I had to go to the lease to fill the feeders and naturally do some hog hunting. After filling the feeders I poured some of the cheap "Flex-Corn" which is some kind of tubular feed on the ground and added some Pig-Out at several feeders that you can get from Academy. I had just driven 225 miles on top of a busy morning so I set my alarm for 3am and took some off the shelf sleep aid so I could get to sleep around 9pm. Alarm went off and I got up, dressed for 30 degrees and started sneaking up on the several places I had baited with the pig out/flexcorn. On my way to one feeder I heard pigs squealing at another so I went to that one. Turned out they were making noise about 100 yards from the feeder I was sneaking up on. 5 hogs, 2 big ones and 3 70 pounders were coming my way and I am out in the open in bright moonlight. They were going to the feeder and I was just about 50 yards out of the direct line to the feeder they were taking. So I lined up on the first hog, the biggest one and when she stops to smell the air I try to pull the trigger but no dice. I had recently replaced the trigger on my Mauser with one off of a Parker Hale and didn't know it would not cock if you chambered a round with the safety on. I quietly raise the bolt and lower it and try to shoot the last hog that has stopped at the bait pile but still not cocked Durn it! I take it off safety and raise the bolt handle again and she cocks! The hog has turned some but is still on the bait pile oblivious of the man standing in the open 30 yards away but not for long. I am shooting in the moonlight with no light to assist, I line up on her spine and fire quickly. The muzzle flash keeps me from seeing which way she runs but oddly I see the bullet hit the dust 60 yards past the hog and a bit to the right. I afix a LED flashlight to my scope and turn it on so I can look for blood at the bait pile. There are bits of hog and some blood sprayed in a Y shape there but i immediatly notice not 20 feet from me are the three young pigs and I shoot one of them. The light flew off the rifle and this pig runs off. The clamp was not tight enough durn! Well there is blood there too. Knowing that I am too smart to follow hogs into the brush after dark anymore I go sit in the stand and wait for daylight. Finally it comes along with three bucks, a 6 point, a 9 point and a big 8 point. They clear out pretty quick when they smell blood. I go to where the big hog was hit and easily find a bit of blood to follow, 30 feet later there is a big splash every 8 feet or so and I follow it right to a dead hog that was hit below the spine 6 or so inches behind the shoulder and the bullet exited a bit in front of the hogs hip on the other side. Upon later autopsy the bullet had missed the lungs (well nicked one), centered the diaphram and liver, gone thru some entrails on it's way out. This hog went no more than 50 yards. The other hog was hit next to the neck with the bullet missing the spine but hitting the heart just about center before going out through the brisket. He was facing me with his head lower than his hips. A continuous blood trail right to him made recovery easy. He made it 75 yards before he went down. The bullet was a 225 gr. Woodleigh round nose started at near 2500 fps. I reccomend this load for hog hunting without reservation! The bigger hog weighs around 275 pounds, the little one looked like 70 pounds to me.
