308 with cast bullets your personal experience

[sloughfoot]

I started about 14 months ago casting for the 308 (and 30-30) my most accurate is the Lee 170 grain RF powder coated and gas checked with IMR 4227. I logged well over 1000 hours last year at the reloading bench and shooting the rifle both at target and game.
I did take several hogs before deer season came in but I also lost unrecovered hogs that I know I hit. I had enough mixed results this deer season that halfway through deer season I put the cast bullets down and picked up the jacketed bullets to finish season out. now that seasons over I plan to pick it all back up and continue testing the 308 and cast bullets I would like to hear your personal experience with the 308 hunting and accuracy. Also I’d like to hear What you have to offer about the 3030

I think my long history shooting jacketed bullets taking shoulder shots has left me with a habit that the cast 296248296249296250bullet may not be as predictive with. So shot placement would be my first. Bhn for ranch dog 170 and Lee RF 170? Speed powder coated? Distance the 308 cast capable (what should I expect)?

[rickt300]

My cast bullet experience with 30 calibers has been with a 30-30. My shots were all close and starting velocities were around 2000 fps. Actually I had some good results though one of the deer ran a bit farther than I expected. I try shooting for bone generally shooting for the spine, high shoulder or neck when using cast bullets. Mine were cast of Wheel weights lubed conventionally. I used the 311041 design and the 311291 for my shooting.

[MT Gianni]

With 308 2 dead whitetail and an antelope. All shot with 311440, 150 gr bullet. Loper moved about 10 feet, one whitetail dropped right there another ran off and went down within 25 yards. Longest shot was under 100 yards. I shot for lungs. For most of my hunting I use jacketed. I might have shots from 50 to 350 yards on the edge of a property I cannot hunt and between sundown and dark.

[Winger Ed.]

I've killed several of the smaller size white tail deer with cast .30s at 1900-ish, and inside of 100 yards.
Down here, a white tail at 125 pounds, is a big deer. Most are around 80-90.
They have a decent size profile, but they are narrow, and long legged.
On them, cast were VERY effective.

I don't think I'd hunt any of the larger size hogs with one though.
Once they get up past 100 or so pounds it's like they're armor plated, and you have to hit them pretty hard.

[Larry Gibson]

I've killed numerous deer [black tail and mule deer] in the 150 - 250 lb (on the hoof) size with the 30-30, 308W and 30-06 along with a couple .31 cal rifles with cast bullets over the years. I settled on the Lyman 311-41 HP'd to 3/16" deep and cast of 97/1.5/1.5 alloy AC'd. I do not PC but sized, GC'd and lubed them [mostly Javelina lube and Hornady GCs] at .311. I loaded them for power with acceptable hunting accuracy [a magazine full into 6" at 200 yards] not just accuracy. I also used a clean barrel cleaning every 5 - 8 shots to maintain that level of accuracy at the velocities i was using. In the 10" twist '06s I usually ran them at 1950 - 2,000 fps. In the 30-30 and 308W which had 12" twist barrels the 311041s were pushed at 2200 - 2300 fps and maintained 1500+ fps at 200 yards.

I learned to always strive to put the bullet through the heart area regardless of the angle of shot. The heart sits low against the brisket between the front legs. Aiming for a specific point on the outside of an animal such as "behind the shoulder" or on the "point of the shoulder" can easily result in the bullet not hit anything "vital" resulting in a slower death and possible loss of the animal.

[megasupermagnum]

All of my 30 caliber cast bullet experience is in 327 federal (.312" groove diameter).

This is the kind of hole you can expect from a solid non-expanding flat nosed 139gr bullet at 1250 fps, admittedly weaker than anything you are likely to shoot from a rifle, but also shot quite close, I doubt you would see much more until you got to a velocity that would expand the bullet. Hole was about 3/8" diameter. Luckily I cast this bullet of a soft 20:1 alloy, and it did expand causing adequate damage to lungs, and the exit was pretty good sized. Taking out the main leg bone sure helped too. Distance was 25-30 yards.
https://i.ibb.co/k64gFdb/IMG-20211109-014041645.jpg (https://ibb.co/k64gFdb)


This is the kind of hole you can expect from a 143gr hollow point at 1650 fps. This was the entrance, maybe 3/4" diameter, there wasn't much except chunks of lung left. I am not likely to try a solid bullet in 327, or any 30 caliber rifle again anytime soon. Hollow points rule. Distance was about 20 yards, so likely comparable to a slightly higher velocity round at a greater 100-150 yard shot. Edit: I did the quick math, and this bullet should have impacted about 1585 fps. For comparison a 308 shooting a 170gr HP launched at 2000 fps is likely to be at the same 1585 fps at around 175 yards.
https://i.ibb.co/TW72hpf/IMG-20211130-083406351.jpg (https://ibb.co/TW72hpf)

I also shot a buck with the 143gr hollow point at about 1220 fps, and results were about between those two pictures. For the life of me, I can not find that picture or post now. My advice is that cast bullets can expand at really low velocities if you use a soft alloy with hollow point. If not, you need speed to do it. While solid flat nosed bullets most certainly work, they don't have much of a wow factor. Even a 44 magnum isn't that impressive. The only non-expanding bullets I've ever been very happy with have been shotgun slugs.

[Harter66]

You have 2 things going that should simplify getting both accuracy and energy exchange . PC and the GC . They should allow for a 2000-2200 fps load with WQWW at 50/50 with pure at least 25/75 and maybe AC even .

I know the 2 holes vs leave it all in the cavity argument runs hot . I'll skirt around that as best as I can .

200 yr ago we were still killing stuff all over the planet with 45-86 cal PRB hurtling along something like 18-2600 fps MV . Stuff just fell dead as long as you hit something reasonably important . I'm reminded that Lewis and Clark's first encounter with a Grizzly bear didn't go well but the lucky 54 cal ball in the eye socket stopped it pretty quick ...... maybe it was a 58 ....
I shot a TC Hawkins 50 cal for a while and the PRB at 200 yd would pass through both heads of a 55 gallon oil drum about the size of a nickle first and a half dollar on the second with about the same ME as a 180 gr 06' . BC and all reduced that considerably by 200 yd . A 45-90-140 gets to impact in a hurry from a 28" ML barrel . No clue what it's doing or how big it gets in a test medium .

I have a pretty poor self amended 200 gr Spitzer mould that I worked a lot to get hopefully up to 1900 fps MV , and I just couldn't get it there . 1800 is all it would give up . With a medium that should have been close to context I got them to .610 from .306 at the muzzle . When I had the chance on an 80 yd mule deer I took advantage of it and let it rip . I got a wound channel almost identical to the 150 #3033 Hornady BTSP . Less hamburger and less blood shot but about the same hole . No bullet to recover , just a 40' bound into boulders and sagebrush , more vertical than horizontal , otherwise drt . My last deer season in Nevada I lost a well hit deer with a proven load and the above Hornady bullet we walked 100 yd looking for any blood after the hit and a mile grid on a deer hit at 110 yd with a 150 gr 2700 fps MV load that typically left a baseball sized hole in the exit ribs and a half dollar to tennis ball hole in the hide . No deer found no birds to claim the corpse even 2 days later .......lots of remorse and general guilt . I still don't know what went wrong .

Cast them as soft as you can and meet the legal status , put them where they need to go , and hope for the best . If that doesn't work move to a bigger hole in the barrel , no shame in shooting a cast bullet in a 358 Win , 32 Win , and it seems almost like blasphemy not to in a lever gun over 35 cal . With a 45-70 at Trapdoor levels even a subsonic 500 gr 1-20 tin-lead bullet is going to expand a little bit hauling 1000ftlb past 250 yr ......

[popper]

Hogs are not deer. Did a test with big meplat soft alloy - gut and high shoulder shot. Gut went through and expanded, shoulder shot didn't penetrate. 185gr GC with 3031 IIRC from about 5 ft. Same hog, got a spine shot, one 9mm 115gr to the head. Saw he still followed me with his eyes so a 40sw 165gr hard cast to the skull ended it. Spine shots will stop them but ruin the backstrap. Break the pelvis and they can't go anywhere but that is a hard shot. Texas heart shot one on with 40sw cast. Took out something, broke front leg and lower jaw but still went ~100 yds before we found it. Basically cast will do the job but FMJ works best for the shoulder shot, to get through the gristle. Good hardcast FP will work but won't go through the gristle to the 'good' stuff. Pick a neck or lung shot to get them.

[waksupi]

Step up to a 220 gr. bullet if you need more penetration. You need to match the bullet to the game, and put it where it belongs.

[todd9.3x57]

i use a 30-40 krag with 165gr ranch dog and its coww with a little bit of tin (i think its 12+/- bhn) and the velocity is 1924fps . i and my son have killed 14-15 deer. i and my son go for behind the shoulder(double lung). my son has shot a doe at 173 yards(laser range finder thingy) but most of the deer go around 30-50 yards. we been "blessed" with dead right there(DRT), but one day the deer will run after the shot.

i have shot a 35/30-30, 9.3x57, 444, 44 mag/spl, 45-70 and others at deer. the deer will run after the shot about 30-50 yards.

[dverna]

If I hunted where all my shots were going to be less than 200 yards and I needed to shoot a lot of game, cast might be justified. My longest shot was nearly 300 yards (using a .308) and I would have passed on the shot with a cast bullet.

I found Larry Gibson's post interesting. If I wanted to use cast, I would follow his advice.

But the real question would be, "Why would I want to use a cast bullet?" It is less accurate and trickier wrt velocity, alloy and nose profile.

You said you logged over 1000 hours at the loading bench, on the range and hunting to get to where you are and are still looking for answers. You have invested in a lot of powder and primers (currently worth $50/lb and $100+/k). I bought 500 jacketed bullets for the .308 for $130 and had a load good to 400 yards in two range sessions...maybe 4-5 hours of loading and shooting.

Some people enjoy the journey. In fact spending hours to test loads, bullets, alloys etc is something they look forward to. I am results orientated and cheap. It did not take me long to give up on cast rifle loads for hunting. I cannot imagine many people wanting to "waste" precious components with the current supply and price situation.

IMO many people hunt with cast to justify their investment and hobby. Cast bullets work for people who do not need to take long shots at game. As you have experienced, there are no performance advantages in a cast .30 caliber bullet. IMO cast starts to make sense once you get over .35 cal at ranges under 200 yards.

Look at your needs and goals. Maybe cast is not the best way to meet them. Only you can judge.

[sloughfoot]

I’m reading everyone’s replies and thank you all for sharing. Lots of good insite here.

[Silvercreek Farmer]

Aim for the heart. No critter on earth can make it very far with a hole in its heart. Keep shots under 100 yards until you feel confident with the load. Any further and you are getting into elevation and possibly windage adjustments. Even a 10mph cross wind can make a 3-4 inch POI difference on a low BC cast boolit moving 1800 -1900 fps. Shoot from a good rest to ensure a good hit. I don’t get DRTs with cast, and usually have to track a bit, be prepared for it.

[oldblinddog]

Anatomy lesson.296343
Don’t aim at the shoulder. Aim at the top of the heart. It takes out the arteries (drt) and gets both lungs. You want a hole through both sides (bigger blood trail). The more blood that comes out the shorter the trail. Works every time.

[megasupermagnum]

That is not where the heart is. The lungs are horrible too. That's a terrible picture all around.

[oldblinddog]

That is not where the heart is. The lungs are horrible too. That's a terrible picture all around.

I was wondering if anyone would say anything as that’s what I think too. None of the deer targets are correct. In any case, visualize where the heart is and shoot the arteries off the top. Point is still the same.

[megasupermagnum]

That's not bad advice. If you shoot for yellow circle of that diagram, you would be pretty close to where the heart really is. Really good choice for bow hunters. The lungs are sucked tight to the ribs and spine. If they aren't, that's called collapsed lung, and that deer has already been shot and is nearly dead. The heart is fully enclosed between the lungs. It is not resting against any ribs or sternum. It is also inside of a sack, although that makes no difference for hunting purposes. It's really hard to say 100% how to hit the heart simply due to the fact you can not be certain the exact angle the deer is standing. Based on my experience, in that picture, straight up with the legs, and about the level that yellow dot is at is the center of the heart.

[oldblinddog]

Not advocating for center heart shot. Shoot about an inch and a half higher to get the arteries. With a center heart shot you will see the deer kick the hind legs and then run a 100 yds (+/-). If you take out the major arteries the shock of sudden zero blood pressure gives you a dead right there. If you shoot just a little low you still have a heart shot. If a little high you have the double lung and he won’t go far. As always (imo) an exit wound is mandatory. The more ventilation the better.
296344
If this guy ever shows up in the daylight, I have a 30 XCB with his name on it.

[Huntsman]

I got the idea to cast for my Win 88/308 from another Alberta Canada castboolit shooter off here.
I’m casting the Lee 200gr RNGC, WW, lubesized to .309 and a dose of IMR 3031 has accounted for 1 moose, 3 white tails. Before the 308 idea I was already casting for 30-30 and my muzzleloader said. I started off with the Lee 170gr but have since switched to NOE 165gr FNGC.

Happy Hunt’n and Shoot’n. :cast_boolits:

[versa-06]

The round nose bullet has yes taken a lot of game, But I think your results would be better if you stuck with the FN boolit & 50/50 + tin alloy. A shallow HP as suggested can assist in bleed out. I've seen a few pencil through shots due to lack of meplat & alloy too hard.

[popper]

OP said he lost hogs to cast, not deer.296359

[Larry Gibson]

I guess I'm just not as good a shot as oldfellow is. All but 3 of the many, many deer i have killed were not complacent and well trained eating corn under a feeder. Thus, knowing where the artery area is above the heart exactly enough to put a bullet through them out to 200 yards on a fidgety or moving deer while still hunting instead of being in a shooting shack was a bit more than I opted for. I took the shot through the heart area (an area about the size of a soccer ball). With the shot through that area many times one or both front legs were broken also. The softer cast, slightly HP'd cast bullets never failed to kill the deer with one shot. Not always a DRT but many just staggered 10 - 30 yards and went down. Never had one run 100 +/- yards if the bullet went through the heart.

As popper's diagram shows there is a lot of lung area for a behind the front leg shot on pigs and deer too. On a side shot like that a softer cast 165 - 180 gr bullet at sufficient muzzle velocity with break one or more front legs and go through the heart area. With a younger pig (200 lbs or less) a through and through is also probable.

[megasupermagnum]

Not advocating for center heart shot. Shoot about an inch and a half higher to get the arteries. With a center heart shot you will see the deer kick the hind legs and then run a 100 yds (+/-). If you take out the major arteries the shock of sudden zero blood pressure gives you a dead right there. If you shoot just a little low you still have a heart shot. If a little high you have the double lung and he won’t go far. As always (imo) an exit wound is mandatory. The more ventilation the better.
296344
If this guy ever shows up in the daylight, I have a 30 XCB with his name on it.

Well none of that I can agree with. I've blown the top half of the heart off a few deer. Only one dropped. I've centered the heard of a few more, and one black bear. One deer did the so called high-kick, but that was it. With most, there was no way to tell them apart from a lung shot. I've dropped a lot of deer with double lung shots, and I see no reason to believe they are more or less effective than a heart shot. I still aim for the heart, as it is pretty well centered in the lungs. I have yet to find something that doesn't reliably exit a deer. I'm sure it's possible, but unless the bullet fragments into a bunch of chunks, or you are shooting a ridiculously weak round, the only bullets I ever catch are diagonal shots. I caught a 54 caliber ball, shot at an extreme angle, would have exited if it hadn't hit the shoulder bone on the way out. I caught a shotgun slug that had been a frontal shot, went through everything possible, and was in a rear ham. Caught a few bullet fragments. That's about it. Even 327 federal exits a deer on reasonable shots.

[MT Gianni]

I shot a whitetail that ran 125 yards, the definition of a dead run. His heart was loose in the chest cavity. I have centered and split an elk heart and the cow collapsed where she stood. Never say never.

[megasupermagnum]

OP said he lost hogs to cast, not deer.296359

Well he said he had "mixed results" during deer season. I'm not sure what exactly that means, but he is not real impressed with what he has now on deer. I've never shot a feral pig, so I have no idea what that is like.

[Larry Gibson]

OP hasn't said what the load of 4227 was under his Lee 170 gr bullet nor the velocity.......only that it was his "most accurate" load.

[sloughfoot]

OP hasn't said what the load of 4227 was under his Lee 170 gr bullet nor the velocity.......only that it was his "most accurate" load.

Sorry about that I should have mentioned the load 26 grains of 4227 under 170 grain ranchdog 50/50 WW AND PURE LEAD. I shot 2 deer during season one at 100 ish yards and one just under 200. The latter may admittedly been to far but it WACKED him hard. No blood hair even a season tracking dog could recover him. Later seen on camera. Aiming point center of shoulder. I know I need to get out of that shoulder shot habit learned from shooting j word boolits and aim heart lung. I appreciate everyone’s input

[sloughfoot]

The round nose bullet has yes taken a lot of game, But I think your results would be better if you stuck with the FN boolit & 50/50 + tin alloy. A shallow HP as suggested can assist in bleed out. I've seen a few pencil through shots due to lack of meplat & alloy too hard.
296426

[sloughfoot]

Well he said he had "mixed results" during deer season. I'm not sure what exactly that means, but he is not real impressed with what he has now on deer. I've never shot a feral pig, so I have no idea what that is like.
Hogs are tanks. Tough as battery acid. I killed several hogs and lost several the ones I killed had no heart left. I shot one 4 times on a flying run across a peanut field hitting it all 4 times. I was impressed with myself because hogs are way faster than a deer but run straight not looping. One shot hit neck one shot just under spine through both shoulders one shot hit his hip and the killing shot in the head. I shot one deer early season heart lung that left a blood trail fitting a horror movie scene.

[Wilderness]

Perhaps I can add something on pigs. I have no experience of deer, but am surprised at the ease with which people seem to be able to kill them with non-HP cast bullets. Pigs must be a lot tougher, as well as generally offering less than ideal shots. There is also something deceptive about their shape that can so easily turn an intended shoulder shot into a rib shot. The following draws on the experience of shooting about 3,000 pigs with cast bullets, nearly all of them hollow point. My most recent experience is with .30-30, but it should translate readily for .308.

I note a general preference for soft alloys for deer, and by Larry Gibson for a shallow hollow in the nose to start the expansion. For pigs, I have settled on a harder bullet and as much velocity as I can get. In .30-30 I use #U321297HP sized down to .3125" in cases ONT, or at least uniformed, to .010" max neck thickness. I had great success with this bullet in .32 Special, and discovered by accident that I could successfully size it down for .30-30. My nose hollows are about 1/2" deep and remove 10 gns of bullet weight.

I find it easier to discuss bullet hardness by referring to bullet weight. For this mould, linotype casts 164.5 gns. Soft lead, if I could cast a decent bullet, might go about 180 gns. Over time I had settled on an intended weight of 170 gns. This is about 10-11% non-lead, and perhaps 18 BHN or so. I make the alloy from hardball range pickups and linotype.

What I have found is that groups were similar with bullets weighing all the way from 164.5 gns (lino) to about 173 gns. This was with velocity approaching 2200 fps. With 2208/Varget, and a range protected from wind, I was shooting under 2" groups at 100 m, and a composite of 43 shots with three lubes and this range of hardness went into 4 1/4". This was with a scoped Savage 99 with 12" twist.

I took a step back and then did some systematic and documented testing on pigs across the range of bullet weights from 164.5 to 173 gns. My criteria were that the bullet had to penetrate a large boar through both shoulders, BUT it also had to create enough damage for a rib shot without shoulder involvement on a smaller pig. A bullet that met these requirements turns out to be effective on the THS on anything up to a medium sized sow, and very effective on an angling flank shot on just about any pig. It is less effective on the frontal body shot.

Linotype worked OK on double shoulder shots, but was too hard otherwise. The softer bullets were OK on rib shots but less so on shoulders and angles. In the end, I was back to 170 gns, plus or minus a grain, as being about ideal.

These bullets DO NOT mushroom. They blow the noses off at some point after entry, but the shrapnel that comes off seems to be in largish pieces and creates a cone of mayhem inside the pig. The exit side of small pigs looks like they have taken a hit with buckshot. By contrast the slug that is left when the nose comes off seems to penetrate forever, and very few are recovered.

I shoot for pest control, so multiple shots are the rule. The first shot might be a nice broadside, even a double (which these bullets can handle) but after that it will be all runners at some sort of angle. Throw in some finishers and the odd multi-shot fiasco and the average slips back. Last year I averaged 71% with Sierra 150 gn bullets. The year before it was also 71%, but with the hard HPs, 162 and 165 pigs respectively. Hence I don't think the cast bullets as described are any less effective than jacketed, though they do give up about 1 moa to them in grouping.

[versa-06]

s-foot; I noticed the photo at the bottom of your original entry & you mentioned the LEE RN boolit. You show RN & FN, you said you had mixed results with cast (Showed mixed boolits)& finished the season with jacketed. this is where the statement came from.

[Grayone]

Perhaps I can add something on pigs. I have no experience of deer, but am surprised at the ease with which people seem to be able to kill them with non-HP cast bullets. Pigs must be a lot tougher, as well as generally offering less than ideal shots. There is also something deceptive about their shape can so easily turn an intended shoulder shot into a rib shot. The following draws on the experience of shooting about 3,000 pigs with cast bullets, nearly all of them hollow point. My most recent experience is with .30-30, but it should translate readily for .308.

I note a general preference for soft alloys for deer, and by Larry Gibson for a shallow hollow in the nose to start the expansion. For pigs, I have settled on a harder bullet and as much velocity as I can get. In .30-30 I use #U321297HP sized down to .3125" in cases ONT to .010" max neck thickness. I had great success with this bullet in .32 Special, and discovered by accident that I could successfully size it down for .30-30. My nose hollows are about 1/2" deep and remove 10 gns of bullet weight.

I find it easier to discuss bullet hardness by referring to bullet weight. For this mould, linotype casts 165.5 gns. Soft lead, if I could cast a decent bullet, might go about 180 gns. Over time I had settled on an intended weight of 170 gns. This is about 10-11% non-lead, and perhaps 18 BHN or so. I make the alloy from hardball range pickups and linotype.

What I have found is that groups were similar with bullets weighing all the way from 164.5 gns (lino) to about 173 gns. This was with velocity approaching 2200 fps. With 2208/Varget, and a range protected from wind, I was shooting under 2" groups at 100 m, and a composite of 43 shots with three lubes and this range of hardness went into 4 1/4". This was with a scoped Savage 99 with 12" twist.

I took a step back and then did some systematic and documented testing on pigs across the range of bullet weights from 164.5 to 173 gns. My criteria were that the bullet had to penetrate a large boar through both shoulders, BUT it also had to create enough damage for a rib shot without shoulder involvement on a smaller pig. A bullet that met these requirements turns out to be effective on the THS on anything up to a medium sized sow, and very effective on an angling flank shot on just about any pig. It is less effective on the frontal body shot.

Linotype worked OK on double shoulder shots, but was too hard otherwise. The softer bullets were OK on rib shots but less so on shoulders and angles. In the end, I was back to 170 gns, plus or minus a grain, as being about ideal.

These bullets DO NOT mushroom. They blow the noses off at some point after entry, but the shrapnel that comes off seems to be in largish pieces and creates a cone of mayhem inside the pig. The exit side of small pigs looks like they have taken a hit with buckshot. By contrast the slug that is left when the nose comes off seems to penetrate forever, and very few are recovered.

I shoot for pest control, so multiple shots are the rule. The first shot might be a nice broadside, even a double (which these bullets can handle) but after that it will be all runners at some sort of angle. Throw in some finishers and the odd multi-shot fiasco and the average slips back. Last year I averaged 71% with Sierra 150 gn bullets. The year before it was also 71%, but with the hard HPs, 162 and 165 pigs respectively. Hence I don't think the cast bullets as described are any less effective than jacketed, though they do give up about 1 moa to them in grouping.

Thank you Wilderness for this as it is always good to have real life experiences with cast boolits.

[Larry Gibson]

Wilderness

Excellent synopsis. Well done indeed.

Not with cast bullets but my first experience hunting/shooting hogs many years ago. It shows just how tenacious they can be, Hope you enjoy the story as I did living it....


The ranch was small as ranches go but with 85 acres and another 140 acres, we watched over we were able to have a small herd of beef cattle plus the usual assortment of horses, a goat or two, chickens and pigs. The place was located about five miles west of Dallas Oregon in the foothills of the coastal mountains. Both of my parents worked about 30 miles away in Salem so the task of watching over the cattle and other sundry chores fell to me, I was twelve years old when we moved to the ranch from Salem in early 1960. Between then and the time of this story I had many adventures or misadventures between my horse and my love of hunting and shooting. I had managed to accumulate a .22 single shot rifle, a single shot 16 gauge shotgun and a M94 Winchester 30-30 that I got for my 14th birthday in 1961. I also had a Daisy BB gun, a Crosman single action CO2 revolver and a S&W M&P .38 special revolver. The revolver was my uncles who left it for my mother to use for protection, but I occasionally mooched some ammo from him and was able to shoot it.

It was in the fall of that year there was a very large windstorm in Oregon. It is today referred to as "The Columbus Day Storm". The storm did considerable damage throughout western Oregon including blowing our barn down and blowing a tree down across the pigs shed. My father worked at a cannery and would bring home our old Dodge dump truck full of the cull corn, beets, and carrots from July through January. We would have about 20 pigs to eat the cull and also fed it to the cattle. Come January all were in prime condition and at that time of the year we got top dollar for them. The tree also knocked down the pig fence so all the 20 or so pigs we had escaped. The pigs just went up into the thick Oak trees and made a home there. They would come to the feeder, like the cattle, when they heard the throaty roar of the old Dodge truck coming down the driveway; they knew when chow was on. It was quite a way from where the freed and now going feral pigs roamed to the boundaries of our ranch so we left the situation as was figuring we could round them up easy enough come January. However, the old breeding boar gathered up three young sows and took to going out of the pasture area and the "back forty" of the ranch with the cattle. There was about 40 acres of the ranch that was old unused prune and plum orchard along with numerous apple and cherry trees growing throughout the ranch. There also were the many acres of Oak trees with an immense accumulation of acorns around them along with some dense patches of tall Douglas Fir. Somewhere around December the boar and his three sows quit coming into the feeder as they really had plenty of food out in the "back forty" where they had taken up residence in a very thick stand of Oak and young Douglas Fir. In short order they became very wild, secretive and many times aggressive when approached. That set the stage for my first experience at hunting feral pigs.

The carrot harvest was a good and a long one that year with the harvest running into the middle of February. When completed it wasn't difficult to build a temporary enclosure and catch most of the pigs that were still feeding at the feeder. One old sow became quite wary and was not trapped with the others. After numerous attempts at trapping her, it
was decided she would be our family pork for the next year. The sow was getting more and more aggressive and would charge my horse when I tried to herd her toward the trap. The last straw was when, after one beer too many, my father decided I should rope her and drag her into the trap. The difficult part was not the roping – it was the dragging. The sow would have no part of that and quickly turned on me and my horse. I dropped the rope and got my horse out of her way. My father grabbed the rope and was promptly jerked off his feet drug face down all the way, about 80 yards, through the pasture back up into the trees. He was covered with all sorts of dirt, cow pie, and other muck and probably pig manure when he came cussing out of the trees. Of course, I had fallen off my horse laughing so hard and asked why he didn't just let go. He told me to quit being a smart aleck, go get my rifle and shoot the so and so blankety blank pig. I used my M94 with Winchester 150 gr Power Points. It was a pretty simple head shot at about 25 yards but I was still pretty pleased with my big game hunting prowess.

We didn't really pay much attention to the old boar and sows out in the back 40 as my father figured we would round them up come the next late summer and they would be "next years stock". So, spring passed, and the three sows had litters. I had several run ins with them during this time as they got rather aggressive. The sows would move away from the boar when the piglets were small which seemed to really aggravate his disposition. Seemed like that old boar would just as soon charge me and my horse as run. Come mid summer we set up a trap enclosure using pallets and caught all the young and dumb pigs but the old boar, the three sows and one piggy had been too wary and escaped the trap. The caught ones were moved down into the real pig pen. Over the next couple of weeks, it was impossible to get the boar and sows out of the thick Oak and Douglas Fir grove plus a couple large blackberry patches growing nearby. I had tried several times and they just got more aggressive. They also can move a lot quicker through that stuff than you can. Late summer brought us to a stand off. One of my fathers drinking buddies (he had quite a few) decided his "hounds" could run the pigs out of the brush.

Now that was a sight to see; three grown men (they picked up another drinking buddy at the local bar) who were a little on the inebriated side, and a pack of howling hounds! My part in this sport was once the pigs were run out into the open I, on my horse, was to herd them back down to barnyard where they would find the luxury of the cull food and would go willingly into the pen with the rest of the pigs. That was their plan anyway. I didn't think it would work quite that way and remembered my Grandmother saying something about God saving us from drunks and Irishmen (My Grandfather was an Irish bootlegger during Prohibition). It was hard to say how many howling hounds there were as the noise was an atrocious racket. I was having trouble just controlling my horse because of the racket and had not yet dismounted. It looked like a scene from "The Three Stooges" as the three of them had all the leashed howling hounds wrapping leashes around their legs every which way, tripping them and in general creating mayhem. I'm not sure who was howling more, the hounds or the three stooges cussing and cursing! Well, they finally got the hounds unleashed and the proud owner was yelling "hunt'em up" or some such thing. The hounds milled around and finally took off on the fresh pig trail and dove into the thicket howling and baying. Such a sight to see!

[Larry Gibson]

There was a tremendous racket of dogs barking, yapping and howling along with pigs squealing and grunting coming from the thicket. The owner of the dogs had quickly produced a fifth of Old Crow from behind the seat of his pickup and they were already drinking to the success of their plan. I wasn't as sure as I could hear some of the dogs yapping turning into yelping. I had dismounted from my horse pulling my M94 out of the scabbard at the same time and levered a round into the chamber. By this time I was reloading using a Lee Loader and had some 170 gr Speers loaded over the scoopful of 4895 as the ammo in the rifle. I had it well zeroed so it hit just above the bead at 100 yards. About the time I was thinking of moving my horse back and tying her to a tree three of dogs came yelping out of the thicket with the youngest hog fast on their tails.

This melee ran right through the three men who promptly dropped the bottle of Old Crow and scattered helter skelter too! I probably would have died laughing at that sight, but my horse had jerked the reigns out of my hand and was now the object of the hog's attention. As she was turning tail to run, I was backing up and the dogs had jumped into the back of the pickup and were already cowering in their cages. My father yelled at me to get the heck out of there as the three of them had run around to the backside of the pickup and were peeking over the bed. All of this was happening pretty darn fast. The hog had given up on my horse and was crossing in front of me at maybe twenty-five or thirty yards heading back for the thicket on a run. My father yelled to; "shoot the damned thing" so I held on its nose and fired. The 170 gr bullet took the hog in the neck right at the junction of the shoulders and it did a complete somersault and slid to a stop very dead.

I just stood there watching the tail end of my horse disappearing through the trees headed back toward the barn. My father and the other two guys appeared from around the back side of the pickup and started thumping me on the back saying that was the damnedest shot they'd ever seen. I didn't have time to bask in heroics as the other dogs really started yelping and all of them, but one came high tailing it out of the thicket. All of them seemed to have blood on them and a couple of the dogs were limping. My father, brave soul he was, insisted we – he and I – should go into the thicket to see what was happening. Since I had the rifle, he was a short step or two behind me.

The owner of the dogs and the other guy then went to lamenting the broken bottle of Old Crow more so than the injured dogs who by now were also whimpering in their cages. That was, until my father and I came back and told the owner the boar and sows were tearing apart the dead dog and eating it. Then the owner started blubbering and crying. My father decided I was to kill the hogs if I could while they took the injured dogs to town and would come right back. There was immediate discussion of also getting another bottle of whiskey. They did throw the dead hog in the back of the pickup to drop off at the local slaughterhouse. Slaughterhouses would take farm animals shot in those days if they were for your own use. My father again told me to shoot the hogs if I could but not to "do anything stupid" or "take any chances". That seemed rather redundant to me at the time…..

Well, there I stood watching them drive off. I told my father I would follow my horse back in case she didn't make it to the barn. I looked at the thicket hearing the hogs grunting, looked at my M94 with six rounds left in it and then walked back the barn to get my horse….and more ammo. As this was late summer the days were long so when I returned to the thicket about an hour and a half later there was still a couple hours of daylight left. I had tied up my horse downwind which made her nervous and used a reverse slipknot so she could jerk loose, if need be, but she seemed calm enough to stay put. I levered a round into the chamber and put another into the magazine, so it was full up and approached the thicket very carefully. I could hear an occasional grunt but it was hard to tell how far into the thicket the hogs were. I got several yards into the thicket where I could kneel and see what was ahead of me for probably 25 yards or so. Thought I could see the back of one hog but wasn't sure, so I got up and proceeded slowly. About the time I could see it was a hog the sow must have winded me as she stood up, grunted, and started toward me. I shot her straight down fairly between the eyes and she died right there.

