A few hogs down

Post your hunting/trophy photos here, and tell us a little about your trip. WARNING: Some photos will be graphic.

Moderator: carlson1

Post Reply
User avatar

Topic author
der Teufel
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 2
Posts: 504
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 12:31 pm
Location: In the vicinity of Austin

A few hogs down

#1

Post by der Teufel »

I had hoped to post some video, but apparently the SD card came loose in my DVR. I thought the DVR gave an alert when it didn't have a card, but in this case the card was there, just not fully inserted and I didn't get any warning. So, no video. DANG!

I hunted a 'sort of' new spot over the recent weekend. It's 'sort of' new because I hunted the property next to it a few times in June & July. This field belongs to my wife's family and was planted in sorghum, which was harvested the weekend before this hunt. The guy who harvested it said there was considerable hog damage, and I figured there would be grain scattered around that might still attract hogs. I set up at sundown in hopes of seeing a few.

Here's the view of the field. The tree line on the left is on a line going SSW:

Image

The wind was forecast to be SSE, so I set up in the NE corner of the field. It gave me a pretty good view of the area. I thought the hogs would probably come in just slightly south of me, from the east through the tree line. There are some houses farther up to the left of the photo above (on the east side of the field), so I didn't want to set up in the NW corner because that might have me shooting in their direction.

Here's my set up. I sat in a chair in the bed of my truck to get a slightly elevated viewing position:

Image

I saw a lot of deer. There were deer in the field constantly from sundown until I finally saw hogs a little after 2AM Sunday morning. The hogs actually came in from the NW corner, which made me happy I hadn't set up there. I had noticed something at the far south end of the field around 1AM. There were some deer, but something else somewhat away from them that I couldn't identify. I figured I had nothing better to do than to go check it out, so I started walking. It took close to a half hour to get to the south end, and by then whatever I'd seen had disappeared. I stayed a little while in case it or something else interesting showed, but started my return journey a little after 1:30AM. A little after 2AM I was almost back to my truck when I stopped to take a look around. I saw some "new players" on the field which I recognized as hogs. It was a sounder consisting of two large sows and roughly a dozen piglets. They were across the field from me and a little out of my comfortable shooting range, so I started moving toward them. The moon was full, and behind me, so I was concerned that I'd be spotted if I got too close. I stopped twice to make sure they hadn't seen me, and eventually got to within what I estimated to be perhaps just over 100 yards. I would have liked to have gone closer but with the bright moon high overhead I figured I'd better shoot before they got wise.

I doubt that these hogs had ever been hunted before, or not much. The area is a combination of small farms and occasional residences, and I doubt that the hogs get much pressure. I guessed that once I started shooting they'd run back the way they came. Instead they ran forward and toward the middle of the field, which gave me the opportunity to keep shooting. My initial shot dropped one of the large sows.

Image

She weighed 190 Lbs and went down with one shot through the shoulders.

I recovered the bullet. It was a 110 grain Hornady SP which was lodged in the fat just under the skin on the far side. It penetrated both shoulders. I'm shooting a 300 Blackout with a home made (Form 1) suppressor.

Image

Weight retention was just over 86 grains, or about 78%.

Once the first sow went down, I took aim at the second large hog. It turned out to be an even larger sow weighing about 220 Lbs (estimated). She actually made it across the fence onto the neighbor's property, but only barely. I wasn't inclined to crawl through the wet grass to go under the fence, so I just took a photo from where I stood. I've hunted this neighbor's land before, and he said it's all right to just leave dead hogs where they lay. I texted him after dawn alerting him that he might be seeing buzzard activity near his fence. He had no problems & was happy to have a few more hogs gone from the area.

Image

After taking the above photo I re-scanned the field and saw that the piglets hadn't completely left the area. They wandered around, and eventually came close enough for me to get a shot. They weren't as small as I had expected. I killed a 90 Lb male shoat with a shot through both shoulders to bring the nightly total to three hogs down. I failed to get a photo of the shoat, however. Y'all are just gonna have to take my word for it!
Last edited by der Teufel on Tue Aug 24, 2021 6:25 pm, edited 2 times in total.
A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition. — Rudyard Kipling
NRA Endowment Member
TSRA Life Member

flechero
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 1
Posts: 3485
Joined: Thu Dec 06, 2007 5:04 pm
Location: Central Texas

Re: A few hogs down

#2

Post by flechero »

Sounds like a fun night! ...for you, anyway! :lol:

Thanks for the pics!

