Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Important hog hunting lesson!

I got a laugh yesterday morning, even though it was at my own mistake.....

The backstory: My oldest daughter and I were in a box blind on a pipeline, trying to get her a deer, when a herd of hogs ran across the line at a little over 300yds. The leader paused and turned back, right at the edge of the line, and I shot her head on while she waited for the others to make it across. She spun and went into the woods. We got her with a clean frontal chest shot and she'd started bleeding heavily just a few feet from where I shot her. Probably one of the fatter sows we've shot in recent years at 271lbs. Some of our boars have beat her for size and weight, but she was as round as a butterball. (129gr LRAB from my 6.5x47L at 315yds, lots of damage but I did not search for the bullet)





Our lesson was learned when we followed the blood into the woods. The blood was heavy and I knew my shot angle was a killer, plus it was about 2 hours after the shot, so I made the mistake of leaving my rifle at the edge of the pipeline. Figured I'd want both hands free to drag her out. My daughter gets all geeked up about bloodtrailing and about 20 yards in, she points and says "There she is!". We could see black hide of a pig's side on the other side of a berm, not moving. We tromped up to her through the briars and the shape began to look strange and too big. At 6-7 yards, my daughter says something like, "Hey, did you shoot two pigs?" Dang if another huge pig didn't jump up right in front of us and start cutting up, popping its teeth, grunting, and giving us a stare down. Wasn't much we could do at that point but freeze. It had obviously been asleep, snuggled up to the dead sow, and we had woken it up. My daughter was petrified, except for her eyeballs, which kept turning from the pig to me, and back to the pig. I couldn't help but start laughing a bit. After maybe ten seconds, the other pig backed up about fifteen yards and continued to chew us out, all the way to the point at which we came back with my rifle. The brush did not allow for a shot, and it eventually trotted in a circle around us and left the area. What is hunting without a little adventure?

I never knew that a live hog would lay down and sleep next to a dead one. Perhaps it was because the sow was the leader of the group? In any event, I'll tote my rifle along next time, even if I know it's dead. Never know if it has a companion that is not dead at all. This one even had a rooted out "bed" in the pinestraw and leaves, right alongside the dead sow. Always, always, have a gun in pig country, as they pop up at the most unexpected times......

That is interesting. Congratulations and thanks for sharing!

I never heard that. Congrats

FWIW,

I'm strapped most all times away from my house, but when I'm "afield" a side-arm is the first thing that goes on my belt after I put my pants on, and the last thing I take off at night before I hop in the sack. We also stand hunt. When I get off my ATV, I put on my pack and sling my rifle, muzzle up an pointing over my left shoulder. I turn on my "headlight and carry my pistol in my left hand as I'm walking in. Carry pistol in hand when I'm walking out. If a critter is not DRT, when I arrive at the suspected POI to begin tracking, my pistol is in my hand. I find that I can make a snap shot with a pistol much easier/quicker than with a rifle.



Sows can do damage, but a big boar can rip you an new orifice.

ya!

GWB

Wow

Geedub...we were hog dogging three years ago. Four of us standing around jabbering in the middle of the night when the recently departed hog decided it wasn't dead after all....ran right in amongst us but thankfully was more interested in getting away than cutting somebody. Coulda got me for sure...but as it turned out, we ran him down and I killed him all over again...

Good reminder. I haven't seen the sleeping hog thing but have tracked ones right in to the rest of the sounder. I also nearly tripped over a black hog walking in the dark with no light.

A friend shot one with a muzzle loader and it was out cold. He got out of the tree he was in and the hog jumps up and goes straight for him. He hadn't reloaded and resorted to using the rifle as a club. That boar I think was really after my friend and consider it a legitimate charge. I have had them run at me several times but never a real charge.

That's a real porker for sure. Looks way to big for those little feet...err, hooves.

I had taken three local peace officers and their sons hog hunting. We shot 19 hogs in three days and recovered 16. The young man who wounded this hog had never fired a rifle. I dropped him and his dad off at an elevated blind about 20 minutes before this, and had gone on down to put out another man and his son. I came back down the road and stopped my truck adjacent to the blind and was talking to them when a group of hogs came to the corn. The distance was about 130 yds. The boy's dad instructed him where to hold on the hog and to squeeze the trigger. He was shooting a scoped 243. The hog bucked at the shot and ran off. We waited about 20 minutes. I asked the boy if he would like to track him. He said sure. I located the blood trail and we took off through the cedar, which is very dense here. It had rained that night so between the tracks in the mud and blood it was not to difficult.

