Not again.......! Feral Hog Control in East Texas - Page 33

Flintknapper · September 21, 2011, 08:56 AM

This is more like it, they have finally “backed up” to a more decent time of night.

Just about time to go have a crack at them.

Might give them another night….just to be sure.

Looks like a couple of Juvenile boars, a couple of sows and a handful of piglets (5 maybe).

Might be a good opportunity for a “two-fer” (let them line up), since none of these are large hogs.

Mike1234567 · September 21, 2011, 09:53 AM

Whaaa?? A two-fer? To heck with that. Your .458 is good for a three-fer, isn't it? Come on... give yourself a "real" challenge. Oh... be sure to take video!!

Flintknapper · September 21, 2011, 10:04 AM

Mike1234567 · September 21, 2011, 10:14 AM

Hah hah... go for it!!

Flintknapper · September 21, 2011, 02:03 PM

Naw, more than two....wouldn't be ethical with expanding bullets. I don't currently have any solids loaded and don't feel like making any this afternoon.

The Barnes 330 gr. banded solid would be good for 3-4 small pigs.

Then there is always the Speer 500 gr. African Grand Slam with a Tungsten core!

Mike1234567 · September 21, 2011, 02:36 PM

Well, then the four-hog-in-one-shot must wait until you get off your lazy byootox and load some appropriate ammo. Won't it?

texas chase · September 21, 2011, 05:21 PM

Well, then the four-hog-in-one-shot must wait until you get off your lazy byootox and load some appropriate ammo. Won't it?

hee hee

Flintknapper · September 21, 2011, 05:27 PM

Mike1234567 wrote:

Quote:

Well, then the four-hog-in-one-shot must wait until you get off your lazy byootox and load some appropriate ammo. Won't it

Indeed it will. Also need to get a video camera capable of capturing low light footage. My present set up isn't going to cut it....(with just a faint red light illuminating them at 80 yds).

I'll try, but I don't think its going to pan out. Can probably get some still pics with a tripod and long exposure time, but that means blurred pics if they move.

Wasn't really planning on making a documentary when I started this thread....just wanted to help others kill pesky hogs.

Looks like I might have to invest in a Pulsar N550 digisight for footage.

Resist Evil · September 21, 2011, 05:58 PM

I am happy that your thread is turning into a documentary beyond just a tutorial. I've read every post from early on. I've enjoyed it immensely and appreciate your ongoing commitment on this thread. Glad to see you're feeling better.

Mike1234567 · September 21, 2011, 06:00 PM

There is no try... or try not. There is only do... or do not.

Yoda yadda yadda Yoda...

Flintknapper · September 21, 2011, 06:23 PM

Thank You R/E.

Just got a clean bill of health from my Dr. this morning.

Can go back to doing my ranch chores (and hog control), but must exercise proper restraints.

Mike1234567 · September 21, 2011, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flintknapper

(partial quote) Just got a clean bill of health from my Dr. this morning. Can go back to... but must exercise proper restraints.

Whaaaaa?? No booze and, well, you know....

SciFiJim · September 21, 2011, 08:21 PM

Some of those little ones look just roasting pan size. A head shot on one of those could be the beginnings of a nice Sunday dinner.

Twmaster · September 21, 2011, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flintknapper

Thank You R/E.

Just got a clean bill of health from my Dr. this morning.

Can go back to doing my ranch chores (and hog control), but must exercise proper restraints.

Thankfully it's not close to a million degrees like it was all summer.

I want to thank you again Flint for your efforts and the ongoing saga of man vs. hogs. I've learned a lot and have been enthralled by your writing and photos.

Flintknapper · September 22, 2011, 03:05 AM

O.K. got a “Gift Hog” tonight, didn’t deserve it….wasn’t looking for it….just happened.

Thought I’d sit on a stand for a few hours this evening since my latest group of hogs had started cooperating and had started coming in at a decent hour (between 9-10 p.m.)

Loaded up all my stuff and got on stand a bit before sundown. Set my SOCOM up in the window and mused about the 75-80 yd. chip shot I would get.

I have been baiting the hogs out onto an old logging road and they usually walk down the length of it… which gives me plenty of time to size them up and prepare for a shot.

Waited on stand until 11:30 p.m., group was a “No-Show”, but I ran into this little guy on my way out.

Nothing to “write home to Mom about” but the way it happened was amusing.

