Mr. Big Bacon

[Afalex1]

About a week ago I got to go on another solo hunt. I popped a smaller sow as she cruised by my truck in a field. I was quick enough to get her two companions before they were out of sight. I was still testing the 90 grain gold dot. The sow dropped with a shot the went in her shoulder and out her neck. Here are the pictures of the entrance and exit wounds. I used my knife to shave back the hair.

Exit


Entrance


As the night progressed I found a sounder of 18 hogs chowing down in some really old growth pecan orchards. I stalked in and made my shots and missed a lot. I was not having a good night of shooting and something just felt off with my shooting. In the end I had only knocked down one hog and was disappointed until I walked up to him.



295 POUNDS!

 

[Afalex1]

Cont.






He was so old that his teeth were worn down to nubs. One of his cutters was broken off and the root sticking out.

 

[Afalex1]

Later I ran into another sounder. I stalked in to about 40 yards and got busted. One sow made a huff sound and they all started boogying to the next county. I was able to take two.

 

[FrankT]

Some good hog there, thin them out!!

 

[Ratdog68]

What a beast ! You fergot you contest sign Alex. Congrats on some fine hogs, 'specially that ol' bruiser.

 

[Curly Shuffle]

Dandy pigs. Nice going and some nice pictures. 295 That is a big one. BANG BANG!!

 

[Afalex1]

What a beast ! You fergot you contest sign Alex. Congrats on some fine hogs, 'specially that ol' bruiser.

I'm not submitting him to the contest because I am a vendor and don't feel it would be fair if I won. I thought about posting a picture of him in that thread just to keep it going and stating I am not competing for the win, but then I felt this big boy deserved his own thread.

 

[FrankT]

He does deserve his own thread, how old, did you age him? Tough old boy, you did good.

 

[fanninland]

Wow, that's pretty durn good - I'd like to have one of your "off" nights.

Instead of your shooting being off, wonder if you hit some with the GD's that ran off?

 

[DaveABQ]

nice hogs, fat sows and big boar, congrats Alex

as for the Gold Dots, what do you think so far?

 

[RattlesnakeDan]

Nice Hogs. The smaller ones would be good eating, one is already gutted. lol How old do you suppose that big boy is?

 

[Chopperdrvr]

Good job Alex. I hope to rigged up for better night hunting soon. Hope I can have an off night like that.

 

[Afalex1]

nice hogs, fat sows and big boar, congrats Alex

as for the Gold Dots, what do you think so far?

I think the gold does work great for someone looking to shoot 1-2 hogs that are stationary and for eating. They do not disrupt tissue enough to stop a hog in his tracks while running. However, a shot placed in the boiler room or neck/head did the trick every time. I shoot a lot of hogs on the run for eradication and the gold dots just don't stop them. The exit wounds are never a whole lot larger than the entrance compared to the damage a 120 sst does. In short....I ordered more 120 sst bullets 2 days ago. Anyone want to buy a few hundred gold dots? Just kidding. I'll use them for training new shooters and my wife on paper.

I actually don't know how to age a hog. I have his skull and am going to make it a euro mount today so I can still do it if it is teeth related.

 

[FrankT]

http://www.hunting-in-texas.com/learnhogs.htm#aging

How Old is That Pig?
. Nearly every time one of my hunters shoots a hog, I hear that question; how old do you think that pig is? Well, until they are five (the pig, not the hunter), that's a relatively easy question to answer with a set of jaw spreaders and a flashlight. All you have to do is examine their teeth.
.
The exact things to look for are all to be found on the rear most jaw teeth. You can ignore the front teeth, the tusks, and the Euro teeth, if present. The Euro tooth is a very small tooth, a short distance rearward of the tusk on each jaw. Only European Boar and hybrids of domestic pigs and Boar will have these teeth.
.

