Hunting Hogs on Horseback in Mississippi
After a long day of traveling I slept in the first morning. When I finally went outside (around 9) this is what I stumbled on — club member Craig Brumfield with a huge 11-point that green scored 144 1/2. He took the buck from his treestand with a 100-yard neck shot.
Hunting Hogs on Horseback in Mississippi
The photo of Craig’s buck was taken in front of the club’s cemetery, where many members have chosen to be buried over the years. Some of the markers have CSA (Confederate States of America) medallions on them. The history here runs deep. I wasn’t as lucky as Craig. Three days of hard hunting produced only a fleeting glimpse of a really nice buck. We eventually packed up and headed north, toward the Delta and some squirrel and hog hunting.
Hunting Hogs on Horseback in Mississippi
Norris Outfitters is located in Onward, Mississippi, on the Delta. This is Alton Norris’ place -” nothing fancy, but comfortable, and sitting in the middle of some of the best deer, squirrel, and hog hunting you could ever want.
Hunting Hogs on Horseback in Mississippi
Squirrel hunting on the Mississippi Delta. Guide Hilton Stovall (left) poses with some of his feist dogs. They may be small, but these dogs have noses you wouldn’t believe. It was a pleasure just to watch them work. If a squirrel had been on the ground in the past 24 hours, and if there had been no rain, the dogs could pick up the scent and go right to the trees it last climbed.
Hunting Hogs on Horseback in Mississippi
That’s me, trying to get a bead on a gray squirrel that’s refusing to reveal himself. How the dogs figured out he was there is a mystery to me, but he was up there. This one eluded me, but we did get two during the brief morning hunt. The temperature was in the 60s; Stovall told me that it was just too warm, and that colder temperatures would have brought more action.
Hunting Hogs on Horseback in Mississippi
The dogs in their carrier, ready to head home. Do they get their names because they’re feisty?
Hunting Hogs on Horseback in Mississippi
Dogs, of course, can also chase wild boars, and that’s what we did the next day in the Delta National Forest. Alton Norris was there with his head dog handler, Ken Holmes, who runs a pack of curs and Catahoula hounds. That’s Alton, by the horse trailer. We let the hounds range far once we let them go, following on horseback. After only an hour they started baying and before I knew it we were galloping through the woods, headed toward the mayhem.
Hunting Hogs on Horseback in Mississippi
The dogs had cornered a huge boar, who had backed himself into heavy cover and was slashing away at any dog that got too close. Ken didn’t want me to use my scoped 30-06, saying, “You won’t be able to see if a dog jumps into the fight at the last minute. Best to use an open sight.” Which I did, on a Marlin lever action .44 mag. That’s me (right), at the kill sight, with Clint (left) and Alton Norris (center).
Hunting Hogs on Horseback in Mississippi
Smokey had his leg opened up … he was lucky it wasn’t worse. Ken sewed him up and gave him some antibiotics. Check out how thick the woods are. How’d you like to ride a horse through them at full gallop, after a pack of running dogs?
Hunting Hogs on Horseback in Mississippi
Here we’ve loaded the boar onto a quad back at camp. He weighed 250 pounds, a damned fine specimen that I’m really proud of. His mount will soon hang in F&S;’s offices in New York. You can tell the Yankee of the bunch (I’m the one in the front not wearing a cowboy hat).