I got down out of my stand making no effort to be quiet. I had gear draped all over myself (8 X 32 Binoculars slung under my left arm pit, Camera and case across my chest and on top of Bino’s, water bottle balanced on top of camera case, rifle cradled in the crook of both elbows pointing to my left, flashlight in left hand pointing as best I could)!

I decided to take a “short cut” back to my truck…since I was balancing all of these items and basically having to “waddle” out of the woods.

A small game trail leads right past an automatic feeder , it is the shortest route and I wanted to check the feeder anyway.

The trail is all grown up with pine saplings and you can’t see the feeder until you are nearly upon it.

When I got within 20 yards….I shone my flashlight under it to check for corn…. and Lo and Behold… there is a lone hog standing there staring at me.

I froze, he froze….but I can tell by his posture he wants to run….just not exactly sure which way to go!

The wind was blowing to me and with a white light shining in his eyes; he was confused for the moment. Equally confused… I was trying to figure out how I was going to shoot this pig before he rocketed out of there.

I couldn’t raise my rifle with all the stuff I had piled on top of it and I couldn’t activate my red “rifle mounted light” because I had a flashlight in my left hand.

The barrel of my rifle was already pointing the direction of the pig since he was on my left side, but that was only thing I had going for me. I kept the flashlight on him to try and keep him “frozen” but I knew he was getting ready to leave.

All I could think to do was use the knuckle on the back of my thumb (left hand holding flashlight) to try and find the pressure switch on my laser. I have it recessed at a certain spot on my hand-guard so there wasn’t any tactile indicator. I just fumbled up and down the hand-guard until I hit it.

Amazingly, the hog didn’t react to the bright green beam shining out ahead of him, but when I “snicked” the safety off, he heard it…and started looking for a place to go!

Fortunately, he went straight ahead and I was able to just kind of “turret” along with him. When the laser hit his shoulder…I tapped the trigger and then started picking things up off the ground (water bottle and flashlight).

I could hear him kicking around in the leaves and pine needles…so I knew I had hit him and that he was down.

I’ve shot a lot of hogs a lot of different ways, but never with my rifle cradled in my arms.

Next time…I’ll take my one point sling and let the rifle hang behind me on the way back to the truck.

When I hunt hogs at night and have the SOCOM dressed in full “regalia” it weighs about 14 pounds (scope, laser, 250 lumen tactical white light, 180 lumen red light, all the mounts and batteries, etc).

Anyway you look at it….this was either a “GIFT HOG”, or a cornucopia of dumb luck!

One less hog, but not proud of this one.

Golden Knights Karate · September 22, 2011, 07:27 AM

Not proud? You should be...that shot involves a lot of different skill sets both physical and mental. It also involves a lot of trust in your equipment and plain instinct.

and maybe a little luck...

irondavy · September 22, 2011, 07:40 AM

Ha great story! But I would be proud of this hog. A good shot on a moving target with your arms full of stuff is not easy at all.

ID

Mike1234567 · September 22, 2011, 10:14 AM

Shooting from the hip with a laser. You can't get much more SOCOM-kewlistic than that. I'm wanting a .458 SOCOM S-O-O B-A-A-D.

Flintknapper · September 22, 2011, 05:59 PM

Mike.... I'm just glad no one was filming it. It had to be pretty spastic looking!

But I couldn't just let him trot away. I barely got him.

Saw a lady at WalMart this morning that could have done it easily! She had a baby parked on her hip, was unloading her basket at the check out counter and getting her wallet out of her purse all at the same time. Made it look easy too!

She would have popped that hog in a nano-second.

I'll be better prepared next time, might go again tonight.

gathert · September 23, 2011, 10:58 AM

Sounds like a heck of a shot. Good thing you had that laser otherwise no one would believe you

Just kidding, enjoy that bacon.

der Teufel · September 23, 2011, 11:13 AM

That reminds me of something my younger brother related many years ago after a vacation tour that included a few days in Rome. His most memorable moment wasn't the historic sites, but rather a young lady who was riding a motor scooter in morning rush-hour traffic. She was holding a mirror in the same hand with which she operated the throttle and steered, while she applied makeup with the other. Apparently she was veering around a bit, and another driver honked at her. So, there she was -- holding a mirror, steering the motor scooter, working the throttle, applying makeup, and flipping off the other driver all at the same time.

Heck, if she could do that without crashing, it requires no imagination to believe that Flintknapper shot a pig from the hip with his arms loaded.

Keep at 'em!

baronthered · September 27, 2011, 01:57 AM

Flintknapper Tommy, and everyone else, thanks for a good, nay, epic thread.