Mike S
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 1
Posts: 705
Joined: Sun Sep 06, 2015 5:08 pm
Contact:

Re: A few hogs down

#3

Post by Mike S »

Nice!

And thanks for the concise OPSUM (Operational Summary)!
User avatar

03Lightningrocks
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 1
Posts: 11451
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2008 5:15 pm
Location: Plano

Re: A few hogs down

#4

Post by 03Lightningrocks »

I loved this post! Looking forward to more great hunting adventures! :txflag:

powerboatr
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 1
Posts: 2273
Joined: Mon Mar 23, 2009 9:53 pm
Location: North East Texas

Re: A few hogs down

#5

Post by powerboatr »

love that set up, sitting in truck in a chair we do that as well .
just we didnt even get lucky

thanks for the the cool pics and details :tiphat:
Proud to have served for over 22 Years in the U.S. Navy Certificated FAA A&P technician since 1996
User avatar

ajwakeboarder
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 2
Posts: 604
Joined: Sun Sep 18, 2011 3:06 pm
Location: Hurst, TX

Re: A few hogs down

#6

Post by ajwakeboarder »

Nice work. What optic is that? I'm trying to decide on a NV or Thermal Optic for hog hunting, but i'm nervous about spending that much money.
SI VIS PACEM PARA BELLUM
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
User avatar

Topic author
der Teufel
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 2
Posts: 504
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2009 12:31 pm
Location: In the vicinity of Austin

Re: A few hogs down

#7

Post by der Teufel »

ajwakeboarder wrote: Tue Aug 24, 2021 7:25 pm Nice work. What optic is that? I'm trying to decide on a NV or Thermal Optic for hog hunting, but i'm nervous about spending that much money.
I confess I splurged on the optic. It's an Trijicon IR Hunter 60mm thermal weapon sight.

There's a discussion on thermal sights here if you want to read a few opinions — https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubb ... ost8295404
A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition. — Rudyard Kipling
NRA Endowment Member
TSRA Life Member
User avatar

AndyC1911
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 1
Posts: 328
Joined: Sat Feb 27, 2021 11:13 am

Re: A few hogs down

#8

Post by AndyC1911 »

Nice! :cheers2:
Image
User avatar

ajwakeboarder
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 2
Posts: 604
Joined: Sun Sep 18, 2011 3:06 pm
Location: Hurst, TX

Re: A few hogs down

#9

Post by ajwakeboarder »

der Teufel wrote: Wed Aug 25, 2021 9:53 am
ajwakeboarder wrote: Tue Aug 24, 2021 7:25 pm Nice work. What optic is that? I'm trying to decide on a NV or Thermal Optic for hog hunting, but i'm nervous about spending that much money.
I confess I splurged on the optic. It's an Trijicon IR Hunter 60mm thermal weapon sight.

There's a discussion on thermal sights here if you want to read a few opinions — https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubb ... ost8295404
Ah. Yeah, that one is a little bit outside my budget. Thanks for the link to the thread :cheers2:
SI VIS PACEM PARA BELLUM
ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ
User avatar

puma guy
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 1
Posts: 7609
Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2009 2:23 pm
Location: Near San Jacinto

Re: A few hogs down

#10

Post by puma guy »

Well done!
KAHR PM40/Hoffner IWB and S&W Mod 60/ Galco IWB
NRA Endowment Member, TSRA Life Member,100 Club Life Member,TFC Member
My Faith, My Gun and My Constitution: I cling to all three!

maximus2161
Senior Member
Posts in topic: 1
Posts: 641
Joined: Thu Jul 06, 2006 9:15 pm

Re: A few hogs down

#11

Post by maximus2161 »

I have only been hog hunting once. Long story I didn’t get anything. Now I’m not a hunter. But my godfather has several hundred acres up in Montauge county and he has a massive hog problem.

They ruin his deer feeders and wreck his land. In fact several years ago he was riding his four wheeler across his land to go check on his son who was out on the land and he hit a rut where a hog had been and it threw him. He about died. Years later and many surgeries later he has zero love for hogs on his land.

He said it got so bad at one point they had the sherif depth flying in a helicopter to take out hogs because there were so many.

I have been out a few times to hunt but I never see anything. Soon as I go home hogs show up. Figures.
Post Reply

Return to “Hunting Photos”