A wild hog hunt has been on the “to-do” list for the last couple years so when I found out I was heading to Texas for three trade shows during the month of August, I started thinking about lining something up during my stay. The original plan was to hunt with a friend but with my busy show schedule and his late work hours, the stars didn’t align like I had originally planned.

Fast forward to the first show and I was bummed that my original plans didn’t work out so I was looking for a new opportunity to hunt pigs somewhere else. As luck would have it, my booth was located across the aisle from Sniper Hog Lights , who are experts at hunting wild boars. Joe Ruiz and Rob Pecht are the owners and they are some of the nicest, most accommodating people you will ever meet. They are a great group of guys who live, eat, and breathe hog hunting in South Texas. Needless to say, I hit the hog hunting lottery when they offered to have me come down to hunt pigs for a few days at their headquarters in Victoria, Texas.

Getting Set Up

I arrived Monday evening with the hopes of getting to hunt pigs the first night but work obligations held me up longer than expected so I was not able to get out in time before the sun went down. Joe and Rob set me up with a 38LRX Bow Light and had me flinging arrows into a target when darkness set in on the first night. They also set up an Exterminator II Feeder Light , which is solar battery powered, so we could mimic real hunting conditions over a feeder. After a few minutes of practice, I was ready for my first hunt the following evening.

The Exterminator II Feeder Light makes for an awesome night-hunting setup.

The First Hunt

For the first evening, I found myself perched above a feeder next to a swamp with sweaty skin, flying bugs, and high hopes for getting a pig in range. Rob checked the cameras earlier that day to see the activity at each feeder so that we could determine the best spot for me to sit. Lucky for me, they put me in a stand that had really good boar activity so I was excited for the hunt to begin.

As I was settling in before sunset, I heard a few twigs snap and jerked my head up to see a nice boar at the feeder. My heart started to race but he didn’t stick around long enough for a good shot.

At 9pm, I hear a few loud snorts and I see two hogs emerge from the thick Texas brush and begin feeding in front of me.  I let the hogs settle down and eat for a few minutes before attempting to get a shot off but they never seemed to stop moving and I drew back my bow four different times but to no avail. I didn’t feel 100% comfortable with a shot so I let them feed and they moved off without me letting one fly.

The Last Night

For the second night, Joe and I made the drive to the lease and we arrived at the farm around 7pm. Joe was not able to hunt with me tonight so he dropped me off and I told him I would let him know when to come back and pick me up, hopefully with a pig on the ground! He set me up in a stand that had consistent activity according to the trail cameras and this spot also had a 200-pound trophy boar using the feeder one-hour after dark. My hopes were high for an eventful evening!

Ready for the evening hunt in South Texas.

Shortly after dark, I had a group of sows come into the feeder and I readied myself for a shot but after two minutes of the pigs feeding in front of me, the wind swirled and the pigs ran off. Needless to say, I was bummed.

With the clock striking 10:30pm, I texted Joe to come pick me up at 11pm because it was getting late and I had to set up for a show the next day in Houston. At 10:45, a group of younger hogs enter the area of the feeder light and my heart begins to race so I pick the biggest one of the group and let the arrow fly! In an instant, the pig runs off and the South Texas woods are silent again.

Joe arrived shortly after and we tracked the hog to a dense thicket and recovered him after a short track job through heavy cover. I was extremely excited to have my first wild pig on the ground and I cannot thank Joe and Rob enough for the great hospitality and for letting me hunt hogs on their property in South Texas.

Sniper Hog Lights

Whether you are serious hog hunter, whitetail hunter, or outdoor enthusiast, Sniper Hog Lights make some of the best lighting accessories in the world. Myself, as an avid big game hunter of elk and deer, I absolutely love their 40KAP Head Lamp Light and it is the best light you will ever find. In fact, I recently put it to work on tracking my big 6×7 bull elk in Colorado this past archery season.

The 40KAP Headlamp was used to track down my 6×7 archery bull in Colorado!

I won’t ever use another light to track game and the brightness of this light is unreal. Do yourself a favor and check out all of their products at www.sniperhawglights.com. Thanks again to Joe and Rob for the wonderful accommodations and I look forward to getting back to hunt again soon.

My first “real job” out of college was doing sales and marketing for a solar company in Michigan. We attended 10-15 shows each year so I was no stranger to the circuit and quickly became involved in the world of conventions and travel. Although they were fun and it was great to meet people from all over the world, something felt empty. The solar industry was cool but at the end of the day, the people I was working with didn’t hold the same passions as me so I kind of felt lost. Suit and tie was the dress code of choice and I talked to people all day long who had never picked up a bow or even thought about hunting. I dreamt of being part of an organization that would align my career with my passion for bow hunting.

Fast forward to 2015, I started working for a company called QuietKat and immersed myself in an industry I truly loved. I get work with individuals who hold the same level of interest for hunting, archery and the great outdoors, which I believe is my one TRUE calling in life. One of the perks of being on the sales side of an organization is the opportunity to attend industry trade shows. This year I had the privilege of attending my first ever ATA show in Louisville, Kentucky and what an amazing experience it was!