Love the arrows and other archery gear Flintknapper, that is truly craftsmanship no let me say it with a capitol C; Craftsmanship. Might be something for me to get back into dear hunting with. Modern archery gear doesn't seem fair as it used to bout like a gun or rocket launcher, point, shoot, yawn.

Thanks for sharing your experiences and knowledge folks. This is something I've been watching here in south central KY for a few years and the problem grows. Not sure how long it will be before I have to start dealing with it but I plan on getting to the party early and trying to shut it down or at the very least put some bad non dancing tunes into rotation (I love metaphors and analogy sorry

).

Thanks again and please keep sharing.

You guys with the experience are giving us about to do battle ( well maybe not for a few years but the numbers keep climbing) a better chance of possibly managing the problem. I don't think it will go away until mother nature brings her hammer down on them and who knows what the full effects of that will be for them and us.

rori · September 29, 2011, 10:26 AM

Typical of what I see as a landowner mindset: I'm over run with these, critters BUT I wont allow anyone to hunt on my land. My reaction to that is I hope they destroy every bit of land the land owner owns. Frank

Twmaster · September 29, 2011, 10:57 AM

Wow. That's Low Road...

MattTheHat · September 29, 2011, 11:04 AM

Quote:

Typical of what I see as a landowner mindset: I'm over run with these, critters BUT I wont allow anyone to hunt on my land. My reaction to that is I hope they destroy every bit of land the land owner owns. Frank

What a bitter statement!

I don't allow folks to hunt my property. Every single time I've made an exception in the past, liberties were taken, messes were left, stuff turned up missing, and/or the hunter took it upon himself to bring everyone else and their uncle up to shoot anything that moved.

I'd personally rather drag a box blade a few times over an area torn up by hogs than to to pick up the mess and deal with other problems caused by inconsiderate hunters.

-Matt

September 21, 2011, 09:53 AM	#802
Mike1234567 Member Join Date: July 6, 2010 Location: Alamo City Posts: 2,839	Whaaa?? A two-fer? To heck with that. Your .458 is good for a three-fer, isn't it? Come on... give yourself a "real" challenge. Oh... be sure to take video!! __________________ "We are just statistics, born to consume resources." ~Horace~, 65-8 BC

September 21, 2011, 10:14 AM	#804
Mike1234567 Member Join Date: July 6, 2010 Location: Alamo City Posts: 2,839	Hah hah... go for it!! __________________ "We are just statistics, born to consume resources." ~Horace~, 65-8 BC

September 21, 2011, 02:36 PM	#806
Mike1234567 Member Join Date: July 6, 2010 Location: Alamo City Posts: 2,839	Well, then the four-hog-in-one-shot must wait until you get off your lazy byootox and load some appropriate ammo. Won't it? __________________ "We are just statistics, born to consume resources." ~Horace~, 65-8 BC

September 21, 2011, 05:58 PM	#809
Resist Evil Member Join Date: April 19, 2011 Location: Denver Metro Posts: 243	I am happy that your thread is turning into a documentary beyond just a tutorial. I've read every post from early on. I've enjoyed it immensely and appreciate your ongoing commitment on this thread. Glad to see you're feeling better. __________________ "An honest man can feel no pleasure in the exercise of power over his fellow citizens." Thomas Jefferson Instead of government torturing Liberty, shouldn't Liberty torture government?

September 21, 2011, 06:00 PM	#810
Mike1234567 Member Join Date: July 6, 2010 Location: Alamo City Posts: 2,839	There is no try... or try not. There is only do... or do not. Yoda yadda yadda Yoda... __________________ "We are just statistics, born to consume resources." ~Horace~, 65-8 BC

September 21, 2011, 08:56 AM	#801
Flintknapper Member Join Date: May 11, 2006 Location: Deep East Texas Posts: 1,444	This is more like it, they have finally “backed up” to a more decent time of night. Just about time to go have a crack at them. Might give them another night….just to be sure. Looks like a couple of Juvenile boars, a couple of sows and a handful of piglets (5 maybe). Might be a good opportunity for a “two-fer” (let them line up), since none of these are large hogs.

