After shooting the hog in the head, Bobby Nichols uses the water hose to rinse off the carcass before taking it to the scalding box.

On a cold, breezy November morn up on a ridge somewhere between Woodbury and Auburntown, Bobby Nichols yearns to get going.
Around 3 a.m., about three hours before daybreak, he's got a good fire roaring in the backyard beneath his homemade scalding box. In about four hours time, the first of several hogs will be soaking in the heated water.
Nichols is prepared for hog killing time, a Nichols family tradition that goes back generations.