Yellowstone Ranch has a “train station”.
Stout Ranch has a “drop box”.
Another piggie was placed in the drop box this morning, representing the 100th deposit made in 2026. The previous annual record number of deposits was 81, made back in 2019. Last year, after building several large corral traps, we managed 80 deposits, close but not a record. We managed to exceed both of those deposits a couple of months ago.
Ninety percent of our deposits this year came from the traps, but his one resulted from a lethal lead injection using the 6.5 Creedmoor with a Pulsar thermal vision scope. I nearly didn’t get a shot as a group of bucks was grazing next to my shooting position when I approached. They gave the loud snort warning and caused all the raccoons and the pig to vanish just as I was about to sit down on the bucket. Had to wait about a minute until a couple of raccoons came back out the woods, followed shortly thereafter by the piggie.
Having eliminated 180 pigs from the property over the last 2 years had certainly reduced the amount of new pig damage. But the damage from previous years is slow to heal. While mowing on the big tractor earlier this week, I crossed one of those previously damaged areas. Even going just 2mph, it brought back offshore fishing memories of 4 foot wave heights with a 5 second period.
One of Stout Ranch coyote puppies was nearby, overseeing the drop-off, and promising that he and his buddies would finish the job of processing my deposit before the close of business today. He also indicated that it is good to be a coyote on the Stout Ranch.
It is not good to be a piggie on the Stout Ranch.