No camera means good luck every time
Monday March 20th,
My wife had plans with her friends for the evening so I was turned loose on Normangee.
I spent most of the morning calling all of ya'll trying to find someone to go with me.
After being shot down several times I was getting really dejected until I ran into Jim who
just started working with me at the USDA. Despite coming to god's country from the land of
fruits and nuts Jim was willing to go hunting with me.
We got to the property and I noticed that the record-setting rainfall that we had received over the
last 24 hours was evident. We drove to the pond in the north pasture, climbed up the hill and looked down the pasture to see
the trap still empty. The whole place was a muddy mess, there was often an inch of water on top the the pig routings, I didn't want
to get stuck out there by ourselves so I played it safe with the truck.
Drove back to the creek, stopped just short of it and looked across, while the concrete culvert was crossable the area beyond was a mudhole.
I decided to hoof it from there rather than try to turn around in a mudslick
As we walked back through the woods I was glad I left the pickup, mud through the woods was slick and deep.
Saw a couple deer right where Brian and I saw the pigs last time out, then turned the corner to see the second concrete culvert was totally underwater.
THe water over the culvert was probably 8inches deep, definately 6. I saw a tree down that fell across the creek bed a few feet to the left, down the creek, so I scampered across it.
We walked back to the southern pasture, Jim spotted something at the extreme southern end of the pasture that proved to be a deer, investigated the other empty trap and then headed north, The creek here was even wider and deeper than I had imagined, we walked along the creek into the woods
looking for a narrow spot to cross, I found what I thought looked like a narrow spot but not narrow enough to jump with a rifle and flashlight, but luckily there was dead tree lying right there.
I set my rifle down and Jim and I picked up the large piece of wood, intending to lay it across the creek and cross like we had the last time. All was going according to plan when SPLASH!!! I suddenly found myself up to the belt
in water. Since I was wading anyway I took my rifle from his side of the creek and placed it on the destination side, I waded across and crawled out of the water while Jim reconsidered the plan, I was constructing a wooden crossing
from another downed tree for Jim and when I went to get another big hunk of wood I saw Jim preparing to Jump. I was just saying that I didn't think he was choosing a very good spot to attempt such an aerial manuever when he splashed chest deep into the creek.
we squished and squashed in our shoes through the woods to the truck and feeling utterly defeated put the guns in the back and started to drive out.
Just as we approached the edge of the woods Jim felt the need to investigate something suspicious off to the right with the binoculars so I stopped. I glanced to the left where I knew there was a feeder and I almost missed them, there were so many pigs the entire corral around the feeder was 100% full of a solid mass of pork. I initially noticed the few outliers.
I excitedly told Jim "there they are!!!" Jim strained into the binoculars and admitted he didn't see them, "to the left Jim, Real close, get the guns!!!"
We dismounted and as I laid down and scoped the pigs up a couple of the outliers seemed to notice and moved away, not in a panic but they didn't want to stick around. It seemed for a moment like the entire mass was moving, I got a little nervous, I looked back and jim was still very near the truck holding a .22. The pigs were 50 to 65 yards away and slightly downhill. I made my decision not
to pass a sure thing by trying to let the newbie shoot first. I strained to pick out a pig shape in the last moments of light the day provide. I wanted to shoot through the herd so I found one shape in the front to aim at, I found a head, slid back a bit to rest on the middle of the shoulder and I pulled the trigger.
The 130grain Ballistic Silvertip entered the 50 to60lb black pig just below the spine and exited low on the ribs on the far side with a horrific wound that was 1.5 to 2 inches wide and 3.5 inches long. Entire segments of ribs were missing. Pandemonium erupted, pigs flew in every direction, all but one, the black target was flopping in the mud...I ran up to the feeder trying to pick up any good targets I could.
I saw one straight ahead of me dip down into a little creek and not come up. I ran to the creek bed and saw it come up the far side very slowly five yards away, I turned my rifle so the scope was at 10:00 rather than 12:00 and put the front quarter of the pig in the 90 degree corner between my scope mounts and receiver, I used both of them like the beads on a shotgun barrel and when I pulled the trigger the 50lb brown sow with long faint white stripes dropped in her tracks.
Further examination showed this pig to have a shattered back leg and a bad bullet wound through the lower GI track with a fairly severe hernia, which accounted for her slow escape.
Danced a little Jig, got real giddy, then loaded them up and drove around looking for a tree.
