As a pro-staff member of Bowhunting North America I have had the opportunity to learn first hand some of the trials and tribulations in the life of an outdoor video producer. I joined the BHNA team a little over a year ago and was introduced to the business of videography by owners James and Donna Ferguson.

The Ferguson’s had already released their first hunting video, “The Obsession” in August 2004 and were in the process of gathering footage for their 2^nd production “Bowhunting North America’s Outdoor Adventures” to be released in August 2006.

One of the primary missions of the BHNA team is to promote the family aspect of bowhunting and this is evident by the number of hunts on these video productions that involve women and children.  Each member of the Ferguson family is an avid bowhunter, including 6 year old Morgan Ferguson.

Morgan’s 10 year old brother Michael had already taken a nice 130# hog with his bow earlier in the year and his hunt will be included on this next video release, but Morgan had not yet taken an animal with her bow and we wanted desperately to get her in this next production.

Although Morgan has been going to the blind with her mom and dad since she was two years old and even though she shoots her Mathews Mustang bow pretty darn well, she is just not quite big enough to shoot a bow with enough poundage to hunt. This certainly doesn’t diminish her desire as this young lady has more “want to” than a lot of adults I’ve hunted with! We just had to find a way to include Morgan in this video.

The good folks at Barnett Crossbows had the answer – an RC 150 crossbow. At 150 pounds of pull, this crossbow would provide the power needed, and many hours of practice with the help of her dad James, Morgan would provide the skill.

After several hours of tedious work on the video, we decided to take a break and give Morgan one last chance to be in this video. We loaded up the hunting gear and video camera and made a short drive to Heron Branch Wildlife in hopes of taping Morgan taking her first hog with the crossbow.

Things couldn’t have gone much better. We had only driven a few hundred yards into the ranch when we passed within sight of a small stock tank and noticed several nice size hogs cooling in the mud wallows along the edge of the water. We wasted no time in parking the truck and readying the gear. The wind was in our favor and we quietly approached the spot where we had seen the hogs. James and Morgan led the way and I followed close behind with the video camera.

James moved Morgan into position and after checking the distance with his Nikon rangefinder, he gave Morgan some last minute instructions for the shot. I gave the signal when I was ready with the camera and Morgan touched off the trigger.  The Muzzy tipped Carbon Express bolt slammed into the boar hog at a perfect quartering away angle.  Morgan’s hog and 4 others bolted from their muddy beds and made a mad dash for the brush.

Morgan had just shot her first pig and her excitement was beyond what words can describe!  But honestly, I don’t know if she was anymore excited than James and I. We took a few minutes for “high fives” before taking up the trail of the hog.  James took a moment to reload the crossbow just in case the pig wasn’t down and Morgan’s comment to him was priceless. “Just so you know, I think I nailed him, so you’re not gonna need to do that!”

A  thick coating of mud on the hog made for a sparse blood trail, but a couple of hours of searching found the hog expired in another mud wallow  a couple of hundred yards from where he had been shot.  James pulled the hog from the water so Morgan could get a better look and we took a few pictures before loading the hog for the ride back to the house.  The hog was a little bigger than it first looked half submerged in the mud and tipped the scales at 155 pounds.

On the trip home, James asked Morgan how she liked this bowhunting thing and would she like to do it some more.

Her reply was “Yes sir, when I get big, I’m gonna kill an elephant with my bow!

John Shelley

Pro Staff

Bowhunting North America, LLC

This hunt was made possible in part by our sponsors:  

Mathews, Inc., Carbon Express, The Gean-Edwards Company, Rynoskin, DoskoSport, Lumenok, Tru Fire Corp., 
Limbsaver,  Huntin' Hoist,  Beard Buster,  Sure Grip Gun & Bow Racks, Advantage Max-1 Camoflauge, Nikon Sport Optics, ThermaCELL, Barnett Crossbows

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