The Euro tooth of a feral hog/european boar hybrid
Photo from www.texasboars.com .
On sows and boar less than 18 months old, there will normally be three adjoining teeth in this rear most position. The first two are thin, looking much like a human canine tooth in shape. The third will be a tricuspid molar. Tricuspid means it will appear to have three parts or columns joined together to form the one tooth. . By the time the hog hits it's second birthday, a fourth tooth, a bicuspid molar (two parts or columns), will have also fully erupted through the gum line.
. #3 is tricuspid - #4 is bicuspid

jaw teeth of a 2 year old feral hog
Photo from www.texasboars.com .
From nearly two years old, until about 2 and a half years, the pig will loose the first three teeth, one at a time, and replace them. The two thin tooth replacements will look the same (except newer). The tricuspid molar becomes a large, bicuspid molar.
.
By the hog's third birthday, a fifth tooth, another bicuspid molar, will have erupted through the gum line.
.
By the hog's fourth birthday, a sixth tooth, a tricuspid molar, will have partially erupted through the gum line, showing two of the three cusps.
By the fifth year, that sixth tooth will be fully erupted. From now on, the only way to know how old the hog is, is by the amount of wear shown on the teeth. No more teeth will show up. When all these molars are all worn out, at about age eight, the hog can no longer get the nutrition they need from what they eat and they rapidly begin to decline in health. It is rare for a wild hog to live past eight years old.
.

Jaw teeth of a 5 year old wild hog
Photo from www.texasboars.com
. To oversimplify this whole process, you can generally just count the rear jaw teeth on one jaw, and subtract two to get the age of your hog. That is, as long as they are less than four years old. If that sixth tooth is fully exposed (all three cusps), the pig is at least five.

 

[Afalex1]

By reading this http://www.hunting-in-texas.com/learnhogs.htm#aging this boat is over 5 years old. By the wear on his teeth I think he is closer to 7 or 8. His molars are nearly worn through to the gums.

 

[FrankT]

Thanks, yeah I was not sure as the cutter could be broken to look like he is old only the molars can tell you..always interesting to me. was the euro tooth there?

 

[Brian Shaffer]

Very nicely done, Alex! I really like the exit wound crater image.

The exact things to look for are all to be found on the rear most jaw teeth. You can ignore the front teeth, the tusks, and the Euro teeth, if present. The Euro tooth is a very small tooth, a short distance rearward of the tusk on each jaw. Only European Boar and hybrids of domestic pigs and Boar will have these teeth.
The Euro tooth of a feral hog/european boar hybrid
Photo from www.texasboars.com .

Just as a side note, this business about the "Euro tooth" is a complete fabrication. You can go on the internet and find domestic hogs with it, ferals, Russians, and hybrids. It is simply the first lower premolar. Like our 3rd molars (wisdom teeth), it is becoming vestigial. That basically means that hogs are losing this tooth evolutionarily. Just like not all people develop wisdom teeth, not all hogs develop the lower first premolar. Whether or not a hog has this tooth has nothing to do with whether it is feral, hybrid, full blood Russian, or domestic.

#3 is tricuspid - #4 is bicuspid

Actually, what they are calling cusps might better be called "lophs" of the tooth. The #4 tooth is actually the first molar and technically, it is a quadrate or quadritubercular tooth with 4 cusps. www.texasboars.com is not a good place for understanding dental anatomy even if they have their ages about right.

 

[Afalex1]

Very nicely done, Alex! I really like the exit wound crater image.



Just as a side note, this business about the "Euro tooth" is a complete fabrication. You can go on the internet and find domestic hogs with it, ferals, Russians, and hybrids. It is simply the first lower premolar. Like our 3rd molars (wisdom teeth), it is becoming vestigial. That basically means that hogs are losing this tooth evolutionarily. Just like not all people develop wisdom teeth, not all hogs develop the lower first premolar. Whether or not a hog has this tooth has nothing to do with whether it is feral, hybrid, full blood Russian, or domestic.



Actually, what they are calling cusps might better be called "lophs" of the tooth. The #4 tooth is actually the first molar and technically, it is a quadrate or quadritubercular tooth with 4 cusps. www.texasboars.com is not a good place for understanding dental anatomy even if they have their ages about right.

Your points are well made and I agree with you on tooth names given your background. However, their descriptions made it easy for me too understand what teeth he was referring to. Laymen terms, more or less.

Thank you for the help all. Maybe now I need to cut some hog jaws off. Clean them and post examples on our forum. Nothing against texas boars, but I like to have our own information.

 

[Ratdog68]

Great idea there Kemosabe.

 

[bldsmith]

This is great. Now I need to go out and find out how old our pig was.