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View Full Version : Decisions, decisions...



TXGunNut
12-09-2013, 10:46 PM
So there we were yesterday afternoon, just me and my Guide Gun in a two-man stand called the Spoke. It's called the Spoke because five senderos radiate out from it into the S Texas brush, from due east and west and the other three in between, center is north. No feeder because it has so much traffic it simply doesn't need it, we generally just corn the senderos.
I sat in the left chair for awhile, watched a group of does & yearlings for about 30 minutes while they munched corn but they hung up somewhere around my 150 yard limit. They finally left but after awhile they returned and inched slowly up to 120 yards. About the time I was getting ready to shoot I noticed a big black object out the window on the east end of the stand. It looked like a big black boar at maybe 50 yds and walking away.
Hmmmmmmm....I had a dilemna, didn't I? I love putting the smackdown on big hogs but I had a dry doe picked out on the north sendero that needed to be in my freezer. I pondered that for awhile but the dry doe had been watching the stand carefully and had already wandered off once, didn't figure she'd come back a third time and the overcast skies were getting dark. The hog was moving east down the sendero at a fast walk and seemed a little nervous too.
I decided to go with the hog, only problem I had to change chairs to shoot out the east window. I did so quickly & quietly without alerting the boar and soon had him in the crosshairs, as soon as he turned a little to his right I put a WC'd RD 350 gr boolit just behind his right shoulder. Figured that would take out his heart on the way to his brain. Must have done the trick, next thing I saw thru my scope was four big hooves flying thru the air.
Then the near-impossible happened, I glanced over my left shoulder and the dry doe was broadside where I'd last seen her! I immediately and somewhat quietly changed chairs again and quickly placed the crosshairs low on her chest and squeezed off what I thought was a quick heart shot. As the shot broke I realized I'd changed the scope settings from 2" high to dead on @ 100 yds. She was a bit over 120 yds and the shot was rushed, I'd shot low. After about 10 minutes I got out to check for blood where the doe stood, boar was still kicking but he couldn't get his feet under him so I left him to bleed out. No blood from the doe so I returned to the stand to resume hunting. Sounds odd but critters usually continue to show up after a shot, even multiple shots. I exchanged e-mails with a guy who's buying my mom's house and answered a text from my brother. He was hunting about a mile away and was curious if I needed help, he'd heard two shots inside of 3 seconds and wondered if I needed help. I told him I had a big boar down but rushed a shot on a doe, was still hunting & needed no help. Isn't technology wonderful?
Then things got really wierd, the boar had finally quit kicking and the sun had gone down. I was getting ready for my brother to pick me up and a REALLY big hog showed up just over my left shoulder.

TXGunNut
12-09-2013, 11:13 PM
This hog was an honest 300 lbs, and we're not talking reality TV hunting show pounds either! He'd somehow appeared about 20 yds from the stand and first glance told me he was a huge black hog with big white spots. His body was easily twice as wide as his head and I quickly shouldered my rifle to try for another bonus shot. Somehow when I looked down he disappeared as quickly and quietly as he'd appeared. Odd.
By the time I decided he wasn't coming back it was time to gather up my stuff and get ready for my brother to pick me and the dead boar up. 10 yards away I realized this hog was a real stinker! I've killed several bigger hogs but can't recall a smellier one. The one last year...killed about 60 yds further down the same sendero...was bigger but not quite as smelly. We loaded him up and headed to camp for a photo op, then we took his smelly butt out and fed the coyotes.

CastingFool
12-09-2013, 11:26 PM
Congrats on the hog, too bad it was smelly. Sometimes, if deer don't know or can't tell where the shot came from, they will stand around and look for something that indicates danger. I once shot at a buck that had been traveling with a doe. She went past me about 10 yds, when I shot at the buck. He ran off, and when I looked back, she had not moved. It wasn't until I started to draw on her, that she moved. I passed her up, as I was concerned about finding the buck.

TXGunNut
12-09-2013, 11:37 PM
Almost forgot, I had my brother take a pic to share with you guys. And yes, I'm the ugly one on your left.

90096

35 shooter
12-09-2013, 11:56 PM
Off to a good start, keep er goin. Congratulations...... Now the whelens turn?

