Hat Trick!

[TXGunNut]

Just got in from my first and probably only hunting trip of the year but I made it count. :Fire: Several firsts and lots of wildlife observation. The lease I was a guest on has a hog problem and one population control tool is a trap. When we checked it we found a nice little boar and I decided to pop it with my RBH in 45 Colt. Easier said than done. First shot apparently bounced of his forehead as he would not offer me a shot into his ear. That really ticked him off! Next shot was a bit wide and slid off his forehead and exited behind his ear. That didn't improve his mood any, he charged me three times and bounced off the fence each time. Once he hit it so hard I reflexively sidestepped. Third shot between his eyes finally calmed him down a bit before I ran out of ammo. Then I realized this was my first kill with a revolver I've been carrying on hunting trips for years, and with a boolit to boot! I got him dresssed, butchered and in the cooler (temps in 80's) and went out again after lunch.
Next hog was just a few hours later. Was in a blind overlooking five senderos watching a nice young 8 pt buck that followed me to my stand. I watched him awhile and lasered him and a few points on each sendero. When I got to the last sendero I realized I had a nice black boar to bounce a laser beam off of 108 yds away! I grabbed my binocs and noticed two things right away. First, he looked kinda big. Second he had a scrotum the size of a grapefruit...big boar! I had uncased my recently acquired 35 Rem 336 Marlin moments before and wasted little time getting this critter in my crosshairs. He was wandering up & down the sendero, and side to side so it took several minutes to get the shot I wanted. Was a little distracting that he pretty much filled up my 6X scope. When I finally launched an RD 359-190 boolit into his shoulders he collapsed almost in his tracks but continued to kick his hind legs. He couldn't get his feet under him and I didn't have a clear shot @ his head so I just let him bleed out while I finished getting set up for what proved to be an entertaining evening. First kill w/ this rifle, and with a boolit!
Spent almost 2 hours watching somewhere around 20 deer, often 5-6 at a time. Three more young bucks tried to breed the does but had no luck doing the deed. Two even squared off, freshened scrapes but then thought better of it. Fascinating show!
Finally a bit after sunset a group of 3 yearling sows and some very young ones came down a sendero towards me. Lots of scampering about and I decided I'd unloaded my rifle a bit early. When I remedied that the group was about 20 yards away so I launched another RD boolit into the biggest one's ear. She too dropped basically in her tracks and kicked for awhile while I gathered up my gear and exited the stand to wait for my brother to pick me up.
I stowed my gear and asked him if he was doing all that shooting. He said he hadn't heard any shots...it was a bit windy. I said "well, it must have been me, let's go pick them up."
I apologize for the long post and picture quality but it was quite an adventure and I just had to share.

[runfiverun]

i can't believe it took three shots with the colt.
the blood spot on the forehead looks like you got his attention, should have done him in rightaway too.

[nhrifle]

Nice shootin Tex! Looks like some good eating too.

[TXGunNut]

i can't believe it took three shots with the colt.
the blood spot on the forehead looks like you got his attention, should have done him in rightaway too.

That makes two of us! I know better than to shoot a hog there but it was the only shot he offered me. I bounced a 30-06 j-bullet off a big hog's noggin once. I wasn't shooting a very hot load but 255 grs of lead @ 800 fps or so should have done better. I wanted my brother to get closer and distract him for an ear shot but he was watching the show from a bit farther back, lol.

[TXGunNut]

Nice shootin Tex! Looks like some good eating too.

Thanks! Actually only two came home, big boar was too rank to dress or butcher.

[nhrifle]

Don't worry. If you left it out, the coyotes will get to it.

[TXGunNut]

No worries at all. Coyotes and buzzards were pretty excited about him.

[runfiverun]

brothers are like that, especially older ones...

[x101airborne]

Thank GOD someone is helping me rid Texas of those dang things.
High Five!

[Boerrancher]

Great story and well written. I had a buddy about 20 years ago bounce one of the old winchester black tallons from a 45acp, off a hogs head from about 3 ft away. It is amazing at how solid and tough their skulls are. I don't blame you for leaving that boar lay. The coyotes and buzzards have got to eat too! Also you can go back there and shoot coyotes off the thing.

Best wishes,

Joe

[**oneshot**]

congrads!! Great story.

[TXGunNut]

Thank GOD someone is helping me rid Texas of those dang things.
High Five!

I was sure trying! Even took the ugly black gun to the stand Thursday night and got it in on the action too. I dislike shooting any critter for purely population control purposes but will do on occasion.

[Thumbcocker]

Congratulations thank you for the great write up.

[nhrifle]

Forgive me, but I've never hunted hogs before and while I knew they were mean, I had no idea the little piggies were that tough. I have witnessed a big northern black bear take a full cylinder of .44s before being put down with a .375 H&H. Sounds like wild boars can be just as tough to put down. Should I ever take a shot at one, what us the ideal shot at one of these critters?

