Warners
Member
We got back Friday morning (about 3:30 in the morning to be exact) from our trip to the Langley Ranch in Centerville, Texas. "We" consisted of myself, my 15 year old son, and a friend from work. None of us had ever hunted....ANYTHING, before the trip. Heck of a way to get broken into hunting, huh?
The Langleys could not have been nicer or more accomodating to us first time hunters. There was always something to do, and we learned a TON from Joe Langley during our 2 days with him.
Day 1, my son got two hogs. The first one was a bang-flop type of shot (neck shot with a 30-.06). The second hog was hit a little low on the front shoulder, injuring it but it was still able to run off a bit. Mr. Langley came to my tree stand and told me to come down to the ravine where the hog was and finish it off with my Smith & Wesson 686 (.357 Magnum, 6" barrel, using the Buffalo Bore loads). I got probably 50 yards from the hog and started to raise my pistol. Mr. Langley put his hand on my back and told me, "You're going to have to get a lot closer than that!". As I took 2 steps forward (2 more than I wanted to!), he added, "It might charge you when you get closer, so make sure to pump it full of lead if it does".
Heck of a way to take your first shot at a wild hog, huh? I think I took one or two more steps forward before shooting.....all 6 rounds in the chamber. I learned two things......first of all, hogs are TOUGH to kill. The second was, I don't EVER want to shoot that .357 again without any hearing protection. The rifles weren't bad, but that .357 was LOUD! My ears were ringing and I got a headache that lasted a couple of hours.
So after the first day, my son had bagged 2 hogs, and my friend from work got one later in the day. I was the only one not yet successful. That first night, I saw two hogs when I was in a tree stand that I could have taken, but my initial goal was to get a trophy boar. There's another thing that I learned....the true trophy hogs don't come along all that often. I didn't end up with a trophy, which I'm sure my wife is (unknowingly) grateful for. It saved a bunch of taxidermy money, and it prevented her from having to stick that thing in one of my body cavities after it came home. Hehe.
Day 2, I had my son go with me into the same tree stand. Instead of a rifle, he was armed this time with a video camera. He got what I think is a pretty good video of the 2 hogs that I shot. The first one was an outstanding shot. Head shot that passed clear through the hogs head and kicked up dirt on the other side of the pig. DRT. The second hog took a few more shots to connect with. It was almost out of the range where I would feel comfortable shooting it at when I caught it just on top of its nose, which turned it. I couldn't tell if it was intentionally charging us (my guess) or if it was just confused, but it headed right towards us. One more shot to the head with my trusty 30-30 ended that, though. And a final shot just to make sure it wasn't suffering. My two hogs both weighed 150 pounds, which looks like a pretty large animal to me.
We had a GREAT trip, and I knew exactly what we were getting in to....as far as a high fence operation and a relatively easy hunt. I wanted us all to be successful on our first hunt, while still offering some challenge. I'll tell you...shooting at something that's MOVING is a lot more difficult than shooting a paper target with your rifle on sand bags. Haha.
If you are interested in seeing the video of my two hogs, the link is below. Keep in mind that what you see in the video is what the camera saw, not necessarily what I saw through my rifle scope.
Here's the video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT4gu5EtyWo
Warner
The Langleys could not have been nicer or more accomodating to us first time hunters. There was always something to do, and we learned a TON from Joe Langley during our 2 days with him.
Day 1, my son got two hogs. The first one was a bang-flop type of shot (neck shot with a 30-.06). The second hog was hit a little low on the front shoulder, injuring it but it was still able to run off a bit. Mr. Langley came to my tree stand and told me to come down to the ravine where the hog was and finish it off with my Smith & Wesson 686 (.357 Magnum, 6" barrel, using the Buffalo Bore loads). I got probably 50 yards from the hog and started to raise my pistol. Mr. Langley put his hand on my back and told me, "You're going to have to get a lot closer than that!". As I took 2 steps forward (2 more than I wanted to!), he added, "It might charge you when you get closer, so make sure to pump it full of lead if it does".
Heck of a way to take your first shot at a wild hog, huh? I think I took one or two more steps forward before shooting.....all 6 rounds in the chamber. I learned two things......first of all, hogs are TOUGH to kill. The second was, I don't EVER want to shoot that .357 again without any hearing protection. The rifles weren't bad, but that .357 was LOUD! My ears were ringing and I got a headache that lasted a couple of hours.So after the first day, my son had bagged 2 hogs, and my friend from work got one later in the day. I was the only one not yet successful. That first night, I saw two hogs when I was in a tree stand that I could have taken, but my initial goal was to get a trophy boar. There's another thing that I learned....the true trophy hogs don't come along all that often. I didn't end up with a trophy, which I'm sure my wife is (unknowingly) grateful for. It saved a bunch of taxidermy money, and it prevented her from having to stick that thing in one of my body cavities after it came home. Hehe.
Day 2, I had my son go with me into the same tree stand. Instead of a rifle, he was armed this time with a video camera. He got what I think is a pretty good video of the 2 hogs that I shot. The first one was an outstanding shot. Head shot that passed clear through the hogs head and kicked up dirt on the other side of the pig. DRT. The second hog took a few more shots to connect with. It was almost out of the range where I would feel comfortable shooting it at when I caught it just on top of its nose, which turned it. I couldn't tell if it was intentionally charging us (my guess) or if it was just confused, but it headed right towards us. One more shot to the head with my trusty 30-30 ended that, though. And a final shot just to make sure it wasn't suffering. My two hogs both weighed 150 pounds, which looks like a pretty large animal to me.
We had a GREAT trip, and I knew exactly what we were getting in to....as far as a high fence operation and a relatively easy hunt. I wanted us all to be successful on our first hunt, while still offering some challenge. I'll tell you...shooting at something that's MOVING is a lot more difficult than shooting a paper target with your rifle on sand bags. Haha.
If you are interested in seeing the video of my two hogs, the link is below. Keep in mind that what you see in the video is what the camera saw, not necessarily what I saw through my rifle scope.
Here's the video link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PT4gu5EtyWo
Warner
