Fursniper
Active member
When the Hog Heaven Forum was created, it sparked my desire to try hunting feral hogs someday. I did not know the first thing about it. I was used to hunting little desert creatures in the daytime on public lands in AZ. Hunting 100+ pound critters at night on a private ranch where the ground is green is like being on a different planet for me. I had never been very far from AZ, had never seen a feral hog before, and never been on a private ranch set up for hunting. I did not know anyone who had feral hogs or where to start. Here is how my hog hunt became a reality.
The Predator Masters Hunt and Convention provides an opportunity to meet people from all over the USA. Most of the attendees are from states other than where the event is held. The people who attend the convention are very upstanding folks. I had met Venatic and Yellowhammer through Predator Masters and at the convention. They had permission to access some private ranches in Texas and offered to help me get a feral hog. This was a very generous and unexpected offer. Shortly after the PM Hunt and Convention in Tucson was over, I received some hog pictures from them.
They said that the hogs had returned to some of the ranches and asked if I was available to come to Texas. I said, "YES!" and drove to southeast Texas which was an 18 hour drive from where I live in AZ. I made the commute in 2 days and met Venatic in Waco, TX. The plan was to go to Jewett, TX and meet up with Yellowhammer.
Venatic and I arrived in Jewett ahead of Yellowhammer. We tried hunting hogs there, but the hogs did not want to play. However, Yellowhammer found this hog to play with on a different property.
Venatic and I then hooked up with Yellowhammer to eat dinner at a restaurant. After dinner we visited the landowner whose property we were going to hunt. The landowner let us borrow his 243 bolt action rifle with a night vision scope mounted on top. All of us (Venatic, Yellowhammer, and I) then got into one vehicle to do some serious hog management. The hunting technique was to drive around looking for hogs in a pasture then stalking them on foot for a shot.
The outcome started out slow and sometime after midnight the hogs began coming out of the woodwork. Yellowhammer spotted the first group of hogs using the night vision rifle. There were 3 of them about 200 yards away near the top of a hill. We walked toward them using the light of a full moon through an overcast sky. I carried the tripod and Yellowhammer brought the rifle. When we got within 50 yards of the hogs, I took a standing shot with the night vision gun supported on a tripod. This was the first time I had ever shot a rifle with a night vision scope. It was also the first time I shot at a hog. Yellowhammer said that I needed to drop them in their tracks, otherwise, if they travel 30-40 yards, we will not be able to recover them in the trees. He added that pigs do not have much of a neck so aim where their neck should be and the hogs will drop immediately. I squeezed the trigger on a gun I never shot before, aimed for the neck, and hog #1 dropped in it's tracks, DRT! Another hog was standing nearby so I cranked in another round, did the neck shot thing, and hog #2 hit the deck. The first hog in my life turned into a double and both hogs crumpled 10 yards apart. Both were sows. I was stoked!
The hogs continued showing up in the meadows the rest of the night. The hunting got pretty good so we kept at it all night. Venatic and Yellowhammer continued putting hogs in front of me. The next hog was a big boar and another group turned into another double on sows. Somewhere in the mix I had shot one hog that we could not recover. Overall, the first night I had shot 6 hogs and we recovered 5 (1 boar and 4 sows).
Shooting a gun with a night vision scope was way cool! Yellowhammer put the 700 pound pile of hogs in his truck and I followed him to Buffalo, TX where he had arrangements for us to sleep in a bunkhouse. Venatic went back to Waco, TX.
I did not expect my first night of hog hunting to be this productive. Despite being extremely tired, Yellowhammer began harvesting the meat from the big pile of hogs while I tried to help. The meat from the 4 sows was put in an ice chest and the big boar was given to the scavengers. As the sun was beginning to rise, we finally went in the bunkhouse to get some sleep.
Venatic ended up having to work during the day and did not get much sleep. Yellowhammer had a family obligation to attend and did not get much sleep either. The game plan was to start hunting again in the evening before it got dark. Venatic picked me up at the bunkhouse and we started hunting around 5pm. We got into the hogs instantly.
Before it got dark, I had gotten 3 hogs with my AR-15. Here is a pretty one in the flowers.
I also shot Spot! This hog was taken with my farthest shot and Venatic pegged him at 170 yards with a range finder. He dropped immediately doing the neck shot thing with a 55 grain Hornady soft point.
The last hog was taken just after dark with a red kill light. Here is a photo of the 4 hogs (2 sows and 2 boars) with Venatic on the left, me in the middle, and Yellowhammer on the right.
We stopped hunting early since I was quickly getting deep in meat and whacking hogs was becoming relentless. Yellowhammer harvested the meat from 2 of the 4 hogs. One of the sows was in poor condition and one of the boars was predicted to be bad tasting.
In less than 2 days, I had put bullets in 10, recovered 9, and we harvested the meat from 6. Yellowhammer had a meat grinder and the next day 100 pounds of meat were ground up into sausage with another 50 pounds set aside for pork roasts and chops. I could have done some night hunting on predators too, but decided to give the predators a pass and make the 18 hour drive back home to get the pork in a freezer. Getting most of the meat processed before leaving Texas was a tremendous help. I did not expect to end up with this much pork.
