Big Boar - DOWN wait no he isn't....

Saturday Evening in Stephens Co. TX.

This guy was cross the open field around 9PM. I first spotted him at the tree line edge (375 yrds) but I couldn't identify if he was a small cow or hog. He eventually began walking rapidly across the field and that is when the shooting began. I had not factored in the distance as I had to wait till he was midway across to begin shooting so in my mind I was thinking 350 yards but in reality he was about 240 yards away. I shoot with a night vision monocular adapted to the back of a day scope so depth perception is somewhat skewed. Sounds like an excuse, I know...

So first bullet goes over his back and he starts a full gallop, slighty quartering away from me. I jack in a new round and I am still thinking 350yards so BOOM holding high and he stops running and seems confused (as in where am I shooting from). This is probably due to the muzzle brake I have on the gun is directs muzzle blast back to me. So I jack in round #3 and steady myself NOW FINALLY DAWNING ON ME I AM TOO HIGH and pull the trigger with the cross hairs on his shoulder... CLICK. MISFIRE (later verified the primer was struck didn't fire off) . So I jack in the last round in my .270 Marlin's magazine. Pig has now again started walking rapidly away I place it on the top of his shoulder and squeeze. HIT !!!

At this point I am out of bullets the hog takes the hit but continues walking. I frantically paw for new ammo, its dark in the blind I grab the box and whip it open and rounds fallout like confetti out of a pinata. I paw for another round on the floor locate insert reacquire hog in scope and he is standing but not moving. I watch thinking to myself that maybe I hit him on one of the initial shots, I know I hit him on the last... I don't want to continue to put holes in him. About 3 minutes pass and he falls over sucumbing to death.

Or so I thought...

About 20 minutes pass while I get out of the stand wait for my hunting buddy to arrive at the location with the truck. We head out on the field and locate him with nightvision, he is about 150 yards in off the perimeter road so we decide to dismount the vehicle and drag him to the truck. I have my 7.62x39 and a red light in hand and my buddy has his .45 Ruger Bisley on his hip. We walk to with 15 feet of him using the red light and he is laying still, DEAD still. My hunting partner says "Wait" grabs a mud clod and heaves it at him, strikes him in the head. He grunts STANDS and bolts off!!! I drop the redlight and hit the EWT Kill Light on my gun but cannot acquire him in that scope my partner raises his .45 and just as I get an image of his backside in the scope he fires, bullet appeared to hit the dirt between his legs. Frantically I run the 150 yards back to the truck, grab the night vision, I scan the field and see that he ran about another hundred yards and collapsed AGAIN.

I grab the Remington R-25 .308 and head back to my hunting buddy. We take the red light and the gun and begin stalking up on him again to within about 40 yards. I kneel and get ready to shoot , the red light goes on him, he stands again I place the crosshairs on his lower should and fire, direct hit. He stumbles and runs again.

This is a No BS story guys

Night vision detects he ran about 30 yards and dropped. We close the distance on him once more. We can hear him grunting so we know he is still alive, same thing I kneel, red light goes on and UNBELIEVABLY he stands again. Same point of aim low shoulder (I am trying for a vitals shot) and direct hit, rolls him right over.

He ran no more but it took a head shot point blank to end his misery.

Guys I don't like shooting an animal more than once, ever. BUT I took what I believe was three ethical KILL SHOTS and he would not die.

Once we got him back to camp, weighed him (178 lbs) and opened him up for backstraps we retrieved someone elses .22 caliber bullet from his neck (old wound), we took my Berger 140 grain bullet out of the top of his shoulder blade (first .270 hit) and we could recover none of the .308 bullets. None passed through his hide or shoulder (2x 40-50 yard shots).

This is the toughest animal I have ever dealt with, he was BUILT LIKE A TANK.



BB

Nice!

Like the actions photo stories!

Thanks for taking the time to type it up and share it w/ us!

David

PS I like your burgers, try not eat at your resturants too often, but they are good....

David

Sometimes they just don't know that they are suppose to die. Funny how some are bullet proof while others are killed with a claw hammer..........................


Chupa

Haha I was going to use Jack's image from google but wanted to avoid being sued...

homemade versions are better

Good job jack

we call them TEXAS bullet traps. I've taken them with a .17 Rem, in the eye(witnessed) and had them try to crawl off after a shoulder hit with a 300 Weatherby 180 gr Barnes bullet. Great for us meat eaters, bad for ranchers.

Nice pig. Good story too. Stupid question though...are you in witness protection or are you wanted by the law? LOL

Great story. Very nice Tank, I mean hog.

Great write up... Got my blood pumping..Felt like I was there. Nice hog too..

Hahahha naw Man I am a big supporter of Police/Fire/Rescue - I just avoid all chances of mistaken identity , they tell me I look alot like Russell Crow...

This story is all about the Hog anyway not my two missing front teeth

Daaang, how many rifles do you take hunting?

.

LOL KC -

As many as it takes !!! I didn't feel comfortable enough to use my new 7.62x39 in tracking this sucker down so in a bind you go with the gun you trust most. That Remington R-25 is a sweet gun.

