I went down and checked my game cameras in Bosque County and there wasn't a single hog image on any of them. However, I found tracks leading from the creek bottom up into the oats field and so I decided to hunt there. This is the same 29 acre oats field I hunted last summer and fall. I didn't realize that the oats had grown so much in the last two weeks, but the abundant rain has the oats growing faster than the weeds.
So Big Red Dog had me looked at a new image stabilizing spotting scope from Sig Sauer called the Oscar 3. I arrived early and was set up well before dark and so I thought I would scan the fields, take pictures of me using the scope like I was really hunting...only I was. I was taking my second picture of me looking through the scope when I spotted hogs with it, LOL. I wasn't sure if I should go after the hogs or not, given that it was still daylight and I did not think I could make a very good approach. However, the wind was strong and I figured that if I circled around them, I might have a chance...
Later, I had an opportunity at a lone boar. It was really odd. Every few minutes, I would scan the field and there would be this large deer. Sometimes his head would be up, sometimes down. Sometimes, I would watch him for a while until he lifted his head to confirm he was a deer. After an hour or so, I scanned him for the 3rd time that I did not see him with his head raised and then I watched him make a short trot across the field without ever raising his head. The deer had left and had been replaced by a hog!
I didn't find either hog that night. I went back the next day after spending time on the computer, reviewing the video footage and looking for landmarks to figure out where the hogs were. That worked well enough and I was able to locate both hogs and remove them from the oats field for the farmer.
I didn't get a chance to do more with the terminal ballistics as time was short and the storms were rolling in, forcing me to leave before I could do the work.
