SAWMAN
Master
Met a forum member at the areas we have permission to hunt at 2100. We loaded out gear into the buggy and headed to the intersection in several fields of cotton and peanuts to scan from the usual vantage point. We slowly approached since we had seen the signature of several deer as soon as we approached the edge of the fields.
It has been our expierance that deer are fairly tolerant of night (no visable light) hunters but hogs are not. But running deer will definately alert hogs.
When we got to the vantage point we use with a wind out of the north,we started scanning. It was probably only 1/2 hour until we started seeing heat signatures in an bv adjacent field about 350yds away. More and more signatures became visable as the sounder(s) came from in back of a woods row.
They were up wind from us so we were good with that. The night was dark so that was a real plus. We watched them for awhile and determined that the hogs were slowly feeding to the west.
We discussed our strategy and decided that I wanted the less expieranced to gain the expierance. I told John that if he stalked north the hogs would come right to him. But he needed to get going right now for the intercept.
I watched with my thermal as he walked north up the grassy road as the hogs moved in his direction. On the edge of the 6" planted cotton. He went prone. When the hogs got close enough,he shot. The target hog immediately went down. He was shooting a RARR chambered in 300BLK, using the excellent 110gr TAC-TX.
The hog was a 130-150lb sow. I am not sure if John didn't out bleed the hog. The infamous "scope eye" got John. Thermal sights have a very limited eye relief. Easy to forget it if you are used to regular rifle scopes. Thermals have about 1/2 the distance. Some(mine) is about 2 inches.
Good intelligent stalk and . . . worth the blood sacrifice. --- SAWMAN
It has been our expierance that deer are fairly tolerant of night (no visable light) hunters but hogs are not. But running deer will definately alert hogs.
When we got to the vantage point we use with a wind out of the north,we started scanning. It was probably only 1/2 hour until we started seeing heat signatures in an bv adjacent field about 350yds away. More and more signatures became visable as the sounder(s) came from in back of a woods row.
They were up wind from us so we were good with that. The night was dark so that was a real plus. We watched them for awhile and determined that the hogs were slowly feeding to the west.
We discussed our strategy and decided that I wanted the less expieranced to gain the expierance. I told John that if he stalked north the hogs would come right to him. But he needed to get going right now for the intercept.
I watched with my thermal as he walked north up the grassy road as the hogs moved in his direction. On the edge of the 6" planted cotton. He went prone. When the hogs got close enough,he shot. The target hog immediately went down. He was shooting a RARR chambered in 300BLK, using the excellent 110gr TAC-TX.
The hog was a 130-150lb sow. I am not sure if John didn't out bleed the hog. The infamous "scope eye" got John. Thermal sights have a very limited eye relief. Easy to forget it if you are used to regular rifle scopes. Thermals have about 1/2 the distance. Some(mine) is about 2 inches.
Good intelligent stalk and . . . worth the blood sacrifice. --- SAWMAN
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