Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game TTSX and feral hogs

I know there are a lot of opinions out there on the TTSX's. I only recently began to use them and thought I would share my results.
The week of Thanksgiving, my son and I had a doe and a spike hanging in the cooler ready for processing. We wanted to make sausage so needed some pork. For more than a week we had been hunting for a good sow or several young shoats with no success. The boy had 3 traps set where there was abundant sign but, could only catch a few big boars. Normally, pigs are no problem to find. But after the recent drought they seem to be more elusive. The sign is everywhere but it has been hard see them in the daytime.
On Wednesday evening before Thanksgiving, he and I were driving thru the pasture and I remembered a stand where we keep a feeder going. Son dropped me off about five minutes before the feeder was set to go off and drove down to a creek to see if he could bring home more bacon than me. I crawled into a blind about 100 yds from the feeder and waited a few minutes. About 5 minutes after the feeder went off, a dozen hogs came up. All were the same size about 180 pounders. I waited until all their interest was on the corn and sighted the .308 on a good sow.
At the crack of the rifle not one but 2 hogs dropped. I will not claim to have lined up both hogs for one shot, but I was tickled to find that the second hog was a sow equal to the one that I intended to kill. I had put the crosshairs right below the ear of my target. The 130 gr TTSX exited the off side in the same location and entered the second sow above the eye. The first sow was broadside to me and the second was facing me behind the other.
By the time the young hunter returned to pick me up it was dark, so we loaded the pigs and headed for home. We dressed the critters and left them to hang for the night, temperature being in the 30's. As I gutted the second sow I felt a small knot right at the point of her sternum right below the hide. As I opened her up I found the TTSX.
Next morning we skinned and moved them to the cooler until further processing. Only after we finished did I think to take photos. So as you can see I did the best that I could to reconstruct the scene with the hides and heads. Keep in mind that both sows had their heads down on the corn.



Exit on the first porker.



Entry on number two.



The bullet travelled down the second sow's neck and lodged where I recovered it.

The bullet retained 129.9 gr, is the .1 gr the tip?




End of story: Saturday, we made about 50# pan sausage (50/50 venison/pork), 60# ground meat (~70/30 venison/pork), kept the backstraps and tenders of both species, and 4 pork hams curing (hopefully ready by February).






One last thing on bullet performance. Late that Saturday, I shot another sow with the same bullet, in behind the near shoulder, out thru the off shoulder. A friend butchered her and commented that although the off shoulder was broken there was minimal meat loss. Load is 50 gr Varget.
Have a good one,
Amigo

i think id use a smaller bullet. the barnes cleaned them out.

Thanks for your story.

.308?

amigo, nice story and pics. I wouldn't change a thing. Do you use a .308 for all your deer/hog hunting?

maddog

That is a great story! Two birds with one stone! Your loaded cartridges look just like mine with about 2 rings showing.

Thanks guys,
Maddog, My old stand-by has always been a .25-06. However, I purchased this .308 in the spring. It is the first I've ever shot. After adding a recoil pad (I am not a fan of recoil)and working up an acceptable hunting load, this could be my new favorite.
Amigo

Good shooting!

I flamed a hog with the same bullet this year also.


Exit

Impressive tusks Steelhead. Was he intact or a cut-hog? Nice shooting as well. So far, I am impressed with this little bullet.
Amigo

He had nuts the size of grapefruits....

That above is a 300 Savage

Good hogs, guys!

Like the teeth on Steelhead's, but thinking Amigos would suit my teeth better!

Those are wicked little bullets....

Amigo, the one you recovered looks like an ad for Barnes, and your story reads like one. I'm still thinking they ought to send you a few boxes in exchange for including it in their next reloading manual.

Scott,

How did you end up in the last one? Did they send you a little copper for your trouble? Maybe you could hook Amigo up and help Barnes out as well.

DJ

I'm curious how that venison/hog sausage turns out....I've found feral hog much to lean for use as a substitute for domestic pork.

Stan, these particular hogs were rolling fat. The sausage turned out very good. I have given several packages away and the comments are good. I agree that some are too lean but I always use a 50/50 ratio. Most of the processors around here use 60/40 with domestic pork. If we do get a dry batch my wife browns it in the skillet and then adds water and lets it simmer until done. I usually have no complaints.

No complaints, that's what we're looking for....hard to beat those pigs on a plate!

I've had a meal or 50 at Amigo's table.

No complaints...and plenty of compliments.

He married way over his head...like the rest of us!

DJ

Steelie, would you mind sharing your .300 Sav. load, or at least the velocity?

Thanks
Scott

That one is 44grs of H4895, I'm running a 1.5 grains less in my 99's.

Right at 2900fps

Congraduations, great thread and write up.

TSX bullets are extremely lethal bullets IME

Steelhead, thanks for the info. That sounds like a good way to ruin a deer or piggy's day without alot of fuss.