One of our TNVC family members just took this biggin a few nights back in Georgia using our D-790.    ID was VERY good knowing this was not some farmers cow!  

Yep typing on my phone with auto spell check a real thrill! Then my staff wonders why I hate texting!!

For a bit of size comparisons...Our TNVC family member in this pic is 6'-7", 285lbs.

Short synopsis of the hunt  will come shortly. I was also corrected on the weight which I will also talk about during the AAR.

As for video, the D-790 is a dedicated NV scope, compared to a thermal device which allows for a digital output for recording. The true benefit of a NV device is the TRUE ID of the animal and in some cases for LE folks, 2 legged animals.  The D-790 is probably the very best optical image I've ever looked through in regards to a NV device. Hands down it surpasses the original Raptor NV scopes both 4x and 6x in contrast and clarity, and that is a huge compliment.

Vic

Here is the synopsis of the shoot from our TNVC family shooter...

A photo of this Georgia pig was captured on one of our game cameras more than four years ago.  From there, he became a "ghost", never to be seen again...until a fewmonths ago.  

He started showing up at one of our feeders, with a group of about eight other pigs, but always at night.  We spent the next several months trying to pattern his feed times but, they always varied by several hours.  Although we sat waiting on several occasions, when ever could get him in front of our ground blind.  About two weeks ago, he regularly started visiting the feeder between 2:30 and 3:00 am. The night he was taken was a no-moon evening and heavily overcast.  He showed up slightly before 3:00 am and I used an M-24 Thermal to spot him from our ground blind approximately 100 yards away. When he presented the shot, I exited the blind and moved to within about 50 yards of him and illuminated him with a Torch Pro.  The rifle was a Remington 700 LTR in .308, topped off with a D-790.  A single, hand loaded,168gr BTHP hit him just behind the left shoulder, with the pig quartering away sharply.  The bullet lodged in his head, after destroying the left lung and neck.  It put him down immediately.  After chambering another round, and watching the pig for about ten minutes, the rifle was shouldered and pistol drawn.  After approaching with white light, I was shocked to seethe chest still heaving.  This beast was still alive!!!  A single 230gr hollowpoint to the neck, did nothing to stop the breathing.  Two more rounds from the HK 45 Compact, just behind the ear, did the trick.  What a resilient animal.  

After cleaning him, and seeing the trauma in the neck,it was not surprising that the first .45 round to the neck had no effect.  The .308 had already torn up most of the internal portion of the neck.  Only the two shots to the brain stem were effective. One would have probably been sufficient but, there was no reason to see him suffer or, to take a chance with an animal this big and dangerous.


As it was impossible to lift this animal, I returned to camp to get the four-wheeler and attached a buddy's trailer to the back.  With the ramp down, we were able to wrestle him into (and almost completely fill) the trailer.  Our current camp scales were only 400 pound capable and, he bottomed them.  By doing comparison with a picture of a 450 pound boar we killed last year, we were able to determine that this one was much, much larger.  He was at least 500 pounds!  He was a Bar(a boar that had been trapped and cut, many years ago) which probably accounted for his tremendous size.  It will probably stand as a record at our camp for many years to come.  Hell, he's bigger than most of the bears on our property!  He definitely was the King of Woods. I am proud of the success and, he will be providing us with several hundred pounds of sausage for us to share with friends and family. Because he was a Bar, he had none of the tell-tale stench of a typical pig of this size.  The meat was clean and covered with a thick layer of fat.  We are definitely looking forward to getting this meat back from the processor.    





Vic

I will pass your kind words on!   I was shocked at the sheer size of this one.

The question of a "Bar" has come up, in a couple posts.  It is probably a local term, used here in South Georgia.  But, I don't really know.  Here's the skinny:

It refers to a pig that has been captured, castrated and then released.  On our property, we live trap our wild hog population.  We have a special cut-cage that we chase them into and then lift with the tractor.  Their legs fall through the openings and they are pinned.  After castration, we clip the tail off at the rump, in order to more readily identify the ones that have been cut.  These "Bars" will become more elusive and, will rapidly start to grow.  They also tend to run together.  They put on a large covering of fat and, they also lose the typical stench that a large, wild boar (still with his goodies) will have.  Probably this is due to the loss of testosterone.  What you end up with is a stable of good-eating, very large, non-reproducing pigs.
 
Our pigs are a mix of the more wild razorback version and the more domestic style of feral pig.  The difference between the two is usually on either end. The snout is longer on the more wild versions and, the tails will be straight.  The feral ones will have the shorter snouts and the curly tails.  How much of each trait is purely dependent on their lineage.  We also see a tendency towards the higher, longer, higher-bristled back on the wild ones.  However, this trait seems to get mixed in a lot quicker than the snouts and tails.

Hope that helps!

Be Safe

Wild pigs are generally believed to be capable of living around 12 years, + or -.  Domestic pigs can live longer.  When this one was captured on a game camera, he was probably already over 350 lbs.  He was almost as tall as a yearling doe, at that time.  We are guessing that he was at least 8 years old but, it could be up to 10.  It is really hard to tell unless they have been tagged.  We don't tag any of ours so, it's tough to know.