Here in North Georgia there ain't a whole lot to do after deer season closes...except to hunt hogs! We can hunt on public land with small game weapons for hogs during small game season which closes on February 28th. Small game weapons include 22 rimfire weapons, bows and arrows and "any" muzzleloading weapon. I choose to hunt them in small game season with muzzleloaders.
The area that we hunt is a remote wilderness area. There are no roads, just hiking trails. Our method of hunting is stalking feeding and bedding areas. We use a pack that is big enough to carry enough clothing to stay comfortable all day, plenty of food and water, and still have enough room to carry out a deboned hog.
This hog was taken in January of this year with a 14 1/2" 209X50 Bullberry Encore BP pistol. I shot him with a 250 grain Hornady SST sabot and 100 grains of GOEX FFG. I did not have my camera with me on the day of the hunt. This photo was actually taken one week after I killed the hog. This is just a picture of the hide and head. It was cold enough that week that the hide did not decompose and I'm lucky that the coyotes didn't carry it off!
Not twenty minutes after I photographed my hog head and hide I ran upon a gang of shoats about 150 yards from where my previous hog had been shot, skinned, and processed. I got this fellow out of the group with the same load used on the other hog. He weighed about 75 lbs. on the hoof.
A week or two later, my brother and I were hunting in a completely different area. We were hunting together and we spotted a gang of sows and pigs. My brother took the first shot with his T/C Black Diamond and 240 grain Hornady XTP bullet pushed by 100 grains of Pyrodex. At the shot all of the hogs just stood still then only took a few steps forward and stopped. Evidently he had completely missed!
I took a shot on the handiest hog and it hit the ground squealing. This time I was shooting a Lyman great plains rifle. I was shooting a .495 patched round ball with a .015" pre-lubed ox-yoke patch in front of 90 grains GOEX FFG. Here is a photo of my sow that weighed about 125 lbs.
After I shot the hogs finally took off in the direction that they had come. My brother and I noticed that one of the hogs was laying back and was not keeping up with the other hogs. Then we realized that the hog had been hit by my brother's first shot. He quickly reloaded and put the hog down with a fantastic 80 yard heart shot. His first shot had been a little far back. Here is a photo of my brother's hog:
Note the snow on the leaves. It started snowing really hard while we were processing the hogs. Man my fingers got cold!
We continued to hunt through the end of February. We saw some more sows and pigs but we had begun to get a bit more selective. We were after a truly big boar. Besides, you can't eat but so much sausage and it's a lot of work to carry one of these things out, even deboned, in your pack along with all of your clothing, food, water, processing equipment, and hunting gear.
I hope that you enjoyed my photos and hunting story as much as I've enjoyed yours!
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