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I searched all over the Forum and there is no place for “way off topic” posts. So maybe I should rake that as a subtle hint…. or just post this stuff here. I think that some may find this fun/interesting/worth a laugh.
While I do love to hunt, often for solitary fish and use a fly rod, I do most of my meat gathering with a bow and arrow. I have certainly used my various Winchesters to do this I constantly find that the much greater challenge of the significantly reduced kill zone of archery so much more rewarding. In my pursuit of white tails, hogs, and coyotes on my property in Texas I employ numerous trail cameras that, when they function correctly, certainly do let you know what is walking around the place. Most of my hog hunting is done at a feeder since these are non indigenous non-game animals and therefore hunting is not controlled by any regulations. With more than 3 million of them in Texas and the fact that they are very good on a dinner plate they make a wonderful quarry to pursue. The biggest problem for hunting is that hogs travel in groups called “sounders” and you will typically kill the first target and then all hell breaks loose and the others scatter in many directions.
This past Tuesday I was sitting and heard some hogs coming through the woods. Finally 4 popped out of the thick yaupon and headed to the feeder and oblivious that I, and my bow, were 35 yards away. They settled in, facing to the left,and happily chomping away at the corn on the ground and I drew back my bow sighted in on the front hog on the cinnamon colored hog on the right side of the feeder. I released the arrow, watched it disappear low just behind the should of my target hog. He ran off squealing and I heard him crash a few seconds later. Smiling and patting myself on the back i got out of the pop up bland and went to retrieve the arrow and find the hog. About 15 yards beyond the feeder there were splashes of blood and I knew this would not take long. But no arrow to be found! Another 15 yards and there was the hog next to a large oak tree on some blood stained ground. It always amazes me just how phenomenally lethal an arrow is. And it makes me laugh when I read about guys using large bore high velocity center fire so that they can blood trail the hog. My thought is always learn how to shoot and where to aim and your blood trail should be measure in feet! So I head back to the blind and keep looking for my $28.75 cent arrow and broad head so that this doesn’t get too expensive. Look. Look. Look. Nothing!! A bit beyond frustrated I get back i nthe blind and replay the shot on my head. They came out. Stopped. Eating. Draw the bow. Release the arrow. He runs off straight away from me. Lots of noise and bellowing to the right! To the right?? Wait. There was a second hog right behind the one I targeted. I know the arrow would go right through the target and I bet it got the second hog also!!?? At the end of the afternoon I pulled the camera chip out of the trail camera monitoring the feeder and headed to the house. Fire up the computer and insert chip. Click. Click. Click. Holy hogsh## look at that!!! There goes my arrow!!!!
The target hog is the cinnamon colored one in the center running directly away. The “hog #2” is the guy on the right and if you enlarge the photo there is my arrow after having gone about 90% of the way through the hog and sticking out of his right side, which was his far side when he was facing to the left and got hit. A “two-fer” with a bow AND the game camera just happen to catch the results in a case of perfect timing!!!
Michael
Model 1892 / Model 61 Collector, Research, Valuation
I can totally appreciate a good hog killin regardless of what kind of armory is used. If you havent had to deal with them its hard to understand how invasive and destructive they can be. We have a small 30 acre pasture in the back of the family rancho that in a matter of 3 weeks a herd of about 6-8 have rooted all but about 10 acres of the blue stem and coastal/Bermuda grass. Guess they were either eating the grass roots or the wild onions around them. There is no easy way to deal with the field other than to take the time and expense to plow it all under and start over. Some of the rootings are so deep you they will tear your truck up or at least give you a back ache driving through them. And they pick the best spots to root too along and in you roads.
Its my estimation that pigs are one of the smartest animals there out there in the wild world. They can be hard to pattern sometimes because they have such a large range, at least they do here. They may come in to bait a couple time then you wont see them again for weeks or even months. If your lucky, you can catch a bunch together and throw some lead their way, or catch a few with the dogs, or by luck of the draw get a solitary boar. Was reading an article some time ago that said you had to kill off 70% of what you see to maintain the your current population because they reproduce so fast. And from what Ive seen, they are moving into areas pretty much across the US, including the west and northern states. There are some funny videos on youtube of pigs in the suburbs of Houston running down the streets and through peoples yards. Cities are trying to figure out how to deal with them.
The last few months I have resorted to the old Model 12 with mixed loads stacked in the magazine of 00 Buckshot, #1 Buck or #4 Buck as a viable way of disseminating lead. The more lead in the air the better the chances were they would find a mark.
My father-in-law gave me this old M12 some time ago. It had a cut barrel and not in the best condition which was perfect for the job and is my new go-to firearm for pigs and sometimes coyotes. This old boar came through like he had for several days, was busy eating, not paying attention to his surroundings allowing me to stalk within about 40 yards when he got his touch of lead poisoning.
