Jake
Bandera, Texas
LSB TURKEY BUZZARD PRESERVATION SOCIETY
SUS VENATOR CLUB
LoneStarBoars Supporter
Thursday night I went out solo. After watching my feeder and pig pipe for a couple hours in swirling wind I gave up and headed for the oat fields. The oats are just starting to head out but I was hoping I'd find some early birds. I was out in the middle scanning with thermal when I heard something in the woods adjacent to the field. Sure enough six hogs, all about the same size were running through the thicket. I almost took a shot but decided to wait and see what they did. They entered the field about 200 yards down the fence from me and started grazing. The wind was right and I began the stalk. Of course I spooked some turkeys roosting in the trees at the edge who in turn spooked the deer in the field. When the deer blew, the piggies headed down to the far end of field and out. I figured the hunt was pretty much over until I realized the pigs were staying just outside the field. The foliage was so thick I could only see fragments of their heat signature occasionally. Without thermal imaging I would have never had a clue that they were still there or where they were located. I watched and waited a good 30 minutes hoping they would re-enter the field. Finally I decided I better take what I could get and settled in on the lead sow when she stepped into one of the few clearings. I knew I was shooting through net wire but I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best. Turns out I was shooting through net wire with another net wire patch over it. The hog squealed, jumped and took off. I was able to take down the 2nd hog with 2 shots. The first shot caught him low in the chest and took out his right front leg. The 2nd shot caught him center in the shoulder. I followed a heavy blood trail and recovered the 1st sow 40 yards away. No joke.... the bullet evidently hit the fence, split in two, and left two equal round entrance wounds in the hogs shoulder about 2 inches apart. The wound was pretty gruesome as you can see in the last photo. One frag completely shattered the humerus and entered the chest cavity. The other piece pierced the chest cavity and also took out the liver. If I had more time I would have tried harder to recover the fragments. Two more fat and healthy hogs, four more backstraps in the freezer. I couldn't be more impressed with the Pulsar Apex XD50A and the Barnes 55+55 grain tac-tx Buckshot!