GOt them both strung up at the same time on the old Hoe handle I was just starting to take the skin off of blackie when catastrophe struck, my hoe handle which had been involved in the skinning of numerous deer and pigs broke.
Despite the obvious heartbreak I continued the fun until both pigs were neatly stacked into the shiner bock 11-beer cooler.
Drove home where my wife accused us of smelling bad, took a wonderful hot shower, put on some dry clothes and had a peaceful nights sleep.
2 down about a Thousand to go...
My wife had plans with her friends for the evening so I was turned loose on Normangee.
I spent most of the morning calling all of ya'll trying to find someone to go with me.
After being shot down several times I was getting really dejected until I ran into Jim who
just started working with me at the USDA. Despite coming to god's country from the land of
fruits and nuts Jim was willing to go hunting with me.
We got to the property and I noticed that the record-setting rainfall that we had received over the
last 24 hours was evident. We drove to the pond in the north pasture, climbed up the hill and looked down the pasture to see
the trap still empty. The whole place was a muddy mess, there was often an inch of water on top the the pig routings, I didn't want
to get stuck out there by ourselves so I played it safe with the truck.
Drove back to the creek, stopped just short of it and looked across, while the concrete culvert was crossable the area beyond was a mudhole.
I decided to hoof it from there rather than try to turn around in a mudslick
As we walked back through the woods I was glad I left the pickup, mud through the woods was slick and deep.
Saw a couple deer right where Brian and I saw the pigs last time out, then turned the corner to see the second concrete culvert was totally underwater.
THe water over the culvert was probably 8inches deep, definately 6. I saw a tree down that fell across the creek bed a few feet to the left, down the creek, so I scampered across it.
We walked back to the southern pasture, Jim spotted something at the extreme southern end of the pasture that proved to be a deer, investigated the other empty trap and then headed north, The creek here was even wider and deeper than I had imagined, we walked along the creek into the woods
looking for a narrow spot to cross, I found what I thought looked like a narrow spot but not narrow enough to jump with a rifle and flashlight, but luckily there was dead tree lying right there.
I set my rifle down and Jim and I picked up the large piece of wood, intending to lay it across the creek and cross like we had the last time. All was going according to plan when SPLASH!!! I suddenly found myself up to the belt
in water. Since I was wading anyway I took my rifle from his side of the creek and placed it on the destination side, I waded across and crawled out of the water while Jim reconsidered the plan, I was constructing a wooden crossing
from another downed tree for Jim and when I went to get another big hunk of wood I saw Jim preparing to Jump. I was just saying that I didn't think he was choosing a very good spot to attempt such an aerial manuever when he splashed chest deep into the creek.
we squished and squashed in our shoes through the woods to the truck and feeling utterly defeated put the guns in the back and started to drive out.
Just as we approached the edge of the woods Jim felt the need to investigate something suspicious off to the right with the binoculars so I stopped. I glanced to the left where I knew there was a feeder and I almost missed them, there were so many pigs the entire corral around the feeder was 100% full of a solid mass of pork. I initially noticed the few outliers.
I excitedly told Jim "there they are!!!" Jim strained into the binoculars and admitted he didn't see them, "to the left Jim, Real close, get the guns!!!"
We dismounted and as I laid down and scoped the pigs up a couple of the outliers seemed to notice and moved away, not in a panic but they didn't want to stick around. It seemed for a moment like the entire mass was moving, I got a little nervous, I looked back and jim was still very near the truck holding a .22. The pigs were 50 to 65 yards away and slightly downhill. I made my decision not
to pass a sure thing by trying to let the newbie shoot first. I strained to pick out a pig shape in the last moments of light the day provide. I wanted to shoot through the herd so I found one shape in the front to aim at, I found a head, slid back a bit to rest on the middle of the shoulder and I pulled the trigger.
The 130grain Ballistic Silvertip entered the 50 to60lb black pig just below the spine and exited low on the ribs on the far side with a horrific wound that was 1.5 to 2 inches wide and 3.5 inches long. Entire segments of ribs were missing. Pandemonium erupted, pigs flew in every direction, all but one, the black target was flopping in the mud...I ran up to the feeder trying to pick up any good targets I could.
I saw one straight ahead of me dip down into a little creek and not come up. I ran to the creek bed and saw it come up the far side very slowly five yards away, I turned my rifle so the scope was at 10:00 rather than 12:00 and put the front quarter of the pig in the 90 degree corner between my scope mounts and receiver, I used both of them like the beads on a shotgun barrel and when I pulled the trigger the 50lb brown sow with long faint white stripes dropped in her tracks.
