Well I got into a pack Saturday evening and ended up finding two nice sows out of three confirmed hits. I looked for the other one for about an hour but with the fading light, thick brush and two on the trailer that needed attention, I passed on the third. From all the sign I had found from the start it was more than likely a boar, and from the smell, I doubt I would have kept it anyway.
Here are a couple of pic's from the two I did haul in, See how close you can guess the weight of them. Only one is actually pictured on the scale as the batteries died in my camera. However they were both weighed on the same scale.
I will post up the scale shots when the correct weights have been guessed.
For reference, the two of them are laying on a 4'x8' trailer with plywood on top of it. The sheet is cut into two 4x4 pieces.
I would have done much better had I just stuck around after locating them. However they were out in the middle of a cotton field that is about 500 acres. I got as close as I could to a couple of them and shot at one out about 300 yds with the .308. It disappeared and the others just held tight. I decided that I needed more gun. So I hauled it back to the barn and picked up our long range rig. With the 7 mag, and my friend I headed back.
When we got about there, he split off and went around one side of a gravel pit and I headed on down to try and get up on one of the high banks and head them his way. WEll as plans generally do, this one fell apart as soon as I got down by the high bank. I was easing around to get to the bank when I see this head looking down one of the cotton rows. Well I stop and bail off the 4 wheeler and walk back. Sure enough there is this hog just with it's head out in the middle of the row and I throw the rifle up and aquire and squeeze. Nothing, darn safety, is still on. So the hog statrts hauling it straight away and I get it in the scope again, and touch off. One down and the whole area erupts in fleeing hogs.
Well the cotton is about 2' tall or higher in some areas, so I run and get up on the back rack of my 4 wheeler. From there I can see the backs of the hogs as they are hauling it through the cotton. All in all I got off 5 shots. Two of these were dropped in their tracks. After this was all over with I located the two downed one's and headed over to my friend who then headed to the barn for the trailer. As he went, I made it around to where the first one was when I shot at it with the .308. As I came up on some tall grass a lone hog jumped up and tried to run off. When it got out to about 75 yds, I popped the first round. then it got out to about 100 yds and stopped on a bank of a drainage ditch I busted it a good solid hit. It was down and through the ditch and out the other side. I didn't figure it would have gone far so I just let it be and headed back to load up the others. After loading them I went back around the other side of the creek and found lots of sign but the hog had headed up into the thick stuff sruuounding the gravel pit. Even on a good dry day that stuff is almost impentrable, but it had been raining up there for half the week so that and the oncoming of dark, hedged my thoughts. I elected to head out and clean the two I had.
Hopefully the way it is working out, I will have a freezer full of nice pork steaks before the end of the year.
Here are a couple of pic's from the two I did haul in, See how close you can guess the weight of them. Only one is actually pictured on the scale as the batteries died in my camera. However they were both weighed on the same scale.
I will post up the scale shots when the correct weights have been guessed.
For reference, the two of them are laying on a 4'x8' trailer with plywood on top of it. The sheet is cut into two 4x4 pieces.
I would have done much better had I just stuck around after locating them. However they were out in the middle of a cotton field that is about 500 acres. I got as close as I could to a couple of them and shot at one out about 300 yds with the .308. It disappeared and the others just held tight. I decided that I needed more gun. So I hauled it back to the barn and picked up our long range rig. With the 7 mag, and my friend I headed back.
When we got about there, he split off and went around one side of a gravel pit and I headed on down to try and get up on one of the high banks and head them his way. WEll as plans generally do, this one fell apart as soon as I got down by the high bank. I was easing around to get to the bank when I see this head looking down one of the cotton rows. Well I stop and bail off the 4 wheeler and walk back. Sure enough there is this hog just with it's head out in the middle of the row and I throw the rifle up and aquire and squeeze. Nothing, darn safety, is still on. So the hog statrts hauling it straight away and I get it in the scope again, and touch off. One down and the whole area erupts in fleeing hogs.
Well the cotton is about 2' tall or higher in some areas, so I run and get up on the back rack of my 4 wheeler. From there I can see the backs of the hogs as they are hauling it through the cotton. All in all I got off 5 shots. Two of these were dropped in their tracks. After this was all over with I located the two downed one's and headed over to my friend who then headed to the barn for the trailer. As he went, I made it around to where the first one was when I shot at it with the .308. As I came up on some tall grass a lone hog jumped up and tried to run off. When it got out to about 75 yds, I popped the first round. then it got out to about 100 yds and stopped on a bank of a drainage ditch I busted it a good solid hit. It was down and through the ditch and out the other side. I didn't figure it would have gone far so I just let it be and headed back to load up the others. After loading them I went back around the other side of the creek and found lots of sign but the hog had headed up into the thick stuff sruuounding the gravel pit. Even on a good dry day that stuff is almost impentrable, but it had been raining up there for half the week so that and the oncoming of dark, hedged my thoughts. I elected to head out and clean the two I had.
Hopefully the way it is working out, I will have a freezer full of nice pork steaks before the end of the year.
