So far tonight, the hogs have gotten the better of me. Thanks to a brisk southerly breeze, I could smell them, but they were in some thick stuff down by the water, and it's too thick to even consider a night-time stalk into that jungle.

An hour later, my nose told me they were still there. So I gave up on that group & moved on to some open areas.

Nada.

I decided to make one last sweep through an area where I have a protein trough for deer.

Couldn’t hear anything, but with my hearing, that is not unusual. I got into a decent position for a good view and waited a minute or so and still didn’t hear anything. So I readied the 6.5 on a monopod, switched on the little Coleman flashlight and watched in dismay as about a dozen small hogs exploded like a covey of quail some 15 yards from me – and it may have been closer than that. Didn’t even attempt a shot. But if I had a shotgun with a 3” mag load of #4 buck, I am guessing one shot would have bagged at least a couple little piggies before they spread too far apart. Heck, #4 BIRDshot probably would have sufficed!

So I went home, had a glass of tea and decided to make one last patrol. Well, to make a long story short, the 'coons were out and about -- but the hogs were nowhere to be found.

Anyway, I popped 4 of them in the area of the protein. I took the last one home for a quick picture and just uploaded it.

I may have been a little overgunned, but none of them complained...

good on ya .. i am just an insominiac tonight

Jeffe-

I am like that often -- usually thanks to pain severe enough to keep me from sleeping.

But chasing the hogs is a panacea and my escape. And for the days when the pain involves the hips and/or legs, I've set up a shooting platform near the yard overlooking some promising hog area.

Good work, Bobby. Coons and coyotes are targets of opportunity.

Bobby--we had similar nights, but I didn't even smell a hog until I got down about 1:30 and walked to the feeder. You could smell 'em there as usual. Winds were too strong, wrong directions, etc, and the game cam says they are still pretty regular from 10 until 2, so I was there the right time. I had 2 coon visitors and 2 armadillos, no owls, and about a dozen planes flew over plus the space station. However, the Big Dipper was directly overhead and bright and clear!!!

Bobby, I know a little about the pain thing, comes with getting a bit long in the tooth.

At least you have a ready deversion to get your mind off of it. Your past post suggest that you will put up some points sooner, rather than later.

lm