Piggie down: night hunting

[Big Bend Brian]

This past fall I picked up a DPMS 5.56/223 black gun at a Ducks Unlimited Banquet and mated a Burris AR-332 illuminated 3x red dot scope to it. Wanting to extend hog hunting into the night I did some researching on night lights and also spoke with a friend who had researched this and already had a couple of night hunting trips. I ended up getting a green Kill Light XLR250 night light with a wired on/off selectable power switch that allows up to 250 yards of hunting light. In combination with my illuminated reticle scope that is switchable to either a green or red reticle this is a great combination. With a green Kill Light the red reticle works well although I’ve found just using the non-powered black reticle works well with the green light too. Green & red lights are used for night hunting with green working the best for hogs plus it easier on the eyes while red lights are used for predators like yotes. Hogs are color blind and don’t see either color.


In the backyard playing with this combo


Using the red reticle on low power (picture taken through the scope).

So……..I worked up a new stand a couple weeks ago and hadn’t yet put in reflective trail markers so getting to it early yesterday morning in the darkness was tougher than I thought it would be….. After working through the trail and back tracking a bit I got to the stand, got buttoned up, pulled a blanket on and hoped hogs would come by. Forty minutes later the woods just gets freaky as hogs in the distance are coming towards me squealing louder than heck, screeching, grunting, fighting, running around and making a heck of a racket!! Dang were they loud! At first I turned the light on low power but could only see the reflections in their eyes as they held up in the palmettoes. After a bit the largest one came out and I had the AR on it but held off as I was trying to get two hogs lined up. Milling around with the larger one screeching and continuously chasing away the 2 smaller ones they didn’t quite line up and after a bit they wondered off and bedded down at the fringe of the palmettoes. I could see em but couldn’t make out a shot.

By now it’s getting light and they stayed bedded down for about 30 minutes until a shot off in the distance startled them and they stood up. The largest one walked away with the second following it and I thought I had blown it but the smaller one worked its way out of the palmettoes. This time I didn’t wait and took the shot as soon as it presented a chance. At the shot it just dropped.


~60-65 lb sow


These little black rifles are fun.

Brian

[Danibeth]

I don't do much big game hunting at all...my family in OR are big into deer and occassionally elk but the rule in our family has always been you kill it, you get to clean it and haul it out. Partly because of that I've never really gotten into "big game" hunting. I did kill my first pig last year while wandering the woods scouting for turkeys and doing some quail hunting. I've never been to that particular management area and NOT seen pigs so I took a couple of buckshot shotshells. It ended up being about 12 feet away.

Anywho, I noticed that you shot the pig in the head. Where are you aiming for that shot? I've got several rifles and they may actually get some use when I move out west to Tallahassee. But are you aiming for where the ear meets the head? A little forward of that?

Nice pig you got. How much meat do you get off a pig that size?

Danibeth

[Big Bend Brian]

That shot could have been better placed a half inch to one inch closer to the base of the ear. That shot drops them. I’m hunting in a swamp and it’s standing water everywhere. Tracking anything would be challenging at best. I’d only recommend this shot if your close, you’re shooting an accurate rifle, and you feel confident in the shot. Any lower and you might take out the mandible and it’d have a horrible death.

Here’s an excellent 1 minute 17 second video that summarizes head shots of pigs:

Proper shot placement for pigs, swine, wild hogs, boars: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jODjIpk17SA

Here’s a photo of wild hog anatomy too:


Brian

[red_yakker]

Looks like fun.

[Danibeth]

Thanks Brian, i'll check out that video when I'm not at work.