For those of you who may not know, the ATA show is an opportunity for manufacturers, retailers and media professionals to come together and do all things archery related. For manufacturers, it is an opportunity to showcase their latest products, meet with existing and new customers, and to sell products for the upcoming year. Retailers visit the show to place orders, see the latest gear and attend seminars that cover a number of topics relating to the business side of archery. Last but not least, there are a number of TV personalities, bloggers and media people who document the event, meet fans and promote various products.

I spent time shooting a video segment with one of our partners, Midwest Whitetail.

It Feels Good To Belong

If I had to give myself an assessment of whether I am an introvert or an extrovert, I would put myself into the category of an introvert. It’s hard to believe I am in sales but I have always struggled to make small talk with people and develop close relationships in other industries because my heart just wasn’t there. In this industry of archery and bowhunting, I am right where I need and want to be.

It is hard to describe what this show meant to me but just imagine your favorite hobby or interests and being surrounded with thousands of other individuals who are like minded. When you are with these individuals, you can share advice, stories and have a good time together. Like a reunion of life-long friends, its feels damn good to belong.

Although it was great meeting many new and existing customers for QuietKat, one of the coolest parts of the ATA show for me was getting to meet individuals in the industry who have inspired me over the years. As an avid bowhunter I have been reading articles, books and watching shows with names such as; The Drury’s, Michael Waddell, Cameron Hanes, Todd Graf, Jeff Sturgis, Adam Hays and many more. I was fortunate enough to meet all of these guys at the show and because of this, it has inspired me more than ever before to be a better bowhunter.

It was great meeting Cameron Hanes at the 2016 ATA Show!

A Tight-Knit Community

I look forward to next years ATA show for many reasons but above all, I just can’t wait to talk archery with a passionate bunch of people for three days straight! I love the camaraderie between each individual in this industry and although the community may be small, our passion for archery and bowhunting is large. Thanks to everyone who welcomed me to this industry; I hope to be involved for many years to come.

These people of the ATA are not my colleagues, business partners or mere acquaintances; these people are now my friends. It is a brotherhood of which we all belong and share together. Take care, my friends and see you soon.

-Adam Parr

Given that I didn’t have the luxury of scouting every weekend, I needed an extra edge in conjunction with running trail cameras. At this point in time, I had no information related to deer densities and if there were even deer that I would be interested in pursuing on the recently acquired properties. Long story short, I was looking to take a quick inventory on any big bucks roaming the farms I had access to hunt. To help me do this I implemented the use of Big Tine Fortified Deer Blend!

A Needle In A Haystack

Now before you jump to conclusions about the 7,000 acres of hunting land, let me paint you a better picture by stating that the acreage is not continuous and only about 1,000 acres is what I would deem “hunt-able”. Out of that 1,000 acres, there are less than 10 acres of trees, the landscape is comprised mainly of open grass, small draws and has a total of two crop fields. Do you get the picture? If not, I posted a snapshot below for your viewing pleasure.

With all due respect, I’m not hunting Iowa, people! This is Western Kansas, where the only trees you will find are located in and around dried up river bottoms or in the immediate areas surrounding homesteads. The wide open prairie makes the deer extremely tough to pattern so just hanging cameras in a “hopeful” location wasn’t going to yield the best results. Big Tine was the answer to my early season scouting success!

Yielding Results

Upon my first use and within hours of putting out Big Tine’s Cherry Rush Last Call, I had a mature buck in front of the camera during daylight. Below are a few trail camera pictures showing me putting out the mixture and shortly after, catching a mature buck coming out of the bedding area from behind to investigate. Although he is not a giant, he is still mature and I was blown away at how quickly Big Tine was able to bring him in front of the camera. See my trail cam pictures below where it shows the dates and times only hours apart on the first day I put out Big Tine.

One of the more successful camera locations was where I put out the Big Tine 30-06 formula; a perfect blend of minerals, corn, sunflower seeds, and cherry aroma to spark their curiosity! Within 2 days I had pictures of 5 different bucks ranging in size from 150” – 170”. Right then and there I had confirmed two things; Big Tine really does work and I had hit the deer hunting property lottery! See below for a sampling of trail cam pictures of the giants I was able to capture on camera. To view the full card pull, check out the Transition Wild Facebook Page.

All Season – All Purpose

My original use of Big Tine Deer Feed was used as a tool to help with my early season scouting efforts but I will also utilize Big Tine for my Spring / Summer mineral sites. Because of the desolate environment that Western Kanas deer are subject to, they do not receive maximum nutrition through their everyday diet. With the help of Whitetail Institute’s Imperial 30-06 Mineral/Vitamin Supplement, Big Tine is the perfect supplement for enhanced antler growth and an overall healthier deer herd.

Although I can’t credit Big Tine entirely for a successful deer season, it did play a big part in my scouting efforts which was the first step towards completing my end goal of killing a mature whitetail in 2015. After many failed attempts and close encounters, the cards were finally dealt in my favor and I was able to arrow my biggest whitetail to date on November 20th. To read more about that memorable hunt, click HERE.

Don’t just take my word for it. Stop by your local retailer today and pick up a few bags of Big Tine and start experimenting on your own property. They have a wide range of products in addition to deer feed including; food plot seed, cover scents and mineral blocks. Regardless of what you use, I think you will be very pleased with the results!

To find out more information about Big Tine, please visit their website at: www.bigtine.com.

-Adam