As some of you know I've been after a particular hog for about a month now. I've got a lot of trail camera pictures of him but he was only coming after dark. I changed the settings on my feeder like I did for the last big nocturnal boar I took and it worked like a charm. For the last several days I've gotten pictures of him coming out around 3PM and 6:30PM. So I took to the blind about 6PM yesterday in hopes that he would show himself.
Here's some trail cam pics I have of him...
And the morning before I took him...
It was nice and hot in the blind but I really couldn't complain because the mosquitoes weren't out. I donned my all black hood and gloves and settled in. About 20 minutes after entering the blind I had 3 large boars come out to feed. I checked them out and none of them were the one I was after. So I let them eat. About 10 minutes later the feeder went off and they blew out of there in all different directions. I figured I'd sit there until dark and see what happened. About 20 minutes later, here comes the boar I'm after. He came in from the left and even from 53 yards I instantly knew it was him. I could tell by his size and by the patch of spiky hair he has at the base of his neck. I quickly but quietly placed my rifle on my shooting sticks, picked a spot to focus in on, took a few deep breaths, and squeezed the trigger. BANG!!! I saw him take the hit through the smoke cloud that came from my Endeavor. He lifted his front legs of the ground and threw his head back. As soon as his front legs touched back down he took off into the thick brush.
I was hoping for a bang-flop but I've learned through experience that when hogs get this big you pretty much need a howitzer to bang-flop them. So I listened for a minute or two and could hear him crashing in the woods. As I did this, I quickly reloaded my Endeavor. Once I didn't hear any more activity, I started getting my stuff together. I went to the spot he was standing when I shot him and there was a decent blood spray on the ground. I had to walk about 10 feet in the direction he went to pick up on the trail.
Here's some pics of the blood trail and the way he went into the woods...
The deeper I went into the woods, the better the blood trail got. It was so thick I had to use my machete to cut a path into it...
And finally, after about 50 yards, there he was...
I had made a perfect shot!
This is where I jumped for joy at the fact that I had finally gotten the better of this brute! But that was quickly overcome by knowing I had to drag his big butt back the way I came. I'm glad I'm in good shape or I may have expired right there next to him. I was flat wore out by the time I got him back to my truck.
He is definitely a bruiser of a hog. I feel very privelaged to have had the opportunity to harvest such a great animal. I loaded him up and was off to the skinning station...
Once I opened him up I was in complete disbelief!... The shot had been perfect indeed and it had completely destroyed his lungs and heart. There was just dark red mush where his heart and lungs once were. It's just incredible to me that he could have run that far with such devastating damage done internally. I think I will name him SHERMAN because he is like a Sherman Tank!
Here's some shots of the wounds...
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I am definitely please with the quality of this animal. I'm having a skull mount done of him so I can have a memento of this awesome experience. I am also very please in how well the Endeavor performed as well as the load.
My blind was set up exactly 53 yards (verified with a Nikon 550 Laser Range Finder) from the feeder. I was shooting my TC Encore Endeavor loaded with a 250g Barnes T-EZ with MMP HPH-12 sabot on top of 120g of Blackhorn 209 with a CCI 209M primer.
Here's some trail cam pics I have of him...
And the morning before I took him...
It was nice and hot in the blind but I really couldn't complain because the mosquitoes weren't out. I donned my all black hood and gloves and settled in. About 20 minutes after entering the blind I had 3 large boars come out to feed. I checked them out and none of them were the one I was after. So I let them eat. About 10 minutes later the feeder went off and they blew out of there in all different directions. I figured I'd sit there until dark and see what happened. About 20 minutes later, here comes the boar I'm after. He came in from the left and even from 53 yards I instantly knew it was him. I could tell by his size and by the patch of spiky hair he has at the base of his neck. I quickly but quietly placed my rifle on my shooting sticks, picked a spot to focus in on, took a few deep breaths, and squeezed the trigger. BANG!!! I saw him take the hit through the smoke cloud that came from my Endeavor. He lifted his front legs of the ground and threw his head back. As soon as his front legs touched back down he took off into the thick brush.
I was hoping for a bang-flop but I've learned through experience that when hogs get this big you pretty much need a howitzer to bang-flop them. So I listened for a minute or two and could hear him crashing in the woods. As I did this, I quickly reloaded my Endeavor. Once I didn't hear any more activity, I started getting my stuff together. I went to the spot he was standing when I shot him and there was a decent blood spray on the ground. I had to walk about 10 feet in the direction he went to pick up on the trail.
Here's some pics of the blood trail and the way he went into the woods...
The deeper I went into the woods, the better the blood trail got. It was so thick I had to use my machete to cut a path into it...
And finally, after about 50 yards, there he was...
I had made a perfect shot!
This is where I jumped for joy at the fact that I had finally gotten the better of this brute! But that was quickly overcome by knowing I had to drag his big butt back the way I came. I'm glad I'm in good shape or I may have expired right there next to him. I was flat wore out by the time I got him back to my truck.
He is definitely a bruiser of a hog. I feel very privelaged to have had the opportunity to harvest such a great animal. I loaded him up and was off to the skinning station...
Once I opened him up I was in complete disbelief!... The shot had been perfect indeed and it had completely destroyed his lungs and heart. There was just dark red mush where his heart and lungs once were. It's just incredible to me that he could have run that far with such devastating damage done internally. I think I will name him SHERMAN because he is like a Sherman Tank!
Here's some shots of the wounds...
Entry
Exit
Entry
Exit
I am definitely please with the quality of this animal. I'm having a skull mount done of him so I can have a memento of this awesome experience. I am also very please in how well the Endeavor performed as well as the load.
My blind was set up exactly 53 yards (verified with a Nikon 550 Laser Range Finder) from the feeder. I was shooting my TC Encore Endeavor loaded with a 250g Barnes T-EZ with MMP HPH-12 sabot on top of 120g of Blackhorn 209 with a CCI 209M primer.
