Well, this evening around 9:30 I noticed several odd blobs in my thermal monocular, so I decided to check things out. Turns out, four small hogs were moving in and out of the tall grass atop the creek bank due south of the house. My firearm of choice was my 6.5 Bullberry Contender, which has a red shooting light atop it. But the hogs disappeared before I could ever find one in a clearing for a shot.

Several minutes passed, and then either 3 or 4 piglets raced across the back of the pasture as well -- seemingly along the same path as the others took. At that point, I figured I was out of luck. Their behavior told me they hadn't been here before as they paid no attention to the protein feeder or the protein tub located in the center of that particular area and were in a bit of a hurry to vacate the premises. But three or four minutes later, another hot spot surfaced from the west, and its gait told me this was a hog as well.

Since the hog was on the move, I turned the magnification down to around 5 or 6x on the Docter scope from my usual 8x setting, made sure the red dot was illuminated and flicked on the shooting light. I quickly found the hog in the scope, but the red light seemingly made it pick up its pace. She was not full-out running but still covering ground rather quickly. Fortunately for me, though, she was traveling on a path nearly parallel to my location and would soon be no more than 135-140 yards away.

As soon as she entered an area that had been shredded, I swung the dot ahead of her and sent a 120 grain Sierra Tipped GameKing downrange. I could hear the impact, but in the scope I could not see the hog. I grabbed the Leupold monocular out of my pocket and quickly scanned for any signs, but I saw nothing.

So we waited a bit before driving down there. Turns out, there was no need to wait. The hog was down and out and had only made 5 to 6 feet after taking the bullet, most likely due to her forward momentum. She landed in a slight depression (likely from previous rooting!), hence my inability to see her from my position. You could clearly see the red spray in the grass from the bullet's exit. The 120 grain TGK ripped through both shoulders, taking out the heart and the bottom of the lungs in the process. The wound channel was massive, yet I could not detect any bullet fragments. This bullet was expressly designed for Grendel velocities, making it a perfect candidate for my 24" Contender barrel. The MV of my load is just above 2600 fps.

The hog was not weighed, but my estimate would put her at 90 to 92 pounds. She had 5 buns in the oven and likely would have littered in two weeks or thereabouts.

Sorry for the poor quality photo. It was miserably hot and humid here this evening, and we wanted to expedite things with the meat.

Man you are hell on wheels with those single shots!

Enjoy reading your reports Bobby.
Always good to read you shot another hog.
Even more when it's producer like this was.

Thanks for sharing, nail a few more right quick.
No heat stroke, even piggies are not worth that.
Had a great grandfather die of heat stroke, back in 1903 at 33y/o, with 6 young kids.

George

Way to go Bobby. Keep 'em droppin'.
CB

Thanks. In a few minutes, we will be enjoying fresh pork tacos with diced cherry tomatoes, avocado, lime, cilantro, fresh jalapeno and sour cream. The meat is just finishing up in the skillet.

Looks tasty. I would hold the sour cream. Good eats to ya. Better get the chicken stir fry going. The Mrs. is getting hungry.

Here's something that is being made for tomorrow:

Another notch for the Bullberry!
Dang that chow looks good.

Bill-

That chow did hit the spot, so to speak!

The 120 grain Sierra TGK definitely has my attention. Powder Valley has them on sale 30.59 per 100, so I got myself a couple more boxes. They seem to be a perfect match for the 6.5 Bullberry and similar cartridges.

No avocado for mine, thanks.

Winds are mostly East to West here--and that is strange. Normally they are SE to NW.

That means it's eithr rifle or the west stand for a bow sit. Not tonight--forecast is for rain.

We've had a good dosage or east winds as well, which is odd at this time of year. And it carries scent directly to a primary crossing area, effectively shutting down any hopes of a hog or coyote approaching. The deer here are used to us and don't mind human scent. When I have suspicions of hog activity and an east wind persists, I occasionally use cover scent. But I hate having to spray down -- and even doing so doesn't guarantee that it will completely fool them.

Get a used pill bottle and fill with cotton, then put 4-5 drops of skunk scent in it. Open it as needed and set downwind from your seat--works for deer during bow season for me.

I used to do that a lot way back when I hunted varmints. I liked the two-part mix that didn't smell until you mixed it. Now I use Dead Downwind-types for cover scent.

Lots of times, though, I just don't feel like messing with it.

Back then, film canisters were in abundance around here, and that's what I used to contain the scent. They seem to seal better than most pill bottles.

I agree about the film canisters—used to be able to to to WM and get a handfull free. I tie the pill bottles to the leg of the stand ladder and open it when I climb up—

I’ve used the Dead Down Wind too but get just as good results with the skunk scent at less cost.

The best time and place to get cover scent is right after deer season ends at Wal-Mart. Twice now, I've found them on the clearance aisle marked down to 75 cents and $1 per bottle depending on the brands. Two years ago, they even had broadheads marked down to pennies on the dollar. I bought three packages and resold them on the classifieds, so all of my cover scent was free & I had a few extra dollars in my pocket.

They also tend to have the doe-in-estrous scents on clearance. Kept in a cool, dark place, they're still good until the following season.

I didn't make it there this past January, but I still have plenty cover scent from the previous purchase.

Nice work Bobby and your "poor quality photos" are better than my "best quality photos"

I got 3 the past few days. The first night I shot a shoat about 9pm under a feeder. After that, I set up at a watering hole and at about 10:30 a medium sized boar made his appearance for a mud bath spa treatment. I watched him with the thermal before slipping him a 150gr .308 permanent sleeping pill. He ran into the thick brush, but I found him the next morning, 35 yards from where I hit him.

Last night, I shot a smallish boar at another feeder at 9:45. They definitely wait until sundown before they come out.

I have an AR-308 with a Thermion 2 XP50 and also some Pulsar Merger XP50 binoculars. Totally love both.

good on you bobby! my 3030 still doing ok. 6.5 has been a temptation that never got going. carry on my friend!

quote:

Originally posted by domit:
good on you bobby! my 3030 still doing ok. 6.5 has been a temptation that never got going. carry on my friend!

Thanks. As you well know, the 30-30 will take care of just about anything we ask of it and is even more effective in single shots as we can use just about any projectile we want. It's one of my favorite Contender chamberings.