We had probably gone 70 yds into the cedar and I was instructing him on tracking. I figured we would come on him laying dead. That would not be the case.

I always carry a pistol at my leases just in case I need one. At this time I carried a Glock 36 in 45 ACP with a plus one extension. I almost always carry my pistola in a belt slide, but for some reason I had it in a breakaway fanny pack this one time.

Anyway we were following sign when I heard some grunting and this boar charged us out from under a cedar bush at about six feet away. The boy was in front of me and I was able to push him to one side, out of the way. The boar ran right between my legs. I'm 5' 8". Luckily he did not hook my femoral artery on either leg. Perhaps if he hadn't been hurt he would have. He knocked me over when he went between my legs. I did a shoulder roll and came up with my pistol in my hand. Perhaps because he was wounded, he did not turn and charge again, but continued running.

At this point the boy said he had had enough. I said I was going to get the SOB.

I tracked him another 20 yds. or so and he was laying up against a large cedar log. I yelled to the boy, "here he is".

When I yelled, the boar got up and started charging me again. At this point he was about 10 feet away. This time I had my pistol in my hand. I put seven in him, and was dry firing when he dropped at my feet. Talk about an Adrenalin rush. We carry radios with us at all times and so the chatter and bullshit started. These guys being LEO's wanted to know what the hell I was doing with a full auto. I told them that my pistola was only a semi auto Glock, but that I was just in a hurry.

As soon as I got back to town I planned on investing in a 10mm that had a round in the chamber and at least 15 friends to back him up!
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Here is a pix of the boy and the hog.





ya!


GWB

My experience has been pretty much the same as GW's. I've had a few "dead" hogs get up and run at me, but only one full on charge. And I also stopped one full on charge from a hog that came after my little brother, when I was about 10 yards to the left of him.
From my personal experience, both a 45 acp or a 10mm work very well at 10 yards.

And like GW mentioned, when I'm hunting or working at the Ranch, I'm always wearing one of my two favorite packing handguns on my belt. Either a full size 1911 in .45 acp or 10mm, or a Glock 20 in 10mm. It's the first thing I strap on in the morning after my Wranglers, and the last thing I take off at night. And as GW mentioned, when I'm walking from my truck to the blind, or back to the truck, I've got my handgun in my right hand, with my rifle slung barrel up over my left shoulder. And if it's after dark, there's usually a Streamlight laser / light combo mounted on my handgun. And I've also walked right up on sleeping hogs and rattlesnakes in the dark. And once had a mountain lion stalking a doe under my feeder right at dusk, when I was Bowhunting. So I figure better safe than sorry. My handgun is always at the ready.

100%

ya!

GWB

Dayom! Between the legs like the one that came after GW, and I would have probably had to change my underwear.

I will admit my scrotum was up to my throat. I could have done a pretty good Slim Whitman impression...................







ya!


GWB

Geedub: had one get after me in college, way back when. Completely unprovoked, came from the back side of a big tree ( he could have easily gone 180 degrees the OTHER way...) and was open for business. All I had was a .22 Diamondback and a camera, so out came the pistol, and I was hoping like hell I could slip one between his eyes when he got about 6 feet away... very luckily my pard ( who was looking the wrong direction...) turned and brought his .308 into play...at 8 feet...my trigger squeeze was ALMOST complete!

I generally have a full-size handgun on my hip when I'm out in the woods doing whatever, except when I'm actually hunting and have a rifle in tow. We have not had the best of results with .40/.45 handguns on pig body hits (deer either), but they are better than a sharp stick. What I learned here was that having a rifle does you no good if it is propped against a tree 20 yards behind you. So, it is best to wade in and find your dead critter with the rifle still in your hands. I assumed that our talking while we were on the blood trail would naturally preclude another live pig being dangerously close. I was wrong......

Great story. Glad no one was “hog bit”! Congratulations on hunt’n with your daughter. That’s an adventure she’ll never forget! Also, as others have mentioned, a big-bore handgun in a shoulder rig would be a benefit. Your hands are “freed-up”, but your prepared for what will likely “never” happen again! memtb

A member of my deer camp had a big boar run in. He did the matador thing and side stepped the charge at the last instant, shooting down into the hog with a 357 mag if I remember right. The skull of that hog decorated the sitting area of his camper for many years.

Cool story. Sounds as exciting as walking up to a bear sleeping on "your" elk.

Wow GW, pretty cool story now, but I'm sure it was an adrenaline rush at the time. We've got quite a few hogs on our place, but I've only had one (so far) do a mock charge at me. I keep a Springfield Xdm with 13 +1 of 45ACP on my hip whenever I'm down there.