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.
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. 