Post by darrellh on Oct 26, 2015 18:30:08 GMT -5
I decided to mix things up a little yesterday evening and pursue hogs with my 209 X 50 Contender on a North Georgia wildlife management area. Since I have had such good luck with the Swift A-Frame in the 454 Casull, I decided to try the 44 caliber, 280 grain Swift over 70 grains of Hodgdon 3F Triple 7 in the muzzleloading pistol. I also have the gun rigged with the .25 ACP priming system by Precision Rifle.
I went to an area where I had found hog sign in the past and the ridge looked like it had been freshly plowed. I worked my way slowly up the ridge for about 200 yards and made a sharp right hand turn onto another ridge. I heard something in the leaves and thought that I saw movement. I froze. A black form was moving in the brush in front of me and it appeared that it was headed my way. As I waited, I began to pick up more black objects moving in the brush. I could see that there were several hogs in the group but I'm not picky at all when it comes to hogs. As soon as one of the hogs gave me a clear shot, I put the Ultradot on its left front shoulder as it was quartering to me and sent the A Frame on its way. Through the smoke I could see hogs scattering in all directions.
The hog that I had just shot ran to my left. I noticed that another hog had ran about 30 yards in front of me, stopped and just stood there facing away from me. Ever so slowly, I reached into my pack and pulled out a pre-measured powder charge, bullet, and sabot and pushed them down the spout of my TC with the ramrod. I pulled another 25 ACP cartridge out and slipped it into the breech plug and as quietly as possible closed the action. The hog then walked slowly away from me and out of sight. I carefully walked toward the area where I had last seen the hog. I heard rustling in the leaves, but whatever was making the noise was just out of sight. I finally caught up with the hog and we saw each other at the same time. I froze and we both stood there, staring at each other. Finally, it was satisfied that it was safe and started rooting again. It stepped into an opening, completely broadside, and I put the 280 grain Swift through both shoulders. This hog went straight down and began tumbling down the mountain until it was stopped by a log. It turned out to be a fairly large sow.
I then went back to see if I could pick up the blood trail from the first hog that I had shot but found that trailing wasn't necessary, I found it almost immediately. Another mature sow:
The reality of my stupidity then set in. I had just shot two full-grown hogs, I was about 2 miles from the truck with no road access, it was getting dark, and I was going to have a heck of a time getting both of them off of the mountain in my backpack. Luckily, I was able to get in touch with my brother and he agreed to come and help me pack them out! I was able to skin and de-bone the meat off of both hogs before he arrived. We packed both hogs back to the truck and I arrived home about 11:30 p.m. If my brother hadn't volunteered to help, it would probably have been an all night affair!
I went to an area where I had found hog sign in the past and the ridge looked like it had been freshly plowed. I worked my way slowly up the ridge for about 200 yards and made a sharp right hand turn onto another ridge. I heard something in the leaves and thought that I saw movement. I froze. A black form was moving in the brush in front of me and it appeared that it was headed my way. As I waited, I began to pick up more black objects moving in the brush. I could see that there were several hogs in the group but I'm not picky at all when it comes to hogs. As soon as one of the hogs gave me a clear shot, I put the Ultradot on its left front shoulder as it was quartering to me and sent the A Frame on its way. Through the smoke I could see hogs scattering in all directions.
The hog that I had just shot ran to my left. I noticed that another hog had ran about 30 yards in front of me, stopped and just stood there facing away from me. Ever so slowly, I reached into my pack and pulled out a pre-measured powder charge, bullet, and sabot and pushed them down the spout of my TC with the ramrod. I pulled another 25 ACP cartridge out and slipped it into the breech plug and as quietly as possible closed the action. The hog then walked slowly away from me and out of sight. I carefully walked toward the area where I had last seen the hog. I heard rustling in the leaves, but whatever was making the noise was just out of sight. I finally caught up with the hog and we saw each other at the same time. I froze and we both stood there, staring at each other. Finally, it was satisfied that it was safe and started rooting again. It stepped into an opening, completely broadside, and I put the 280 grain Swift through both shoulders. This hog went straight down and began tumbling down the mountain until it was stopped by a log. It turned out to be a fairly large sow.
I then went back to see if I could pick up the blood trail from the first hog that I had shot but found that trailing wasn't necessary, I found it almost immediately. Another mature sow:
The reality of my stupidity then set in. I had just shot two full-grown hogs, I was about 2 miles from the truck with no road access, it was getting dark, and I was going to have a heck of a time getting both of them off of the mountain in my backpack. Luckily, I was able to get in touch with my brother and he agreed to come and help me pack them out! I was able to skin and de-bone the meat off of both hogs before he arrived. We packed both hogs back to the truck and I arrived home about 11:30 p.m. If my brother hadn't volunteered to help, it would probably have been an all night affair!
