The Northwestern standard., 1886-04-03
d il BATTLE WITH WILD HOGS.
Adventures of Hunter I'm Arxan-
sag-Along the Bottoms.

L
Adventures of Hunter I'm Artxan-
sas-Along the Bottoms.
| An Arkansas correspondent writes:
Few people are aware that there are such
things as wild hogs in this country, but
such is the case, however little the fact
may be known. Not long since James
| Reynolds and myself were on deer hunt
| ing expedition on one of the numerous
bayous that jut into Red river in the
| southeastern part of Arkansas. We had
with us two dogs and were trailing along
the bank Of the bayou-the dogs some 200
or 800 yards in advance. AL at once the
dogs began to bark, and there arose the
greatest CONSERVATION imaginable. 1t did
not take us long to determine the cause Of
all the commotion, as the dogs soon hove
in sight, lighting and retreating toward
us, Attacking them was a drove of wild,
infuriated hogs, some Of them SO large and
ferocious that a grizzly bear would be lit
tie more formidable. To say that they
would strike terror to the bravest heart is
but to make All assertion that would re-
ceive immediate credence of the reader
should he ever be brought face to face
with them.
What was to be done Here they came
with deafening and unearthly noise,
their every bristle projecting forward, eyes
reddened with rage. froth dripping from
their mouths and their long tusks ready
to rip open any one or anything that Of
fered combat. 0
We stationed ourselves by the waters
edge so as to be ready to take to the bayou
in case Of our guns failing to check them.
When they were about fifty yards from
us we encouraged the dogs to stand their
ground, and so they did for q short time
until one of them was struck By very
large boar and literally ripped open, the
poor creatures entrails falling TO the
ground before he expired. The other dog
then beat q hasty retreat toward us, close
ly followed by these maddened monsters.
We were armed with double -barreled
breech-loading guns, one barrel rihed and
the other shot, rifles thirty y-eight caliber,
and our shot cartridges contained No. 2
shot The remaining dog had been so
disabled that we could expect little, it
any. assistance from him. 1t was all he
could do to take care of himself, and
rather questionable about his being able
to dothat for any considerable time.
] suggested to Reynolds that we give
them volley from our four barrels at
them that they would retreat This we
did when they were about two rods from
us, and although we felled some three or
four to the ground and crippled others,
they seemed more enraged than ever, and
were ON us before we could reload our
guns. The only thing left for US to do was
to take to the water (and very fortunate
for us that we had water to take toy,
which we Immediately did. Abandoning
our guns, we plunged in and swan to
the opposite shore, the live dog taking
kindly to our example.
The bayou at this point was about four
rods wide. After crossing, we each select
ed a tree which would be easy to climb III
case the hogs should cross after us. Sew
eraf times l imagined that they were about
to CROSS; but the dog now having ceased
to bark and lain down, while we concealed
ourselves behind the trunks of large tire es,
their rage seemed to assnage, and pres
emily they moved off down the bayou.
Some little time after they had disap-
peared among the thick timber of the bot
tom. we swan back to our guns. After
making an examination of the hogs we
had dispatched, we concluded that we had
all the bottom hunting that we desired
that day, and struck out for the uplands.
We learned that these wild hogs abound
in considerable mum bers along the bottoms
Of Red River and tributary streams in this
locality. These hogs belong to the .'razor
back breed and grow to an enormous
size, feeding principally on the mast Of
the bottoms and adjacent uplands. We
were also informed that had it not been
for our dogs they would probably not
have given us any trouble, but would
have quietly withdrawn on our approach.
The tusks of the largest one that we
killed ian old boar projected fully four
inches from the jaw, curving outward and
upward from their base on the upper
jaw, and upward and outward on the
lower. They are frequently hunted in
the fall and winter after the mast has
fallen and they have become fattened on
it and make, it is said, fair bacon.
Were it not for the fact that the hog
cholera makes frequent ravages among
them, the bottom would swarm with
them, and it would be dangerous to
travel there. As it is, one feels safer at
distance than among them, especially il
you have dogs with you, which they are
certain to attack If they come within their
sight. In the drove that we encountered
there We're fully thirty, the greater mum
Der of them large, and must have been
or ) years old presume, also, that over
flows destroy very many of them.
If there is anything to be dreaded more
in the woods than an attack of wild hogs
in considerable numbers, / have yet to
learn what it is.