Hog hunting.

Post by **RBHarter** » 03 May 2015 22:20

Well we made the annual trek from just south of Reno Nv (about 140 road miles) to Wealder Tx (about 85 miles from some random location inģon the edge the of San Antonio, all toll a short little 1800 mile stretch of the legs . The hunt took place on a ranch of some 375 fenced acres populated with a number of exotics ,elk,red stag,roebuck , assorted antelope and goats . The hogs range from sucklings 2 "gotta buy another freezer". Our group of 7 managed 8 hogs , 6 from 50 -110# ,1 wrecked pretty badly guesstimated at 25# and 1 at 325.

A lot of folks wonder about what calibers make good Hog slayers well after 2 trips I can confidently say "by donno". Our group had something of every popular cartridge family. In terms of throttle authority it ran from 45 ACP to 264 WM and 7mm mag . Last year the 45 Colts 92' Rosschester made a good showing with the Lee 452-252 over 8gr of Unique. This year plagued by unknown what is ,I chose a 454424 Lyman at 257 gr (it's a Keith style SWC ) over 18 gr of H110 for a rather authoritative 1330 fps into 3" at 60 yd from field positions. Note to self ,that is such a pretty green yellow , blinding flash from the 16" carbine in the dark . Also ,get some of that glow paint for the sights ......
Another in our group shot a near full tilt load of 4350 under a Hornady 165 SST ,not my 1st choice but with my 3033 being discontinued I had to start someplace. The performance was good considering this load is probably clearing the muzzle around 2700 fps and her shot was 60 feet or so on a 50# hog the bullet ran the length and was somewhere in the head .
The 264 WM was a real treat being down loaded to a rather saddate 140 gr Winchester Spitzer mosying along at about 2700 fps or about 260 Rem or 6.5x55 speeds. This little gem took to hogs in the hands of a 1st time hunter ,excited doesn't even come close. 1 was about 65# and took the hit high on the shoulder with a face exit at about 75 yd. The 2nd was through the ribs ,not pretty but as expected with about a baseball sized exit wound . All 3 were bang flops.

On to the really baffling rifle a brand new 300WSM. No clue what got sideways here this 1 was all factory ammo 150 gr Winchester. The why is most likely that at 40 yd the bullets just blew up. The 165# boar took 2 solid head hits ,1 probably just below the brain pan due to head angle at the shot and the other just at the crown and inside of the ear nether looked to have exited after it was boiler housed by another hunter. Later he had a 125 yd bang flop hit quartering away on a 320 # and lost about 1/3 of a sub 40 # piglet. Point made it doesn't always go according to plan even when it does.

This was a special trip for me . It is the 1st time in 10 yr that I've been able to hunt with my daughter . It is also the 1st time I've spent any amount of time with her Marine. It was his 1st hunting experience and his 1st bolt action every shot is vital experience. At 32 I think he'll do for my baby girl (just 28 herself ) . One of my best and life long friends and a guy I trained with off and on during my 10 yr of fire service And his dad.
I was just short and simple on the wrong end of the drive lines ,under gunned for the 100 yd shots and blind on the night hunts as far as sights go. There was a change in format and it really screwed up all of my plans for the 92'. All in all I had a weekend with my daughter and SIL ,a best friend and my Miss . A guy can't ask for much more than that in a hunting camp . (a cooler fulla' pork would have been nice too but what the heck ).

Post by **357cyrus** » 03 May 2015 22:47

Sounds like a good time was had by all! Great, now I'm all revved up to meet my buddies at our hunting camp, and that meeting is almost 6 months away yet!

number1wrench · Post by **number1wrench** » 04 May 2015 13:08

Sounds like there were some lifelong memories shared. God can certainly be good to us. I've been curious about your header pic., are you from somewhere within 500 mi of the Grand Tetons? Not intending to be rudely nosey.

Post by **Ranch Dog** » 04 May 2015 13:31

Did your SIL hunt in flip flops?

Post by **RBHarter** » 04 May 2015 22:06

No ,but he's GI USMC sand boots weren't the best choice for either of them. His 1st hog dropped like a sack a taters then rolled down into a stock pond about 2 ft deep,and stink OMG !

Post by **Ranch Dog** » 05 May 2015 05:47

RBHarter wrote:No ,but he's GI USMC sand boots weren't the best choice for either of them. His 1st hog dropped like a sack a taters then rolled down into a stock pond about 2 ft deep,and stink OMG !

That is one way to get into hog hunting!

Post by **RBHarter** » 05 May 2015 08:23

The best part is that they left at least as excited as they were when they got there . The SIL has a feel for what all that stuff is that my daughter has talking about and why I spend too much for good boots. I have a feeling that he will be discussing caliber vs cartridge and within 18 months reloading and the best vs most cost effective and the things in between

Post by **RBHarter** » 05 May 2015 08:56

Why I have come to like big fat slow moving bullets over those long and lean built for speed gems. 264 WM wreckage even loaded down to a hot 6.5 x55 .

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My daughter at the bench to check sights.

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Post by **RBHarter** » 05 May 2015 09:36

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The SIL with his 1st.

Post by **62chevy** » 05 May 2015 12:22

Looks like you had more than a ton of fun. Maybe the daughter will share some of that pork with you.

Lee Loader

Hog hunting.

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