So, as the pigs make a hard right turn and run down along the fence line in front of us, I scan through the scope, looking for that sow.....looking...looking....There!! Rats!! She's surrounded by a lot of smaller young'uns and piglets. No chance for a clean kill there. Now the herd is coming through a break in the fence to my left...about 75 yards out. One at a time, they wiggle under the fence and down along a drainage ditch. I search...scan...There!!! A nice sow about halfway back in the herd...by herself...in the clear....give her some lead....BAM!!! Again, I come up out of recoil and I hear my wife, "You got it!! Woooohoooo!! Nice shot!!" Sure enough, way out there in the fog, I can just make out a dark lump against the light grass of the ditch. So now things start to calm down. We pick up our gear and start towards the downed sow.
Then I feel the guide tap me on the shoulder. "Turn around." he whispers. And what do I see?? Here comes Mr. Boar at a trot following his harem, with no idea that we're even nearby. I don't have a good angle on him, with the oak trees and wire fence in the way. So I double time it, rifle at the ready, safety on...down to the fence line ready for Mr. Boar. Well, he sees me draw up on him, and takes off on a flat out run for the break in the fence. I remember putting the crosshairs just ahead of his nose, squeezing gently, and BAM!!! I get a brief glimpse of him somersaulting down into the mud. Bingo!!!
Later, once we verified both pigs were down and expired, we brought the truck down with a winch so we could get these suckers back to home base. The sow was just a hair over 130lbs while Mr. Boar was spot on 250lbs. He was a nice 3 year old tusker that's spent his life getting fattened up on alfalfa, acorns, cattle feed, and wine grapes. Both are now resting comfortably in the meat locker, ready for the grill and smoker.
Sunrise....
Mrs. Sow....unfortunately I hit her in the shoulder so I ruined one of the roasts. Oh the humanity!!!!
Mr. Boar. Head shot thank you very much. No meat wasted here and the ultimate in quick clean kills. You can just see the entry hole just under his right eye.
The Happy Hunter..
Now the hard work begins....
As much as I love my lever guns, none of them are equipped with a scope. I really have trouble with the sight picture in the early morning light using iron sights so the best solution was my Remington 700 30-06. It belonged to my dad so hunting with it has a lot of special meaning for me anyways. I used a handload that really shines in this rifle. Winchester cases, Federal 210 primers, a Sierra 165gr Gameking over 47.8gr of IMR 4064. Pushes the round right at 2700 fps and will stay inside a 5" circle out to 300 yards if I do my part.
Granted, it was a guided hunt. But after getting skunked this deer season, I felt good to get into some good pig hunting even if it cost a few bucks!!
Thanks for viewing!
