PO'd Piggies!

[TXGunNut]

With my cooler filled it was time to try to thin the piggy herd a bit more last night on my brother's deer lease. Just before sundown a 80 lb pig came out of the brush behind the feeder 100 yds away, grabbed a quick bite and kept going. Bummer. Then I found out why, a huge white hog came out behind him and started scarfing up corn. Never seen a white hog in the wild, haven't seen many hogs the size of this one. I'm guessing 250# + and we're not talking reality TV hunting show weight here either! I had my new 30-30 with a dot sight already trained on the spot so I quickly sent a RD boolit towards his ample white shoulder. At the shot he bolted for the brush so I worked the lever in case one came back, as they often do. Or tried to.
One problem, the lever was locked up tight. Then I recalled the flash and recall were a bit more than I was expecting with 16grs 2400. I gave up on the rifle and exited the stand after giving the big guy a chance to bleed out.
No sign of a hit, likely because of the powder charge error. Decided to check the network of trails in the thick brush behind the feeder. No sign there either so I worked my way back the the feeder. Was getting dark so new MagLite came in handy.

[TXGunNut]

Saw some movement when I got back to the feeder so I readied my RBH (45 Colt) just in case one was careless enough to present a shot in the dark. Was quite surprised to find 3-4, possibly 5 35-40lb piggies milling around under the feeder, they didn't seem to notice my approach. I couldn't pick up my front sight but I sent a (bit bigger ;-) ) RD boolit towards one of the little piggies. They all started squealing grunting and running in different directions into the brush. I went to check where the one I'd tried to shoot was standing and couldn't find a sign of a hit, figure I couldn't see the top of my front sight so I shot over it. Muzzle flash seemed to confirm that.
Then it got interesting. The piggies hadn't left and they seemed to be upset with me about interrupting dinner. When I heard the first one grunting it was in the brush where my selected pig had run into so I thought maybe it was wounded after all. Then another pig started grunting and snorting behind me and then a third pig to my right. Soon I realized I was surrounded by at least four po'd piggies that were hiding in brush my light couldn't penetrate. They were all inside of 30 feet, best I could tell, and they were getting louder and more excited.
At first I thought it was pretty funny, they were just little piggies but they sure sounded like they meant business. I quickly backed up the sendero (so NO piggies were behind me), switched on my green headlight and adjusted it so I could see my revolver sights. Then I stowed my MagLite and waited in my best Weaver stance to see just how PO'd these piggies were. They finally settled down and wandered off in the darkness but now I have a good reminder why I always carry a handgun when I hunt areas piggies frequent, even if they're little guys!

[Tradhunter]

Good story! Sounds like fun.

[Loudenboomer]

Thanks for the huntin story Tex.

[35 shooter]

Hate you didn't get one of em. Glad one of em didn't get you tho! That kind of situation gets dicier in the dark and you never know whats on a pig's mind... little or not.

[Crawdaddy]

Nothing gets the adrenaline going like a nighttime pig hunt. Sounds like you had a great time.

[Lefty SRH]

Heck yeah, i always carry a trusty side arm hunting pigs. Doesnt matter if i hunt with a rifle as a primary weapon or BIG borehandgun as a primary weapon i always have atleast a .357 mag GP100 on my side.
Pigs can be so much fun to hunt!

[CastingFool]

I think I would start carrying a bigger flashlight, too! glad to hear you came out ok.

[sixshot]

Hunting pigs on the ground, after dark can get real interesting, usually they can't get away fast enough but once in a while things can get kind of crazy. Sounds like you were busy & you were having fun, good job!

Dick

[Grendel99]

You need to get a bigger flashlight! Any idea on what happened to your load? Did you pull any of the others to see if there was some double charging? I've seen some blonde hogs and blonde with black spots, but never a white one. Was he white or blonde? Long hair?

[w5pv]

Probably a throw back to Landrace,Yorkshire,Tammara or some other white hog.All of the above would get to be good sized hogs.

