2016-04-30 // 05-01
2000-0500
50F
03-08 MPH NW
Goal(s): Feral Hogs and Coyotes in Wichita Falls Texas with partner I will call Fred.
Environment: I started out slightly overdressed and was hot ... but as the evening progressed and the temp dropped and the wind picked up ... I ended up being slightly underdressed and chilly. Net/net I was pretty good. It was a very clear night ... stars totally visible ... no moon until 0345 ... It was drier than I expected ... in Kansas ... at least on my land .. it takes 4+ days to dry out after a good rain ... apparently in Texas less so ... we were not sloshing around much in these pastures in Wichita Falls.
Equipment: 6.5g(18) with 123 SST, Zeus Pro 100 4x 640(60), Harvester. Helmet with ODIN 17mm 1x 320(30), PVS-14 720nm filter on front, 915 Laser illuminator, 3 lumen RGBW admin light. Primos trigger stick.
Fred had 6.5g(16) with 123 SST, IRD-MK2 35 2.45x 640(30). Primos trigger stick.
Activity: We went to two areas the first area we were at from dark (about 9pm) until about mid-night, then 1 hour travel to second area which we were at from about 1am until about 4:30am ... about 45m after moon rise.
Area 01: We saw no pigs in this area. We saw a number of smaller critters outside our ROE, like coons and rats and we saw a number of larger critters outside our ROE like cattle and deer. We did see several coyotes.
Coyote 01, Fred tried to call in but it moved off.
Coyote 02, got a pass as a vehicle showed up too near the LOF.
Coyote 03, Fred called it in and it was running in ... my first shot, head on might have missed, it then turned to its right, my second shot might have missed, it then turned right again and was headed away, my third shot might have missed, it then turned left, ran a few steps and front went down and rear went over front and legs went up in the air wiggling. I'm not sure which shot hit it, but at least one of them did. Looking at the coyote later, there was one clear entry wound center of right side and no exit wounds on that side. That would seem to rule out all my shots and as I took no shots at that coyotes right side. But it would certainly seem to rule out the second shot as that shot was taken looking at the left side of the coyote broadside. So it was either the first shot or the third shot. The distance was about 70yds, based on walking there fromn the firing position. The 123 SST made pulp of the exit would side ... about 60% of the exit wound side of the coyote was a solid bloody mess. The 123 SST seems to be overkill for yotes, but then I was going HOG hunting!
Coyote 04, busted us (we were upwind) and moved away.
We did a lot of driving, walking and scanning but saw no hogs in this area on three different properties.
Area 02: We turned off the hard road onto a gravel road and dismounted and right there in front of us was a group of 30 hogs ... the grass was high and we could only see the backs of the larger ones ... they were mostly bedded down, but a few were moving away from us. Vehicles go by this spot and I think the hogs were used to that ... I had setup and scanned and then asked "what is the plan"? I then learned we were not supposed to shoot hogs in this field ... this field was outside our ROE !!! (oh my we could've mowed them down!) We then drove East to the owners house and parked and stalked back West, half a mile to where we had seen the hogs and could not see them. Then we returned to the area of the vehicle and then headed (on foot) North half a mile across a rough pasture to the top of a big hill. We could see a long ways in all directions from up there. The position we had seen the hogs at was about 1200yds from our current position. Eventually we could see them ... there were cows to the West and North of the hogs and also to the South of the hogs ... the hogs were in the SW corner of this huge field. We were both using 2x digital magnification to see them most clearly and be able to count them. Fred was at 5x (2.5x optical and 2x digital) and I was at 8x (4x optical and 2x digital), we were mostly on black hot. We also spotted some hogs near a pond to the SSW at about 300yds. We had a choice to return back the way we had come and then try to flank this closer group, or to head down the cliff to our NW and then head SSW towards this closer group of hogs. We decided on the direct path, down the cliff. Fred turned on weak white light to navigate down the cliff. I turned on green 3 lumen light on helmet. We navigated down the cliff using our shooting sticks (retracted) as ersatz walking sticks and our vis lights ... the terrain was steep, but not too steep to go down front ways ... the issue was there was a lot of boulders which made the going very uneven and you had to watch your step. We were going down the cliff about to the West. Once we got down then we headed due South to move around the pond. We did not stop to check for the pigs, we moved as fast as we could without falling. When we got near the pond we stopped and looked and the pigs were gone. We were in low ground now and we could see no pigs. We then continued around the pond moving through some wet and low water areas. I had on muck boots which worked well. Fred had on regular boots and his boots got full of water. Finally we were moving West towards the original spot we had seen the pigs.
We setup and looked once we got high enough ... and lo and behold ... there was a long single file "convoy" of hogs rolling NNE at about 800yds ... we discussed moving back to the big hill to try to cut them off ... about the time we were ready to move, the head of the column (a huge Sow) did a half left and the column was now headed NNW away from us into a wooded area. There was a house in that area .. .and near the road over there was outside our ROE, it was heading towards 5am ... we called it a night.
[video=youtube;H-tAQdxjJek]
Summary results: A lot of fast walking ... Fred's style matches the terrain, but I was expecting smaller pastures ... approaching close to the hogs ... under 100yds ... etc. big learning for me is make no assumptions ... be prepared for open or close terrain!
Spotting with the thermals at 800-1200yds quickly was also a new activity for me ... I would rate the ZP100 and the Mk235 about even for detection/id at these distances. Sometimes I could see hogs, Fred couldn't see and sometimes he could see hogs I couldn't see ... the tall grass meant they would come in and out of visibility as they moved .. you had to keep actively scanning. Digital magnification actually helps at these distances. And BTW, my ZP100 has new software update, per April 2016 - validated via call to Armasight.
As always, the image through the thermal was much better than the image we see on the video.
And thanks to Cliff at ******************* for getting me this Zeus Pro 100mm, 4x, 640(60) ... it is a great long range thermal!