geo4061
Well-Known Member
Thanks to all for the suggestions. Our second thermal hunt is on!!! I will report in a few days.
Thermal - Long Range Hog Hunt - 16 Hogs Down
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geo4061
Well-Known Member
Just got back from our second thermal hunt. Our timing wasn't great. We only saw four hogs. Shot two large ones. The other two we saw were running between cedar thickets. The ranchers said they just were not seeing them. None of their fields were planted. Therefore no food, no hogs. We had great luck varmint calling. Shot two coyotes at night and another during the day. Plus a large bobcat at night. We used the thermals on the night calling sessions. They worked extremely well.
Any photos of the 2 hogs?
geo4061
Well-Known Member
No. The one my brother shot was a little smaller than the red spotted hog we shot last time. It was shot in the first hour of our hunt so we did not take pictures. On the third day we had covered lots of ground and had not seen a hog. We decided we had to switch over to coyote calling in order to have a successful hunt. So we were driving out to our calling spot(9 pm) when we saw a larger hog. I put the cross hair on his front shoulder and sent one 158 grain Hornady. The hog spun ran 10 yards and fell flopping and kicking it's legs. We watched until he lay still. It was close to our first calling set so we moved on to about 50 yards. There we called in and shot two coyotes. Then we went back to check the hog out. Would you believe NO HOG!!!! He had gotten up and ran off. We looked for about an hour and then another hour the next day. No HOG!!!
Hogs are incredibly tough. I try to put an extra round or two in them if there is any question in my mind about them being dead.
I gut shot one with a .338LM and never found the hog. Still wonder how that did not kill him.
I gut shot one with a .338LM and never found the hog. Still wonder how that did not kill him.
geo4061
Well-Known Member
This trip was tough luck. We also could not find the bobcat. My brother had been seeing this huge cat on his trail cameras. He wanted to mount it. After killing the two coyotes and looking for the hog we headed to the other side of the ranch. This is the area where he had pictures of the cat. We were almost to our next calling spot when I saw a target in the road. Looking through the monocular it was just a blob at 100 yards. Looking through the Pulsar XD50 I could tell the form looked like a bobcat. My brother was viewing through the Reap-IR. He said it was the big bobcat sitting and licking his paws. He fired a 155 grain Hornady. It knocked the big cat over and he began kicking and flopping in the road. After a few seconds he jumped up and was gone. We found green blobs and a little blood. He was gut shot. What a shame. Never again. From now on I will aim for the head or neck on all animals I shoot. We spent hours that night and hours the next day searching.
geo4061
Well-Known Member
I agree with head and neck shots. If they are not DRT they usually don't go far.
WildRose
Well-Known Member
Nice job on the Yote Geo. It's hard to call them into shotgun range! Around here they tend to be so used to getting shot at all it takes is the sound of a truck a half mile away for them to bail out.
geo4061
Well-Known Member
WR I would love to give your call shy coyotes a run for their money. Maybe we could show them a new trick, thermals. Call me sometime when you have time and think the timing is right.
