Important Business

[staggerlee]

Hogs

Are these hogs a cross of a domestic hog and a Javelina?
Lee

[motorjock]

Here's a pic of a big boar I shot last year. The guy in the pic is a Marine friend that was home on break from Iraq. I took him hunting with me and he was able to get a nice 8 point on this same morning. Notice the tusks on this boar. He was about 300 lbs.

[motorjock]

I'll keep a sow as long as she's under 100 pounds. I just can't get past the smell of the boars to even attempt field dressing it. When I shoot those big old boars I call a less fortunate hispanic man that's always happy to come and get them to feed his family. I usually provide him and his family with a couple of deer too.

Now the small sows are pretty good eating. We field dress and skin them, clean 'em up and then put a rub on 'em and smoke 'em whole for about 15 hours. Not bad.

Those boars are just rank and tough.

As for the head shot...It's the only way I know to put those big hogs down with 1 shot. Otherwise, they'll run forever and you may never catch them. They've got a large plate of armor (made of bone and gristle) over their shoulder's that can cause bullet deflection. They are some of the toughest beasts I've ever seen.

This particular shot was made at last light, 170 yards, with a Browning A-bolt in .270 Win, using Hornady Lite Magnum ammo in 140 grain boat-tail soft points, Leupold scope. That shot anchored him in place without even a reflex twitch. It literally went in one ear and out the other. Sorry for the visual.

These feral hogs have spread across Texas like wildfire and are threatening other species. They'll eat anything. It's documented that they eat new born deer and calves, turkey and quail nest, not to mention the destruction they do to the land and fences. They can reproduce at 6 months and will frequently have 2 litters or more per year of up to 10 piglets. One of the bigger problems with them is they are almost always black and they're eyes do not reflect light from car headlights. Now imagine tooling down a country road after dark and you run up on a herd of them in the middle of the roadway. By the time you see them and realize what they are there's no time to stop and you just totaled a car. So this is why I do my part in helping to reduce their numbers.

[drfife]

...I just harvested a big ol' piggy....

Nice head shot.

Have you cooked one of those beasts? How do they taste?

[Deputy278a]

Just did a google on them. You have a lot of shooting to do there. Was reading an article that there is over 2 million of them across the state doing a lot of damage.

[JEBar]

Hey Jim,
Better bring your pit with you to Texas. I just harvested a big ol' piggy. I'd guesstimate he's between 200 and 250 lbs. He's been scaring the hell out of the deer in my pasture and playing soccer with 50 pound feed blocks. Not to mention tearing through fences and rooting up everything. But those days are over for him now.

congratulations on taking that hog .... have you ever tasted wild boar ? .... in these parts, the meat is all but inedible and I don't know of any way to cook it to where you can .... they grub for wild roots and such which apparently taints the meat .... they are most certainly destructive and can be extremely dangerous animals

Jim

[motorjock]

Hey Jim,
Better bring your pit with you to Texas. I just harvested a big ol' piggy. I'd guesstimate he's between 200 and 250 lbs. He's been scaring the hell out of the deer in my pasture and playing soccer with 50 pound feed blocks. Not to mention tearing through fences and rooting up everything. But those days are over for him now.

[JEBar]

I would much rather be in the rut than out of the rut.:cool_0: rutrut


Bryan

that doesn't surprise me in the least :wink!:

Jim

[maverick41950]

sounds about right .... bucks in a rut often do such things and some bucks stay in the rut .. :wink!:

Jim

I would much rather be in the rut than out of the rut.:cool_0: rutrut


Bryan

[JEBar]

:shocking: Is that why I pulled out in front of a semi today???:wink!:

Bryan

sounds about right .... bucks in a rut often do such things and some bucks stay in the rut .. :wink!:

Jim

[maverick41950]

the rut is wide open in these parts and deer/vehicles collisions are very common .... right now around here driving at daylight and around dark can be dangerous this time of year but during the rut that can be true any time of day

Jim

:shocking: Is that why I pulled out in front of a semi today???:wink!:


Bryan

[JEBar]

It's cooled down now, and with the rut right around the corner, I'm seeing more deer movement.

George in K.C.

the rut is wide open in these parts and deer/vehicles collisions are very common .... right now around here driving at daylight and around dark can be dangerous this time of year but during the rut that can be true any time of day

Jim

[George & Mary]

Bow season in Kansas started Sept 22nd I believe, but it was too dang hot for me to be out there! It's cooled down now, and with the rut right around the corner, I'm seeing more deer movement. Here's the best I've seen on camera so far...naturally, not during the day! George in K.C.

[JEBar]

Jim,
I do so happen to have a pic. And here it is......

very nice indeed ... congratulations again

Jim

[motorjock]

Joe,
I have no idea what he weighed. I'd guesstimate his field dressed weight to be about 100-120 lbs. These deer in the Texas Hill Country are quite small due to their extremely high population numbers. For instance, I hunt on 80 acres and have seen up to as many as 20 deer in one sitting. I'm lining up friends right now to harvest does to thin the herd a bit before they begin starving.

This deer was a 4.5 year old. If we were to get to 6.5 he might have had more body mass. We're also in the middle of a drought and things are pretty tough for the deer right now.

I'd love to get some of those big bodied bruisers y'all have but I'm afraid the heat in Texas would be too much for their mass.

That's a really nice buck in your pic. He looks to be in the 3.5 to 5.5 year of age range. Just right...really thick, heavy body mass....lot's of sausage.