Back to hog camp again.

[coyote101]

Doug (WldWldWest) and I spent a few days at hog camp over the weekend. It started raining just before I arrived Thursday morning, and continued all day.  We spent pretty much all of Thursday afternoon and evening grilling, and didn't hunt at all that night.

We woke up to more rain on Friday  , had a big breakfast, and just hung out all day waiting to go to the stand. It was still raining when we  headed out at about 6:30pm. We drove out to within a few of hundred yards of the stand, walked the rest of the way in, and were set by 6:55. And we waited for hogs. 

And about 7:45 eighteen little hogs came in to the feeder.


We sat and watched them for about forty-five minutes, hoping for a big boar to come in for Doug to take.... but it didn't happen. So we decided I would take one for the freezer.

They were gaggled up under the feeder and I couldn't get a clear shot without risk of hitting more than one.  Finally, two or three broke off a little to the left of the group which was good news but presented a new problem! 

It was dark and my light, which is normally mounted to my rifle, was mounted to the window of the blind because I was hunting with a handgun. The light was pointed at the large group of hogs, but the three that were clear of the group were outside the periphery of the light and I couldn't see my crosshairs clearly. Doug was using a rifle mounted night vision scope and couldn't help me with that. So.....after a bit I asked him to light them up with the white light of his flashlight, which he did. Then it was a matter of one of them offering a clear broad side shot. It seemed like forever, but finally one of them did, Doug got the light on her, and I pulled the trigger. She bolted, ran about twenty yards and went down  while the rest of the herd took off into the woods.

There was still a lot of night left, so we stayed a couple more hours hoping that big boar might still show up, but it just wasn't to be. So we got loaded up in the rain (yes, it was STILL raining) and went back to camp to get the hog field dressed and hung up. And took a few pictures.

Here is the little sow taken at about 35 yards with the Encore .308 pistol:
   

There was some more hunting Saturday night, which is another tale, and we packed up and headed home Sunday. More great times at hog camp. 

Pat

Fresh pork for dinner Monday.

[FinsnFur]

Boy there's a lot of angry smileys in that post compared to the happy ones, Pat.
And I'm still jealous.
Glad it all came together despite the tough start. It sure looks like a good time. Thanks for sharing it, and congrats on the hog. It looks delicious.

[slagmaker]

Congrats on the fresh other white meat.

Thanks for taking us along.

[HaMeR]

Congratulations Pat!! With the Encore no less!! 

[HuntnCarve]

Nice Pat!  Sounds like you fellas had a great time.

[riverboss]

Nice pig Pat!
I feel your pain with all of this rain!😖

Sent from my Tank Xtreme 5.0 using Tapatalk

[Hawks Feather]

Even with the rain and problems it sounds like a good time to someone who has never hunted hogs.  Do you pay per hog or is there another reason that you didn't try for a double with one shot?

Jerry

[Carolina Coyote]

Congratulations on your Hog Hunt, I have been killing quite a few the past few years  and recently learned a few things about the best way to process the meat to help the meat to be a lot better, When shooting a Hog shoot them right behind the ear and they will drop in their tracks, like any wild game if their Adrenalin get fired up they could have a more gammy taste, The next thing I learned from a man that I share the meat with if he processes the meat, he is very particular when dressing the hog using gloves to not touch the meat with his hands and tries not to get any hair on the meat, he trims all the fat off,  he then cuts the Hog up Shoulders Hind quarters Back strap and then he packs the meat in a cooler with Ice and lets it drain out the blood for several days keeping the cooler packed with ice . Hogs up to about 200 lbs are best. I just thought I would past this along as we had been giving the hogs away because of the gammy taste but this method makes a big difference.  The Hog population in our area of Georgia has exploded and unfortunately a lot of Hog are being killed with Dog hunters and left where they are killed, just so many .
CC

[Coulter]

Nice going Pat...That looks like some good old fun for sure!

[Dave]

Looks like fun.  Glad they aren't around here as I know they cause a lot of damage, but it sure would be fun if they were!
Let's hear that other story from Saturday night.

I like the tips too, CC, on dressing/handling the meat.