Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game WEST Texas pigs

Another good trip.Hunted with a Hogster R35 thermal scope and it was interesting. Bit of a learning curve and passed on quite a few shots because was not quite sure of the distance. I used the 1x power for scanning and would see pigs out in the field and couldn't tell if 50 yds or over a 100 yards Limited myself to around 75 yards because needed more field time and practice at night with it.

Definitely expanded hunting possibilities.

Had lots of whitetails and mulies by me every day. Saw 2 pretty nice 140 -150 wt bucks one night of the hunt



I counted 34 deer out in the field

great sunsets every night

Turkey, Tx. been there. miles

Great pics, but where's the piggy pics?

Congrats on the hogs, and thanks for the great pics. That ain't West Texas though, BTW.

Very nice, congrats on a job well done!

Kill them damn pigs, only five or six million to go

funny life long locals referred to area as WEST Texas

I used to live in San Angelo if I remember the locals referred to it as W Texas

Where does West Texas begin?

“It starts just east of Wichita Falls, then down to the outskirts of Abilene and San Angelo, then bulging a little further west as you move south,

I never understood why the TX panhandle was the panhandle and not the smokestack. They have a perfectly good panhandle south and west of there but I don’t know what they call it

Thats what I was figuring on the hogster scope. Not that much range. Going pulsar for sure. A bit more money and even the mid priced IE 3500 or so are easy good to 300 yards on decent size pigs. Just makes no sense to save a bit in the end but not be able to shoot past 100 yards.

There were no bait stands on this very large field and pasture field so kind of guessed where hogs would be and travel when it became dark.

The field was over a 1000 yards long so imagine sitting in pitch black dark and getting close enough for a shot. Day time no problem. Sitting on a bait stand would have made much more easy.

Im sure after some more hands -on I would be comfortable out to 200 to 250 yards at 4X. I spotted pigs over 400 yards away scanning with scope and trying to get close enough in the dark and know yardage and capability of scope was what held me back on shots. I could have shot more pigs and a few coyotes. Plus there were about 40 deer running around on the field and coyotes harassing the deer. You would not even know they were on the field until you scanned with thermal. 3 buttons on top of scope and just get to using them in pitch black. No negatives on the scope itself especially in that price range.

The big plus with the Hogster is you can remove and use as a scanning device and put back on your rifle for a shot. I had a handheld Flir too but not near ly as good as the Hogster.

Looking forward to using it more and give better feedback

Turkey TX is in the Rolling Plains region.

thanks for the input

I guess West Texas doesn't exist based on your vegetation map? The only state in the nation with no western half I guess. No south Texas, no gulf Texas and no south border Texas region either. No western Colorado, No western Oregon, western New Mexico etc. Fascinating!!

I was hunting between Lubbock and Abilene in West Texas.

Cities and towns of West Texas
Cities
Region rank City Census 2013
population estimate[6] State ranked County
1 El Paso 674,433 6 El Paso County
2 Lubbock 258,862 11 Lubbock County
3 Amarillo 196,429 14 Potter County
4 Midland 123,933 26 Midland County
5 Abilene 120,099 27 Taylor County
6 Odessa 110,720 30 Ector County
7 San Angelo 97,492 37 Tom Green County
8 Socorro 32,517 77 El Paso County
9 Big Spring 28,125 104 Howard County
10 Plainview 22,194

Mighty fine report and pix!

ya!

GWB

ribka if you can find a place that has some jackrabbits they are great practice for a thermal. That helped me quite a bit. After shooting them we would hit them with a light and a rangefinder to determine yardage for practice. After a while you were able to judge distance a bit better also. It is also fun watching the bits and pieces fly off with it too. I've been shooting a Pulsar trail xp38 for almost 4 years now, they are a hoot!

unfortunately not too many jackrabbits in the heavily forested mountains of N Idaho where I reside..

That does sound like a good method though. Im thinking of just putting some heat pads on targets at various ranges in flat E WA and start practicing at night.