September 21, 2011, 10:04 AM	#803
Flintknapper Member Join Date: May 11, 2006 Location: Deep East Texas Posts: 1,444

September 21, 2011, 02:03 PM	#805
Flintknapper Member Join Date: May 11, 2006 Location: Deep East Texas Posts: 1,444	Naw, more than two....wouldn't be ethical with expanding bullets. I don't currently have any solids loaded and don't feel like making any this afternoon. The Barnes 330 gr. banded solid would be good for 3-4 small pigs. Then there is always the Speer 500 gr. African Grand Slam with a Tungsten core!

September 21, 2011, 05:21 PM	#807
texas chase Member Join Date: September 19, 2006 Location: Central Texas Posts: 305	Well, then the four-hog-in-one-shot must wait until you get off your lazy byootox and load some appropriate ammo. Won't it? hee hee

September 21, 2011, 06:23 PM	#811
Flintknapper Member Join Date: May 11, 2006 Location: Deep East Texas Posts: 1,444	Thank You R/E. Just got a clean bill of health from my Dr. this morning. Can go back to doing my ranch chores (and hog control), but must exercise proper restraints.

September 21, 2011, 08:21 PM	#813
SciFiJim Member Join Date: March 6, 2006 Location: Central California - the red part of a blue state Posts: 187	Some of those little ones look just roasting pan size. A head shot on one of those could be the beginnings of a nice Sunday dinner. __________________ The process is the hobby!

September 22, 2011, 03:05 AM	#815
Flintknapper Member Join Date: May 11, 2006 Location: Deep East Texas Posts: 1,444	O.K. got a “Gift Hog” tonight, didn’t deserve it….wasn’t looking for it….just happened. Thought I’d sit on a stand for a few hours this evening since my latest group of hogs had started cooperating and had started coming in at a decent hour (between 9-10 p.m.) Loaded up all my stuff and got on stand a bit before sundown. Set my SOCOM up in the window and mused about the 75-80 yd. chip shot I would get. I have been baiting the hogs out onto an old logging road and they usually walk down the length of it… which gives me plenty of time to size them up and prepare for a shot. Waited on stand until 11:30 p.m., group was a “No-Show”, but I ran into this little guy on my way out. Nothing to “write home to Mom about” but the way it happened was amusing. I got down out of my stand making no effort to be quiet. I had gear draped all over myself (8 X 32 Binoculars slung under my left arm pit, Camera and case across my chest and on top of Bino’s, water bottle balanced on top of camera case, rifle cradled in the crook of both elbows pointing to my left, flashlight in left hand pointing as best I could)! I decided to take a “short cut” back to my truck…since I was balancing all of these items and basically having to “waddle” out of the woods. A small game trail leads right past an automatic feeder , it is the shortest route and I wanted to check the feeder anyway. The trail is all grown up with pine saplings and you can’t see the feeder until you are nearly upon it. When I got within 20 yards….I shone my flashlight under it to check for corn…. and Lo and Behold… there is a lone hog standing there staring at me. I froze, he froze….but I can tell by his posture he wants to run….just not exactly sure which way to go! The wind was blowing to me and with a white light shining in his eyes; he was confused for the moment. Equally confused… I was trying to figure out how I was going to shoot this pig before he rocketed out of there. I couldn’t raise my rifle with all the stuff I had piled on top of it and I couldn’t activate my red “rifle mounted light” because I had a flashlight in my left hand. The barrel of my rifle was already pointing the direction of the pig since he was on my left side, but that was only thing I had going for me. I kept the flashlight on him to try and keep him “frozen” but I knew he was getting ready to leave. All I could think to do was use the knuckle on the back of my thumb (left hand holding flashlight) to try and find the pressure switch on my laser. I have it recessed at a certain spot on my hand-guard so there wasn’t any tactile indicator. I just fumbled up and down the hand-guard until I hit it. Amazingly, the hog didn’t react to the bright green beam shining out ahead of him, but when I “snicked” the safety off, he heard it…and started looking for a place to go! Fortunately, he went straight ahead and I was able to just kind of “turret” along with him. When the laser hit his shoulder…I tapped the trigger and then started picking things up off the ground (water bottle and flashlight). I could hear him kicking around in the leaves and pine needles…so I knew I had hit him and that he was down. I’ve shot a lot of hogs a lot of different ways, but never with my rifle cradled in my arms. Next time…I’ll take my one point sling and let the rifle hang behind me on the way back to the truck. When I hunt hogs at night and have the SOCOM dressed in full “regalia” it weighs about 14 pounds (scope, laser, 250 lumen tactical white light, 180 lumen red light, all the mounts and batteries, etc). Anyway you look at it….this was either a “GIFT HOG”, or a cornucopia of dumb luck! One less hog, but not proud of this one. Last edited by Flintknapper; September 24, 2011 at 08:13 AM.