I can't give enough thanks to Venatic and Yellowhammer for their help and generosity and felt very fortunate to have had this opportunity. It was one of those hunting trips where the animals cooperated and everything came together. It was truly one of the best hunting trips in my lifetime. I hope they can visit me sometime and have a similar experience.
The Predator Masters Hunt and Convention provides an opportunity to meet people from all over the USA. Most of the attendees are from states other than where the event is held. The people who attend the convention are very upstanding folks. I had met Venatic and Yellowhammer through Predator Masters and at the convention. They had permission to access some private ranches in Texas and offered to help me get a feral hog. This was a very generous and unexpected offer. Shortly after the PM Hunt and Convention in Tucson was over, I received some hog pictures from them.
They said that the hogs had returned to some of the ranches and asked if I was available to come to Texas. I said, "YES!" and drove to southeast Texas which was an 18 hour drive from where I live in AZ. I made the commute in 2 days and met Venatic in Waco, TX. The plan was to go to Jewett, TX and meet up with Yellowhammer.
Venatic and I arrived in Jewett ahead of Yellowhammer. We tried hunting hogs there, but the hogs did not want to play. However, Yellowhammer found this hog to play with on a different property.
Venatic and I then hooked up with Yellowhammer to eat dinner at a restaurant. After dinner we visited the landowner whose property we were going to hunt. The landowner let us borrow his 243 bolt action rifle with a night vision scope mounted on top. All of us (Venatic, Yellowhammer, and I) then got into one vehicle to do some serious hog management. The hunting technique was to drive around looking for hogs in a pasture then stalking them on foot for a shot.
The outcome started out slow and sometime after midnight the hogs began coming out of the woodwork. Yellowhammer spotted the first group of hogs using the night vision rifle. There were 3 of them about 200 yards away near the top of a hill. We walked toward them using the light of a full moon through an overcast sky. I carried the tripod and Yellowhammer brought the rifle. When we got within 50 yards of the hogs, I took a standing shot with the night vision gun supported on a tripod. This was the first time I had ever shot a rifle with a night vision scope. It was also the first time I shot at a hog. Yellowhammer said that I needed to drop them in their tracks, otherwise, if they travel 30-40 yards, we will not be able to recover them in the trees. He added that pigs do not have much of a neck so aim where their neck should be and the hogs will drop immediately. I squeezed the trigger on a gun I never shot before, aimed for the neck, and hog #1 dropped in it's tracks, DRT! Another hog was standing nearby so I cranked in another round, did the neck shot thing, and hog #2 hit the deck. The first hog in my life turned into a double and both hogs crumpled 10 yards apart. Both were sows. I was stoked!
The hogs continued showing up in the meadows the rest of the night. The hunting got pretty good so we kept at it all night. Venatic and Yellowhammer continued putting hogs in front of me. The next hog was a big boar and another group turned into another double on sows. Somewhere in the mix I had shot one hog that we could not recover. Overall, the first night I had shot 6 hogs and we recovered 5 (1 boar and 4 sows).
Shooting a gun with a night vision scope was way cool! Yellowhammer put the 700 pound pile of hogs in his truck and I followed him to Buffalo, TX where he had arrangements for us to sleep in a bunkhouse. Venatic went back to Waco, TX.
I did not expect my first night of hog hunting to be this productive. Despite being extremely tired, Yellowhammer began harvesting the meat from the big pile of hogs while I tried to help. The meat from the 4 sows was put in an ice chest and the big boar was given to the scavengers. As the sun was beginning to rise, we finally went in the bunkhouse to get some sleep.
Venatic ended up having to work during the day and did not get much sleep. Yellowhammer had a family obligation to attend and did not get much sleep either. The game plan was to start hunting again in the evening before it got dark. Venatic picked me up at the bunkhouse and we started hunting around 5pm. We got into the hogs instantly.
Before it got dark, I had gotten 3 hogs with my AR-15. Here is a pretty one in the flowers.
I also shot Spot! This hog was taken with my farthest shot and Venatic pegged him at 170 yards with a range finder. He dropped immediately doing the neck shot thing with a 55 grain Hornady soft point.
The last hog was taken just after dark with a red kill light. Here is a photo of the 4 hogs (2 sows and 2 boars) with Venatic on the left, me in the middle, and Yellowhammer on the right.
We stopped hunting early since I was quickly getting deep in meat and whacking hogs was becoming relentless. Yellowhammer harvested the meat from 2 of the 4 hogs. One of the sows was in poor condition and one of the boars was predicted to be bad tasting.
In less than 2 days, I had put bullets in 10, recovered 9, and we harvested the meat from 6. Yellowhammer had a meat grinder and the next day 100 pounds of meat were ground up into sausage with another 50 pounds set aside for pork roasts and chops. I could have done some night hunting on predators too, but decided to give the predators a pass and make the 18 hour drive back home to get the pork in a freezer. Getting most of the meat processed before leaving Texas was a tremendous help. I did not expect to end up with this much pork.
I can't give enough thanks to Venatic and Yellowhammer for their help and generosity and felt very fortunate to have had this opportunity. It was one of those hunting trips where the animals cooperated and everything came together. It was truly one of the best hunting trips in my lifetime. I hope they can visit me sometime and have a similar experience.
