It was mid August and My husband and I decided to go on a hog hunt together. I had hunted hogs before, but this trip was going to be a new experience for me because we were going to use dogs. I had never used Dogs to hunt so I was very excited. A few customers from the taxidermy shop had told James and I many times that they knew of the perfect spot to get some huge wild boar and that they would let us use their dogs. My eagerness dropped by a few points when they told me we were not allowed to shoot the hogs because they were worried we might shoot one of their expensive hunting dogs by mistake.

I asked them what seemed to me a reasonable question Well, how will we kill them? They all laughed and said “you will have to stab them.” My heart dropped in my chest. Stab a WILD hog????? are these men crazy? I thought to myself. I looked around at the 4 men standing in my shop (one which was my husband) and I quickly answered my own question. Yes they all were crazy.

My husband arranged for the hunt to take place that upcoming weekend. I was excited but very nervous. I know I can shoot….. But I had never stabbed an animal before especially one as dangerous as a wild boar. Over the next few days all the stories the hunters had told me in our meat processing plant kept replaying in my mind. They had always boasted how dangerous they were and how they got knocked down or charged by them. I always just laughed at the stories but never paid them any mind. I never thought I would be putting myself in a position that one could get close enough to hurt me without the security of my trusty AR 223 in my hands.

The morning of the hunt arrived and as usual I didn’t get a good nights sleep. My husband could tell I was a little uneasy so he told me,” honey, you know I wont ever put you in a position that I cant save you. Just relax and have a good time. This hunt is for you. ” So I took a deep breath and decided at that moment I was going to stop worrying and start having a blast. We left the house at 5:30 am and headed to the Waffle House (a tradition we started back when we were dating). After a good breakfast and 3 pots of morning Joe we headed to the guides house. Once we all got there he loaded up the dogs.

Now let me take a second to say these dogs were not what I was expecting. I was thinking they would be huge muscle dogs like a bull mastiff or something. The dogs consisted of three small pittbull dogs none weighing more than 45 lbs and a loud yelping schnauzer mix. I leaned over and whispered to my husband,” Are these the kind of dogs most people use on these kind of hunts?” That real sick feeling washed over me again when his reply was,” UMM honey I am really not sure.”

We all loaded up and headed off for the “secret” spot. When we all arrived I was super anxious. The guide let his four pitiful dogs out and off they went through the woods just a barking. My heart went to raceing when the guide hollered,”Grab your killing knife they got one!” I grabbed my knife and my husband and I went running through the woods in pursuit of barking dogs. The whole way there I was getting so scared. All the what if’s were running through my mind. It seemed like I had been running for miles when my husband slowed and finally stopped in front of me. I jumped up front to see my trophy……..

It was a tiny piglet. I couldn’t help but laugh. It was no bigger than a house cat. I had gotten so worked up over this baby pig. We decided to load up and try another “hot spot” I had calmed down a lot bye  this time, and was looking forward to the dogs tracking down the next one.

We arrived at the new location and the dogs were set loose. They just wandered off this time and I was quiet for a little bit. Then all of a sudden you heard the dogs barking and carrying on. Once again the guide instructed me to “grab my killing knife” and we took off through the woods after them. When we got to the dogs I bout had a panic attack. I saw three dogs holding down the biggest darn pig I had ever seen in my life. One dog had it by the nose, one by the ear and one by the back leg. I will never forget the sound of the pigs tusks clamping down and the god awful screaming it made.The guide, my husband, and the two tag along men started all screaming at me to stab it. I was frozen in place I asked my husband if I could tape my knife to the end of a stick he laughed and said hell no.

They all were screaming, the dogs were barking and growling, the wild boar was screaming, and most of all my heart was pounding. I finally took a deep breath and ran up to the only thing I have ever known to be scared of and went to stabbing. I stabbed the pig three or four times but all It did was make the pig mad even more. My husband went to yelling, “HERE!! STAB IT HERE! STAB IT HERE BEFORE IT KILLS ONE OF THE DOGS!!!!”