Further examination showed this pig to have a shattered back leg and a bad bullet wound through the lower GI track with a fairly severe hernia, which accounted for her slow escape.
Danced a little Jig, got real giddy, then loaded them up and drove around looking for a tree.
GOt them both strung up at the same time on the old Hoe handle I was just starting to take the skin off of blackie when catastrophe struck, my hoe handle which had been involved in the skinning of numerous deer and pigs broke.
Despite the obvious heartbreak I continued the fun until both pigs were neatly stacked into the shiner bock 11-beer cooler.
Drove home where my wife accused us of smelling bad, took a wonderful hot shower, put on some dry clothes and had a peaceful nights sleep.
2 down about a Thousand to go...
posted by steven-hoffman | 1:40 PM
13 Comments:
Well dangit! I knew I should have blown off work or at least left early. Seemed like everything was looking good and lining up for a good hunt. Glad you broke the new guy in with a set of wet pants and a pair of bloody mitts. So, bullet performed antiquate? Sounds like it did its job. I had been trying to get some solids to run at the same POI as my general go-tos, however, I guess I put the project on the back burner, I got them pretty close. Plan would then be to just keep a pair or two looped into the sling to be used in situations just as that. Set and wait for a pair of noggins to line up and KA-BLEWIE. Or look for a trip on the back side of the two knot-heads. I wish I’d gone with you, it had all the elements of a good time; falling in the creek, laying in the mud for a shot, getting a double, seeing a bunch of critters, and I assume there was beer.
your assumption was correct sir...
I was satisfied with the bullet performance. I rather expect separation of the core and jacket when the target is within 65 yards with ballistic tips.
I was a little surprised how high the shot hit, but when I got up to the mudhole the pigs were in I understood, they had a good three inch wallow dug into the ground under the feeder, so the pig was a little shorter than normal, and the slight downhill angle anyway made the downward angle more drastic, I think on more level ground the bullet could have traveled through more critters but It seems to have splashed into the muck after #2.
Sweet hunt. Shooting into the group was a good idea.
Can you even guess how many pigs were in the field?
I'm having a feral hog ham sandwich today. That is the last of my meat :-(
Now I’ve got the bug real bad. Last night I laid in bed thinking about “the shot”. Now I sit here at work thinking about that satisfying “tha-wack”. There is something disturbing about not having a gunroom right now, I long to end my exile. I find myself basing my real estate decisions on the size and location of the potential gunroom. 2nd story seems like it would be easier to defend in a SHTF scenario, but it seems like quite a work out lugging boxes of bullets, bags of pistols, and heavy bbl-ed rifles up and down the steps. No, wait, that’s brilliant! Just rereading and realized when the wife asks if I “want” to go to the gym with her, I can say, “no thanks darling, I have my own workout program, come to think of it, its about time to start getting into shape, I’ll be back in a few days. I need to really work my flexor digitorum profundus and the ole lumbricals are getting sorta flabby.” I guess I can see people spending outrageous cash for a bowflex and machines of the like, look at what I have spent to build the muscles in my trigger finger. I guess I’m not trying to build the muscle, maybe tone it. I’m not doing a few reps with heavy weight, its lotsa reps at about 2 lbs or less. I guess the main point of this rant is I NEED A GUNROOM and I NEED TO GO SHOOT and I’M A FOOL FOR NOT GOING WITH YOU MONDAY
Brian,
at least 100 pigs, most of them under 75lbs. There was one white one all the rest were dark colored (browns and blacks).
Chris,
I guess you haven't found a place to shoot the 300 win mag in Houston yet
Both of ya,
Get your but in the truck and drive north.
WHEN? I will not be turning this stuff down no more, I need some!
Chris,
I was looking for rifle ranges around houston but the only ones I could find wanted to charge $$$ per gun per person or they were private gun clubs.
I guess we will just have to take it to Gause.
Brian, the private club route is the way to go. More knowledgeable people and less yahoos. I believe there is one down 288, private, with a 1000yd range. Once I get moved in somewhere and have a fully operational gunroom, we’ll go find us a range.
Chris,
I don't think a gun club would let me in with my guns (SKS, Rem. 710, and Taurus revolvers).
It might be a good excuse to upgrade.
Steve, while you were there, did the game cam tell you anything?
No, I didn't look, I didn't want to drive out into that pasture, water standing on sandy pig rootings seemed like a good place to get stuck.
I checked that trap with my binoculars.
Could you tell if the door was still open?
nope
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