September 22, 2011, 07:27 AM	#816
Golden Knights Karate Member Join Date: August 12, 2011 Posts: 4	Not proud? You should be...that shot involves a lot of different skill sets both physical and mental. It also involves a lot of trust in your equipment and plain instinct. and maybe a little luck...

September 22, 2011, 07:40 AM	#817
irondavy Member Join Date: June 21, 2011 Location: texas Posts: 99	Ha great story! But I would be proud of this hog. A good shot on a moving target with your arms full of stuff is not easy at all. ID

September 22, 2011, 10:14 AM	#818
Mike1234567 Member Join Date: July 6, 2010 Location: Alamo City Posts: 2,839	Shooting from the hip with a laser. You can't get much more SOCOM-kewlistic than that. I'm wanting a .458 SOCOM S-O-O B-A-A-D. __________________ "We are just statistics, born to consume resources." ~Horace~, 65-8 BC

September 22, 2011, 05:59 PM	#819
Flintknapper Member Join Date: May 11, 2006 Location: Deep East Texas Posts: 1,444	Mike.... I'm just glad no one was filming it. It had to be pretty spastic looking! But I couldn't just let him trot away. I barely got him. Saw a lady at WalMart this morning that could have done it easily! She had a baby parked on her hip, was unloading her basket at the check out counter and getting her wallet out of her purse all at the same time. Made it look easy too! She would have popped that hog in a nano-second. I'll be better prepared next time, might go again tonight.

September 23, 2011, 10:58 AM	#820
gathert Member Join Date: February 18, 2011 Location: Clemson, SC, Good old USA Posts: 419	Sounds like a heck of a shot. Good thing you had that laser otherwise no one would believe you Just kidding, enjoy that bacon. __________________ Μολὼν λαβέ NRA Life Member I support the right to arm bears. Warning: Objects in scope may be closer than they appear.

September 23, 2011, 11:13 AM	#821
der Teufel Member Join Date: August 26, 2011 Location: In the vicinity of Austin, TX Posts: 84	The challenges of multi-tasking . . . That reminds me of something my younger brother related many years ago after a vacation tour that included a few days in Rome. His most memorable moment wasn't the historic sites, but rather a young lady who was riding a motor scooter in morning rush-hour traffic. She was holding a mirror in the same hand with which she operated the throttle and steered, while she applied makeup with the other. Apparently she was veering around a bit, and another driver honked at her. So, there she was -- holding a mirror, steering the motor scooter, working the throttle, applying makeup, and flipping off the other driver all at the same time. Heck, if she could do that without crashing, it requires no imagination to believe that Flintknapper shot a pig from the hip with his arms loaded. Keep at 'em!

September 27, 2011, 01:57 AM	#822
baronthered Member Join Date: September 20, 2011 Location: South Central Kentucky Posts: 67	Thanks for the thread Flintknapper Tommy, and everyone else, thanks for a good, nay, epic thread. Love the arrows and other archery gear Flintknapper, that is truly craftsmanship no let me say it with a capitol C; Craftsmanship. Might be something for me to get back into dear hunting with. Modern archery gear doesn't seem fair as it used to bout like a gun or rocket launcher, point, shoot, yawn. Thanks for sharing your experiences and knowledge folks. This is something I've been watching here in south central KY for a few years and the problem grows. Not sure how long it will be before I have to start dealing with it but I plan on getting to the party early and trying to shut it down or at the very least put some bad non dancing tunes into rotation (I love metaphors and analogy sorry ). Thanks again and please keep sharing. You guys with the experience are giving us about to do battle ( well maybe not for a few years but the numbers keep climbing) a better chance of possibly managing the problem. I don't think it will go away until mother nature brings her hammer down on them and who knows what the full effects of that will be for them and us.

September 29, 2011, 10:26 AM	#823
rori member Join Date: July 16, 2011 Posts: 208	Typical of what I see as a landowner mindset: I'm over run with these, critters BUT I wont allow anyone to hunt on my land. My reaction to that is I hope they destroy every bit of land the land owner owns. Frank

September 29, 2011, 10:57 AM	#824
Twmaster Member Join Date: June 5, 2011 Location: Dallas, Republic of Texas Posts: 826	Wow. That's Low Road... __________________ Mike America: Stand and FIGHT! Support the entire Constitution. Not just the parts you like.