25 July 2016, 18:16
Bobby Tomek5:55 a.m. hog with the 7mm Bullberry
Couldn't sleep last night, so I periodically took a peek outside with binos to see if anything was stirring. And just before 6 a.m. this morning, I noticed some out-of-place blobs that definitely weren't deer down towards the creek.
I already had the 7mm Bullberry at-the-ready and simply turned on the illumination for the 2-8x42 Zeiss Duralyt as I knew this would be a tough shot in such soft, pre-sunrise lighting. I made my way to a sandbagged rest and waited for the largest to turn and give me decent presentation. One of the smaller hogs was getting antsy, and I considered changing my choice of target. But it didn't take long before I had a slight quartering-to presentation, so I put the dot on what I perceived to be the shoulder and touched off a shot.
The sound of the shot broke the morning stillness, and the audible "whap" of bullet breaking bone told me all I needed to know about the shot. The 120 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip, with a muzzle velocity of app. 2650 fps, indeed centered the onside shoulder and exited app. 3 inches behind the opposite shoulder, leaving a dime-sized exit in its wake but making absolute mush of the vitals. The hog made a small semi-circle at the shot, covering may 15 yards total before dropping in virtually the same spot as she originally stood. I later ranged a bush right next to where the plump sow had stood, and the viewfinder said 191 yards.
Years ago, I never would have considered illumination in a scope. But this small, sharply-focused and unobtrusive dot in the Duralyt's #60 reticle is amazing as it can be adjusted down so low that it will not negatively affect your vision under the poorest of lighting conditions.