AKElroy
Member
Opening weekend was all about my son. He is 12, and while he has taken a deer each of the last two years, he has never taken a hog. Opening morning, we are sitting in our 8' box blind, seeing a few deer but nothing special. It is a lased 105 yards to the feeder, and my son is using his granddaddy's .270, model 70 win, Leupold 3x9. It is the first time that rifle has been out of my safe in many years, but my son has proven himself a careful steward so he was trusted with it.
5 till 7, we see a small sounder of pigs walk up. My son has taken a few running misses as we've driven up hogs on the property, but he's never been with me when they are at the feeder giving a decent presentation.
Now, my preference would be to take one of the few good deer I've been watching all season on the gamecam, but I can't deprive the kid of his chance at his first pig. I whisper to him to take the biggest sow as soon as she gives him a shot, while I am tracking one of her brood. I told him I would be shooting right after his shot. That .270 and my .308 roared less than a half second apart, and two pigs lay DRT.
I told my son that we would let them lie, and wait for deer to walk up. Sure enough, the largest 8 point I've seen in 6 years on this property walks up, but won't approach the pin with those pigs lying. He never gave me a shot, and stayed hidden in the brush out of my shooting lane. There is a reason the big ones avoid getting shot.
That afternoon, the only deer we see are a poor 8 point, barely 2 years old, and a nice, mature 6 pointer. In our neck of the woods, 150 lbs is about as big as low-fenced property like ours will see. He had no brow tines, and while it is not my practice to take culls opening weekend, this one was too good to pass up. My son and I had switched guns, so he had my weather-warrior .308, and made a perfect boiler room shot on the animal. Unfortunately, even though the 150 gr corlokd was placed perfectly, that animal followed the smaller 8 pointer on a near half mile run through the thick stuff. He left a good trail though, and we found him within an hour or so.
Big deer for our neck of the woods! He can't stop talking about it. The kid shoots better than me. The pig would go an easy 200lbs. Both were gutted, cleaned, and in process.
5 till 7, we see a small sounder of pigs walk up. My son has taken a few running misses as we've driven up hogs on the property, but he's never been with me when they are at the feeder giving a decent presentation.
Now, my preference would be to take one of the few good deer I've been watching all season on the gamecam, but I can't deprive the kid of his chance at his first pig. I whisper to him to take the biggest sow as soon as she gives him a shot, while I am tracking one of her brood. I told him I would be shooting right after his shot. That .270 and my .308 roared less than a half second apart, and two pigs lay DRT.
I told my son that we would let them lie, and wait for deer to walk up. Sure enough, the largest 8 point I've seen in 6 years on this property walks up, but won't approach the pin with those pigs lying. He never gave me a shot, and stayed hidden in the brush out of my shooting lane. There is a reason the big ones avoid getting shot.
That afternoon, the only deer we see are a poor 8 point, barely 2 years old, and a nice, mature 6 pointer. In our neck of the woods, 150 lbs is about as big as low-fenced property like ours will see. He had no brow tines, and while it is not my practice to take culls opening weekend, this one was too good to pass up. My son and I had switched guns, so he had my weather-warrior .308, and made a perfect boiler room shot on the animal. Unfortunately, even though the 150 gr corlokd was placed perfectly, that animal followed the smaller 8 pointer on a near half mile run through the thick stuff. He left a good trail though, and we found him within an hour or so.
Big deer for our neck of the woods! He can't stop talking about it. The kid shoots better than me. The pig would go an easy 200lbs. Both were gutted, cleaned, and in process.
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