My hunting partner, SHOOTER, headed to the lake with his family to try and blind folks with his white legs for the 4th weekend. I decided to head up to Bedias (that's "bee-dice" for all you non-Texan'sl) and hunt hogs with Jed, aka redlegg, and his partner Clark at Tacitical Hog Control. They have taken hog hunting to a new level, both technically and in excitement. They use state of the art night vision goggles and FLIR thermal and night vision scopes.

"The goggles we use are helmet-mounted Gen-III ANVIS-9's (Aviator's Night Vision Imaging System). These are the same goggles that are currently being used by many of our jet fighter and attack helicopter pilots. There are no finer night vision goggles available in the world today. Most of our weapons are fitted with Gen-III, 6x Raptor night Vision weapon sights. These night scopes are the same models that are currently being used by our advanced ground troops and snipers.

In addition to the latest in night vision equipment, the professionals at Tactical Hog Control, LLC., also use thermal imaging equipment. More commonly known as Forward Looking InfraRed (FLIR), these devices detect heat. No matter how dark the night is, whether it's foggy or not, the hogs can't hide from the FLIR ! We primarily use a handheld thermal unit to locate hogs, but we also have rifles fitted with thermal weapon sights (TWS).

The weapons we use are AR-15's and AR-10's in.223, .243 WSSM and .308. All of the rifles are fitted with either Gen-III Night vision scopes or thermal weapon sights. Most rifles are also equipped with infra-red illuminators and targeting lasers."

To say that my expectations for this hunt were high is an understatemet. To say that the hunt far exceeded my expectations is just a fact!!

I arrived at Jed's ranch about 5:00 P.M. on Thursday. Jed showed me the rifles, the helmets and goggles, and the hand-held FLIR. I decided to use the suppressed .223 AR-15 with the Gen-III, 6x Raptor Night Vision Sight shooting 60 gr. Partitions. We headed out behind Jed's "Man Cave/Shed" to the range to let me get familiar with the equipment and make sure everything was sighted in OK. It takes a few rounds to get used to the extra weight the night visions adds but you adapt quickly. Jed also let me send a few rounds downrange with the .243 WSSM AR-10 equipped with the FLIR sight. I couldn't wait for the sun to go down!!

Here is a shot of Jed's ranch in Grimes County, Texas, USA.



This is his 100 yard range with the .243 WSSM AR-10 and the suppressed .223 AR-15 .




Tactitical Hog Control
THC Link-Click Here

Here are a couple of shots of the equipment we used.



Jed and Clark have the vehicles to go with the rifles, helmets, and hand-held FLIR too!! They have tricked out a four-seater Polaris Ranger and have a Land Rover RSOV (Ranger Special Operations Vehicle). If you look close, the RSOV is covered with thick, irregularly shaped plastic sheets. This makes it harder to detect with enemy thermal vision. Now, civilians aren't supposed to have these, much less have one that is street legal. I didn't ask Clark how he ended up with one!?!



Here are a couple of close-ups of the RSOV I took in Clark's shop. If you look inside the headlights, you will see the integrated forward looking FLIR!

We loaded up the Ranger at dark and headed out to see if we could find some hogs!

Here is Jed getting ready to head out.



Here are Jed, Clark, and Tony. Tony is a good friend of Clark and Jed's who joined us to get some video footage of the hunt. Tony was been a professional camerman for 18 years with NBC and FOX. You have probably seen some of his work on "COPS". He now has his own production studio and does free-lance broadcast videos.


Did I mention yet that is was still 100 degrees out!!

We headed out to the first ranch we were going to hunt. Once we got on the sendero, we pulled our night vision goggles down and Clark started scanning for heat signatures with the hand-held FLIR. Now I had played with some Gen I & II goggles before, but I was not prepared for how far advanced the Gen III night vision is. It is truly remarkable! Night suddenly becomes day.



