I went on my first ever feral hog hunt today, and it was also my first ever "high fence" hunt. (I also took, Hsoi, along for his ever hunt of any kind.)
I wouldn't say it was the best hunt ever, but I will say it wasn't near as "canned" as I expected. I never walked so much on any hunt ever before.
I expected to sit in a blind, wait for the feeders to go off and then have my pick of piggies.
What actually happened was a lot of walking, finding the hogs, trying to get a shot, and then more walking to the next spot (if they run off before you get a shot, and they do, a lot.)
The first shot opportunity was an eye-opener. They don't stand still at all, and you can not take more than a few seconds (if that) to make a shot.
Soon after that I ended up getting the first pig, a small boar about 50-ish pounds. I didn't have time to think about it. There he was, I sat down, flicked the safety off, put the cross hairs on his neck, held my breath and pulled the trigger.
I knew it was a good shot, and he was DRT as they say.
I've blogged before about how I didn't think the combo of stuff on my rifle was going to work well, but it actually did. Also the load I worked up for it did great. (You do not ever want to get hit with a Barnes Triple Shock bullet, trust me.)
We tried to get Hsoi a shot via the same method, but they were scarce after that, and he didn't get any opportunities. The guide suggested putting him in blind, as the feeders were going to go off soon. So we did, and the guide and I walked on down the road.
It felt like we walked an hour. Then they put some corn out on the roads again, and we walked some more.
I had a couple of chances, but the combo of walking and little bit of nerves left me out of breath and never could get a proper shot.
Finally we came on another sounder, and some bigger ones this time. I never got a good chance at the bigger ones, but I did get a little bit bigger sow at that time.
She was coming towards us, and then quartered to me. I went for the shoulder this time since she was being even less co-operative than the first and I still had some nerves. She was also DRT, though she kicked a bit more.
When we got up on her, I thought I had made a really bad shot. She had a wound high in her mid section on her right side. I know the conditions weren't conducive to being super-precise, but I can usually call my shots.
On the way home, I thought about it some more, and I'm pretty sure that wound I saw was the exit wound. She must have rolled over while I was recovering from the recoil.
The left shoulder was torn up, which would be impossible if she was quartering towards me and I shot her high in the middle.
It's the only thing that makes sense.
Anyway, we went to go find Hsoi after that.
I think he called me an F'er for getting a second before he got the first. :)-~
So, we walked some more. We got real close on a sounder and Hsoi missed a shot. I think he missed because it was so close that he need some hold over, or it just got too heavy.
So, then we walked some more. Again we get close, but no good shots.
So, the we walked some more. We come on a sounder and a bit unexpectedly, he took a shot through some brush and got a small one. Both the guide and myself thought he was going to wait for them to come out. No big deal, but I wasn't holding my ears for the shot and an M1A with a muzzle break is frickin' loud in the brush.
It wasn't a great shot, but it wasn't getting up. Our guide walked over and gave him the coup de grace.
It wasn't 5 minutes later that we get another chance and Hsoi takes #2 at this time. This pig made it about 40 yards before expiring.
I think with a lighter gun, Hsoi will be making better shots.
A lot of our shot opportunities weren't fully supported and there's not time to hook into your sling. That heavy gun gets hard to hold still pretty quickly, at least from what I could tell.
Anyway, I had a good time, and tipped our guide a well. He worked his ass off for us and deserved it.
Now, I got to figure out what to do with these two pigs. :)-~
on December 30, 2009 4:07 PM
