Bobby Tomek
06-07-2024, 01:33 AM
https://i.postimg.cc/YSRK02JD/sow-june6-24-65-BB-120-Sierratipped.jpg (https://postimg.cc/d7hSSFQG)
Well, this evening around 9:30 I noticed several odd blobs in my thermal monocular, so I decided to check things out. Turns out, four small hogs were moving in and out of the tall grass atop the creek bank due south of the house. My firearm of choice was my 6.5 Bullberry Contender, which has a red shooting light atop it. But the hogs disappeared before I could ever find one in a clearing for a shot.
Several minutes passed, and then either 3 or 4 piglets raced across the back of the pasture as well -- seemingly along the same path as the others took. At that point, I figured I was out of luck. Their behavior told me they hadn't been here before as they paid no attention to the protein feeder or the protein tub located in the center of that particular area and were in a bit of a hurry to vacate the premises. But three or four minutes later, another hot spot surfaced from the west, and its gait told me this was a hog as well.
Since the hog was on the move, I turned the magnification down to around 5 or 6x on the Docter scope from my usual 8x setting, made sure the red dot was illuminated and flicked on the shooting light. I quickly found the hog in the scope, but the red light seemingly made it pick up its pace. She was not full-out running but still covering ground rather quickly. Fortunately for me, though, she was traveling on a path nearly parallel to my location and soon would be no more than 135-140 yards away.
As soon as she entered an area that had been shredded, I swung the dot ahead of her and sent a 120 grain Sierra Tipped GameKing downrange. I could hear the impact, but in the scope I could not see the hog. I grabbed the Leupold monocular out of my pocket and quickly scanned for any signs, but I saw nothing.
So we waited a bit before driving down there. Turns out, there was no need to wait. The hog was down and out and had only made 5 to 6 feet after taking the bullet, most likely due to her forward momentum. She landed in a slight depression (likely from previous rooting!), hence my inability to see her from my position. You could clearly see the red spray in the grass from the bullet's exit. The 120 grain TGK ripped through both shoulders, taking out the heart and the bottom of the lungs in the process. The wound channel was massive, yet I could not detect any bullet fragments. This bullet was expressly designed for Grendel velocities, making it a perfect candidate for my 24" Contender barrel. The MV of my load is just above 2600 fps.
The hog was not weighed, but my estimate would put her at 90 to 92 pounds. She had 5 buns in the oven and likely would have littered in two weeks or thereabouts.
Sorry for the poor quality photo. It was miserably hot and humid here this evening, and we wanted to expedite things with the meat.
Well, this evening around 9:30 I noticed several odd blobs in my thermal monocular, so I decided to check things out. Turns out, four small hogs were moving in and out of the tall grass atop the creek bank due south of the house. My firearm of choice was my 6.5 Bullberry Contender, which has a red shooting light atop it. But the hogs disappeared before I could ever find one in a clearing for a shot.
Several minutes passed, and then either 3 or 4 piglets raced across the back of the pasture as well -- seemingly along the same path as the others took. At that point, I figured I was out of luck. Their behavior told me they hadn't been here before as they paid no attention to the protein feeder or the protein tub located in the center of that particular area and were in a bit of a hurry to vacate the premises. But three or four minutes later, another hot spot surfaced from the west, and its gait told me this was a hog as well.
Since the hog was on the move, I turned the magnification down to around 5 or 6x on the Docter scope from my usual 8x setting, made sure the red dot was illuminated and flicked on the shooting light. I quickly found the hog in the scope, but the red light seemingly made it pick up its pace. She was not full-out running but still covering ground rather quickly. Fortunately for me, though, she was traveling on a path nearly parallel to my location and soon would be no more than 135-140 yards away.
As soon as she entered an area that had been shredded, I swung the dot ahead of her and sent a 120 grain Sierra Tipped GameKing downrange. I could hear the impact, but in the scope I could not see the hog. I grabbed the Leupold monocular out of my pocket and quickly scanned for any signs, but I saw nothing.
So we waited a bit before driving down there. Turns out, there was no need to wait. The hog was down and out and had only made 5 to 6 feet after taking the bullet, most likely due to her forward momentum. She landed in a slight depression (likely from previous rooting!), hence my inability to see her from my position. You could clearly see the red spray in the grass from the bullet's exit. The 120 grain TGK ripped through both shoulders, taking out the heart and the bottom of the lungs in the process. The wound channel was massive, yet I could not detect any bullet fragments. This bullet was expressly designed for Grendel velocities, making it a perfect candidate for my 24" Contender barrel. The MV of my load is just above 2600 fps.
The hog was not weighed, but my estimate would put her at 90 to 92 pounds. She had 5 buns in the oven and likely would have littered in two weeks or thereabouts.
Sorry for the poor quality photo. It was miserably hot and humid here this evening, and we wanted to expedite things with the meat.