As promised I got out for some more testing. I didn't put as much effort into getting a huge number of hogs. I was focusing on taking different shots (neck, shoulder, stationary, and running) on different size hogs. I think I succeed in this and my opinion of the 90 GD remains about the same as the first time.
It was bitter cold night again, but only a 8-10 MPH south wind instead of a 20 MPH north wind and freezing rain like when TLM was here. I was hunting solo, which I rarely get an opportunity to do anymore. My wife is out of town so I have to play as hard as I can with no wife and no work for a few days.
The first hog I spotted I spotted a little late. It is hard to drive and spot with a thermal imager at the same time. I helmet mounted my pvs 14 over my left eye so I could see to drive and used the thermal on my right eye to spot out my side window as I could. I normally drive my routes so the passenger can spot for me so i was all backwards tonight. They first hog I spotted was chowing down on some pecans and I am thankful for the loud crunch they make . I didn't see him until I was 75 yards away in the truck! He was blocked by the A pillar during a turn I had to make. I slowly crept out of the truck and he was none the wiser. Stalked to 50 yards, waited for him to turn broadside, and started the slow trigger squeeze as I delicately steadied the EOtech dot on his neck. BOOOOOMMM! The shot echoed through the cold crisp air as I recovered from the slight recoil of the 6.8. The lone boar was left doing the dirt dance. The shot entered just behind his ear and exited a little lower and more towards his throat.
Lone Boar (190 pounds by tape)
Entrance
Exit
I loaded him up and checked the rest of the property but didn't see anything besides deer and raccoons. Lots of hog sign, but no hogs so I moved on to the next spot. The next spot is a large bermuda grass field that the land owner dumps waste pecans on. the pile is about 100 feet in diameter and 10 feet tall! This is a giant dinner bell for the hogs. When I pull up I can see two large blobs near the pile so I start the 200 yard walk. As I get closer the two large blobs start moving and turning into 8 smaller blobs. I get to around 100 yards and count 16 pigs broken into 3 different groups. I pause for a moment to see if the group will combine and give me a better opportunity to pick the best target, but they wouldn't do it. I start to maneuver around a smaller pecan pile to get a better angle and crap! There are two smaller hogs on the other side of it. Thankfully I spotted them before they did me. They heard me crunch through the knee tall grass and poked their heads up from the pecans for a second, but without a moon they couldn't see what was making the noise and continued on eating. Right as I composed myself the dread "low power" phrase started flashing in my thermal screen. No big deal because I could easily spot all the hogs in the PVS 14 at the range I was at now so I just switched back to it. 30 seconds later the lower battery indicated started flashing on my helmet mounted pvs 14. So I thought no big deal, I'll just guide myself in with the pvs 14 on my rifle. I know I changed the battery in it during my last hunt. Crisis averted! I repositioned myself for a shot at a larger hog in a group around 70 yards. I fire and she drops, but gets up again. I didn't bother with a follow up because I wanted to see how far she would run. I picked my next target and it was the largest hog in the group that started at 40 yards from me. I hit her on the run and she slid to a halt in the grass. I swung on the next hog, a smaller sow, and fired. Miss! I adjust my lead and nail her.
At this point I think all the hogs are gone, but I could hear piglets running around. This made me giggle a little because I remember TLM busting a bunch of them last weekend. I tried to pop a couple with my IR laser and a helmet mounted pvs because it was hard to see them in the tall weeds through the scope with such little light and the IR light bounced off the light colored grass. I missed a couple times and thought why waste the ammo. Then the piglets ran another circle around the sow I dropped (their mom) and they paused. I shouldered my rifle and was able to spot them without the IR light and POP, SQUEAL! Dead piglet.
It was bitter cold night again, but only a 8-10 MPH south wind instead of a 20 MPH north wind and freezing rain like when TLM was here. I was hunting solo, which I rarely get an opportunity to do anymore. My wife is out of town so I have to play as hard as I can with no wife and no work for a few days.
The first hog I spotted I spotted a little late. It is hard to drive and spot with a thermal imager at the same time. I helmet mounted my pvs 14 over my left eye so I could see to drive and used the thermal on my right eye to spot out my side window as I could. I normally drive my routes so the passenger can spot for me so i was all backwards tonight. They first hog I spotted was chowing down on some pecans and I am thankful for the loud crunch they make . I didn't see him until I was 75 yards away in the truck! He was blocked by the A pillar during a turn I had to make. I slowly crept out of the truck and he was none the wiser. Stalked to 50 yards, waited for him to turn broadside, and started the slow trigger squeeze as I delicately steadied the EOtech dot on his neck. BOOOOOMMM! The shot echoed through the cold crisp air as I recovered from the slight recoil of the 6.8. The lone boar was left doing the dirt dance. The shot entered just behind his ear and exited a little lower and more towards his throat.
Lone Boar (190 pounds by tape)
Entrance
Exit
I loaded him up and checked the rest of the property but didn't see anything besides deer and raccoons. Lots of hog sign, but no hogs so I moved on to the next spot. The next spot is a large bermuda grass field that the land owner dumps waste pecans on. the pile is about 100 feet in diameter and 10 feet tall! This is a giant dinner bell for the hogs. When I pull up I can see two large blobs near the pile so I start the 200 yard walk. As I get closer the two large blobs start moving and turning into 8 smaller blobs. I get to around 100 yards and count 16 pigs broken into 3 different groups. I pause for a moment to see if the group will combine and give me a better opportunity to pick the best target, but they wouldn't do it. I start to maneuver around a smaller pecan pile to get a better angle and crap! There are two smaller hogs on the other side of it. Thankfully I spotted them before they did me. They heard me crunch through the knee tall grass and poked their heads up from the pecans for a second, but without a moon they couldn't see what was making the noise and continued on eating. Right as I composed myself the dread "low power" phrase started flashing in my thermal screen. No big deal because I could easily spot all the hogs in the PVS 14 at the range I was at now so I just switched back to it. 30 seconds later the lower battery indicated started flashing on my helmet mounted pvs 14. So I thought no big deal, I'll just guide myself in with the pvs 14 on my rifle. I know I changed the battery in it during my last hunt. Crisis averted! I repositioned myself for a shot at a larger hog in a group around 70 yards. I fire and she drops, but gets up again. I didn't bother with a follow up because I wanted to see how far she would run. I picked my next target and it was the largest hog in the group that started at 40 yards from me. I hit her on the run and she slid to a halt in the grass. I swung on the next hog, a smaller sow, and fired. Miss! I adjust my lead and nail her.
At this point I think all the hogs are gone, but I could hear piglets running around. This made me giggle a little because I remember TLM busting a bunch of them last weekend. I tried to pop a couple with my IR laser and a helmet mounted pvs because it was hard to see them in the tall weeds through the scope with such little light and the IR light bounced off the light colored grass. I missed a couple times and thought why waste the ammo. Then the piglets ran another circle around the sow I dropped (their mom) and they paused. I shouldered my rifle and was able to spot them without the IR light and POP, SQUEAL! Dead piglet.
Last edited:
