Gearing up for another Texas Hog Hunt

[Boerrancher]

This photo was taken this past April on my last trip to Texas. I blasted this one with the 1847 Uberti Walker at around 30 yds as it came up on the pond bank for a drink. The 210 gr Dragoon bullet being pushed by 50 grs of 3F Schuetzen left a mess of the other side of the critters head. When I head down there in 2 weeks, I am taking my 50 cal Mountain Rifle. In March the hunting wasn’t that great. I took 3 pigs but even the one in the photo is only a 150 lb pig the others were right at 50 lbs. I’m hoping to take two or three 180-200 lb ones at the minimum.

[HWooldridge]

Kinda warm right now - I hope you can come after it cools off a bit.

Most feral hogs don't make it to 200 lbs or more unless they are on really good feed and aren't getting molested or shot at too much. My son kills a bunch in North Central Texas and they typically range 35 to 120 lbs or so. They tend to get bigger in East Texas where everything grows better - more water, more food, etc.

[G W Wade]

I am jealous! This is one of the things on my bucket list. Good luck on your trip. GW

[Boerrancher]

Kinda warm right now - I hope you can come after it cools off a bit.

Most feral hogs don't make it to 200 lbs or more unless they are on really good feed and aren't getting molested or shot at too much. My son kills a bunch in North Central Texas and they typically range 35 to 120 lbs or so. They tend to get bigger in East Texas where everything grows better - more water, more food, etc.

I’m going to be just out of Wealder on the east side of the state. Most of the ones I’ve gotten in the past are between 150 and 220. I’ve seen a few monsters but just couldn’t get a shot on them. They didn’t get big by being stupid.

[Boerrancher]

I think I am going to leave it right there. 50 yards and that Tom A Hawk peep sight makes all the difference in the world with that Traditions Mountain rifle after I rebuilt everything. I wanted to test the rifle so the first shot was the one that was the lowest. I shot 9 more times kicking around a 2.5 inch gong also at 50 yds seated like I would be in a hunting blind, and then shot the last two that are cutting into each other. I also have to admit I changed holds on the last two shots. My first shot on the paper was a lollipop hold with the red dot on top of the front sight post, the other two I was covering the dot. Don’t ask me why I decided to change but I will go back to my typical lollipop hold for the hunt.

My load is 105 grs of 2F Schuetzen, a .495 ball, and a .013 cotton patch. No short starter needed, but after 8 rounds there was a carbon ring that developed about 10 inches off the breech. As long as I was mindful of it, it never posed any real problems. It didn’t get any worse. I just had to push the ball down a bit faster as I got close to it. Even if I didn’t, it only took a little extra pressure to get past it. I may drag out the chronograph and see what kind of velocity I am getting. I’m not finding any unburnt powder in front of the rifle on the tarp so that is a plus. I started at 70 grs and worked my way up until I was cutting bullets holes. 105 grains by actual weight is where it shot the best. At 110 it really opened up.

[725]

Nice shootin' Boerrancher! Chasing boar with a BP pistol is a hoot. Sometime ago I used my T/C Scout .54 to take one in Fla. Sure adds to the fun. Have good time but watch your "6". Those rascals can sure move through the underbrush.

[HWooldridge]

Waelder is about an hour east of me - lots of hogs around that part of the state.

That rifle load will kill anything you find - although the ball might stop under the hide shield on a broadside shot. I generally shoot a 350 gr JSP from a Marlin 45-70; it usually mushrooms and stops on the far side if the range is much over 100 yards.

[koger]

Nice, I would like to do that one day before I kick the bucket.

[jonp]

That is very cool using old BP firearms to hunt. My dream if I can find the time and dig up the money is to work some BP loads up for my 43 Spanish and try it on hogs. Pretty darn sure it would be more than enough.
I haven't been back home up north for deer season in 15yrs and was seriously thinking of taking 2 weeks this year and doing it. I hunted one year with a Mosin and I was seriously thinking of the 8mm Mauser but the 43 Spanish also was in the mix.

[Barry54]

There’s plenty of hogs in Texas! A friend’s neighbor trapped these.

[HWooldridge]

There’s plenty of hogs in Texas! A friend’s neighbor trapped these.

They call those groups “sounders”. Usually 1-4 sows and a bunch of piglets. The big boars only visit when the sow(s) are in season.

[Boerrancher]

Waelder is about an hour east of me - lots of hogs around that part of the state.

That rifle load will kill anything you find - although the ball might stop under the hide shield on a broadside shot. I generally shoot a 350 gr JSP from a Marlin 45-70; it usually mushrooms and stops on the far side if the range is much over 100 yards.

If I can’t get a head shot I don’t shoot. I’ve been going to Waelder a couple times a year for 4 years now. When I first started hunting there I did a lot of hunting on the ground, now I hunt from stands. I’m not quite as fast as I was a few years back.

[Boerrancher]

Well no hog hunt for this year. My friend that I hunt with is Scheduled for surgery on the day we were supposed to leave. He’s a cattleman and was working some cows and one got a bit frisky. He ended up with a dislocated hip, and a bunch of torn ligaments and tendons around his hip joint. His Doc said he would have been better off breaking it, and having a replacement done, because now he will be non weight bearing on that leg for a minimum of 16 weeks. If they have to do a second surgery it will be 36 weeks. Even best case scenario eliminates all the hunting for this fall. The normal routine after all the hay is up and the 1500 to 2000 head of cattle are worked and ready for fall, it is the Hog hunt in Texas, then a few weeks at his other farm in Iowa bird hunting, then Back here to MO for deer season. He had plans to take his grand son and granddaughter both out this year and not being able to do that I think has him more depressed than anything, because those grandkids mean the world to him and disappointing them is something that has never happened before with him.

I guess I will use the time to work up loads for at least the one of my 54 cal rifles. I will probably start with the Lyman GPR and and if I have time then I will do the CVA Hawken. The CVA shoots well enough with what I’m doing that I could deer hunt with it. It just needs a bit of refinement. I really like that Traditions Mountain Rifle now that I have rebuilt it, and put the peep sight on it. I really need to shoot it over a chronograph and see what velocity I am getting so that I can determine my max range with it.