Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game St. Paddy's Day Massacre!

I finally got away to the "Petting Zoo" late Saturday eve last. I'd been trying to get away since Thursday, but alas, it did not happen. Saturday was opening day of Turkey season in Texas and I had planned to be there. Oh well better late than never.

Got there late, unpacked and did not go out.

However Sunday morning began what I am calling the "St. Paddy's Day Massacre", which continued on until Tuesday. Nailed 4 hoglets on Sunday,

Three before 8 AM.









Merkel K1, 222Remington, 50gr. Nosler Ballistic Tips



Recovered two.

I loaded them up and took them back to camp.

Had not played with this Honeycutt set in a while so I figured, what the hey.




This weekend, I preferred the smaller of the two blades for taking the back-straps.



Desert Ironwood, S30v steel

On the second I figured I’d try a new knife that I just got in.




Cross Knives EDC, A2 steel, Neon Lime Burlap Scales. What caught my attention is that it has a convex grind.











Anywho,



Made they made short work of stripping out the loins.

Shot a 4th pig on Sunday eve.




eve and a 5th on Monday eve.



Browning Hells Canyon Speed, Long Range,26 Nosler,142gr. LR Accubonds


Both were sows that had piglets on them and they were pretty poor, so I left them for the buzzards.


Took my sixth hog in a trap on Tuesday morning.



Whenever I go afield, I always carry my Menefee “Sweet Sixteen in my pack, just in case I have to do emergency surgery!











The turkeys did not co-operate, but what the hey, there’s always next time!

Ya!


GWB

Good stuff right there! I want to shoot some of those.

You can’t kill enough of them. Turkey season opens on the 30th. I hope to catch some pigs, maybe stick some with my bow.

I left my traps set when I left Tuesday eve. My bud got there Wednesday eve. He killed 11 more in the traps Wednesday eve and today.

Makes 17 since Sunday!

that's a dent!

ya!


GWB

Great show...

Nice work on the Oinkers,
That Merkel sure is purrty,very nice

Good job!

Do you just keep the loins?

Hell yeah GW

Great work, somebody has to keep their numbers in check

This trip, yes.

I have two freezers full of game meat. Loins do not take up much room. Did not feel like taking the time skin, gut and bone out.

Hogs are like vermin here. However they are the best testing bullet test media I've found to date, and I lke to try out different knives to see if I like the way they work. Going to try to take out a bunch more between now and deer season.

ya!


GWB

Damn, you hunt in style with the right equipment. Keep posting pics of the Merkels......

Ya, I've become very fond of the Merkel K1's and K3's as well as the Blaser K95's.

The K1's being my favorite due to the Recknagel twist mounts



vs the Blaser style saddle mount of the K3




I used to say, all my Merkels want to be Blasers when they grow up,



Top: Blaser K95, 30-06 Springfield
Bottom: Blaser K95, 270 Win

,

But this K3 "Extrem" chambered for the 270 Win. has just about changed my mind in that regard.












15 years ago if you'd have told me that I'd be addicted to European single shot rilfes with typically wispy thin barrels with iron sights, I'd have told you that you were out of your mind.

ya!

GWB

Congratulations, looks like a heck of a good time and lots of good groceries! A good hog hunt is on our “bucket list” of hunting must do’s! memtb

you did good.

Nicely done GW

Sure was a massacre, congrats!

Wisdom accrues with the passing of time, no?

Holy smokes, look at the fat! What are you feeding those guys?

Classy way of getting some pork. Ross Siegfred liked the brake action singles and I think a 7x64 R was a favorite of his. I always wanted to make a 280 AI rimmed up in a single shot Blaser. Are you rifle hunting the Turkeys? They are just getting started gobbling in earnest around here in Blanco County. A bit south of here they are really carrying on but may be due to higher density of Toms at that place.

Always!



















Anywho, I was at my lease between last Saturday eve and Tuesday afternoon. I saw 4 toms. Two had about half dozen hens around, however to my mind I believe the strut to be a week to 10 days away at Reagan Wells.

ya!



GWB

What a beautiful array of firearms as contrasted to the junk the midget posts here...

Texas looks like the land of the plenty... I wasn't aware you can shoot Turkey with a rifle. Nice.

Geedub...REALLY glad to see the .222 Merkel got in the act....pretty sweet stuff posted...as always!

Very nicely done!! One of these years I'm going to take my boys on a spring break pork run.

Geedubya ,

Good morning ..

People like you have put print magazines nearly out of business - great post as usual Sir !

Quien Sabe,

thankfully, I do not have to face a deadline or deal with an editor!

ya!


GWB

Have you ever had Turkey and Feral Hog sausage? There is a recipe in Rytek Kutas's "Great Sausage Recipes" for a low cholesterol turkey sausage. It's a good way to use the thighs and drumsticks up. Add a little Habenero and some chili to the Kielbasas spices and you have a pretty good sausage that's supposedly healthier.

May have to try that.

I usually make what I call Turkey Leg Soup. I will taked the "quarter" (thigh and drumstick) and season it with garlic powder, black pepper and Tony Chacheries, then put it in the smoker and smoke with either mesquite or cherry wood for a couple hours till it picks up the smoke. Then I use it as the meat portion for a vegetable soup. I get Caldo de Pollo for the stock, tomato sauce, a can of diced tomatoes, garlic powder, black pepper, sweet yellow onion, celery, new potatoes, carrots, corn, baby green peas, a dab of okra, yellow and zucchini squash, a cup of 15 bean soup and a dash of quinoa, and plenty of parsley. I set the beans out to soak in water the night before. I boil the beans in the broth for a couple hours, then add the smoked turkey leg/thigh and let it simmer for another thirty minutes, then I start adding the vegetables according to their cooking time, parsley, then celery and potatoes, carrots, then green beans, and then the rest. Takes about 3.5 hours from start to finish.