I took a deep breath and gave the hardest stab I could. I thought for a second I must have been screaming while I was stabbing, but then I realized it was not me screaming…. but my husband!

He screamed “WHAT ARE YOU DOING???” I screamed back,” I am stabbing the pig”  He hollered back,

“I THINK YOU STABBED ME!”

I looked down and to my horror.. I had indeed stabbed my husband through the middle of his hand with my “killing knife”. It had pinned his hand to the wild boar. I snatched the knife back out before I had time to think if that was the right thing to do. There was so much blood. I couldn’t tell If it was coming from him or the pig. He took off his shirt and wrapped it around his hand. I had seriously wounded both my husband and the pig. The guide told me to stab the wild boar one more time, but to be sure to miss my husband. I did just that and finally everything got real quiet.

I thought my husband was going to be really mad but to my surprise he was excited at my kill and told me I had done a great job. My trophy pig weighed in at 389 pounds. My husbands stitches counted in at 43. Now that’s a hunting trip My husband and I will never forget.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers manages six campgrounds at Alabama River Lakes. All campers are entitled to the full use of campground facilities such as grills and tables. There are also laundry rooms and don’t forget the shower houses with restrooms. Prairie Creek is a peaceful quit place to relax for the weekend stay in the great outdoors.

The six Army Corps campgrounds are “fee campgrounds” with resident park attendants who are all happy to help you with information on each park or campground and make your stay at these locations more enjoyable. The swamps that are located across the creek area of Prairie Creek holds all kinds of wildlife such as deer and turkey.

On warm or cool spring mornings you can lay awake in your tents or campers and listen to faint gobbling of some of the hardest turkey’s to kill in Alabama. These birds can be hunted in spring season by heading over to the Lowndes (WMA) which is rite across the creek of the campground. There is 11,000 acres open to the public to hunt for things such as turkey, deer, and even ducks.

There is so much to do when you take a trip here that you may never complete everything you want in just one trip. All six of these fee campgrounds also offer boat ramps, fish cleaning stations, playgrounds, basketball courts, and nature trails. Prairie Creek is located at 582 Prairie Creek Rd. Lowndesboro, AL 36752 and can be contacted by phone at (334)418-4919.

During the summer months I would suggest making reservations in advance due to the campground filling up with guest fast each and every weekend. There are 62 sites at Prairie Creek and 7 of them are tent sites only. There is water hook-up along with electric also. You may camp in a tent or an RV if you choose to do so. Non-water front sites are $16 a night, water front sites are $18 a night, and tent only sites are $12.

This campground is one of my favorites to camp at anytime of the year. There can be so much said about this particular one that I could go on and on all day if I chose to do so. The campground is roughly 35 miles west of Montgomery,AL and 20 miles east of Selma,AL. All you have to do to make reservations is call 877-444-6777 or go online to Recreation.Gov. I hope you enjoy your stay at one of Alabama’s most beautiful campgrounds.

Saltwater fish we take after are mackerel, flounder, sharks, and red snapper. But fishing for saltwater is not the same as freshwater fishing. Freshwater fishing can take as much skill and sometimes more than that of its natural saltwater neighbor. We all dream of getting the big one and we all have heard the stories of the big one that got away.

Fishing tales can be in all shapes and sizes if you sit and keep your eye on the one telling the tale. There are some very large catfish in public waters and the only way to catch them is to get out of the house and off the couch long enough to stay on the waters of your choice.

Catfish are like what I would call a Texas Chicken, known as a buzzard. A large black bird that will eat anything that may not eat him. A catfish will bite most any kind of baits such as chicken liver, stink baits, and even bacon if you lay it out there for them to get hold on it. When you hang into one of these large fish you might think you have caught a whale.

Let’s take a look at the Average Fisherman and see him give us the tips on how to catch and what to use to catch big cats in our native waters.