1892takedown @sbcglobal.net ......NRA Endowment Life Member.....WACA Member
"God is great.....beer is good.....and people are crazy"... Billy Currington
I totally agree that hogs can be WAY harder to hunt than white tails. And the fact they are almost always in groups makes it even harder. While a bow is my favorite method I resort to LOTS of alternatives.
1.) An auto 12 gauge with buckshot which has a button activated laser on the fore end and I wear night vision goggles. If the ground is wet and there is a consistent wind it is amazing how close you can some times get while stalking at night.
2.) .308 AR platform auto with removable night vision optic which fits in front of a 1-6X scope.
3.) .308 platform auto with thermal scope on it.
4. I had a custom machined longer top rail made for my crossbow so that I could put my night vision optic and illuminator on it. A wonderful way to hunt from above in a tree near a feeder. It turns night time into day time. And nice and quiet.
Here is another great trail cam pic fro ma couple years ago. I was poking my way along a cleared trail to a feeder with the idea of hunting until dark. As I got about 40 yards from the feeder I could see that there was a hog under it already. I put my hand release on and knocked an arrow in my bow. I then slowly moved to a spot where there was enough of a gap in the trees that I could shoot through. The hog was standing there looking toward me and then turned to his right. When he did I let the shot go and hit him right in the heart. 25 yards later at the edge of the clearing he fell over and kicked a couple times. Well that was a quick hunt! In this photo the camera got the hog and if you look over his head and just to the right of the center of his head you will see a light colored splotch and some lime green. That is me, with the bow drawn and the green is the fletching on the arrows in the quiver attached to the bow. The hog turned right and I shot. Another perfect moment caught on camera.
And this is why we never run out of targets!!!
Michael
Model 1892 / Model 61 Collector, Research, Valuation
November 7, 2015
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Great pics and stories. I never get tired of shooting hogs. One evening last year I shot one, waited awhile until another showed up, shot it…..by dark I’d shot four hogs in four different directions. I was beginning to wonder if I’d brought enough ammo.
Mike
TXGunNut said
Great pics and stories. I never get tired of shooting hogs. One evening last year I shot one, waited awhile until another showed up, shot it…..by dark I’d shot four hogs in four different directions. I was beginning to wonder if I’d brought enough ammo.
Mike
Mike,
As you probably know any hunt with more than one is special. I was sitting one morning high in a tree near a feeder at the edge of the woods to my left and about 60 acres of broken pasture to my right. This was a good stand to be in before sunrise and try to catch hogs exiting the pasture and heading into the cover of the woods for the day. I could see about a dozen hogs at daylight milling around out in the pasture and they started coming my way in three small groups about 100 yards apart from each other. As each group came past they would stop for a nibble of corn and I shot one hog from each group with my bow. I had three hogs down within a 50 yard circle within 5 minutes! I only went out with 5 arrows and was thinking the same thought.
The best numeric hunt/shoot was with my thermal rifle pictured above. The magazine only holds 5 rounds which realistically is more than enough 99% of the time. I was out on my ATV and found a group of hogs. Luckily, a train was going by on the tracks which border my place on one side at the same time. They never knew i was there. As I shot the hogs would run around but seemed more than confused about what the heck to do. The beauty of the thermal sight is that they stick out like white glowing blobs and there is no hiding. As the 5th casing was ejected I had 5 dead hogs lying around. Sausage anyone???
Michael
Model 1892 / Model 61 Collector, Research, Valuation
twobit said
And this is why we never run out of targets!!!
Michael
We have the same problem here in Louisiana, and it is only getting worse. We got them so thick now, you can ring the dinner bell and they’ll come in on a string.
Last year my buddy put out corn at High Noon. He grabbed lunch went to get back onto the stand at 1:30p.m., all his corn was gone. Put out corn again and within 15 minutes he killed two.
Other problem we have are the racoons, they’ll eat anything in sight as well.
And the hogs are already back again at it this year. My buddy watched a group of thirty hogs just out of bow range this year on opening day of deer bow season. Once deer season is over, we are planning on going to town on them.
Sincerely,
Maverick
WACA #8783 - Checkout my Reloading Tool Survey!
https://winchestercollector.org/forum/winchester-research-surveys/winchester-reloading-tool-survey/
Maverick,
My raccoon population does vary a bit from year to year. I use Conibear traps to reduce the number. They work well in a “bucket set” or I have built some wood boxes where the trap springs slide into slots cut into the side. A little bit of corn or fish scraps from the local fish market in Houston work just fine. They are deadly traps for sure. MAKE DAMN CERTAIN that you keep your hands and arms out of them. Proceed slowly and carefully until you are comfortable and familiar with setting them. You CAN NOT take them off your broken arm with one hand and it will be a long painful drive to the ER.
https://www.trap-anything.com/conibear-trap.html
Michael
Model 1892 / Model 61 Collector, Research, Valuation
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