Posted: 4/7/2008 4:18:07 PM EDT
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I got into camp Friday afternoon late. I walked to the new hog stand and got settled in with my 12 ga. loaded with 00 buck and also my Marlin .35 Remington. My plan was to use the shotgun to shoot coons and baby hogs and the Marlin if the big boy showed up. Coons had been doing some real damage to the feeders and I wanted to get even. The trail camera indicated that the big boy was always alone but if he did not show up then the big herd of babies would be there. About half hour before sundown the babies came running in. They attacked the corn and it was going quickly. I laid the Marlin down and got the shotgun ready. The piggiess were bunched up together so I was going to try and get several on the first shot. Just about when I was ready to start shooting a medium size boar came in. He was on several trail cam photos and has a distinctive white patch on his lower lip. He is not the real big one but would do. I put the shotgun down and picked up the Marlin again. Most of the corn was now gone and the babies were starting to spread out. I figured I would only get one shot off with the Marlin. Then a thought occurred. I could center punch the boar with a load of buckshot and then maybe get a few of the small ones as they scattered. The distance is only about fifteen yards from the tripod to the feeder so I was confident of killing the boar. I changed guns again and lined up the big one as he stood broad side. When the buckshot struck he turned and ran full speed into the woods and the babies scattered like quail. It was surprising how fast they ran. The one that was closest to the boar got the second load of shot and went down. By this time most of them were running fast into the woods. One had initially run the wrong way and when he turned around to follow his litter mates I got him. I fired the remaining three shots in the general direction of the running pigs but they were out of range and the shots were pretty much wasted. After taking a few minutes to calm down I realized that I had not brought any reloads for the shotgun. Damn it. So with the Marlin’s scope set to 3x I started looking for the boar. The trail he took showed no blood spoor at all. After about fifty yards it gets into the real thick stuff so I turned and followed a trail that circles back towards the pond next to the feeder. About half way there I found three very fresh hog turds. They were still wet. Wounded hogs frequently evacuate their bowels as they run off so things were getting interesting. I checked my rifle and my pistol and started inching down the trail. Then I heard a woof-woof. It is different than a grunt or a squeal and means that there is a pissed off hog nearby. Another woof sounded and I was able to pinpoint the direction. I got down low and looked into the brush and spotted the boar backed into the brush on the side of the trail. All I could see was the front of his head and he looked pissed. I cocked the hammer back on the Marlin and as I raised the rifle to shoot the hog backed up and was out of sight. So here is the situation. The light is fading. There is a boar hog with a load of buckshot in him. He has not run off and is making vocal threats. I am off in the thick brush. I am on the property by myself. My Jeep is back in camp a thirty minute walk away. If I get hurt it’s my ass. So I turned around and walked away.  Back at the tripod I got out my Scorpion and tied it to the side of the rifle with a piece of paracord. I had planned to shoot coons with the 12 ga. but was now out of shotgun shells. I put on my headlight and sat and waited. It took about two hours until it was totally dark. No light in the sky except stars. I could not see anything from the tripod. It was pretty spooky. I had determined to get some of the coons that tore up the feeders so I just waited. About 10 pm I heard corn crunching. I aimed the Marlin in the general direction of the feeder and pressed the light switch with my thumb. There sat a big coon eating corn. About a second after he saw the light come on his lights went out. That was it for Friday.   On the way back to camp I stopped at the protein feeder and there was another big bastard coon in there eating corn. He did not even try to run. He never heard me coming. Another Coon dead.  Saturday and Sunday were pretty much uneventful. Saw some deer, a coyote, and more hogs from other stands. The coyote and hogs were out of range for the Marlin. Monday morning I walked to my new hog stand and got in. At first light the surviving babies came running in to the feeder followed by one big sow and two medium size sows. I put one through the sow’s neck and she hit the dirt.  |
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There have been lots of previous hunts where I have shot a pig with a rifle and it ran off into the brush spewing blood. In thoes cases I was very sure that I would find a dead or nearly dead pig. No problem. Just use due caution and go in. This past weekend I had no idea what effect the buckshot had on the animal and when I found him standing up and ready to fight the situation was dangerous with the odds in favor of the pig. If one of the other hunters had been on the property and could have provided aid in the event of me getting injured I would have waded in and taken my chances. |
Haha, this gets my vote for a KISS tactical 30/30 
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Your neighbor has dogs to hold the animal while he does his thing, the OP did not. Your neighbor also isn't dealing with an aggressive wounded animal. |
I don't know about that. Most hogs would be both agressive and wounded after the dogs got ahold of them.  But I doubt he is hunting hogs with dogs while he is alone. That is usually a group activity.
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Nah, most are just going to want to get away from the dogs. Watch a few videos on youtube of asshats catching them with dogs and then releasing them...over and over. Hog tries to get away, dogs run it down. Release, repeat. 
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| One of the dumbest things I ever did was crawl down a "hog tunnel" in a plum thicket after a wounded 250 lb sow about 3 Am one night. I had a .44 in one hand and a Surefire in the other....fortunately she was dead when I found her but about the time I saw the body it struck me how incredibly STOOPID that was! |
Will, I sort of had the same epiffany a couple of hunts back. I did the same thing you just described and after I was back in camp I looked at my GPS for points of interest. The point of interest I was interested in was the nearest hospital and it turned out to be quite a ways from the ranch. Of course it would not matter if I was hunting alone and got torn up to the point where I could not make it to my Jeep to drive myself there. |
| I shot a hog in the snout once, lol. He was wounded, I went after him with an AR that had 2 rounds in it, (I had the .44 in the truck about 1/4 away, damit) anyway I heard the same woof, woof. It was getting dark, I was in thick brush and the hog had cutters that were impressive, so I let him lie, just as you did. |