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I had the privilege of meeting a couple of great men yesterday. SGT. Troy Levandoski and his son Elijah. I was introduced to them by Scott Cambell from the great organization Hunters Helping Soldiers. After our introduction we were able to set up a hog hunt. Finally the day for the hunt came and I could not of asked for a better hunt than what happened yesterday.

The hunt started at 5 am when Troy and his son Elijah arrived at my house. They told me they wanted to shoot a hog with their crossbow. So we loaded up and headed for the ranch. On our way to the ranch, which is 20 minutes away, I remembered that I forgot to load the corn so I turned the truck around and went to pick up the bag of corn. Twenty minutes later we arrived at The Crane Ranch ran and operated by my friend Wade Robinson. Wade graciously allowed me to host this hunt on his ranch. The Crane Ranch is a 300 acre high fenced ranch holding many exotic wildlife. After our arrival I remembered that we had over 4 inches of rain the day before as I looked at the terrain. This was an issue as my truck is only 2 wheel drive and gets stuck on wet grass much less deep mud. I was determined I was going to drive them to their stand and I did with Joey's help walking out in front to find the best path to travel. We made it all the way there to my surprise. We unloaded their equipment and got Troy and his son setup in a very nice stand. Joey and I left to get some breakfast down the road. After a few hours I texted Troy to see how things were going. Well he is just like me when it comes to hunting in stands, it didn't last very long. He had already left the stand and they were stalking the hogs on foot. This is a great man with a passion for hunting. He told me that they had spotted several groups of 6 or so hogs but that the brush was so thick that they could not get a clean shot. I asked if they would like me to bring a few dogs to help with their hunt and he was so excited. Troy told me that he has been wanting to knife a hog for awhile now and his son was ecstatic over the idea. Joey and I loaded a few pups that I have been working with Duke, Bonnie, and Clyde along with my boy Drako. We had them suited up in a few minutes and were headed back out to the ranch. This is where things get crazy. I had made it into the ranch earlier without much of a problem but now we also have the trailer. We had already driven through the worst of the mud, or so I thought, when we arrived at the second gate. It was deep hole through the gate. No problem I thought. Joey gets out and takes the camera to scout the best route to travel. Needless to say I didn't make it. The trailer hooked me and swung the whole truck into the gate and I was stuck with my truck in the way of closing the gate. This is very bad. I was thinking I was going to have to stay at the gate while Joey took them hunting with the dogs so that the animals wouldn't escape. After collaborating over the problem we ended up taking off the trailer and we backed it up out of the way. Troy had heard the commotion and had came over and started to help pushing the truck. We ended up getting the truck back 2 feet so that we could close the gate. Then we where off to catch a few hogs or so I thought. Joey and I let the dogs out and I assumed like most hunts in a high fence that this would happen pretty quick and it did in a way. The dog Duke found a boar within a minute or so and the dogs had him bayed up. Bonnie and Clyde where helping out but by the time I was going to release Drako the hog had broke. This happened 5 or 6 times over an hour and I was starting to think that bringing these pups without a lead dog was a mistake little did I know that they where waiting for a much bigger hog. It was very humid and hot yesterday at noon while we where hunting and the dogs just acted like where done. As we approached the front of the ranch Duke found another one. As we crawled in to see what they had bayed I noticed that the hog was in a big brush pile and it was hard to get a good look. Troy and I went around to the left side of the brush pile and Joey went on the right side. I am guessing that we spooked the hog because he ran out of the brush and headed straight for Joey. Duke stopped the hog within a hundred yards. This turned out great because we where only 15 yards from the road which I realized after everything was done. I cut Drako loose and he ran right in and grabbed the ear. I was a little scared for him since this was his first solo catch and this boar was pretty big. He caught and held like a pro, I was so proud of him. Troy and I ran up behind the boar and each grabbed a leg and flipped him over. I don't think I have seen someone so excited about a hog in a long time. Troy called his son Elijah over to to bring him the knife so he could stick the hog. Troy was a pro, one stab and the hog was done. We took some good pictures and then commenced to dragging out the big boar. I called Wade and he told me to get his hand that lived on the ranch to help me get unstuck. It took a few minutes and my truck was free again. We took the getting cart to retrieve the boar. Troy had the boar gutted by the time we got back. Joey and I loaded up the boar and we where off to finish cleaning it. It was a very fun hunt and I am glad that I had the opportunity to give a wonderful day to a man that has done so much for our country. Troy and Elijah are great people and I hope to get to do this again real soon. I would like to give a very big thanks to Wade Robinson and The Crane Ranch for allowing us to use the ranch. Another big thanks to Joey for helping with little man and taking all of the video and pictures. We would not have had such a successful hunt without yall's help. Thanks again!

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