I had the pleasure of visiting Gato last weekend for a hog hunt. I was in Little Rock, AR for two weeks and took him up on an offer to return to hog nirvana, or as close as can be IMO.

Rifles used were the new Howa 1500 Mini. One a 20” carbine barrel 7.62x39 and the other a 22” Heym barrel in 224 LBC that I chambered and installed a few months ago from a blank I bought cheap from Numrich.
The 7.62 was loaded with two different loads. One with 125gr .310”Cavity Back Bullets which did an excellent job, showing rapid expansion with great penetration. The other was the same charge and the .311” 125 gr Sierra Prohunter. This load also did well but only had a head shot with it so standard performance was hard to judge other than killing the biggest hog of the trip. Both at 2350fps.
The 224 had 50gr TTSX going 3500.

I was done with my business in Little Rock by 9:30A.M. last Friday and headed his way. I swung through a little town near Hot Springs to visit Dan’s Whetstones as I told Gato to expect me around 3 and I had plenty of time. Bought a couple good stones for knife sharpening including the coveted black and translucent for the final honing process. Made it to NE TX a little early and was on the ranch by 2:00.
A handshake and a little small talk when Gato says get your gun, let’s take a drive I’ll show you the place again. The drive lasted maybe 5-600 yards before We spotted some pigs grazing around a large corral. There was one larger white one, a mix of 70-100lbrs, and the variety of a few smaller. Wind was good and I jumped out and stalked...OK, strolled off to the side to get a tree in between us and walked w/in 60 yards or so. At that point I was trying to get a shot on the big white one, but with the brush and the cattle panels it was tough. Finally a decent one was clear and I took a knee and shot, aiming for a center neck, just ahead of the shoulder...dropped that one, swung on another that broke through the corral to the right and rolled him, then tried to get on the white one that broke left up to the tree line, nope, too far and already about there. Checked back to the right but nothing else broke that way but the one I rolled was on its feet making pretty good time...I promptly shot again and missed. It fell over in another 10 feet and that was it...pretty good start! Due to limited visibility through the brush hand cattle panels they both ended up being the 30-40lb variety of pigs with the larger ones escaping with nothing more than a little ringing in their ears. These were shot with the 7.62 and CBB and I was really impressed with their performance. Good shock effect, wound channel and penetration.

Gato drove down and I tossed the wee pigs into the back and we commenced to butchering. His buddy Randy stopped out to assist but they both looked somewhat relieved that I was able to do the skinning and quartering with very little assistance although I later found out I had a few tips to learn from these two. I suppose when you’ve broken down a few hundred hogs you learn what works best.

I’m not sure it was even 4:00 at that point so we took another drive and made it another 200 yards further than last time when more pigs were spotted in the next pasture over. Feeling smug I walked up on them a little farther away this time as the wind wasn’t as good and they were moseying toward some thicker brush. I laid prone and picked out the largest one visible and later found out shot a front leg, breaking it....more on that later. Looked for a bit and couldn’t find any sign but a good sized pig broke cover and was trotting away at 200 or so...missed that one twice and at that point received some light hearted observations from Gato...well deserved and I was still enjoying the hell out of myself.

After all that we split up and I sat on a feeder Gato had graciously filled the week prior in order to increase my odds of success. I was in a blind by 6:00 and enjoyed the abundance of wildlife running around the place. For a Northerner, having armadillos walk 2 feet away from a ground blind was interesting along with seeing raccoons, red-headed woodpeckers, a Piliated Woodpecker, scissor-tailed flycatchers, and the list goes on. At about 7:00 a large black boar trots into the feeder maybe 30 minutes after it spins, and a sent him squealing away when I knocked the stand with the forend of the rifle when pushing it out the window.....shit, really screwed that one up! 5 minutes later there was a shot to the west where Gato had driven to overlook the pasture I had recently missed that sow.
Shortly heard a truck drive to the skinning hoist which was only about 250 yards behind my stand. I could hear talking, and the boat winch getting a workout as Gato and Randy broke down another pig. Happened to be one with a broken front leg that was making its way back up to the woods from where I ‘missed’ the last group. I later heard some more light-hearted comments about ‘cleaning up’ after me which I was grateful for that he had ran across the wounded pig. Never saw that one as it was broke down and in my cooler by the time I made it up there. So now the raccoons had come to the feeder and right at dark they lit a shuck and hauled ass up past me. I got the rifle out the window (quietly this time!) and in walks a very large gray hog.... A REALLY big SOB. I was using the 7.62x39 Howa Mini and I had the 125 .311 dia Sierra Prohunters loaded to 2350 out of the 20” barrel. I didn’t like the thought of a broadside shot and tracking job this combo might produce so I shot him head on when he stopped at the feeder. Put it right on his melon at 60 yards or so and he dropped at the shot. I heard a truck start up and it was at the feeder just as I made it the 60 yards. The hog was down, but still kicking so I stuck a knife in his neck and sped up the process a bit. This is the only pig I took a pick of and I’ll try to include it, but an estimation of a solid 200lb was given. After getting him hung up, that increased to probably 250, which I think is pretty close. So after all of 6 hours on the place there were 4 pigs in the cooler....pretty awesome.

