Yesterday morning I was talking to the farmer growing the pumpkins. Not only does he own the farm where I’ve been hunting groundhogs, but he also owns a farmstand, garden center, petting zoo and other attractions appropriate to the season, especially Halloween with corn mazes and hayrides.
Anyway, he says to me that there are more hogs in and around the sheds, outbuildings and fields behind the main buildings, but I can’t hunt until 7 in the evening after all the employees leave. Works for me!
So that’s what I did last evening. I roamed the grounds looking for any hogs that might pop up. It wasn’t until I came to the crest of a hill that I saw a hog out in the middle of a field grazing. It was too far away, close to 300 yards, for the Marlin 17 HMR I had with me, so I kept walking. Pretty soon I came up on a hog grazing at the bottom of the hill I was on, near a shed about 125 yards away. By the time I picked a vantage point to set up for a prone shot the hog was 110 yards away.
By this time it had moved to the right, in front of the shed and facing me. I placed the crosshairs on its nose and let fly a 20 grain hollow point just as it dipped its head. I know I heard the splat, but the hog turned and ran under the shed. Expletive, deleted!!! Figured I lost it. But a couple of minutes later it comes out from behind the shed and walks toward me. It looks kind of funny, walking drunk like, so I take another shot at it. It takes a few running steps and falls over. I’m not sure what just happened, but I got one!
At this point I take a look with the binos over to the field where I saw the first hog to see if it’s still there, but it’s gone. So I go back to the truck, get the 22-250 figuring it might come out again by the time I get back. If he did, I would have a shot in the neighborhood of 250 yards, my farthest shot ever. Unfortunately, it never did show so I retrieved the first victim, took the photos and weighed it. I will be back for another try on that one plus anything else I might find at this new gig. I’m excited!
Here’s the DRT, a close up of what I believe is the entrance wound and the weight of a good sized male.
I figure the bullet entered the hog in the neck and may have hit the spinal cord, caused some other internal damage, but was not a fatal shot right away, hence the strange behavior earlier. Not sure if the second shot even hit or was necessary. Guess I’ll never know without an autopsy. Another example of just how tough these hogs are!!!
Anyway, he says to me that there are more hogs in and around the sheds, outbuildings and fields behind the main buildings, but I can’t hunt until 7 in the evening after all the employees leave. Works for me!
So that’s what I did last evening. I roamed the grounds looking for any hogs that might pop up. It wasn’t until I came to the crest of a hill that I saw a hog out in the middle of a field grazing. It was too far away, close to 300 yards, for the Marlin 17 HMR I had with me, so I kept walking. Pretty soon I came up on a hog grazing at the bottom of the hill I was on, near a shed about 125 yards away. By the time I picked a vantage point to set up for a prone shot the hog was 110 yards away.
By this time it had moved to the right, in front of the shed and facing me. I placed the crosshairs on its nose and let fly a 20 grain hollow point just as it dipped its head. I know I heard the splat, but the hog turned and ran under the shed. Expletive, deleted!!! Figured I lost it. But a couple of minutes later it comes out from behind the shed and walks toward me. It looks kind of funny, walking drunk like, so I take another shot at it. It takes a few running steps and falls over. I’m not sure what just happened, but I got one!
At this point I take a look with the binos over to the field where I saw the first hog to see if it’s still there, but it’s gone. So I go back to the truck, get the 22-250 figuring it might come out again by the time I get back. If he did, I would have a shot in the neighborhood of 250 yards, my farthest shot ever. Unfortunately, it never did show so I retrieved the first victim, took the photos and weighed it. I will be back for another try on that one plus anything else I might find at this new gig. I’m excited!
Here’s the DRT, a close up of what I believe is the entrance wound and the weight of a good sized male.
I figure the bullet entered the hog in the neck and may have hit the spinal cord, caused some other internal damage, but was not a fatal shot right away, hence the strange behavior earlier. Not sure if the second shot even hit or was necessary. Guess I’ll never know without an autopsy. Another example of just how tough these hogs are!!!