That would work also. Once in a while in warmer weather we would use frozen water bottles for practice when we first started too. Anyway welcome to the new addiction.

Kinda what I was thinking.

But, I do live hunting in that Turkey to Shamrock area though.

They are great fun.

You could have put a stalk on them little piggies.

Makes your hair stand up some.

I love the area too, having hunted up near Clarendon several years. Also I was in no way diminishing his hunt, as he killed some nice hogs in some great country. I was only referencing his geographic challenged location. No matter what stats ribka pulls out his azzzz, Lubbock is High Plains, and Abilene is about as far East you can go and still be considered West Texas. Anything N of Midland by about 60 miles ain't West Texas, it's High Plains or Rolling Plains, Panhandle, etc. He reminds me of the Yankees that used to show up here in the Permian Basin and explain to us how to drill and produce oil wells.

Technically, JG Raider is correct. That’s the way we were taught at TAMU in Wildlife & Fisheries Science.

But, being born and raised in Abilene, and Ranching in Stonewall County all my life, the Locals and old timers here have always called it “West Texas”.

My Midland friends have always objected, though, saying West Texas begins there. 🤠

For me it ain't west Texas until you cross the Pecos river but technically that is the Trans Pecos area. Some think West Texas starts inbetween Dallas & Fort worth but they are probably Yankee or from California. Anyway if you drew a line from say Del Rio to Oklahoma City then four times as many hogs would be to the east of this line than to the west. Abilene and eastwards the same thing.

I hear 'ya chl, and agree. Even though I'm a Midland guy, I'm firmly in your camp about Abilene.

I'm glad I didn't get the HogsterR35, but went with the Super Hogster.

Got enough time behind it that I'm pretty confident I can identify and shoot anything I'm hunting out past 300 yards.

Was watching a cottontail hop around feeding at 275 yards one night, and had no trouble identifying at all. Was watching a mouse at 100 yards stealing corn last week.

I think the main issue with hunting at night is ranging. Getting a feel for range is much harder at night.

I just need up upgrading to super Hogster. The ranging at night is a bitch on unfamiliar property. Ideally mark some landmarks, or place landmarks before dark and use range finder.

Fantastic pictures. Gotta love Texas. I plan on another trip there this summer. Axis and hogs or whatever else happens to come by!!

I like the country around the Caprock there. It is unlike what many think of as the Panhandle. I've driven 86 through Turkey often to visit family and always enjoy seeing the mule deer around Turkey and Quitaque.

Regarding name, I would go with Texas Panhandle or West Texas for that region. That's what people who live there call it. Someone mentioned High Plains. If memory serves, Turkey is almost to the Llano Estacado (aka High Plains) but not quite there.

Looks like a fun hunt.

Great pics and good killin there ribka. Thanks for sharin

There use to be 5 TO 6 Million Buffalo's !

So far it doesn't look like Texas tick fever kills pigs

It’s takes bullets or arrows to kill pigs. A cougar or coyotes might get a little one.

That would have been a sight to see .

Good shooting Ribka - nice pics .
Texas is a great place for sure .

Quite a history at Quitaque long before the white man showed up. Traders came from hundreds of miles from all directions to trade. Indians had it first figured out long before the white man screwed it up as usual. PaloDura canyon is second largest canyon in the USA. ,220-250 miles long. If you’ll get on the the backroads it takes a long time to see and it’s absolutely beautiful. I’m sure all of my Texas brothers here know that but too many native Texans never take time to appreciate and enjoy what we have. God Bless Texas

My wife was raised early in her life around Silverton.When the family lived there on the ranch there were still Buffs there.

One of the things she did with her dad was to go patch fences when the herd came thru.

Went up in that area a lot when taking a break from deer hunting.

Just love that broken up country.

Looks like a great time, always wanted to go on a hog hunt. What does a couple days of hunting them cost on average in TX?

yep cool country deceiving how beautiful it can be

Wouldn't mind if you Texas guys would send a few live pigs to PA, I'd love to have more freezer fillers,lol. Have spent hours, sometimes days, in the mountains, just to see a feathered predator or tree rat.