[Jim]

..... Should I ever take a shot at one, what us the ideal shot at one of these critters?

Broadside, right behind the shoulder with a .45-70. :bigsmyl2:

[TXGunNut]

Great story and well written. I had a buddy about 20 years ago bounce one of the old winchester black tallons from a 45acp, off a hogs head from about 3 ft away. It is amazing at how solid and tough their skulls are. I don't blame you for leaving that boar lay. The coyotes and buzzards have got to eat too! Also you can go back there and shoot coyotes off the thing.

Best wishes,

Joe


Thanks, Joe. I have a Euro mount hog on the wall to help me remember how tough a target that spot is. It's very thick and slanted like the windshield of a sports car. I've had an experience w/ Black Talons in a 45 ACP on a hog as well. They got the job done with lots of damage but just weren't very good "stoppers". I quit using them for duty ammo soon after that.

In case enquiring minds want to know the 45 Colt boolit was ACWW Lyman 452-424 lubed w/ SPG leisurely launched by 7.5 grs Universal Clays. 35 Remmy load was a heat treated RD 359-190 cast of 50/50 w/ a touch of tin lubed with one coat of LLA followed by a coat of Rooster Jacket. It's hurried along by a max load of RL-7 with a Federal 205 to get the party started.
I did not get an exit wound on the big hog, in fact he didn't bleed at all externally. Not surprising considering the nature of the shield and the big bones it encountered. Wish I could have recovered that boolit but I'm just not THAT curious. Little sow had an exit wound below the far ear and bled out quite nicely. Little boar's fatal shot stayed in his skull, zero meat loss on either "keeper" hog.

[nhrifle]

Broadside, right behind the shoulder with a .45-70. :bigsmyl2:
Will my 50 BMG work in a pinch?

[Freightman]

Sure hope to get one of the big ones in my sight with my Shiloh and a 500gr boolit@1300fps to see what happens.
I know they are not the best to eat but if you do not kill the big ones how are you going to control them?

[nhrifle]

56624

BLT anyone? :twisted:

[Jim]

Will my 50 BMG work in a pinch?

I'd use a round nose or wide meplat. You're on the borderline of acceptable energy there. [smilie=1:

[nhrifle]

I'd use a round nose or wide meplat. You're on the borderline of acceptable energy there. [smilie=1:

Dang it! That means I gotta write to the ATF and get me a Lahti. 20mm ought to do nicely. Prolly gut it and skin it at the same time !

[Castaholic]

Wow! Yes please!

[nhrifle]

Course a Raufuss round would be pretty spectacular if I could justify $70 per shot!

[Jim]

Course a Raufuss round would be pretty spectacular if I could justify $70 per shot!

Man, quit playin' around an' GET TH' JOB DONE, OK?
USE A REAL GUN (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hfh0Wp8g2n4), FER' CRYIN OUT LOUD! :bigsmyl2:

[nhrifle]

Jim I'm out of options here, the 50 is as big as I go. There is a NG armory a couple towns away that has a 155mm howitzer out back right now. There's hardly anyone there now so they prolly wouldn't notice it's gone.

Do you have any suggestions?

[MT Gianni]

Jim I'm out of options here, the 50 is as big as I go. There is a NG armory a couple towns away that has a 155mm howitzer out back right now. There's hardly anyone there now so they prolly wouldn't notice it's gone.
Do you have any suggestions?

Slug the bore of that howitzer and use 1 gr Unique per sq cm of bullet base. Load a RF with an 85% meplate and fire into a pig with a background that permits boolit recovery. Use FWFL or a similar lube.

Note the Unique formula is made up on the spot and only useful in internet arming, not in any real work scenario. If the above is unavailable put a 22 LR in the earhole.

[nhrifle]

Alright this is turning into way more of a chore than it should. I'll just grab whatever gun is handy and shoot the thing.

[TXGunNut]

Alright this is turning into way more of a chore than it should. I'll just grab whatever gun is handy and shoot the thing.

That's generally my approach, most any rifle I have has done fine on piggies as long as I do my part. I just need to quit trying the between-the-eyes shot. For the most part I've used a 30-06 or a 45-70 but my 35 Remmy Contender has scored a few times. 50 BMG sounds like fun but I'll have to pass on the 105mm, will probably knock the stand over...if I ever get it up there!

[nhrifle]

Yeah, the .50 is alot of fun to shoot but I don't shoot it as much as I'd like due to cost. 245 grains of powder go in each case! I would definitely like to pit my Uberti Quigley Sharps agains one of those Texas hogs sometime tho.

[TXGunNut]

Taking a hog with a BPCR is one of my goals as well. My 45-70 is a Marlin Guide Gun and it shoots boolits these days. I think it would be cool to take one with my 45-90 over Holy Black.

