Hogs Down

[jwheeler331]

Made a hog hunt in Texas last night and got my first two Texas hogs. Also my first time hunting anything other than squirrels and rabbits with a hand gun.

Dropped these two with my Ruger Flattop Blackhawk in 44 special.

This was such a fun hunt. We were in a swampy bottom on Matagorda Bay and one of them charged us out of the thicket and I shot it in the head. Took two shots.

The other one was quartering away from me and one shot from the 44 special brought her down.



Edit for one more hog on the third night.

On a third shot my son shot it with his AR 6.8 in the chest and it charged us. One other guy shot it with a 10mm and once it was just about finished I put it out of it's misery with a single shot to the head from the 44 special. 

Great couple nights of hunting.

[jwheeler331]

Sorry. I have pics and will post them when I get home I guess. Can’t seem to figure out how to add them from my phone.

[hunter01]

That’s sounds awesome. How do you hunt at night with a handgun? Spotlight and red dot sight?

[James]

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[45MAN]

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE PICTURES

[brant]

My all time favorite caliber and handgun! Great job!

[sixshot]

Feral hogs are a lot of fun to hunt, I've never taken one with the 44 special but a good shorty with a heavy cast bullet would be close to ideal I would think. I've taken a few with the 41 magnum & 44 magnum & they worked great. The two I took with the knife were a little more exciting than I had expected the first time out. And it was at night!

Dick

[bigbore5]

Growing up in the swamp lands, we took hogs with dogs, a lariat, and a Bowie. Heel rope 'em, drag 'em back, stick 'em. Then my dad gave me a 357 Blackhawk for my 12th birthday. My cousin's and I still stuck most of them, but the big ones got lead. Kids just don't grow up that way much anymore.

[messybear]

Nice job on da hogs.
No lack of excitement I bet taking them with a knife.
Suppose a spear would be as well. Any one do that?

[x101airborne]

If you put an IR laser on your weapon and wear a PVS-14 on you head you can hunt them pretty easily at night walking around. They seem to be a lot less skittish at night. I have done this quite a bit just for the fun of it.

[hunter01]

Jan 16, 2024 10:18:01 GMT -5 x101airborne said:

If you put an IR laser on your weapon and wear a PVS-14 on you head you can hunt them pretty easily at night walking around. They seem to be a lot less skittish at night. I have done this quite a bit just for the fun of it.

Sounds a lot more like eradication efforts than hunting. Yep, they sure do some damage, but as a full time farmer/rancher, I feel it’s blown way out proportion. I actually like having some around for the hunt and the meat. The only places they really cause problems for me is in stands of Johnson grass. They absolutely love the big roots and it make a tractor ride quite a rodeo.

[x101airborne]

We have LOTS of them on our ranches. Many of the neighbors are senior in their years and rarely bother them. They dont want to take the chance at their age of dealing with them. We do get a lot of damage at certain times of the year. Right now they are looking for wild onions. They tear up a lot of area looking for them. And you are correct, it is an eradication, not a hunt. We shoot them just to shoot them. Unless they are under 100 pounds and fat as all get out we dont butcher them. If they do fall under that criterea I butcher them and give them away to my Spanish friends. Then I get wonderful tamales or carnitas ye mole. I have had many traumatic spinal injuries and dont like to ride a John Deere like I am trying to break a 4 year old stallion. I think "blown out of proportion" is a matter of where you live and how much pressure they get.

[hunter01]

Jan 16, 2024 16:37:25 GMT -5 x101airborne said:

We have LOTS of them on our ranches. Many of the neighbors are senior in their years and rarely bother them. They dont want to take the chance at their age of dealing with them. We do get a lot of damage at certain times of the year. Right now they are looking for wild onions. They tear up a lot of area looking for them. And you are correct, it is an eradication, not a hunt. We shoot them just to shoot them. Unless they are under 100 pounds and fat as all get out we dont butcher them. If they do fall under that criterea I butcher them and give them away to my Spanish friends. Then I get wonderful tamales or carnitas ye mole. I have had many traumatic spinal injuries and dont like to ride a John Deere like I am trying to break a 4 year old stallion. I think "blown out of proportion" is a matter of where you live and how much pressure they get.

Of course “blown out of proportion” is relative, however, I live in likely the densest area of Texas for hogs and see them every day. I see groups of 20-50+ on my wheat fields regularly. They graze wheat just like cattle and deer do. If they are causing you true damage, I’m sorry. Most of the guys around here that bitch about them wouldn’t let someone hunt them without paying a fee and would also be bitching if they didn’t have some around to shoot at when the deer season is gone. When I started buying property of my own, picked this particular area because it DID have lots of hogs, WT, and mule deer.

[x101airborne]

I have had two people from this forum come hunt hogs and I regularly had people from Cast Boolets come hunt them for no fee. I did auction off my first hunt there and the proceeds went to the owner of the forum who had bad health and no money for meds. I didn't make a dime. Search my name over there and you will find the thread. Lots of pictures and dead hogs. Same name, same handle. My Father even brought out some of his suppressed and full auto weapons and we had a shoot the last day before they left for Kansas. We didn't ask them to pay for ammo either.

And you are correct. Without insurance and some people who get a papercut want to sue, and not knowing the difference in people before they come on my property, I do have a lot to protect and no, I dont let every jack leg through my gate. I operate on the standard of "What happens on the ranch, stays buried on the ranch". People who know you might have a little oil money (pumps on the property) get dollar signs in their eyes and are looking for a payday. Yeah, I could hire lawyers and probably beat them in court but it will cost me 10's of thousands. I aint doin that. Cheaper to bury them or just dont let them in the gate in the first place. I personally prefer the latter "if" possible. The first if necessary. How many people get invited to hunt the King Ranch for free?

Personally if I only saw about 5 hogs a year, yes, I would keep them and harvest one when I wanted for meat. But that stuff aint the truth.

Edit to add... I know you didn't mean "me" exactly and I have heard the same out of others mouths. I just smile and think how ignorant they really are on the subject. I do sometimes get a little defensive about it and my mouth works before my brain. I mean no disrespect to you and realize you were talking about "other people". Sorry if I came off strong. My apologies. 

[jwheeler331]

Sorry it took so long to get the photos to ya'll but here they are. 
I was able to harvest two pigs with my Ruger Blackhawk. 

 

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