We were cruising along on top of a levee when we picked up some black dots "way out there", about 600 yards to be exact. Clark confirmed that they were "hot". We continued up the levee until we were parallel to them. We got out of the Ranger, grabbed our rifles, climed over the fence and commenced a 400 yard stalk. We were downwind from the group of hogs and were able to get within about 50 yards of them. It looked like high noon through the googles and the hogs had no idea we were threre. At first I felt "exposed" and had to keep reminding myself that I had night vision goggles on but the hogs didn't!

Three of us shot, with me getting to squeeze of the first round with the suppressed .223 AR-15. When the smoke cleared we had five hogs on the ground. I had managed to get two of them including this 200 lb. sow.

After we gathered up all the hogs we piled back into the Ranger and headed back up to the levee. All of a sudden Clark told Jed to hold up. He had picked up a single roaming boar with the FLIR. He was moving along quartering toward the levee in front of us. We drove the Ranger up to the point he was headed for and waited. Even 300+ yards away from us, we could tell he was a monster hog. We got out of the Ranger and headed to the other side of the levee away from the boar and stalked up another 50 yards below the top of the levee out of sight the hog. He crossed some standing water about 75 yards out headed for the levee. We were all set up on top of the levee waiting for him to pop out on top. I had my rifle ready and Tony had camera ready to roll. He reached the bottom of the levee and we waited, and waited, and waited................... Then Clark signaled us. The big boar had decided to start rooting half-way up the levee. Tony and I moved over the the other side of the sendero and set up again. I could just make out part to the top of his body. Then...he raised his head. I immediately took the shot. As the shot connected, he stood straight up in the air on his hind feet like he was giving a "high five"!! Now this would have been spectacular enough, but was even more so because of the size of this hog. He ended up being the largest hog I have ever taken. He was 275 lbs.!! Tony got the "high five" on video. I can't wait to see the footage!!

We ended up with 7 hogs between the three of us in a matter of hours. This is one of the most fun hunts I have ever been on!

It is a hunt that I would recommend that everyone do at least once!! I plan on doing many more.................

Jed and Clark have done everything right. They have not compromised on any part of the hunt. They currently have over 50,000 acres of "hog rich" land to hunt and that number is growing rapidly.

Bob


Oh, and did I mention that Jed and Clark needed to go over and look at 2 new pair of night vision goggles and another thermal vision scope they wanted to buy to expand their equipment locker? Did I also forget to mention that the ranch they were at was setting up for their annual "Machine Gun Shoot"?

Yep, we got to shoot some fun full-auto toys and watch Keith fire his Mini-Gun!!

That will be another thread!!!

..... good hunting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Bob-

That is absolutely AWESOME -- and some mighty fine shooting as well!

I've chased a hog or two in the dark but never used night vision equipment. Sounds like something I am definitely going to have to try before long.

Thanks for the report and the photos!!!

And by the way, that 275 pound boar is a BRUTE. Are you going to be able to post a video clip of that high-5? I've never seen a hog have that type of reaction.

Bob,

You are now officially THE hunter I'm most jealous of! You wrote a great account and took some monsters. Those boys are truly outfitted with the right stuff.

Hunt On!

Matt

That looks like more fun than a guy should be allowed to have!

Pete

AWESOME !!!
where's gato? he already driving down that way?

just AWESOME

Bob, I just wanted to say that we (Clark & I) enjoyed your hunt very much. It was hot as blue blazes, but we made the most of it, despite the weather conditions. I'm tickled that we could put you on your "BIG" hog as well. And soon as Tony is done with the editing of all that footage, I will get you a copy of the video. Thanks again, and I look forward to your next trip up this way.

Jed

p.s. Hows the tooth?

