The Northwestern standard., 1886-04-03
a RATTLE WITH WILD HOGS,
Adventures OF Hunter tn ArtSax1-
aas~-along tase Bottoms.

sas~-AlonG taae HotGGrns.
! 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 8 deer hunt
| ing expedition on one OF the numerous
/ bayous that jut into Red river in the
| southeastern part of Arkansas. We had
| with HIS two dogs, and were trailing along
the bank OF the bayou--the dogs some 20O
/ or 800 yards in advance All at once the
| dogs began to bark, and there arose the
! greatest CONSERVATION imaginable. It did
not take us long TO determine the cause OF
| all the commotion, as the dogs soon hove
in sight, lighting and retreating toward
| MS. Attacking them was a drove OF wild
| infuriated hogs, some Of them SO large and
| ferOciOus that & grizzly bear would be lit
( tie more formidable. TO say that they
| would strike terror to the bravest heart is
but to make an assertion that would re-
ceiVe immediate credence of tho reader
should he ever be brought face to face
| with them
What was to be done Here they came
with q 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.
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 ono af fjIa1r> ct,-1- x.a1-rv
large boar and literally ripped open, the
poor creatures entrails falling 20 the
ground before he expired. The other dog
chen beat q hasty retreat toward US, close
ly followed by these maddened monsters
We were armed with double-barreled
breechloading guns, one barrel riied and
the other shot, rifles thirty y-eight caliber
and our shot cartridges contained No. Q
shot. The remaining dog had been SO
disabled that we could expect little, If
any. assistance from him. Il was all he
could do to take care Of himself, and
rather questionable about his being able
to do that for any considerable time
] suggested to Reynolds that we give
them Volley from our four barrels at
once, and perhaps it would so discomfit
them that they would retreat. This we
did when they were about two rods from
us, and although we felled some three or
four 70 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 Eand very fortunate
for us that we had water TO take ton
which we Immediately did, Abandoning
our guns, we plunged in and swan to
the opposite shore, the live dog taking
kindly to orr example.
The bayou at this point was about four
rods wide. After croasing, we each select
ed a tree which would be easy to climb in
case the hogs should cross after us. Sev-
eral times / 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 trees,
their rage seemed to assuage, 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 'srazor !
back" breed and grow TO an enormous
size, feeding principally on the mast of I
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 (an old boar projected fully four /
inches from the jaw, curying 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
t and make, it is said, fair bacon.
Were it not for the fact that the hog
cholera makes frequent rayages among
hem, the bottom would swarm with
hem, and it would be dangerous to
ravei there. As it is, one feels safer at
distance than among them, especially if
,ou have dogs with you, which they are
ertain to attack if they come within their
light In the drove that we encountered
here were fully thirty, the greater mum
'er OF them large, and must have been
r years old ] presume, also, that over
ows destroy very many OF them.
If there is anything to be dreaded more
G the woods than an attack of wild hogs
4 considerable numbers, | have yet to
earn what it is.