[TXGunNut]

You need to get a bigger flashlight! Any idea on what happened to your load? Did you pull any of the others to see if there was some double charging? I've seen some blonde hogs and blonde with black spots, but never a white one. Was he white or blonde? Long hair?

I had a MagLite, shorter than I carried in my LE days but I was more of a hands-on wrestler than a baton guy anyway. I wasn't going to start with the MagLite until I ran out of boolits and I felt pretty well armed with five big ones left.
I suspect a double charge but haven't weighed the other rounds...yet. And yes, the big guy was white, not blonde. Albino due to inbreeding is a possibility but some feral hogs occasionally bear a striking resemblance to their domestic ancestors, even after dozens of generations in the wild. Would have liked a closer look at the big guy but I may get another chance at him someday.

[jaysouth]

gunNut,

I knew these two intrepid souls in Arkansas that decided that the best way to hunt pig was at night, on horseback! After getting in the middle of a herd of pigs, the horses bolted and threw both riders and took off in the night. The nimrods were left in the dark in the middle of a herd of grunting and squaling pigs. One had lost his rifle and both lost their flashlights. After stumbling around in a dark swamp and feeding mosquitos for the rest of the night, they found they had gone the wrong way and had to walk several miles back to their truck and horse trailer.

Later that day, they found one of the horsed, saddle upside down and a lot worse for wear. The other horse was never found.

It is rumored that alcohol was involved, which is highly likely in that part of the country. The pair of them took up snooker or bowling or knitting or something and left pig hunting to other folks. The bully-rag that they had to endure from other folks kept them out of their favorite beer joints for years.

[TXGunNut]

Nope, no alcohol involved in my little adventure. I'll occasionally share in the traditional bloody mary after the morning hunt but I'm dead sober when firearms are involved. Guns (and hogs) are pretty unforgiving, no sense taking unnecessary chances. I'm pretty good about having at least one backup flashlight on evening hunts, bringing along a spare horse has never occurred to me, lol. I'm glad they made it home in one piece and I'm glad they gave up pig hunting.

[taco650]

So what happened with the 30-30?

[TXGunNut]

Not much the worse for wear. "Massaged" the extractor a bit because it quite often failed to catch the case rim. Only took a few taps to get the case out and it shot fine Saturday. Got to playing a bit, keeps hits well inside the 4MOA dot. Has no trouble keeping hits inside of 2" @ 100 with the dot sight but haven't shot more than three shot groups, last group barely over an inch. I don't think this rifle/sight/shooter combo is capable of 2MOA accuracy but I'll take it out again for another try. With 16grs 2400 and ACWW RD boolits its a very pleasant plinker, will be pretty cool if it shoots as well as it seems to.
I think it may make a pretty capable hunting rifle, just not sure it's up to a shoulder shot on a big hog. Project Thutty-Thutty was about a budget plinking rifle, bonus is that it may make a quick little "piggy population control" rifle.

[DW475]

Great story and sounds like a blast to me!

[Shakey Jakey]

That same load gives about 1700+ in my 94, and VERY accurate to boot.

[TheGrimReaper]

Awsome!!! I wish we had hogs around here!

[Sweetpea]

Awsome!!! I wish we had hogs around here!

Be careful what you wish for...

[TXGunNut]

That same load gives about 1700+ in my 94, and VERY accurate to boot.

IIRC it's in the 1800fps neighborhood in my 336. Someday I'll try to see just how accurate it is really is someday.

[TXGunNut]

Awsome!!! I wish we had hogs around here!

Careful indeed! Just go south aways and I'm sure you'll find some that need shooting and quite possibly a landowner who wants you to shoot them. Like most feral critters they upset the environment and they damn sure upset the farmers who lose untold millions to their omnivorous appetites.

[David2011]

Glad you had a good outcome. Springfield made me a nice holster and it always goes hunting with me, carrying a Ruger BH in .45 Colt with stiff loads. Big ole cast boolits work every bit as well as pricey HXPs when run through the head of a hog.