Works for me.

ya!


GWB

Just came back from Texas. Three evening hunts and one morning hunt. Son got 5 and I got 4 pigs. Not as good as GWBs place but a put and take operation. Still lots of fun targets when you are from Misery with no huntable populations. NO!, we don't want ferals. GW I have been thinking about a 9.3X74 in a Merkel stalking rifle. I have two doubles in O/Us. But there is a kind of class in a Merkel stalking rifle with a stock all the way to the muzzle. Kind of like a beautiful woman with loooong legs all the way to the top. A special proportion exists there. So attractive, the GUNS. I had thought a cast bullet for the Makarov would make a subsonic load for turkeys in the stalker. Probably use Trail Boss. God Bless Y'all. Rusty

Bet that is darn good and you could live off of that for weeks if you had to. Sounds like my Turkey Gumbo recipe plus about 30 more ingredients. The Gumbo is best with Thanksgiving left overs and then I add wild turkey stock made from a mix of raw and smoked legs, the gravy gets turned into a roux. OK back to the Gun and Knife Porn.

I don't see many K1 half stocks in the 9.3 x 74R chambering. I don't think I've ever seen a K1 or K3 in the Jaged Stutzen (full stock).

I was fortunate enough that one of my buds snagged this one when I was out of town hunting.



These are the targets that came along with the rifle, 1.8x 6 Zeiss conquest and 100 loaded rounds.




My first two shots off the bench after I received the rifle



The Merkels are capable of fine accuracy.




and at 2,200 FPS, +/-, one can eat right up to the bullet hole!

ya!

GWB

GW I belive you have a little slice of Heaven at the Petting Zoo, Great pics of Great guns & Knives!

Nice...

You all have some beautiful rifles, I was in stand yesterday, no turkeys, but a few pigs came out.

Congrats on the hoglets.

Heading back next Friday.

Hoping that the toms will be more vocal and more active.

I left two traps and a pen set when I left Tuesday eve. My bud got there Wednesday morning and had 6 in one pen. Wednesday he got 5.

I am building guillotine style doors for three more pens and rehabbing a box trap.

We are getting ready to go to war on swine.

ya!


GWB

Tn has hogs but no season, TWRA trying to eradicate them to no avail, lol. They fly around and shoot them from helos.
SMH.

Just checking but what bullets do you like for Turkey? Barnes are good as well as 17 HMR and the old bonded 17 Rem. Others have been whatever was in my rifle while deer hunting. Got three with one shot using the 7RM and a Barnes X. I doubled twice with a 3.5" 12 gauge.

Knocked out a few this weekend

Keep knocking them down. Only 1.5 million to go

Other than having fun, I’m wasting my time!

I second that - geedubya I never get tired of your pics of classy single shots (not to mention the knives)...

Killin' machine.
With the wonderful Merkels and Blasers shown above, I'm hoping you'll humor my plebian inquiry concerning this rifle/chambering.
I don't think I've seen that one before.

Scott,

Your signature line has me rollin !!

That Merkel is boss. Great hunt; thanks.

Very nice shooting!

Pigs are damn good practice!!

I’m thinking about going back up there Memorial Day weekend. Maybe I can shoot a few more.

Sorry for the tardy response.

Have not visited this thread in a while.

That is a rifle that I purchased on Gunbroker for a very reasonable price for a custom. The seller said that the rifle had been smithed by the late Bo Clerke out of Raton, New Mexico. I was told it was a Bansner Stock, but Bansner indicated he did not remember it. Winchester CRF action, Broughton Barrel and chambered for the 6.5 Leopard (6.5-300 WSM). It is also very accurate wit the Sierra 140 gr. Spitzers



100 yds, off bench at PSC range.




200 yds. off bench at PSC range.

the above, are "cherry-picked" but show the type of accuracy of which it is capable.

https://www.outdoorlife.com/articles/guns/rifles/2007/09/65-leopard



Here's a hoglet that was dead before he even knew it.......





My favorite shot is two inches below the ear on an imaginary line, between the ear and shoulder.





A tad off, but sometimes between when my brain sez' squeeze and my finger does, these critters move a skosh.




Had to be shooter error. LOL

ya!

GWB

from late April........

Pens & Traps










Snares









and a bud shot three.

A fourteen hoglet weekend!

not too shabby!

ya!

GWB

and last Wednesday......



7 sent to piggie heaven!



So updated count, 51 perforated since the beginning of March!

ya! GWB

Whole eee Gee Dub, you do do it up in style that's fur sure!!! How many knives do you have, I've lost track long ago. How long would it take you to count em all??? Excellent story, if your not a writer ya should be. Bill out 🐾👣🐾👣🇨🇦

Never stopped to count, Like with firearms I just reply I'm one away from being satisfied.........



Gene Ingram "6.5 Mag" and a 6.5 Mag Custom Winchester (6.5-300 WSM)











The big knife is a custom "brisket breaker" courtesy of Dale Howe, Howe Mountain Knives.

ya!

GWB

Keep killing them! Where did you get all these. My lease is in Burnet county

Briscoe Ranch, Reagan Wells, Uvalde County, Tx.













Its a target rich environment. I do not think we are going to have a shortage any time soon.

We have been concentrating on trapping lately.

Just hope they don't get "trap savvy" too soon.

ya!


GWB

I almost got on a lease that was owned by the Briscoe’s. It was close to Uvalde. It had a bunch of guys from Oceaneering on it.

It does look like you have plenty.
Took this last time I went, more weren’t in the picture. I was a Dumass, didn’t have the trap gate set. Aoudads come to that feeder some, was hoping to kill one, so I didn’t set the gate. Should have, might have caught all of them.

A couple didn’t leave.