 to 30 hogs would come to the road just minutes before dark. I was always looking for a big boar or a good eating hog, and many times I sat in the blind and didn’t fire a shot. There was good reason.

I learned very soon the Russian hogs on the Kokernot were not like the feral hogs that range over most of Texas. The

Russian hogs were smart, and extra wild. A group of hogs shot at under a feeder wouldn’t return to that feeder for a week or more. The corned road was much better.

I killed about one or two big boars each year, and boiled them out for trophies. Old Russian boar skulls are about a foot long, and most have tusks about 3-inches long. These lean hogs are big at the shoulder and little at the hip, and my biggest boar weighed 225 pounds, but looked like 300 pounds.

Belle was an excellent hog trailing dog, and a wounded animal seldom got away from her. She would bay the wounded hogs and I would dispatch them with a short-barreled Winchester .30-30 I carried on the chase. I remember an old boar that gave me and Belle one of my first good hunts. The hog came to the road at dusk about 70 yards away. He was black, which made him harder to see. I took a quick shot with the .270. The boar fell, but got to his feet. Before I could get off another shot, he was gone—with Belle in hot pursuit.

The mosquitoes and thorny brush made the chase a little testy. Belle finally caught up with the hog on the creek, in some thick brush. When I got to her, the old boar was backed up, ready to fight. I took a shot, careful not to hit Belle, or the boar’s head, and the fiasco was over. I marked the spot to come back for the hog’s head, and looked at my watch—no watch! I had lost my $20 Timex. It was a good trade because the boar was a trophy and I could buy another cheap Timex.

YOU WILL NEED:

• 3 pounds venison steaks, cubed

• Chef Ralph’s Super Seasoning, or your favorite seasoning

• 1 cup seasoned flour

• 1⁄4 cup bacon grease or olive oil

• 1 cup diced carrots

• 1⁄2 cup diced celery

• 1 cup onion, chopped

• 2 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 cup freshly sliced mushrooms

• 2 cups diced potatoes

• 1⁄4 cup picante sauce or salsa

• 2 cans (11.5 ounces each)

V-8 juice

• 1 can (14 ounces) beef broth

• 1⁄2 cup red wine

Do you have a favorite Wild Game recipe that you would like to share with our readers? If so, please type or print recipe and send to:

Texas Trophy Hunters Association, ATTN: Editor 700 E. Sonterra Blvd., Suite 1206 San Antonio, TX 78258

Down In The Dirt Venison Stew

Directions

Dig a pit in the ground at least 10 inches deep and 18 inches in diameter. Build a fire using your favorite wood or charcoal. Take a drink of wine to relax and then start the cooking process. Season cubed venison with seasoning of your choice, and dust with flour also seasoned with a little extra seasoning. Heat grease or oil in a Dutch oven over medium high heat and brown floured meat on all sides. Stir in the remaining ingredients and cover the Dutch oven. Line the pit with ashes, and then add a layer of hot coals. Place Dutch oven on coals in the bottom of the pit and add another layer of coals on the lid. Lightly fill the pit with dirt, being sure to leave the bail of the Dutch oven upright and exposed. Cook about five to seven hours before carefully removing Dutch oven from pit. Brush away all the dirt and ash from the lid before opening the Dutch oven. Serve the stew with a loaf of warm bread, a fresh salad, and the remainder of the bottle of wine as your evening beverage.—

Ralph Winingham

This recipe was featured in Ralph Winingham’s second outdoor cookbook, “The Revenge of Old Boots & Bacon Grease.” The collection of simple, tasty dishes and entertaining stories is among several outdoor cooking items available at ralphwiningham.com.

Fish and game move in search of food in cycles relative to the moon’s location to the Earth. The time spans listed are the prime or major period times to start each day and along each time zone meridian of longitude 75° (Eastern), 90° (Central), 105° (Mountain) and 120° (Pacific). To determine the feeding cycle time for fishing and hunting in the area you plan to fish or hunt, advance the sum of 4 minutes for each degree west and back up 4 minutes for each degree east. The next prime feeding cycle (not listed on the calendar) will be approximately 121⁄2 hours later. There are minor periods that occur between the prime or major periods. The moon’s phases are shown as New, First Quarter (FQ), Full and Last Quarter (LQ). The feeding times are not a cure-all. Weather and other environmental conditions affect wildlife feeding activity.

March 2023

MARCH

Best Good Fair Poor

Annual vest pocket books, which show all the major and minor periods, can be ordered by sending a check or money order for $19.95 per book. For shipping and handling, please add $4.95 to an order of 1 to 4 books. Make check or money order payable to Feeding Times. Send to Feeding Times, P.O. Box 2240, Covington, GA 30015. After October 1, please indicate book year in your order. For questions or comments, call 404-373-7151.

APRIL

DAWSON HEIL: whitetail nine-point (first deer) with 14-inch inside spread taken 11/19/22 in Shackelford County.

GEAR: .223, Leupold scope. OUTFITTER: Dad.

WAYLON KUSENBERGER: whitetail eight-point with 16½-inch inside spread taken 11/24/22 in La Salle County.

GEAR: Bergara 6.5 Creedmoor, Vortex scope.

OUTFITTER: Charco Marrano Ranch.

KADENCE ALFANO: whitetail eight-point (first buck with bow) with 14-inch inside spread taken 10/11/22.

GEAR: Mission Mathews Bow, Beman ICS arrow, HHA sights.

OUTFITTER: Dad.

ALYSSA KEENE: whitetail seven-point with 16½-inch inside spread taken 11/25/22 La Salle County.

GEAR: Ruger .243, Leupold Scope. OUTFITTER: Charco Marrano Ranch. (Grandma Debbie & Dodie).

CHRISTIAN BOBO: whitetail 20-point with 18-inch inside spread, scoring 188 B&C, taken 10/14/22 in Brown County.

GEAR: Mathews VXR bow, Swacker broadhead, HHA sights.

OUTFITTER: 5F Ranch.

MICHAEL BOBO: whitetail 11-point with 20-inch inside spread, scoring 183 B&C, taken 10/14/22 in Brown County.

GEAR: Mathews VXR bow, G5 Montec broadhead, HHA sights.

OUTFITTER: 5F Ranch.

DON CROW: whitetail 27-point with 162⁄8inch inside spread, gross scoring 2361⁄8 B&C, taken 10/1/22 in Leon County.

GEAR: Smith & Wesson .30-06, Swarovski 4-12X scope.

OUTFITTER: Crows Nest Ranch.

BENNY RODRIGUEZ: elk taken 10/7/22 in Brewster County.

GEAR: Remington 700BDL .270 caliber.

OUTFITTER: self.

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