David

[429421Cowboy]

Glad you talked your way out!
I sure would love the chance to shoot some pigs one day, it seems like you get the chance to try out all sorts of loads and guns on them. Here, we only get to shoot a handful of big game a year, a half dozen head if you are motivated and lucky, so it can take a few years to really get a feel for a new bullet/boolit or load, seems like pigs would be a good way to field test and get the best combination worked out!

[TXGunNut]

Glad you talked your way out!
I sure would love the chance to shoot some pigs one day, it seems like you get the chance to try out all sorts of loads and guns on them. Here, we only get to shoot a handful of big game a year, a half dozen head if you are motivated and lucky, so it can take a few years to really get a feel for a new bullet/boolit or load, seems like pigs would be a good way to field test and get the best combination worked out!

That's the nice thing about pigs, some places don't mind if you keep shooting them after your cooler is full. ;-) I did have a few project guns but my old standby saved a couple of hunts this year. New rifles weren't quite ready for hunting season but they're looking good for next year. It does take me awhile to develop a feel for and confidence in a new boolit/load/rifle combo and now and then I rush things a bit. This year I took one rifle to the field that I didn't have much confidence in, took another on a whim with hastily prepared plinking loads. One of my favorite hunting rifles had to stay home all season with scope issues so I did get to take a variety of rifles to the field. I'm blessed to have a few too many excellent hunting rifles and I feel like I should take them all hunting, just don't get to hunt as much as I'd like. I do get range time most weekends and some take quite a bit of bench time, both reloading and shooting.

[Airman Basic]

Here in Dixie it's legal to hunt the hogs 24/7/365 but the dang things are so smart, it's a lot easier to hunt deer, so most do that. Hoping the mass of hunters will finally catch on finally before we're overrun.

[Shakey Jakey]

Check out the video on this page: http://bulletin.accurateshooter.com/?s=sauer&submit=Search

[Wag]

Great story. Wish I'd seen it sooner. Makes me want to run down to Socorro and see if there are any feral hogs down there but it's a little far West of where they're having real problems with the pests. We've got some property down there where we can shoot into the side of an arroyo even if there's nothing to hunt.

--Wag--

[TXGunNut]

Here in Dixie it's legal to hunt the hogs 24/7/365 but the dang things are so smart, it's a lot easier to hunt deer, so most do that. Hoping the mass of hunters will finally catch on finally before we're overrun.

Some hogs are indeed smart, others don't seem to be. I've learned not to generalize hogs because behavior and intelligence levels seem to vary widely between and sometimes within groups. I do know they can be quick learners and sometimes that makes up for the instinctive smarts deer have but hogs seem to lack. We can hunt them 24-7 in TX but most game wardens appreciate a call if you're planning a night hunt.

[JesterGrin_1]

Now you need to go out at night and make a Big Javalina mad lol. I just got back from a hunt and did not get anything. But everyone was talking about this Big Javalina running around by itself. Well just after the sun went down and I was leaving the blind I could see about 100 yards off that looked like a Pig but could not really tell. And the only light I had was a free single AA light lol. So I figured I would walk across the field to see what in the world it was. But I thought for sure it would run off. Well it never ran off lol. I just kept walking towards it while it was munching Corn. Then I got about 10 feet away I could tell it was that Big Javalina. I would almost bet it was in the 125-150LB range. But at any rate it stopped eating and turned towards me and put its head down. And as I stood there while it was making clicking noises I thought Man am I dumb lol. All I have is this little light that will not enable me to see the sights on my pistol and hit anything unless it is a barn lol. So I walked backwards for a bit so I could keep my eye on the Javlina. The Javalina never left just went back to eating while I made it back to the Truck lol. Why in the world do we do such Dumb Things lol.

[TXGunNut]

Wow, that is big. I saw my first javelina on the first trip of the year and they were pretty much fearless but appeared to top out at 40 lbs. I've heard about the clicking noises they make with their teeth but haven't experienced it firsthand. I wondered if my little friends in the OP were javelina but I never got a good look @ them but didn't see any collars and didn't hear any clicking. Maybe we need to look into one of those illuminated reticle scopes for our nocturnal wanderings. One I like is built especially for hog hunting.