[nhrifle]

One of my projects for this winter is to learn how to make my own black powder that is on par with what can be had from Goex. I picked up a Uberti Sharps in 45/70 a few years ago and even tho it is a repro rifle, the history bug hit me. I have never fired a j-word thru it, never fired smokeless powder in it (we all know it is just a passing fad anyway) and learned how to paper patch. Even made my own mould that came pretty close to duplicating the original long range boolit, tho it is a little light since I ran out of room in the blocks. I love the thing! It is long (34" barrel), heavy (a little over 17 pounds), and an absolute joy to shoot. I can't say enough about it. Someday I hope to have enough play money to go out to Big Timber, Montana and order one from Shiloh Sharps. I have yet to see anything that comes close to their craftsmanship.

[MBTcustom]

It seems to me that if you can shoot a hog while it's calm, a dad-gum .22 LR will do the job perfectly even at fifty yards. However, when they get hurt, mean, and hyped up on adrenalin, they become almost bulletproof, and then what do you do? I developed a 12 gauge load that uses a .738 round ball just for this sort of situation. 1 1/3oz at 1200fps every time you pull the trigger, tends to have a calming effect on the savage beasts (at least that's my theory). That's half a pound of lead in less than 2 seconds FYI.
I'm hoping to get a chance to come down to Tx and help y'all out with your pig problem someday, and try it out. A semi-auto shotgun loaded with these thumpers is a force to be reckoned with. They are accurate enough to shoot pop-cans at 50 yards, and blow right through a RR tie, so I figure that they would be good medicine for piggies.

[TXGunNut]

You're right, Tim. Most pigs aren't hard to kill. It seems that every pig that takes more than one shot takes three or more. Most big pigs I've killed have dropped in their tracks or only gone a few steps. I've had more trouble killing the little 70-80# pigs. By all means, come down and enjoy the fun. A big slow-moving chunk of lead is powerful medicine for piggies, you need to come give them a try. Your 12 ga slug sounds like it will fetch meat on both ends but could be fun, especially when they're up close.
Piggies are butchered and in the freezer, ground's coated with snow & ice but the fireplace is going strong so it's all good.

[TXGunNut]

Rifle and RBH cleaned and put away, decided those "experimental" RD 359-190/RL7 loads are my new hunting loads. Just finished loading 50 in new brass. Rifle likes them and I couldn't ask for much better boolit performance. Would have liked an exit on the big boar but there are no shades of "dead" and the exit is generally most helpful for tracking, not necessary in this case.:-D

[Griz44mag]

nh,
I don't see any lettuce on that midnight snack. For that matter, I don't see any tomato either. What do you have against veggies?

[Griz44mag]

This is hunting with cast balls!

MOUNTAIN HOWITZER DEER HUNTING (http://www.buckstix.com/howitzer.htm)

An oldie but goldie.

[nhrifle]

Griz that is something I really do not want to lug around after those pigs! I think we all need to pester JT to get a set of prints made up for his 700 *** so we have a proper hog killer. If you havn't watched the video on youtube, be sure to check it out and get the one with music. That is THE hog rifle. Nuff said.

[pls1911]

I'd be surprised if my load bounced off a hogs head.... But you have me curious enough to try .
My 45LC load is a heat treated (28bhn) RCBS 270 gr SWC which weighs 288 gr in my alloy, launched by
9 grains of unique. It is stout but not brutal

[TXGunNut]

I'd be surprised if my load bounced off a hogs head.... But you have me curious enough to try .
My 45LC load is a heat treated (28bhn) RCBS 270 gr SWC which weighs 288 gr in my alloy, launched by
9 grains of unique. It is stout but not brutal

Mine isn't a particularly hard boolit, ACWW dropped from a Lyman 452424. Not going very fast either, didn't feel that was necessary. I have a heavier RD design that I'll likely be using next time, will likely heat treat it just for good measure. Will save the Keith boolits for my BP revolvers. Putting a round thru a hog's forehead is like trying to shoot thru the windshield of a Camaro; the angle and hardness make it a bad idea. Sometimes that's the only shot offered but it hasn't worked well for me yet. I doubt I'll use that weapon on a hog again anytime soon but since I carry it for defense from cranky hogs I need to plan on a less-than-optimal shot if the situation ever arises.

[Crusty Deary Ol'Coot]

nhrifle,

You might want to find and read Larry Kelly's - of magna port fame - experience with a .44mag and a brown bear that made a friendly ?????? visit into the cabin he and his guide were staying in.

Quite a tale and a perfect example on why you shouldn't use just any ol jacketed bullet and why big and heavy cast are so good.

Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

[DIRT Farmer]

I liked the story on cat hunting with the mortor to. Blank loads would work well with night time trespassers down at te barn. Trailing them should be easy.