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We are in the midst of a significant drought in Central Texas. On our place we have good grass, even though it is dry. It’s water that is getter more precious. Here all of our water is either in the creeks or in dirt stock tanks. Those tanks that are shallow are already dry. The good water holes are fewer and farther between. This has had the effect of concentrating game as well as livestock around these watering areas.
My son and I were out and found a shallow tank that had a lot of recent activity by hogs. There were fresh wallows and lots of mud on trees and stumps where the hogs have been rubbing.
So we got up early and headed for the ranch. We planned to just sit and watch - hopefully catching something coming in to water before bedding down for the day.
It took us longer to walk to our spot than we anticipated. We planned to get there before it was light enough to see but didn’t quite make it. The consequence was as we got close we were spotted by a couple of deer. They weren’t particularly spooked, but trotted away. About the same time we saw quite a large hog slip away. We knew that since we had been seen, the odds were poor for hunting and getting a shot at that pig. Our place has thick mesquite so they have the advantage when we’re moving.
We opted to go ahead with our plan. We hadn’t spooked anything, so whatever hadn’t noticed us might still come in to water. We arranged ourselves on the earthen tank dam. I was facing the water. My son set up facing the other direction into a significant opening where animals like to browse.
About 30 minutes into our stakeout I watched two young little 8 point bucks (still in velvet) come in for a drink. One wandered within about 15 yards of me before they moved along. I saw a water snake catch a small fish about 2” long. It went to the bank to eat it’s prize then returned to the water. My son didn’t see anything from his vantage point.
By about 8:30 the sun was well up and temps were rising. We called it and decided to move on to other things. My son walked over and we had a short conversation (we are never loud). He told me he need to step behind a tree in the distance to care of some morning business…
While he was doing that I leaned my gun against a tree, took off my camo, and was just looking around. Suddenly a hog left the brush and trotted down to the water. I was about 10 feet from my rifle in more or less open sight. In my mind I said, “$h!t”. I only had one choice. I made a decisive movement to my rifle. Thankfully it’s behind a tree, right? I made it to my rifle without being seen.
The hog is about 65 yards away with it’s head down getting a drink. I leaned my rifle against the tree and took good aim before pulling the trigger. He never knew what hit him. I was using my .72 caliber English Sporing Rifle. The load is 90 grains of 2F and a 550 grain PRB. Patches are pillow ticking lubed with mink oil. Now here’s the fun part - I’ll tell y’all the truth.
I was aiming right between his shoulder blades. He was facing me with his head down drinking. The bullet actually landed a couple of inches below my aiming point. I hit the hog almost perfectly between the eyes. If you’ve hunted much you know how an animal kicks and twitches when shot in the head - important point.
My son came walking up after tending his business and looked at me as if to say, “And???” I pointed across to where the hog lay kicking in the mud by the tank. He said, “Is it dead? Are you going to reload?” I responded, “No. they kick like that when you hit ‘em in the head.”
At first he was mightily impressed by the “Old Man’s” shooting. I eventually confessed though- it was still a decent shot. He told me he had picked up a horse shoe just a few moments before and wondered If it would bring good luck. I can neither confirm nor deny any such superstitious influence…
We drug the ugly beast over to a dry spot and took a few pictures. We then loaded it up to haul away. We did not try to use any meat. Between the high temps and risks of spoiling I didn’t want to risk it. These animals are a nuisance here and that’s the reason to take them.
So as it ended up we had a good morning. You never know how a hunt will go. Got there late; didn’t see much during the “hunt; then got what we were after while getting ready to leave. We literally almost got “caught with our pants down” , lol.
Thanks for taking the time to read about our little adventure.
My son and I were out and found a shallow tank that had a lot of recent activity by hogs. There were fresh wallows and lots of mud on trees and stumps where the hogs have been rubbing.
So we got up early and headed for the ranch. We planned to just sit and watch - hopefully catching something coming in to water before bedding down for the day.
It took us longer to walk to our spot than we anticipated. We planned to get there before it was light enough to see but didn’t quite make it. The consequence was as we got close we were spotted by a couple of deer. They weren’t particularly spooked, but trotted away. About the same time we saw quite a large hog slip away. We knew that since we had been seen, the odds were poor for hunting and getting a shot at that pig. Our place has thick mesquite so they have the advantage when we’re moving.
We opted to go ahead with our plan. We hadn’t spooked anything, so whatever hadn’t noticed us might still come in to water. We arranged ourselves on the earthen tank dam. I was facing the water. My son set up facing the other direction into a significant opening where animals like to browse.
About 30 minutes into our stakeout I watched two young little 8 point bucks (still in velvet) come in for a drink. One wandered within about 15 yards of me before they moved along. I saw a water snake catch a small fish about 2” long. It went to the bank to eat it’s prize then returned to the water. My son didn’t see anything from his vantage point.
By about 8:30 the sun was well up and temps were rising. We called it and decided to move on to other things. My son walked over and we had a short conversation (we are never loud). He told me he need to step behind a tree in the distance to care of some morning business…
While he was doing that I leaned my gun against a tree, took off my camo, and was just looking around. Suddenly a hog left the brush and trotted down to the water. I was about 10 feet from my rifle in more or less open sight. In my mind I said, “$h!t”. I only had one choice. I made a decisive movement to my rifle. Thankfully it’s behind a tree, right? I made it to my rifle without being seen.
The hog is about 65 yards away with it’s head down getting a drink. I leaned my rifle against the tree and took good aim before pulling the trigger. He never knew what hit him. I was using my .72 caliber English Sporing Rifle. The load is 90 grains of 2F and a 550 grain PRB. Patches are pillow ticking lubed with mink oil. Now here’s the fun part - I’ll tell y’all the truth.
I was aiming right between his shoulder blades. He was facing me with his head down drinking. The bullet actually landed a couple of inches below my aiming point. I hit the hog almost perfectly between the eyes. If you’ve hunted much you know how an animal kicks and twitches when shot in the head - important point.
My son came walking up after tending his business and looked at me as if to say, “And???” I pointed across to where the hog lay kicking in the mud by the tank. He said, “Is it dead? Are you going to reload?” I responded, “No. they kick like that when you hit ‘em in the head.”
At first he was mightily impressed by the “Old Man’s” shooting. I eventually confessed though- it was still a decent shot. He told me he had picked up a horse shoe just a few moments before and wondered If it would bring good luck. I can neither confirm nor deny any such superstitious influence…
We drug the ugly beast over to a dry spot and took a few pictures. We then loaded it up to haul away. We did not try to use any meat. Between the high temps and risks of spoiling I didn’t want to risk it. These animals are a nuisance here and that’s the reason to take them.
So as it ended up we had a good morning. You never know how a hunt will go. Got there late; didn’t see much during the “hunt; then got what we were after while getting ready to leave. We literally almost got “caught with our pants down” , lol.
Thanks for taking the time to read about our little adventure.
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