[scrappletaco]

Sounds like a good time. Glad it all turned out and no injuries. My next revolver will be setup for hogs since the sp101 isn't a wise choice hahah

[JesterGrin_1]

TXGunNut something for night that will not break the bank. :) http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/4920902#Post4920902



Wow, that is big. I saw my first javelina on the first trip of the year and they were pretty much fearless but appeared to top out at 40 lbs. I've heard about the clicking noises they make with their teeth but haven't experienced it firsthand. I wondered if my little friends in the OP were javelina but I never got a good look @ them but didn't see any collars and didn't hear any clicking. Maybe we need to look into one of those illuminated reticle scopes for our nocturnal wanderings. One I like is built especially for hog hunting.

[TXGunNut]

TXGunNut something for night that will not break the bank. :) http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/4920902#Post4920902

Looks like a good setup to top a suppressed 300AAC. My bank's already broken but I can dream!

[TXGunNut]

Sounds like a good time. Glad it all turned out and no injuries. My next revolver will be setup for hogs since the sp101 isn't a wise choice hahah

94116
I'm kinda partial to hogs & revolvers. Generally won't go near the former without the latter . What's odd is that I've been packing that RBH all over Texas and parts of the Pecos Wilderness and up until this little redhead came along I'd never fired it in anger.

[JesterGrin_1]

94116
I'm kinda partial to hogs & revolvers. Generally won't go near the former without the latter . What's odd is that I've been packing that RBH all over Texas and parts of the Pecos Wilderness and up until this little redhead came along I'd never fired it in anger.

So now the Ruger is your Mean Pistol lol.

I had my Lipsy's Ruger Super Blackhawk Bisley with the 3 3/4 barrel in .44 Mag but since I could not see the sights I really did not feel lucky enough to take pot shots lol. I was not pushed so I did not feel the risk was worth the reward for either of us lol.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v453/SHAKERATTLEROLL/00818_KRBS-43N_Lie_Rt.jpg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/SHAKERATTLEROLL/media/00818_KRBS-43N_Lie_Rt.jpg.html)

[TXGunNut]

So now the Ruger is your Mean Pistol lol.-JesterGrin 1

Nothing mean about my old .45, actually quite comforting to have around. Don't let that cute puppy dog pose fool you, Red was a mean little feller and a bit bigger than he looks. A One Ragged Hole rear sight helps me see the front sight...when I have light anyway.

[taco650]

Tx,

What's that rear sight you mentioned on your RBH 45C?

[TXGunNut]

It's a large aperture that replaces the rear sight blade. I bought it from a company called One Ragged Hole, someone else makes them now. Will post a pic as soon as it quits bouncing around cyberspace. Have one on one of my Trappers as well.

[JesterGrin_1]

Check with sixshot here on the forum. I talked with him about the peep site for my Ruger and a Fiber Optic front site.

[Just Duke]

I need to come back and read this when I have more time. Very cool!

[TXGunNut]

Tx,

What's that rear sight you mentioned on your RBH 45C?


Pic finally showed up. Aperture looks huge but it's very fast and surprisingly accurate. Thought it would be better in low light conditions but I guess that's subjective.

94212

[725]

I use the "One Ragged Hole" sight, as well. I like it. I installed one on a friends .41 mag and after (actually during) a bear attack, he was able to recover enough to draw and kill the bear as it came back on him a second time. Said it saved his life. He was severely injured and just able to move at the second attack. Said once he found the front sight (not easy with all his injuries), he cut 'er loose. Dead grizzly.

[taco650]

Pic finally showed up. Aperture looks huge but it's very fast and surprisingly accurate. Thought it would be better in low light conditions but I guess that's subjective.

94212

Looks like a good addition. Is that the stock front sight I see in the pic? It's a bit fuzzy.

[TXGunNut]

Looks like a good addition. Is that the stock front sight I see in the pic? It's a bit fuzzy.

Yes, standard ramp. It sharpens up a bit when viewed through the aperture, lol.

[luvtn]

I just added that sight to my Redhawk tonight. Unable to get it done on my SBH due to a different design of the rear sight.
LT