At the shot the boar and the other two sows busted out of the thicket on the opposite side. I ran after them hoping for a shot but they kept going straight down a trail single file at a fast trot. I really didn't stand a chance catching up with them. They went through a hole in the brush along the property fence and under the barbed wire out into the very large open pasture of the neighbor’s place and were headed over the hill toward the neighbor's house and barnyard. I ran back to my horse and quickly mounted, went through nearest gate and out into the pasture. I figured I was in big trouble for as sure as heck running the hogs off toward the neighbor's place would be considered "doing something stupid".

I didn't know how but I intended to try to head them off before they reached the neighbors barn as they had some young calves penned there. The neighbor’s pasture was in soil bank and there wasn't much to hurt so at a full gallop I crested the hill in time to see the hogs crash through the calf pen fence. It was just woven wire held up by flimsy posts which slowed the hogs enough for me to catch up to them. Fortunately, the hogs didn't injure any of the calves but the neighbor's dog was not so lucky. It tangled with the boar and received a very nasty gash down its back leg and lower stomach. I cut between the barnyard and the house which turned the hogs away from the house and yard. They then ran up alongside the barn and around the other end. The neighbor lady was yelling and screaming as I brought my horse to a sliding stop in front of her, dismounting with my rifle, handing her the reigns, and yelling at her to "hold my horse, please".

By then the hogs had circled clear around the barn with the boar in the lead and were heading back the way they had come up the hill at a fast trot. The last sow in line was some distance behind the boar and other sow and was limping bad, apparently injured in the fight with the dogs. That last sow was quartering away going uphill at what was probably about 100 yards from me. I leaned against a fence post and aimed a little out in front of the sow's nose, but it was not enough as the shot hit her hind quarter and broke her hind leg. The sow, severely crippled then, was still trying to go up the hill. The boar and last sow kept going without a backward glance. I grabbed the reigns of my horse from the lady and swung up into the saddle saying, "thank you". It looked like the lady's

[Larry Gibson]

jaw was hitting the ground and her eyes were as wide as saucers! As I galloped toward the crippled sow, I shouted back to her that I would be back. I was able to close the distance to the crippled hog quickly, dismount and finish the job with a shot to the sow’s head. I again swung back into the saddle and at a gallop crested the hill in pursuit of the boar and last sow. I glanced back at the farmhouse seeing the neighbor lady waving at me and saw the calves still running in all directions. I was even more certain then I was in really big trouble for "doing something stupid".

However, I had no time to feel sorry for myself as the boar and last sow were now more than halfway back to the fence line. If I was going to be in big trouble, then the other two hogs were not going to get away with putting me in that situation. I knew there was no way, even as fast as my horse was, that I could beat them to the property line fence. I turned my horse toward the left open gate. We went sailing through the gate at a full gallop heading for the thicket as I figured that's where the boar was trying to get back to. I made it to the edge of the thicket just in time to dismount, shove two more cartridges into the magazine and take up an ambush position where the trail from the fence came into the thicket. I had little or no time to wait. My blood was still rushing, my heart was pounding, and I was sweating like the proverbial "stuck hog" as the boar, in the lead, came straight down the trail. I got two quick shots into him straight on in the front shoulders at maybe 30-40 yards and then had a broadside running shot on the sow as she swung around the side of me still trying to make the thicket. The shot, at a very short range, took her through both front shoulders and she piled up. I quickly levered in another round and swung back to shoot the boar again, but it was not necessary as he was down for keeps. I was so pumped up I think I let a war hoop out that wouldn't quit and probably did a little victory dance too!

Getting on my horse I then rode back to the house to see if my father had returned yet. On the way the shakes set in, and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. For the first time in my life, I was truly scared of the consequences of something I had engaged in. Maybe I did do something stupid and took a few chances, but the thrill was unbelievable. My mother had my father and the other two guys in tow when I rode up. She looked awfully relieved and was glad to see me. The first inkling she had of the whole adventure was a very excited telephone call from the neighbor lady. When I told her what happened she took the new bottle of Old Crow away from my father and his two buddies. She proceeded to tell them, in no uncertain terms, that of all the dumb and stupid things to do was to leave me alone to shoot the hogs. In defense my father replied saying that I was entirely capable of handling the situation and, in fact, had done so. I knew I was off the hook then as he was acting downright proud of me. She ordered them to go back up on the hill and take care of the dead hogs. My mother said I needed to put my horse away and go to the neighbors with her.

I was glad as I was pretty worn out and wasn't looking forward to helping load the dead hogs. I think my mother saw I was a little scared as she told me I had done a good job even if it was probably very foolish. My mother and I then drove over to the neighbors in our old Rambler station wagon; she had me take a "snort" of the Old Crow on the way and it settled my nerves a bit. The owner was there by then with his wife who was all excited about that brave boy who saved her life from the marauding pack of 40 or 50 "wild crazed hogs!" After some discussion my mother let them have the sow hog, I'd killed in their pasture for their dog that had to be "put down" and the trouble caused. The neighbor already had the calves rounded up and the fence fixed so there wasn't much other damage. The bright side was the daughter who had come home with her father. I had for some time thought she was kind of pretty, but she was a year ahead of me in school and had not even noticed me before. Seems that for the first time she took notice and smiled at me asking if we could go horseback riding sometime, but then - that's another story.

After leaving the neighbor's place mother and I stopped by the top of the hill where my father and the other two guys had managed to find the dead boar and two dead sows and had already thrown them in the pickup. The dog's owner had buried what was left of the dog that was killed, wasn't much left though. By then the Sun was going down and the three men left to drop the hogs off at the slaughterhouse. The sows went just a little over 250 pounds on the hoof and boar went better than 350 pounds. Not large for domestic pigs but pretty good for feral hogs. After dropping the dogs off at the local vet’s, the men also spent the rest of the evening in the local bar reliving "their" adventure. I did hear later my father kept bragging about his "hard riding and straight shooting boy". I showed mother where the last shootout had taken place and managed to find two of the 30-30 cases where I had shot the boar and last sow. On the way back to the house mother had let me have another "snort" and I settled down even more. I went to the barn and curried my horse and gave her an extra bowl of oats. Every boy should grow up with such a horse, such a rifle and such adventures. Later at the house, as I was cleaning my M94, I figured this "big game" huntin' was pretty dad burned exciting and perhaps just the thing I always wanted to do. And so, it has been…….

[sloughfoot]

Excellent information

[Grayone]

Wonderful read Mr. Gibson!

[sloughfoot]

jaw was hitting the ground and her eyes were as wide as saucers! As I galloped toward the crippled sow, I shouted back to her that I would be back. I was able to close the distance to the crippled hog quickly, dismount and finish the job with a shot to the sow’s head. I again swung back into the saddle and at a gallop crested the hill in pursuit of the boar and last sow. I glanced back at the farmhouse seeing the neighbor lady waving at me and saw the calves still running in all directions. I was even more certain then I was in really big trouble for "doing something stupid".

