Palo Pinto County Hog Hunt Part 2

Brian Shaffer

Hog Hunter
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A bit longer video of the 2nd part of the night in Palo Pinto County. We drove to another area and found hogs amongst the cattle in paddocks. There were a series of smaller holding fields that were sectioned into areas by cross fences and electric fences.

After not being able to approach from the front, we drove around to the back and made a cross country approach over uneven ground (cattle had walked on the muddy ground leaving craters everywhere), strewn with prickly pear cactus. It was a slow progression in the bright moon.

dfwroadkill pulled his first shot (low) and I flinched from the sound of his rifle with my first shot (right), but we picked up hogs on the run. He thought his was down and he scanned to look for other hogs and his got up and got to safety. Mine was not so lucky.

Looking closely at the video, it would appear that his hog was hit through the shoulder, so it has undoubtedly expired, but we never found it.
 

RattlesnakeDan

San Antonio Texas
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I watched it on Youtube went it was ready. Great video quality and it's too bad cow wasn't on the menu!
 

ZenArchery

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Great shot. The more time you spend with cows in the field they will get used to you. Unless that is a temporary field where cattle move in and out of all the time. Once they are comfortable with you, you can use them as cover and stalk right up on the those hogs. Just keep working it. If the farmer uses cubes as a supplement bring them into field and hand feed those cows. Awesome hunt.
 

Brian Shaffer

Hog Hunter
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I am used to cattle that pretty well are slow and sluggish at night. Some of these cows got hinky when we got within 100 yards of them. The rest seemed nearly as active as the hogs. As you can see, not many were interested in being bedded down despite the late hour.
 

Ratdog68

LSB Official Story Teller
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Nuttin' wrong with that action right there.
 

gshock

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Good video ... Obstacle course to get to the hogs without spooking them. Congrats!
 

bldsmith

LSB Active Member
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Them some smart piggies and dumb cows. I wonder sometimes if they really know what they are doing. Huddling together right in front of the cows. Good restraint there.
 

Oso Grande

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That huddle toward the end was really interesting and I'm sure frustrating to see.

Great video!
 

Afalex1

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My worst enemies while hunting are chocolate, cows, and sticky mud. In that order.

Dang cows always get in the way.

Nice work on the video!
 

Jake

Bandera, Texas
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Great video Brian, love the view from the two different scopes.
 

RattlesnakeDan

San Antonio Texas
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My worst enemies while hunting are chocolate, cows, and sticky mud. In that order.

Dang cows always get in the way.

Nice work on the video!
Hate to see a chocolate cow stuck in the mud anywhere near you. Could be ugly.
 

DaveABQ

Albuquerque, NM
Nice job. Funny how cattle are. At my lease, if I drive my atv, the cattle scatter, if I'm in my Ranger they run to me because that's what the cattle rancher drives and they think I have some goodies.
 

Curly Shuffle

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Again way to go guys, I bet that hurt seeing those hogs just standing there!! BANG BANG!!
 

rob072770

Lewisville NC
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Brain I have a Zeus 3 640. The difference between scopes was way dramatic . The other scope was clearer than the Zeus. Hum makes we wonder about buying one. I have heard that there is a new firmware upgrade to our Zeus to fix that is that what you have heard? The heat signature were much better. Made me wonder if the brightness was turned up to high?
 

Brian Shaffer

Hog Hunter
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Clarity is an interesting factor. If you notice, dfwroadkill could not see how many hogs were in front of one another. The animals are very flat. The black hog shapes merged into one blob, but with the Zeus, you could clearly see the different animals and they have more dimension to them.

Brightness turned up too high? Depends. You start turning it down and everything gets dimmer including the reticle. You are left with a similar problem.

What I have noticed is that brightness and contrast often must be adjusted with every level of zoom. In a dynamic situation, I am not going to do that. That is one of the results of the "pop" of the hot objects and is a feature I don't like. The images are already black and white and I don't see where a hot animal needs to "pop" out relative to the background. In that regard, the MKII really does look much better.

I don't know about the new firmware and what it will or will not fix. I watched TLM's video and while there is an improvement, I am not sure that it is worthwhile to send in my scope.
 

rob072770

Lewisville NC
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Clarity is an interesting factor. If you notice, dfwroadkill could not see how many hogs were in front of one another. The animals are very flat. The black hog shapes merged into one blob, but with the Zeus, you could clearly see the different animals and they have more dimension to them.

Brightness turned up too high? Depends. You start turning it down and everything gets dimmer including the reticle. You are left with a similar problem.

What I have noticed is that brightness and contrast often must be adjusted with every level of zoom. In a dynamic situation, I am not going to do that. That is one of the results of the "pop" of the hot objects and is a feature I don't like. The images are already black and white and I don't see where a hot animal needs to "pop" out relative to the background. In that regard, the MKII really does look much better.

I don't know about the new firmware and what it will or will not fix. I watched TLM's video and while there is an improvement, I am not sure that it is worthwhile to send in my scope.
So the consumer can not up grade the firmware I agree will not sent it. Always appreciate you input in real world solutions Thanks
 
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