All,

Had a great time over the holidays thinning out the piggies on our family land near Sweetwater, TX. Prior to arriving, my grandmother and mother told me that the hogs had destroyed the front yard over the last week, and that I couldn't get there soon enough to kill every swinging one of them.
We finally got there on the 21st of December, and that day I put some fermented corn out in the Sudan field in front of the house with the posthole digger. Range to the corn from the house was about 100 yards, and I marked the location with a small orange flag. That night, while out having a smoke break, I noticed two dark spots out in the field, and thought initially that they were a pair of raccoons that had been getting into the garage. I grabbed my rifle to check it out, and was amazed to see that the two dark spots were just the closest two of about thirty hogs out in the field. It was nearly a full moon, so I decided to shoot without a spotlight after scurrying about twenty yards away from the house for a good shooting spot. Range was about 150 yds for the closest two, and they never made it to the corn. I waited about five minutes to see if more would get closer before beginning the engagement. After the first four rounds from the rifle, the piggies finally figured out that the field was not a good place to be, and started running off. I reloaded four more rounds and turned the spotlight on, which is not the easiest thing to manipulate from the prone on moving targets while simultaneously trying to shoot at them. When it was all said and done, this pig was laying in the field with two holes in it, I know I whiffed on one shot, and connected on five more shots. Not sure whether any of the other were double-tapped as well. There were several more blood trails, but seeing as it was very cold, I decided that they could wait until the morning to find them. Turns out there weren't any others laying in the field or in the surrounding areas. Day one piggie:

This was a boar that I did not weigh, but was heavy enough that I decided to get the tractor to move him out with. Best guess was around 200 pounds. Nuts had dropped and he was pretty ripe, so I decided not to clean him. Second shot hit too far forward and in the jaw, so not sure what kind of tusks he had.
Day 2 brought the arrival of my brother, which helped out significantly that night when the piggies showed up again. This time with the aid of a spotlight (brother holding), first shot hit where I wanted (center neck) and dropped it like a sack of poop. Range was lasered 148 yards. There was another piggie with him but it got behind the terrace and was able to run off in the dead space. This was almost a twin boar to the first one, but weighed about 25 pounds more. Same thing with the size and smell, so took it off to the boneyard for the coyotes. Day two piggie:



Now, the interesting thing about the second boar is that it had what appeared to be claw marks from something big on both of its flanks. My wife saw a mountain lion on our property a few years ago, and that is about the only thing that I can imagine would have made the marks. Here are a couple of pics I tried to take of them with my phone. That's my gloved hand pushing the fur away, and I wear large gloves.


The cuts were pretty deep and all the way into the fat at the top, tapering shallower as they went down. The ones on the right side were deeper than those on the left. I thought at first that maybe somehow bullet/bone fragments caused it, but they were way too symmetrical, and the shot was in the neck area. The cuts were very fresh as well. I don't claim to be the smartest person, but that's the best that I can come up with.
Day 3 gave my brother his first hog hunting experience (other than holding the spotlight for me the previous night). This time about twenty piggies made their appearance in daylight, but were at the far side of the sudan pasture. After a quick stalk and some low-crawling, we got to within 50 yards of the leading edge. He was shooting a Rem 660 in 6.5mag that I'd given him with 120gr Ballistic Tips, and dropped the first one with a neck shot. From there I dropped a large sow, and became fascinated in watching him work the bolt and drop hogs out of the group. All told four were laying on the ground, three large sows and one smaller boar. It was his first time and he did a great job. We got hits on some more, but had our hands full with all of the pork already on the ground.

Weapons used:
Me - Rem 700, .308, Leupold Mk4, 180 Sierra Game King SBT, 44.5 Varget, Nosler Brass, 2629fps avg
Bro - Rem 660, 6.5 mag, Weaver K6, 120 Nosler BT
Lessons learned:
1. Although the leupold scope did great in the moonlight, the spotlight helps tremendously in making better/more precise shots.
2. Pick one pig and ensure it's down before transitioning to another one. Although the intent was to kill as many as possible, I still don't like the idea that a lot of wounded pigs ran off. I try to think of myself as an ethical hunter, and realize I got greedy in the moment/ fever of acquiring and engaging targets (it was definitely a target-rich environment).
3. All of the piggies were extremely fat. I've only seen bacon on one wild hog before this last trip, and all of them had about an inch on them, including the boars. It's a testament to the amount of rain that W. Texas got this year and the abundance of food.
4. Pig hunting is fun.

Happy New Year and happy hunting to all.

LH3

Good work........and fun too!!

Congrats,

Bob

Ahhh ... tough job, but someone has to do it!

Interesting to hear reports that suggest the wet summer actually is producing visible impact on the health of the piggies.

Good job on lessons learned. Good pictures and stories. Thanks for sharing!

Stay safe have fun!
Matt

Where around Sweetwater? I grew up and my family farms and ranches some land around there.

Ed