However, I had no time to feel sorry for myself as the boar and last sow were now more than halfway back to the fence line. If I was going to be in big trouble, then the other two hogs were not going to get away with putting me in that situation. I knew there was no way, even as fast as my horse was, that I could beat them to the property line fence. I turned my horse toward the left open gate. We went sailing through the gate at a full gallop heading for the thicket as I figured that's where the boar was trying to get back to. I made it to the edge of the thicket just in time to dismount, shove two more cartridges into the magazine and take up an ambush position where the trail from the fence came into the thicket. I had little or no time to wait. My blood was still rushing, my heart was pounding, and I was sweating like the proverbial "stuck hog" as the boar, in the lead, came straight down the trail. I got two quick shots into him straight on in the front shoulders at maybe 30-40 yards and then had a broadside running shot on the sow as she swung around the side of me still trying to make the thicket. The shot, at a very short range, took her through both front shoulders and she piled up. I quickly levered in another round and swung back to shoot the boar again, but it was not necessary as he was down for keeps. I was so pumped up I think I let a war hoop out that wouldn't quit and probably did a little victory dance too!

Getting on my horse I then rode back to the house to see if my father had returned yet. On the way the shakes set in, and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. For the first time in my life, I was truly scared of the consequences of something I had engaged in. Maybe I did do something stupid and took a few chances, but the thrill was unbelievable. My mother had my father and the other two guys in tow when I rode up. She looked awfully relieved and was glad to see me. The first inkling she had of the whole adventure was a very excited telephone call from the neighbor lady. When I told her what happened she took the new bottle of Old Crow away from my father and his two buddies. She proceeded to tell them, in no uncertain terms, that of all the dumb and stupid things to do was to leave me alone to shoot the hogs. In defense my father replied saying that I was entirely capable of handling the situation and, in fact, had done so. I knew I was off the hook then as he was acting downright proud of me. She ordered them to go back up on the hill and take care of the dead hogs. My mother said I needed to put my horse away and go to the neighbors with her.

I was glad as I was pretty worn out and wasn't looking forward to helping load the dead hogs. I think my mother saw I was a little scared as she told me I had done a good job even if it was probably very foolish. My mother and I then drove over to the neighbors in our old Rambler station wagon; she had me take a "snort" of the Old Crow on the way and it settled my nerves a bit. The owner was there by then with his wife who was all excited about that brave boy who saved her life from the marauding pack of 40 or 50 "wild crazed hogs!" After some discussion my mother let them have the sow hog, I'd killed in their pasture for their dog that had to be "put down" and the trouble caused. The neighbor already had the calves rounded up and the fence fixed so there wasn't much other damage. The bright side was the daughter who had come home with her father. I had for some time thought she was kind of pretty, but she was a year ahead of me in school and had not even noticed me before. Seems that for the first time she took notice and smiled at me asking if we could go horseback riding sometime, but then - that's another story.

After leaving the neighbor's place mother and I stopped by the top of the hill where my father and the other two guys had managed to find the dead boar and two dead sows and had already thrown them in the pickup. The dog's owner had buried what was left of the dog that was killed, wasn't much left though. By then the Sun was going down and the three men left to drop the hogs off at the slaughterhouse. The sows went just a little over 250 pounds on the hoof and boar went better than 350 pounds. Not large for domestic pigs but pretty good for feral hogs. After dropping the dogs off at the local vet’s, the men also spent the rest of the evening in the local bar reliving "their" adventure. I did hear later my father kept bragging about his "hard riding and straight shooting boy". I showed mother where the last shootout had taken place and managed to find two of the 30-30 cases where I had shot the boar and last sow. On the way back to the house mother had let me have another "snort" and I settled down even more. I went to the barn and curried my horse and gave her an extra bowl of oats. Every boy should grow up with such a horse, such a rifle and such adventures. Later at the house, as I was cleaning my M94, I figured this "big game" huntin' was pretty dad burned exciting and perhaps just the thing I always wanted to do. And so, it has been…….


WOW YOU SHOULD RIGHT A BOOK OF SHORT STORIES. What an adventure. Thanks for sharing I felt like I was right in that thicket with you

[dverna]

Great story Larry!!!!

You are one cool customer.

[Budzilla 19]

I have to agree with the story-telling book idea! I would buy it for sure! That was an AWESOME story!

[Wilderness]

Thanks, and great story Larry! My early hunting experience included horses and dogs, so I can see it all so clearly.

It is interesting that wild hogs that have been hunted seem to avoid confrontation unless wounded or dogged. Domestic hogs, or those whose privileged life has not included human contact, may behave differently.

In all the time I have been hunting them I have only once had one have a go at me unprovoked. Or perhaps I have just not given them time to come to the point. A colleague and I were making a professional visit to a property in remote country. My colleague was driving, and I was doing the gates. As I was closing a gate a big spotty boar came out of the shrubbery doing all the woof woof hostile stuff. His mother must not have explained the facts of feral porcine life to him. We were of course armed but had no visa for that place, and wanted to get off on the right foot. We merely reported our encounter.

A few days later the owner met up with the boar whilst out fencing. Equipment comprised the motor bike, fencing tools and wire. And the axe. No firearms. The boar pulled the same stunt again. Our Man was not one to take nonsense from man or beast, and unleashed his Inner Viking upon the boar. End of story, for the boar at least.

[DDriller]

Larry that is one of the best stories I have ever read. I always look forward to learning things from you. Your knowledge and experience is something most of us can only dream about.

[trapper9260]

Larry all I can say is thanks for shearing your story and thanks for teaching all you know , you have help me more then once and looking forward to all you teach. Looking forward to other stories you have . It is something to learn by in real life . You never know what you will come up to deal with .

[popper]

Like a friend that sets traps when he's on the property, released hogs and then shoots them. Told me one time a released one turned on him, either he forgot to chamber a rnd or had a missfire but racked the slide fastest he'd ever done in his life. He changed from 40sw to 9mm until he got the gun fixed. That shield would stove pipe every so often. Think he had to change his britches that day. Worst time I had with animals was getting charged by an big black steer down in Corpus after Carla. Don't much take to somebody waving and yelling to chase them off the base. My hog alloy is tough, hard, fast and flat point. Soft just doesn't penetrate. My learning about hogs was when I was in school, got our milk and eggs from local farmer. Reached in the pen to pet a youngun until the lady screamed at me. You want your fingers?

[WinchesterM1]

This is my work up with 308 and cast for me in a 1/12 twist

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?358297-T-C-compass!!-Fantastic!!

[sloughfoot]

This is my work up with 308 and cast for me in a 1/12 twist

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?358297-T-C-compass!!-Fantastic!!
That’s dang impressive. I just so happen to have 12 pounds of 800x

[Budzilla 19]

296588 this is the best so far with the cast boolit,and the 308 win for me. Lee C312-155-2r, cast from 50/50 ww/ pure with 2% tin added. Powder coated, heat treated for one hour @400*f then splashed in ice water, gas checked, sized to .310”. Loaded with IMR 4895. Data in picture.




