Thursday, October 29, 2015

OLD SOLOMON

Old Solomon is the biggest, fiercest, wildest, and most cunning wild hog you will ever see and all the members at the famous Christmas Place are deathly afraid of him ( and they're not scared of much)
He roams our property in the Delta and he has been trapped, speared, poisoned, electrocuted and shot about 100 times but he is still out there watching and lurking in the forest. All of our guest are warned what to do if they see him (which is run) but luckily for us he seems to disappear as the first volley of gunfire starts in the fall each year.
This hog is more than big, he is gigantic. At the top of his sharp razorback he is almost 6 feet high and 10 to 12 feet long. His big head looks like the front end of a Buick, his tusk are at least a foot long and I believe he would weigh 800 pounds. Not 800 pounds like you see in the magazines where someone shoots a big pig wandering through the woods with a pistol or whacks him with a rock. This hog is a lean and deadly killer.. A true predator to anything that gets in his way, and I know from first hand experience.
It was early squirrel season when I saw him. I was walking the old road at what is called the Crossover area when I heard a crash and saw him barreling through the woods at me at 50 yards.
I did not hesitate, I took off like a scalded dog and made it to the first tree with limbs. It was a small sweet gum but sprang up into it as fast as lightning, the shotgun went one way but I scampered up the tree like a squirrel just as Old Solomon hit my boot and shook the whole tree. To the top I went until  I could go no higher and the tree threatened to start leaning over. Unfortunately my feet were barely 10 feet off the ground and the mad giant circled around growling and ripping up the ground.
I was treed and then everything got slow as he stopped and looked at me, just studying me. I looked at my foot, the whole sole of my boot was sheared off, as if by a razor. Just then Solomon turned, rushed the tree and slammed into it, almost knocking me out. I felt the tree give and readjusted. I had to do something quick. I reached in my pocket. Shotgun shells- I threw them at him, he just kept staring up at me, Compass- I know where I am (deep s##t), Map- no, Knife- yeah, right,  Water bottle- he doesn't look thirsty, Snickers Bar- I don't think so, Flashlight- Oh Crap! Old Solomon made another rush and slammed into the sapling again. I held on for dear life but the tree was leaning now.
I reached in my pocket and grabbed the first thing my hand landed on, the Candy Bar. I opened it, and threw it down in front of the huge snout of the creature. He didn't move, we stared at each other. A second later his big head went down, he grabbed the candy bar, looked at me, then trotted off into the woods. I stayed there another hour, found my shotgun, then slunk back to my 4-wheeler and camp.
The moral is, if you run across him, a Candy Bar could save your life.

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