Zeus Holiday Hog Hunt

[Brian Shaffer]

After no sign of hogs for weeks at TBR, things turned around. I hiked in and checked a couple of cameras along the way and found the camera in the field I usually watch had a hog on it this very morning, at nearly 4:00 am! So, it looked like it would be a long night. I even texted the landowner, wife, and a couple of friends to let them know that I would be out late, maybe until dawn.

So I get into the stand and get everything set up for the night. I arranged everything just-so, so that I would be comfortable. After all, I was going to be there many hours... HA!

About 30 minutes later, I am fiddlefarting around, picking grass burrs off the cuff of my super suit by feel when I notice a dark blob out in the field about 100 yards in front of me. I raised up my thermal spotter and sure enough, it is my hog, grazing the food plot. And as I watch him, making sure I have a solid ID, he turns and starts to leave down a side trail. No no no no no no no - my prey is leaving. It is a tree lined trail and the hog is soon to disappear.

I get the rifle up and everything powered on and find him behind a tree, snacking on something. And then he takes off again. He presented a nice, brief, but nice target between the trees and I took the shot.

The shot entered the left neck and exited behind the right ear, blowing out part of the back of the skull.

On making my approach to the hog, I was probably 70 yards away when I noticed the smell. It was pretty bad. This one was eater-sized, but not eater-smell.

Examination of the hog revealed him to be 135 lbs., young boar, with a diagonal slice through his backstrap down near the pelvis. This was a partially healed, oozy wound. Could not tell if it was a tusk cut (strange place), slice by other means (fence?), or a bullet wound. I suspect the latter because of the size and irregularity of the edges, but who knows?

Angry Bird rejoiced as did the kids when I arrived with cookies. Thanksgiving breakfast will include chocolate chip cookie goodness! And for that, we are all thankful.

 

[Ratdog68]

Pass on that ham. Congrats on pinging his bell.

 

[FrankT]

I love it when you make a kill and I hear the Ping! Hi Angry Bird!! Good job Brain, I bet the kids are happy...In fact Happy Thanksgiving to you and the Family!

 

[DaveABQ]

congrats, makes for a quick hunt and evening

 

[RattlesnakeDan]

Very cool. Love the video!

 

[Curly Shuffle]

He did the Curly Shuffle!!! Heck of a nice shot, he buckled pretty good. Nice going. BANG BANG!!

 

[Brian Shaffer]

I thought you might like that. Too bad he just about shuffled out of view behind the tree, LOL. I ran the data at that time for the sole reason of including that action.

 

[rgilbert]

Ahh the ping sound!

 

[Shooter]

Very nice.

May you all eat too much turkey !,

 

[slim_shady]

Congrats. It is sweet to get setup and prepared for a long night just to have them show up within minutes.

 

[Chopperdrvr]

Love your videos. Nice job and we got a "ping" too.

 

[ZenArchery]

Nice Congrats

 

[BigRedDog]

We at the Turkey Buzzard Preservation Society applaud your efforts in our behalf.

 

[lonepunman]

From the viewpoint of a NV scope owner weighing the cost justification for a thermal scope, I consider this to be a highly compelling video.

(TLM's videos of multiple thugs dropped with a Greyhound bus lead while ripping across two counties make thermal very enticing; the depressing reality is I lack the skillz and weaponry to emulate such feats).

Brian's clip reveals the more subtle advantages to a hunter in my position: Hunting grounds with limited open areas, average size hogs, primarily night hunting and typical maximum shot of 125 yards.

Both my scope light and IR light would have been reflected back by the brush, obscuring the view. I also would have been unable to detect and track the hog in the brush prior to Brian's safety release and trigger pull. Finally, the simplicity and clarity of the white dot reticle on a black hot hog enabled a precise shot within a very short window of opportunity.

It's been difficult for me to justify the cost of even an entry level magnified thermal, as I hunt only 2-3 times a month. Prorate a $4k scope over four years to $33/hunt. Doesn't sound too bad, but I would be purchasing it outright.

Then I consider the diminished shot opportunities (and unseen hogs) over the years with only a scopelight, and the disadvantages of night vision in the brush and slower target acquisition. My percentage of ~successful~ hunts would rise significantly with a thermal.

Thanks! I think...

 

[FrankT]

Since I am a cheap bastard and on a limited income it is hard to justfy a thermal and more than a great addition. Unless you film your hunts there is no real pay back other than you have the spare money laying around.

I think the best thing for on the cheap so to speak is a thermal monocular and Night vision for shooting. Thermal for each would be the better and as long at I can see and shoot 200 yds max I am good to go. That is why a clip-on for both jobs is ideal.

 

[Brian Shaffer]

My percentage of ~successful~ hunts would rise significantly with a thermal.

I certainly believe this to be true for me, or at least tell my wife. Actually, there really is a lot more you will see in terms of animals. Basically, the human eye works best on seeing contrast. Even with good NV, you often lose a lot of contrast and a brown hog in brown grass is still hard to see. Animals on just the other side of vegetation that would be hard or impossible to see with NV can be seen. So in that regard, it is really beneficial.

There is a learning curve to thermal, as with NV, but once you get things visually figured out, thermal is really outstanding.