Me too. It's just a bit west of Hollis.

You do not want pigs, took this a few minutes ago. We had to build fences to keep them off the ball fields. There is 25 or more in this sounder.

Sure looks like a great trip, I need to get out on a pig hunt sometime

Idk, I think PA hunters could keep them in check. I mean the only thing our state is overrun with are Democrats, which may be a problem for most states. Then again, the PA State Game Commission would probably be able to screw hog hunting up along with most everything else.

No way to keep pigs in check, if you have a 100, you have to kill 66 yearly to break even. That is impossible to do. They reproduce rapidly.

Turkey Tx is about 70 miles SSW of me. I live in Wellington TX. When I was looking at those pictures I thought you had to not be too far from me. Very unique vegetation and landforms around here that I know well. Then I saw the picture of the sign for Turkey and it confirmed it for me. Anyways, lots of good pigs down in that area, lots of pigs in general.

West Texas has always been a very nebulous term. Ask 10 people and none of them will say exactly the same thing. High Plains is up on top of the Caprock, Rolling Plains is down off the Cap. Turkey is Rolling Plains just like us. Don't matter what you call it though, I call it home and love it here.

We do a lot of pig stalking at night and coyote calling. I have a Hogster R35 I use on my backup gun for my kids, and I use it as a spotter a lot. My main shooting thermal is a Thermion XQ50. I have lots of friends with all kinds of thermal. Hogsters, Super Hogsters, all kinds of Pulsars, Trijicons, whatever. Personally I don't feel like the Hogster gives up a whole bunch to the $4000 and below Pulsars. I have used both a lot in the same conditions. Hogster is more pixellated for sure, and does not handle zoom near as well. But it handles high humidity very well. On nights with really crappy thermal conditions it sees nearly as good as my Thermion. I feel the Hogster is very capable on pigs and coyotes out to 200-250 yards. I can ID pigs out to 400 yards with mine. Does it give up some to a Super or some of the Pulsars? Yeah, but not that much. Really get used to it and play with settings, and it is plenty capable.

Much of that has to do with getting your settings right, and then getting a lot of experience looking through thermal at distances you know. Across the street from my house we have goats, donkeys, cows, all kinds of stuff at ranges from 75 to 400+ yards. Sitting in my front yard playing with the thermal helped a lot estimating range. Getting out and stalking helps a lot too. Find some pigs and make a guess on range. Then take a certain number of steps, count them, and see what it looks like. Before long you start getting the hang of it. Much of thermal ID is based on behavior and not shape anyways, at least until you start getting under 200-250. Groups of animals are easier to ID than individuals with no scale around them.

Just curious, were you on a paid hunt or a hunt with someone you know from there?

No way does anyone want to import pigs. You might think you do, but you don't. They are the most destructive creatures I know.

No kind of hunting can compete with the reproductive capability of pigs. Not even aerial gunning in open country. Look at this video I took last weekend and wrap your mind around that number of babies. Then realize they will have that many again in 8-9 months at the latest (possible in 6 months). And that half of those babies can start having their own litters in 6-12 months.

https://youtu.be/qG4TbA3mEiw

You guys who deal with them are more than likely right. PA just isn't a target rich environment. I know you have to pay to play, but the prices to kill an,"unwanted, over populated pest," seem on the steep side.

Thanks for your input on Texas and on thermals. I realized that I just have to get out more and practice at night .I passed on quite a few shots that I later learned I should have taken. Get used to the magnification at night. The pigs were sure a lot more comfortable in the dark in the open fields.

It was with a local I know and paid trespass fees.

I ran into a kid at a gas station north of Turkey that runs thermal pig night hunts in your area. He said he had a lot of the ranches leased up.

Beautiful country you live in and great folks.

Really nice pics, thanks

Thank you. If you get out this way again give a holler.