Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1891-03-26

Wild Boar Hunt in Southeast MIS-
souri,.

ing the Dig SNOW In January, occur
red one of those old time "boar hunts"
in which many of our old citizens have
doubtless taken part and Of which the
| young people may have read. But
| that a real wild boar should be found
| in this section of Missouri may seem
strange at first thought, yet tsuc h is the
| case, and to describe the habits of this
| animal and the method of capturing e
| him may be of interest to our rea aders.
! We know it will be of interest to at.
| P. R., ;" and that 1t would be to others
| IF told by him, we have no doubt. Fol-
| lowing is the description of chase as
given to US by one of the participants
| therein: "We myself and another
fellow) during the big snow this winter
| were out for hunt, and had wandered
off from the settlement several miles
into the 'pinery.' The day was cold
and the snow deep. We were looking
| for turkey, and had struck some fresh
| or so, expecting every hill we crossed
that we would come upon the coveted
| birds on the other side, when, all at
| one and unexpected to us, we discov-
cred the fresh trail Of some monstrous
four-footed animals, seemingly three in
number, and it appeared that they had
| recently been frightened from their
lair We Immediately gave up the
fur VIZ fol- ;o
for some distance before we determined
what had made 1t. The leaps were not
| long aud graceful enough to have been
made by deer, and from the impress
imals appeared to be heavier than a
deer; and besides, every once in awhile
we would come to a place where they
had halted in their maddened flight,
torn up the earth and gnawed down
the brush, having cut and torn down
bushes two or three inches in diameter.
We were not long in deciding, from the
indications, that all this sign had been
made by herd of wild swine belong
ing to one of our neighbors. These
hogs, it seems. had been running wild
in the woods for several years, and had
become quite famous all kinds OF
stories having been told of their hatits.
| terrible tusks and huge size. The
| owner had not been able to capture
them. and could only keep track OF
| them in their range which was ten or
twelve miles in extent. He had told
his neigh bors and your informant es-
| pecially that he would give anybody
one-half who would kill the hogs and
deliver them to him. I informed my
companion that I had permission TO
capture these monsters, and after some
little hesitency we concluded to give
them chase; go we started in pursuit
We trudged slowly up hill and ran
down hill, always keeping sharp
lookout ahead, until we had Travelled
several miles through the deep snow.
All the time hoping to come upon the
game, yet half afraid we should, when
finally we came oyer hill and, look.
ing into the brusLy ravine beyond, ]
spied three as stately specimens of the
hog kind as ever graced the forest
their tusks glistened like polished steel.
L cooked my gun, approached steadily
and as they dashed from their hiding
place with bristles erect, T fired
load of sixteen buck shot at them,
bringing one to the ground and severe
~ woundiDg another. We rushed up
on the one I had Knocked down and
stuck him. He was a fine fellow,
weighing about 400 pounds, his tusks
about four inches long. We examined
the trail little further, and, from the
blood stains on either side, concluded
that not far from this spot we would
find another dead hog. So I told my
partner to give me his rifle and would
follow and capture the other while he
returned to the settlement for wagon
and team. He went for wagon and ]
pursued the wounded boar. Travelled l
on and on, finding many places where
he had lain down and bled profusely.
[ travelled miles, half the time in a long
trot; my clothes were wringing wet
with Precipitation, yet hardly realizing
the distance had gone, when finally
sped the old fellow lying down on a
rise about two hundred yards ahead of
me. L again cooked my gun and
thought would slip round. shoot him
in the head and thus end my long
chase, but, no, he became frig ghtensd,
gave half growI and half bark, and
rushed off again. l pulled down on
him as he ran and brought fresh blood.
L followed on the trail till I located
him again, this time under bluff of
rocks; | was glad to find him, but
afraid to venture in, SO gave an alarm
and out he came, stiff legged. and
dashed away again; l raised my gun
and when he turned in the right posi-
tion to hit him in vital place, | fired
and at the crack of my ifie he stopped.
| approached and stuck hitn. Now,
was in a fix, the excitement OF the
chase was over, and, from the lay of
the country, 1 knew l was about five
miles from where [ had left my friend
aud where we were to meet again. So,
tired as | was, / retraced my steps and
found my companion and the wagon. |
Now a new trouble confronted US, how
were we to load them? I having but |