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
AWESOME !!!
where's gato? he already driving down that way?

just AWESOME

Well, these guys are high on my list, but after our 2 day sauna in Victoria, I have decided to wait for a cool snap where we might get down in the 70s at night, I'm thinking Sept or Oct. I never have liked being hot, even when I was somewhat skinnier, and the heat cancels out the fun factor in a hurry for me and, as I have oft stated, if I'm not having fun, what am I doing here?

Bob:

Good hunt, sounds like a real hoot.

Bob, sounds like you had a heck of a 4th of July weekend, you even provided the fireworks. My only caveat, doing a hunt like that could spoil ya'. Love to have been there. Count me as being a member of the "envious of Bob" club. Next thing you know you'll be doing "enzite" commmercials and being called smilin' Bob.
Great job and report. Hopefully you'll have the video with you on the javelina hunt.
GWB

Awesome photos, report, and hunt, Bob! What a way to celebrate Independence Day! You've done well!

I too am officially jealous!

That is Frickin' incredible !!! Talk about "boys and their toys"! Unfortunately, this is going to cost me as I'm now "googling" night vision goggles and scopes . Bob, any idea where they procured their equipment?

Great work for sure Bob. I'm planning to get me a light system which will illuminate my feeder from an outfit in Texas called Magnum Hunting Products. Have you ever heard/used their stuff. They sell feeders, controllers, etc.

Again Bob you are the MAN, no relation to DaMan I'm sure.

Congratulations ... wonderful fun!!!

How did the 60 gr Partitions work in the .223s? What part of the critters were you aiming for with the small caliber rifles?

Looks like a nice setup! I'm envious, Bob!

Wow! That's the way to do it!

Ya think we could package that idea and apply for a grant from the great State of Texas to outfit a few hundred of us like that? We could solve the hog problem one county at a time!

I might even fly to TX to do that

quote:

Originally posted by Larry Matherne:
Again Bob you are the MAN, no relation to DaMan I'm sure.

And you can thank the good Lord for that!

For you guys on the east coast, there is an outfit in Georgia that does about the same thing. I think it is run by a guy in the US Army Marksmanship Unit at Ft. Benning.

http://www.jagerpro.com/tacticalhunting.aspx

Sounds like the ultimate way to powder river some hawgs!

I just finished this hunt with three friends. Its worth every penny.

At night through their night vision equipment there are more stars visible than one could imagine. The milky way looks like a cloud. Trees are snow white as is the grass. Everything is in negative. Its a picture you will never forget.

Its interesting how one can walk right up to the hogs, set up and start blasting away. There is an amazing amount of hogs. You do not go far until you are into a bunch of them again.

Great picture, looks like a blast

This has to be the most fun to be had with your clothes on. I re-read this as it was fun to read the first time. I'm going to share this with a friend from work. We may have to book next winter. Good Huntin'. Packy

quote:

Originally posted by Palmer:
I just finished this hunt with three friends. Its worth every penny.

At night through their night vision equipment there are more stars visible than one could imagine. The milky way looks like a cloud. Trees are snow white as is the grass. Everything is in negative. Its a picture you will never forget.

Its interesting how one can walk right up to the hogs, set up and start blasting away. There is an amazing amount of hogs. You do not go far until you are into a bunch of them again.

Thanks for the kind words Palmer, we really enjoyed hunting you guys.

Jed

Too much equipment for those hogs , better go to Ciudad Juarez or Venezuela to looking for more "interesting hogs" , well done Bob , amazing stuff. Guille.

THIS IS AN ADVENTURE I WANT TO PARTICIPATE ,I JUST RETURN FROM POLAND WHERE I KILLED MANY BOARS BUT ILL BOOK A HUNT WITH THIS GUYS ...JUAN

Juan,

Just give Jed a call. Let me know when you can come and I will meet you up there. We will get it all on video...........

I hope you can work it out!! Let me know if I can help in any way!

Bob

Bob. if Juan go visit Your friends, they will need a lot drum magazines on the weapons that will use Juan !!! Guille

Guilly,

I have already told them to start stocking up!!

Bob