Hot Lead from Hot Springs...Bad for Hogs.

[TacticalHogControl]

We originally had Randy lined up to come down from Arkansas and hunt with us on Feb. 11. He was going to hunt with us and then go on a two-day varmint hunt in West Texas, before returning to the Hot Springs area. When we saw all of the snow and ice on the weather forecast, we were able to re-schedule his hunt for the 15th...after his varmint hunt. A wise move !

We got started shortly after dark but it took a while to find the hogs....we saw plenty of deer, raccoons, rabbits and "possums on the half-shell"... but no rooters. But, after checking the fourth ranch, our luck changed.

We had already made it through all of the creek bottoms and were almost back to the highway when Carl spotted the hogs on the FLIR. (Jed was shooting in the Los Cazadores varmint contest and Carl was taking his place). After a short stalk, we flipped the goggles up and "put the hammer down" on 4 members of the Sus Scrofa gang! (we only got 3 in the picture)



We loaded a couple of them up and headed out to find more. It didn't take long. After crossing the highway to the next ranch, I spotted a group of five, rooting along a fenceline. Cattle were everywhere so we had to be careful....if we spooked the cattle, the hogs would probably figure out that something wasn't quite right. We also had to manuever around to get a clear shot, without any cattle in the line of fire. We managed to get around the cows and stalked to within about 50 yards of the unsuspecting swine. 3-2-1 BOOM! ....3 more fell ! Nice shootin' Randy!

As we walked up to inspect Randy's "handywork", I noticed a cow and calf about 30 yards away, across a fenceline...but something just wasn't right....the calf was just too short. After a quick look through the night scope it was clear that the "calf" was really a sow, wondering what had happened to the rest of her friends.....another hog bit the dust!



All-in-all, we wound up with eight on the night...and plenty of pork in the cooler! Come back and see us Randy....We had a blast!

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Cool; I'm interested in your weaponry there - specs, etc.?

 

[7.62 Nato]

Great story and pics. I would love to do a hog hunt but they are not that common around here unless you wanna pay a "game ranch". Not the same. I hear Texas is it for ferral hog hunts. Thanks for sharing.

 

[desidog]

Just checked out your website. That's game ranch prices for helping get rid of a pest....but when you add thermal scopes into the mix, and not having to get jerked around by TSA for bringing guns.....very tempting!

 

[ArmedBear]

What's that rig?

 

[TacticalHogControl]

Most of our rifles are suppressed AR-10's (.308) with 4 lb. Timney triggers. They are either topped with 6x, Gen3 night scopes (like in these pics) or thermal weapon sights. In addition to the weapons/optics, all of our hunters wear helmet-mounted, Gen3, aviator-style night vision googles (ANVIS 9's). We also have 3 other handheld thermal imagers that we can use, to help locate the hogs. All-in-all, we hit the woods with well over $100,000 in gear. In 2009, we averaged 8.65 hogs per night....so far in 2010, we've killed 94 hogs in 12 hunts (7.83/night).

Here's a series of three frames, captured from the video we recorded through one of the thermal weapon sights.....none of these hog made it!

Frame 1 : Before the first shot



Frame 2 : After the first shot...one down.



Frame 3 : After the second shot....2 down.

 

[Flintknapper]

TacticalHogControl wrote:

All-in-all, we hit the woods with well over $100,000 in gear. In 2009, we averaged 8.65 hogs per night....so far in 2010, we've killed 94 hogs in 12 hunts (7.83/night).

I don't know how many hogs (in total) you have killed, but if we just use the 2010 figures, it has cost you well over $1,000 per hog....so far, (not including other expenses, leases, fuel, etc) to kill them.

I hope the fees you charge will eventually offset the cost of business, since I hate hogs with a passion.

Anything....that anyone can do to reduce their numbers is alright with me.

Keep after them...and best of luck with your business.

Flint.

 

[TacticalHogControl]

We killed over 600 hogs last year, so, thankfully, our cost per hog isn't nearly as high as you calculated. I bought my first night scope 12 years ago....before night vision was "cool", so that also helps to reduce the cost per hog. I wish I would've kept up with the numbers better in the old days....it's easily in the 2-3000 range.

I started down this path 12 years ago so I could protect my own property....we've just recently begun to "branch out". I totally agree with you when you say that anything that can be done to reduce the pig numbers is a good thing!

Doggers, trappers, hunters....we all need to work together. I still believe that it's going to take some science to solve this problem.....something like a food-delivered contraceptive. I don't think we'll be able to "kill them all", but maybe we can "breed them out".

 

[Flintknapper]

Amazing how you can even see the fence posts and trees in the background.

I'd like to know more about the night-vision/thermal scopes.

 

[kyle1974]

nice story... but you really need better guns... suppressed AR10's with thermal and/or night vision really isn't all that cool....

one of these days I need to get up there with you guys...