Well, I had a feeling about hogs this evening, so about 15 minutes after sundown, I decided to step outside and take a look. As I walked through the yard, I saw deer in two different areas, but they were paying no attention to me at all.

Every single one of them – probably 20 in all – was staring in the direction of a canopy of hackberry and grapevine, and a couple of the older does occasionally stomped their feet into the ground. This went on for 15 minutes or more until all of the deer bolted and disappeared. Shortly thereafter, as the light all but faded away, hog-after-hog emerged from the small grove. Several sows were in the 150-175 pound range, and one boar probably pushed 185 or a bit more.

But they were extremely skittish and constantly on the move. A couple of the larger sows even took off and went down into the creek bed -- a well-used escape route -- so I knew I’d need to take the first decent opportunity I had. It didn’t take long before another sow was about to go over into the creek, but she swapped ends, ran about 10 more yards towards me and stopped, offering a head-on shot at a very slight angle from a range of approximately 185 yards. It’s not my favored shot, and there’s little room for error (unless you want a long tracking job), but it can be extremely lethal given good placement and a proper bullet.

As soon as the dot from the Docter Unipoint 3-12x56 hit the sweet spot, I touched the trigger. The rest of the hogs scattered quicker than a covey of quail, but the sow I planted a 125 grain Ballistic Tip into whirled in what almost appeared to be slow motion. She staggered 15-16 yards and tipped over in plain view.

The sow was fairly large, weighing in at a solid 167 pounds. In another 5-6 weeks, she’d have dropped a litter of 9.

Anyway, the 125 grain Ballistic Tip, launched from the 24-inch barrel of the .300 Savage at a sedate 2740 fps, performed admirably. Due to the slight angle of the shot, it not only wrecked one lung but heavily damaged the rear portion of the other lung before boring a gaping inch-wide hole through the liver. It also penetrated the edge of a heavy, grain-filled stomach . At this point, it has not been recovered. Thus, the Ballistic Tip haters can say it exploded and failed ha ha!

You're doing well, killing ten with one shot.

George

Here's a better picture that Andy, one of our 15 year-old twins, took. It has much better lighting than my simple snapshot!

Look what was under the gut pile. It weighs 101.5 grains. The core is minimal and a little loose, but performance -- in my estimation -- was MUCH more than adequate.

Here I am again. Living vicariously. Good job. Another ten good pigs and with one shot! Be Well. Packy

quote:

Look what was under the gut pile. It weighs 101.5 grains.

There you go with more of those worthless Ballistic Tips. That's only 81% weight retention. What an abject failure. I'm surprised that the pig didn't jump up and throw it back at you. If it were a good bullet like a monometal you could have enjoyed tracking a "good blood trail". As it was all the sport was missing what with the hog lying almost exactly where you shot it.

Yep, at moderate velocities, those dang things expand and shed weight. Going to have to find something more reliable soon! After all, how is one to keep their tracking skills sharp?

I load my 99 with that bullet for my daughter..Get the same results on deer. I think some of these guys can't read, its the word HUNTING on the box..the others are varmint bullets and yes they don't hold together on Bison elk and what not!