TXGunNut
12-10-2013, 12:12 AM
Ol' Ugly's having scope issues...again. :-( Missed some gimme shots on javelinas so it's off to the range to find out what's wrong with the old girl. She was actually my primary rifle on this trip, a "new" Marlin 336 with a dot sight was secondary/short range rifle. Can't recall ever having to use a backup rifle on a hunting trip but my Guide Gun, "Thumper" is a rock-solid rifle and scope combo with a load it really likes.

Grendel99
12-10-2013, 01:03 AM
Congrats, did you ever look for the doe again? I'm not being critical (maybe a little :-P) but why would you not try eating that hog? I've often heard people repeat over and over that big boars don't taste very good, but I've not found that to be true. Have you had experiences with them before? No doubt the coyotes and other hogs will gobble down every bit of that hog, so it doesn't go to waste. Just wondering about the big boar thing. I recently shot a 198 lb boar that was a bit smelly and he has been delicious, with no gamy taste at all. Some people were amazed that I would even bother with it, but glad I did.

taco650
12-10-2013, 10:02 AM
Congrats! I'm still amazed at how lethal a big, relatively slow moving piece of lead can be! Good thing you brought the 45-70 along. Nothing like using 150 year-old technology to accomplish a task.

w5pv
12-10-2013, 11:15 AM
Big boars taste bad and stink up the house when you cook them an old sow young




Big boars stink up the house and taste bad.Young boars taste ok when freshly killed or on the BBQ.Sows and gilts eat good any time.

TXGunNut
12-10-2013, 12:13 PM
Congrats, did you ever look for the doe again? I'm not being critical (maybe a little :-P) but why would you not try eating that hog? I've often heard people repeat over and over that big boars don't taste very good, but I've not found that to be true. Have you had experiences with them before? No doubt the coyotes and other hogs will gobble down every bit of that hog, so it doesn't go to waste. Just wondering about the big boar thing. I recently shot a 198 lb boar that was a bit smelly and he has been delicious, with no gamy taste at all. Some people were amazed that I would even bother with it, but glad I did.

Yes, I did spend awhile looking for the doe. I just didn't feel my efforts added much to the story. I marked the spot well and followed the game trail she headed down after the shot. I did that even tho I was pretty sure I'd missed.
Good point about hogs often smelling bad, I've eaten boars this size and even a bit larger but this one was just awful. I even gloved up just to load and unload him. Hogs are omnivorous. Some prefer vegetation, others catch small prey and others eat carrion. I think I know what this hog liked to eat so there was no way I was eating him.

TXGunNut
12-10-2013, 12:45 PM
Congrats! I'm still amazed at how lethal a big, relatively slow moving piece of lead can be! Good thing you brought the 45-70 along. Nothing like using 150 year-old technology to accomplish a task.

Yes, almost overkill but I'm OK with that. ;-) It's nice being able to break big bones when you want to, it's easy to lose a big hog in the thick S TX brush. I push mine a bit hard because this boolit, alloy and powder seem to perform best on paper at about 1700-1800 fps. Guess I need to chrono it someday. Used a 35 Rem to smash both shoulders on a bigger boar last year just a little ways down this same sendero. Hog dropped just like this one, I've seldom had this level of performance from a modern j-word.
I like my old technology, I prefer leverguns and lead over today's more modern tech. Even my modern guns chamber 100 yr old cartridges. :-) The only new tech stuff I like is a good scope but lately I've been a little disappointed in them.

taco650
12-10-2013, 06:35 PM
Any bag limits or restrictions on hog hunting in your area?

smokeywolf
12-10-2013, 07:12 PM
By your posture and the look on your face I'm gonna guess you're holding your breath.
You had a better day than I did. I spent the day dropping kids off at school, grocery shopping, making about 10 lbs. of potato salad, then cleaning up my mess and the wife's mess from the meatloaf that she made.

Nice score on the boar.

smokeywolf

TXGunNut
12-10-2013, 09:08 PM
Any bag limits or restrictions on hog hunting in your area?

No restrictions, we actually hadn't seen any all weekend up until then. We're discouraged from using land mines and hand grenades and the game warden would prefer that we didn't hunt them at night without calling him. On this lease they want me to shoot all I can, only have to keep the ones I want. I dislike wasting critters but they are invasive and destructive, I generally only waste the big smelly ones. Most are quite tender and tasty.
All the guys on this lease are trophy hunters, you should see their idea of a cull buck. They'll pass on hogs and lesser deer to avoid spooking their trophy bucks.