Well, this was not the longest shot I have made, but it may have been the toughest. I knew that a boar had been working the area and possibly taking some fawns, and I was hoping a little temptation we put out for him would eventually get me a shot. To be honest, I did not feel like doing this today as I felt pretty bad, but with a bit of day light left – and thinking about those frisky little fawns we had been watching daily -- I drug myself outside the front yard to a vantage point and proceeded to wait. I watched a few deer, some feisty cottontails and an aggressive ‘coon and was about to go inside as it was nearly fully dark. But I noticed one particular deer backing up, its head intently turned towards the direction the hogs would likely come from. Within a minute or so, this boar appeared, but my optics (VX2) were a bit outmatched by the onset of darkness, though the #4 reticle did give me what I needed to eventually make the shot. I had a hard time discerning front end from back, but after settling down, I watched as the hog turned and gave me what I believed to be a clear view of the vitals. It was now or never, so I quickly touched off a shot. I was fairly certain I heard the impact of the bullet, but given the difficulty of the situation and the near-dark conditions, I decided to wait a few minutes before checking things out.

I went into the house and was immediately interrogated for details. I told them I was hoping I had laced the lungs but wanted to give the hog some time as the conditions may have affected my placement. And with my lack of mobility, the last thing I wanted was to meet up with a wounded, angry boar. At this point, I was also thankful I chose the 7mmBB over the .309 JDJ – even though the .309 is decidedly more potent and topped with Zeiss glass -- as I trusted it thoroughly and knew that if I did my part, it would come through for me as it had done every time for the past 16 or so years. After about 10 minutes, I cranked up the old Kawasaki and drove down towards where the hog last stood. But before I got there, I could already see the big boar – stretched out and unmoving no more than 20 yards from where he had absorbed the impact of the Nosler 7mm 140 grain Solid Base. The bullet perfectly centered the lungs and continued on, leaving a nickel-sized exit in its wake.

I was thrilled to take out this hog and hopefully give some of these fawns a better chance at survival. And while this was nothing more than an ADC-type situation, I was excited at the results as making this shot was not exactly a piece of cake. I just hope the next one shows up with a little more light left…

Excellent work!

Tommy,

Waidmannsheil, Buddy!

As usual great shot, a good Tale and nice Photo to round out the Story - just excellent!



..... and Yes, those Piggers can be devestating on fawns, especially our even smaller-sized Roe Deer fawns.

Sadly, the current flooding catastrophy here in The Fatherland has taken it's toll, right in the middle of Roe Deer dropping their fawns; we've already found a number of casualties on the Rhein flood plain in my Buddy's lease.

Your discourse on the optics a valid point. All the Young Studs want the High-Priced variables today although a solid brand name 8x56 with a German #4 will do the trick almost every time eaking about all the light available but they are large, heavy and not really the perfect option for US day-time hunting situations.

Stay Well and tip some more Keilers over!

Great Job Bobby.

I have been working on the raccoons myself. Have taken out 5 in the past 6 days.

One reason is to try and help the quail and turkey populations as those birds are nesting, but another reason, one I had never really thought about until a friend of mine who was the head biologist at one of TP&W's game management areas up in the panhandle told me about it, but a 15 to 20 pound or larger coon has no problem at all taking out a week old or less fawn if they come across it.

You are dead-on about big boar coons and young fawns. You'd be surprised how many folks do not realize that.

Nice work, Bobby! Good to see you doing your part in hog erradication! We count on you!

Good work nailing him Bobby!!

And another one bites the dust.

Good stuff.

I'm rarin' to go myself, but it may be a little while before I can assuage the symptoms of SDD (shooting deficit disorder) by nailing a couple hoglets.

Good that you can do that at will.

Best


GWB

That's great!
Did you have someone that wanted this one too?
OR did you leave him to the hogs to eat?
Sorry to hear you're not doing so well. Hope it lets up so you can get out a bit more.
George

Thanks, George. Yes, someone came to get this one, too. I ahve a list of a few folks who are more than happy to take fresh pork off my hands. I am thankful for that because it is rare that I have the strength to deal with even simple field dressing anymore.

Hope you feel better Bobby! Glad to see you managed a nice hog!

congrats my friend ,well done

Bobby:
Although we don't know each other except on here. I feel your pains as I can't do the field dressing anylonger either. My last deer I got lucky as I'd met some brothers & Dad from Ark hunting the same area and hauled one of theirs out in my trk. When I shot, I'd barely gotten to the buck when these guys came to help me out. They even drug it to the trk and loaded, then insisted I drive the 9mi to their camp and cut it up for me. Couldn't ask for better guys or more appreciated help. All over back surgery the yr before that hadn't healed completely. I'd of gotten it done alone but, it sure would have been a miserable ordeal.
Now I'm back in the same place with these shoulders, R to be replaced in two wks, and fully expect another back surgery before the summer is over. Nope, not even planning on going this yr. Know I couldn't manage it but, sure will miss going.

Wish you the best down there,
George

good shooting!!!....

Bobby--
wtg!!! Big body and little head on that one.

Not an accident, that was pure skill. There's an awful lot of gun-toters around today that don't know "how" to shoot. PM follows. GW