Haven't been hunting very long and had my first opportunity to go hog hunting this weekend.
The sun was setting, so the three of us set out for different areas of the ranch. I was walking from a wash, up a trail, to a field where I was going to setup.
I poked my head up to field level and there was a boar trotting directly towards me about 50 yards out! This was exactly where Jeff told me they would be coming from. I got a huge adrenaline rush and my heart was about to pound out my chest.
I ducked back down to take the rifle off my shoulder, uncapped my scope, and looked up again... but he was gone and I didn't hear any noise at all.
I was thinking about what I should do. Should I go up there? .. but then he popped back out on the game trail and continued towards me.
I went to aim and the scope was zoomed in way too much to do anything, so I brought it all the way down to 3x and aimed again. I had a scope full of head and gently squeezed the trigger ... the safety was on! With his head still in the scope and still coming toward me, I snapped the safety off and fired the shot.
He staggered a couple steps and fell over. I hit him on the right side of his jaw with my new Tikka T3 in .243. I used an 80 grain non lead Winchester round. I ranged the shot at 20 yards after he was down.
We dragged the boar back to the house and weighed him before I got a crash coarse in gutting, skinning, anatomy, and meat preparation. (Thanks a ton Jeff and Al!!) He was an even 200 lbs. This hog was a fighter. He had scars all over his sides and ripped up ears.
This was my first time taking any animal unless you count fish. What an experience!
The sun was setting, so the three of us set out for different areas of the ranch. I was walking from a wash, up a trail, to a field where I was going to setup.
I poked my head up to field level and there was a boar trotting directly towards me about 50 yards out! This was exactly where Jeff told me they would be coming from. I got a huge adrenaline rush and my heart was about to pound out my chest.
I ducked back down to take the rifle off my shoulder, uncapped my scope, and looked up again... but he was gone and I didn't hear any noise at all.
I was thinking about what I should do. Should I go up there? .. but then he popped back out on the game trail and continued towards me.
I went to aim and the scope was zoomed in way too much to do anything, so I brought it all the way down to 3x and aimed again. I had a scope full of head and gently squeezed the trigger ... the safety was on! With his head still in the scope and still coming toward me, I snapped the safety off and fired the shot.
He staggered a couple steps and fell over. I hit him on the right side of his jaw with my new Tikka T3 in .243. I used an 80 grain non lead Winchester round. I ranged the shot at 20 yards after he was down.
We dragged the boar back to the house and weighed him before I got a crash coarse in gutting, skinning, anatomy, and meat preparation. (Thanks a ton Jeff and Al!!) He was an even 200 lbs. This hog was a fighter. He had scars all over his sides and ripped up ears.
This was my first time taking any animal unless you count fish. What an experience!
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