You know in hindsight, playing this event over and over and over again in my mind - I should have keyed in that something was up when we first walked up on him. He was not laying on his side like you would expect an animal to be who was standing and fell over to die. Instead he was laying flat on his belly legs tucked in back and out in front and hugging the ground tightly.

This should have been my key to shoot him in the head first instead of using a rock...

Live and learn .

.450 Bushmaster...just sayin.........................



Chupa

So are you saying two .308 bullets bounce off him at 50 yards or that you didn't get a complete pass through on them?

They were direct hits so I assume they were lodged in his should shield OR in his bone directly. They did not enter his body cavity!

I would think a .308 from 40 yards (150 grain soft point) would have had a "concussion" effect that would have broken or fractured him up... but nope the appeared after death to be perfectly whole.

I'm still awe struck.

That would be one tough hog indeed.......Huh passthru?

I will say this however, I did once have a 110gr Sierra Varminter splash on a 125lb hog at 100yds. What projectile were you using in the .308? I had to follow up with a 168gr SMK to seal the deal.



Should have taken pics of the splash wound, but the website I call home has a "graphic pics" policy, so I tried to conceal it for the pics. The splash wound was bigger than a grapefruit and about an 1 1/4" deep exposing the sheild to plain site. The SMK was recovered in the off side just under the hide and was almost completely disentegrated. Internals were liquified and riddled with bullet and jacket fragments.

Chupa

Great Tacos !!


Enjoyed reading your post. That is a nice hog. Cograts

The R-25 was loaded with 150gr Soft Point Remington Core Loks, factory loads.

Email pics of the bullet splat to hunttxhogs@gmail.com

I got no policy against graphic images

Glad you guys liked the story, I enjoy this forum very much - almost as much as my Burgers and Tacos!

Oh, I didn't take any buddy. I knew I couldn't use them. It was pretty bad though.


Chupa

If core loks suck that bad I will never buy another box.

why do you cover your face?

Im just happy that someone posted a picture of a hog that actualy looks as big as they say it does!!!!!

Also not calling you a bad shot, but when night hunting sometimes the first shot is less than perfect, once you get them going it can be hard to stop them. I have experienced this many times, mostly with smaller calibers though.

matt

For the same reason I don't do facebook, myspace, and any other social network (forums). Once you put your face out there you never know if it will end up on a postcard from a foreign land or in an advertisement for E.D. (the medical condition)...

Better safe than sorry, those who i have had FTF meetings with from this forum will tell you I am a nice guy with nothing to hide and no third eye.

You can't shoot a big boar in the shoulder, ear shots only.

Well besides the earlier reference to a .450 Bushmaster, do you have any stories to share as to why you would make the above statement.

Obviously my one experience would seem to lend credibility to what your saying but if you can share a story that would be cool...

I also agree with the guy above who says once you wound them they are apt to become SUPER PIG i.e. SUPER PISSED!!!

Head shots,They dont run far.

I let the meat bleed out for 4 days, He's down now ain't he Boys !!!

I use a Remington R-25 in .308 shooting Federal Vital-Shoks with the 165gr Sierra GameKing BTSP. R-25 is topped with a 6x 3rd gen NV scope. I aim for the ear or the neck and they are DRT.

I've only had to track one hog, about 30 yards, and that was after going for the classic heart shot. Now it's ear or neck only and I've yet to have one make it 5 feet. You might want to reconsider your bullet choice. Not interested into being drawn into the whole 'Core-Lok' issue as a suitable round, but there are better ones out there.


Yummmmmm pulled pork.....

My NV setup is capped at .270 caliber due to recoil, I would sure love to get into a nice D-760 scope one day. What is the limitation on recoil for your scope?

When we hunt we overlook a 500 x 500 yard field, the rancher has laid down winter wheat for the cows and the hogs will graze on that as well (roots). So traditionally we have made shots in the 175 - 325 yard range. When they aren't on the move.

This particular hog was walking at a steady clip making a head / neck shot VERY difficult, especially when I mis-factor the range.

Frankly I was lucky to take this one down.

ive had my 270 knock them down and then i get to them and realize oh sh!t !!!! He had ran about 20 yrds in a thick briar thicket and I had crawled in to get him. WONT DO THAT AGAIN !

Then I have had them DRT with a 17 fireball.

IF I want to recover the hog I take ear or eye shots now, IF I am just trying to help on the population I shoot them about 4" behind the shoulder. With all that being said 99.9% of the time I collect one ear off EVERY hog I shoot to hang on the fence so the rancher can see what I have killed !

Prior to purchasing my scope, I spoke to a company rep who said it was rated for 50 cal. They even show it on their website mounted on one.

Not too sure about that, but with my .308 I have had no problems holding zero shot after shot. Hit 4 hogs with 4 shots in about 5 seconds last June. Got it on video. Last time I do that, at least at that time of the year. Sweated my arse off cleaning those damn hogs....