That night I was spoiled with some excellent grilled steaks, a salad, a side dish I seem to have forgotten and a new to me buttermilk pie...interesting and tasty.

The next morning I was out stalking on my own at first light thinking I’d be covered up in hogs. I had grand visions of a trail of dead carcasses marking my path through the pastures but it was not to be. Spotted a coyote 100 yards into my walk but didn’t shoot for fear of messing up the magic hour. Got down to the cattle corral and spotted a large group of 100+ lb’rs back to the east coming back from a night in the ag fields. They reminded me of a group of young hooligans up to no good as they trotted in an irregular path but generally heading my way. At 300 yards they cut to the north and disappeared in some scrub and I never saw them again. At that point I came to the next pasture and started thinking driving my pickup while hunting would be a better plan as I couldn’t walk 100 yards without starting a small stampede of cattle as one group then another would raise hell then thunder away....I think the pigs clear out ahead of the ruckus and I never saw any more that morning. I did go back to the NW corner and had an enjoyable sit watching the incredible amount of wildlife (other than pigs) go about their business. There was a love struck tom turkey about 50 yards beyond the clearing I was watching belting out gobbles every 5 minutes that just added to the enjoyment. I wandered back to the shed and messed straightened out my pickup a bit, then drove over to the pasture past the corral and found a shady spot to park at eleven or so as Randy and Gato were planning on stopping out around 2:00. Had a nice nap and got to know a few of the cows that stopped by with a few questions. They were very different than in the morning as they woke me up every 20 minutes or so by rocking the truck while rubbing on the corners.

Gato made plans to fry some catfish around 4 or 5 that afternoon as eating after the evening hunt made for a late night. Randy had some repairs to do on a feeder the cattle knocked over so I went along and we trimmed a few branches out of the way of a blind along with rebuilding and staking a different feeder out to replace the damaged one. At 4 or so Randy was getting the cooking stuff ready and I offered up a Lake Ouachita striper of about 7 lbs I caught the previous weekend and was just thawed. I trimmed up the filets for him and Gato says ‘get your gun’ and we went for a drive. Just past the corral I spot another group of hogs feeding and I get out for a stalk. I only went to the nearest tree as the wind was not ideal. I learned from past mistakes and had my rangefinder along and they were 189 yards. I had the other Howa Mini that I had rebarreled and chambered in 224 LBC with a Heym stainless .224 blank I picked up cheap from Numrich. 50 gr Barnes TTSX at 3500 FPS did a great job on a 100ish lb sow. Put it through both shoulders and she dropped on the spot. I was so pleased enough I didn’t even look at or attempt to shoot at any of the others hauling ass away. We hauled the pig back to the skinning pole and hoisted it up in preparation then headed back to the shack to check on the cooking. Gato’s wife Jen arrived with more great food and I ate probably more than a few pieces of fried Red River catfish and striper then went back and made quick work on the hog and got her in the cooler. Went much faster after seeing Randy do his thing on the big boar and picking up a few tricks. I got back to the shed in time to enjoy more great fish, coleslaw, French fries, fried potatoe rounds, hush puppies, and a very good banana pudding....about as southern as you can get I imagine. After visiting a bit more I realized it couldn’t get much better at that point and with 5 pigs on ice I had more than 900 miles to go to get home. I’m fairly certain more pigs would have died that evening but I had work on Monday and hadn’t seen the family in 2 weeks. We said our goodbyes and for me it was mostly ‘Thank You’s’ and I was on my way home. Got home Sunday evening at 6:00.

It was a great hunt and I’m really starting to enjoy hog hunting as much as any other game, maybe more.

It was a real pleasure having Matt visit and I wish he could come again soon, but Wisconsin is not next door. I was gifted with a double dose of Wisconsin cheese which was excellent. That 8 y old Wisconsin Cheddar is some good stuff.

Wisconsin must have some odd people in it. This is the first true hunting story, where I knew what happened, that I've ever read.

Matt did a fine job, but he left plenty for seed. We are looking forward to his next visit, once every 4 or 5 years is not often enough, although I just about foundered myself on Randy's fish (and Matt's striper was great) and Jen's nanner pudding. I didn't eat anything for the next 30 hours or so which is a near record for me.

Sounds like the hunter had a great and productive hunt.

There was just too much to see, do, shoot while there to think up any form of embellishment...this little weekend hunt was a treat. It's been three years since I've gone out west elk hunting due to kids being born, job, military, etc and this was really a wonderful mini-vacation. Took the stress right out of me and I enjoyed every moment!

I was up past midnight on Monday grinding pork into some really tasty breakfast sausage. I mixed in some pork belly as it's so lean and have enough of that to last awhile and now am thinking brats might be fun to try too.

Last night I added some of the leftover breakfast sausage to two pounds of ground beef and made an excellent meat loaf that the family enjoyed.

Sounds like a gracious guest matched with a gracious host. Congratulations on a productive hunt.

Blurry pic added.

Sounds like a good time was had by all. Congratulations!