P.S. I’m going to try that 800X load for sure!

[Driver man]

296588 this is the best so far with the cast boolit,and the 308 win for me. Lee C312-155-2r, cast from 50/50 ww/ pure with 2% tin added. Powder coated, heat treated for one hour @400*f then splashed in ice water, gas checked, sized to .310”. Loaded with IMR 4895. Data in picture.




P.S. I’m going to try that 800X load for sure!

That looks like a very good load. Have you any idea of speed?

[sloughfoot]

296588 this is the best so far with the cast boolit,and the 308 win for me. Lee C312-155-2r, cast from 50/50 ww/ pure with 2% tin added. Powder coated, heat treated for one hour @400*f then splashed in ice water, gas checked, sized to .310”. Loaded with IMR 4895. Data in picture.




P.S. I’m going to try that 800X load for sure!

I haven’t tried 4895. Yet I may need to try that. Good shooting

[Budzilla 19]

Driver man, I killed my chronograph last time out, don’t know the velocity, but, according to book loads, and advice from a fellow shooter, his loads chronograph approximately 2600-2700 FPS. The powder load, which is written on the target I posted, is 40 grains of IMR 4895. I seated the cast boolits to the crimp groove on this particular boolit.

Sloughfoot, thank you for the compliment. I cleaned the barrel really well, then 2 fouling shots. And then shot for group. Might have been better, but I had been shooting for a while, and was flinching really bad. I’ll own up to that. I also forgot to mention these rounds were loaded in LC NM 77 brass.

[pls1911]

Hurts my head.
At 70, I've taken a pile of deer and pigs with cast bullets... .30, .357, .45 Colt, 45/70.
Never have had to trail one.. more often than not, DRT with a shoulder shot.
Full penetration through pig shoulders too.
Bullet alloy is softer than Lyman #2, but normally gas checked and heat treated to 20+bhn
No magic, just dead critters...

[WinchesterM1]

Old thread I know but here are some articles I have posted about my 308 hunting

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?434245-Got-two-this-morning

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?387815-What-a-difference-2grn-can-make!!-308

https://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?388104-Help-with-308-hunting/page3


I hope this helps, I have settled on 37.5 of varget for my load, but that’s my rifle with a 1/12 twist

[nidrab]

jaw was hitting the ground and her eyes were as wide as saucers! As I galloped toward the crippled sow, I shouted back to her that I would be back. I was able to close the distance to the crippled hog quickly, dismount and finish the job with a shot to the sow’s head. I again swung back into the saddle and at a gallop crested the hill in pursuit of the boar and last sow. I glanced back at the farmhouse seeing the neighbor lady waving at me and saw the calves still running in all directions. I was even more certain then I was in really big trouble for "doing something stupid".

However, I had no time to feel sorry for myself as the boar and last sow were now more than halfway back to the fence line. If I was going to be in big trouble, then the other two hogs were not going to get away with putting me in that situation. I knew there was no way, even as fast as my horse was, that I could beat them to the property line fence. I turned my horse toward the left open gate. We went sailing through the gate at a full gallop heading for the thicket as I figured that's where the boar was trying to get back to. I made it to the edge of the thicket just in time to dismount, shove two more cartridges into the magazine and take up an ambush position where the trail from the fence came into the thicket. I had little or no time to wait. My blood was still rushing, my heart was pounding, and I was sweating like the proverbial "stuck hog" as the boar, in the lead, came straight down the trail. I got two quick shots into him straight on in the front shoulders at maybe 30-40 yards and then had a broadside running shot on the sow as she swung around the side of me still trying to make the thicket. The shot, at a very short range, took her through both front shoulders and she piled up. I quickly levered in another round and swung back to shoot the boar again, but it was not necessary as he was down for keeps. I was so pumped up I think I let a war hoop out that wouldn't quit and probably did a little victory dance too!

Getting on my horse I then rode back to the house to see if my father had returned yet. On the way the shakes set in, and I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. For the first time in my life, I was truly scared of the consequences of something I had engaged in. Maybe I did do something stupid and took a few chances, but the thrill was unbelievable. My mother had my father and the other two guys in tow when I rode up. She looked awfully relieved and was glad to see me. The first inkling she had of the whole adventure was a very excited telephone call from the neighbor lady. When I told her what happened she took the new bottle of Old Crow away from my father and his two buddies. She proceeded to tell them, in no uncertain terms, that of all the dumb and stupid things to do was to leave me alone to shoot the hogs. In defense my father replied saying that I was entirely capable of handling the situation and, in fact, had done so. I knew I was off the hook then as he was acting downright proud of me. She ordered them to go back up on the hill and take care of the dead hogs. My mother said I needed to put my horse away and go to the neighbors with her.

I was glad as I was pretty worn out and wasn't looking forward to helping load the dead hogs. I think my mother saw I was a little scared as she told me I had done a good job even if it was probably very foolish. My mother and I then drove over to the neighbors in our old Rambler station wagon; she had me take a "snort" of the Old Crow on the way and it settled my nerves a bit. The owner was there by then with his wife who was all excited about that brave boy who saved her life from the marauding pack of 40 or 50 "wild crazed hogs!" After some discussion my mother let them have the sow hog, I'd killed in their pasture for their dog that had to be "put down" and the trouble caused. The neighbor already had the calves rounded up and the fence fixed so there wasn't much other damage. The bright side was the daughter who had come home with her father. I had for some time thought she was kind of pretty, but she was a year ahead of me in school and had not even noticed me before. Seems that for the first time she took notice and smiled at me asking if we could go horseback riding sometime, but then - that's another story.

After leaving the neighbor's place mother and I stopped by the top of the hill where my father and the other two guys had managed to find the dead boar and two dead sows and had already thrown them in the pickup. The dog's owner had buried what was left of the dog that was killed, wasn't much left though. By then the Sun was going down and the three men left to drop the hogs off at the slaughterhouse. The sows went just a little over 250 pounds on the hoof and boar went better than 350 pounds. Not large for domestic pigs but pretty good for feral hogs. After dropping the dogs off at the local vet’s, the men also spent the rest of the evening in the local bar reliving "their" adventure. I did hear later my father kept bragging about his "hard riding and straight shooting boy". I showed mother where the last shootout had taken place and managed to find two of the 30-30 cases where I had shot the boar and last sow. On the way back to the house mother had let me have another "snort" and I settled down even more. I went to the barn and curried my horse and gave her an extra bowl of oats. Every boy should grow up with such a horse, such a rifle and such adventures. Later at the house, as I was cleaning my M94, I figured this "big game" huntin' was pretty dad burned exciting and perhaps just the thing I always wanted to do. And so, it has been…….

Thank you for sharing this adventure with us!