Sounds silly and cliche, doesn't it? Well, in so many things it seems that our perspectives and attitudes form our opinions to a point that we limit OURSELVES. This is especially true in hunting. It's almost fun for me to push people's buttons when they start talking about what a pig will or won't do, or always or never does! This is because I have had MY eyes opened so many times, either by accident or luck. I'm gonna call all my eye-openers luck because I wouldn't be nearly as successful without those experiences! My great friend Glenn Guess likes to say that 'pigs can't read your dang rulebook' and whoever reads this would do well to tattoo that into their palms. Why palms? That way you can see it coming when you slap yourself in the forehead-the pigs just outsmarted you again!!
We just can't help it, we're creatures of habit and we know that animals are too, usually. Our lucky advantage over the animals is that we can engineer our surroundings to suit our needs. As such, we let our ideas bleed over into our interpretation of animal behavior. Most of the time this works. However, these ideas begin to fall apart when the hogs don't do what they're supposed to, after all, we know the rules!
If you're willing to put in the effort, and can keep an open mind about what pigs DO vs. what you always thought they did, you have a leg up on others. Get out of the same old hunting blind you've been stuck in so often and find those pigs! Take notes of where you found them, be observant and try to figure out WHY they are where they are. It's gonna take time and dedication, and you will be dirty, sweaty, tired and maybe even bleeding a little, but you will probably never want to go back in the box (blind) again!
