Shooter came to hunt the orchards with T-Bone Outfitters and it was a DARK night. We had clear skies, but zero sign of a moon until almost 3am. It made it hard to spot hogs beyond 300 yards while in the truck.
We didn't see much until after 0100. We drove the typical loop of all the properties and the hogs just weren't moving. It was 100 degrees earlier that day and didn't drop below 85 until a little past midnight.
At about 0130 Shooter and I were creeping accross a land bridge that connects an orchard and field that a slew divides. We were heading to the field because it has a pig pipe, bait hole, and scratching post at the edge of it. We got about halfway across the bridge when I spotted a sounder of 8 younger hogs. They were about 150 yards away and slowly walking in a freshly plowed field. They were making their way to the pig pipe and we were there to protect it.
We got to 40 yards and Shooter dropped the hammer and hogs started running. Yes.... I said Shooter dropped the hammer. I bring this up because I was supposed to shoot too, but someone else didn't do the count down. All I got was a "ready, take 'em, BOOM". So I'm scrambling to find a target after the shot. I managed to tag one smaller hog and Shooter got a decent sow.
I think if there would have been a little more ambient light we would have cleaned them out. But, this was a small field and the hogs were gone in instant.
Glad you made it to hunt Shooter. Looking forward to you coming back.
We didn't see much until after 0100. We drove the typical loop of all the properties and the hogs just weren't moving. It was 100 degrees earlier that day and didn't drop below 85 until a little past midnight.
At about 0130 Shooter and I were creeping accross a land bridge that connects an orchard and field that a slew divides. We were heading to the field because it has a pig pipe, bait hole, and scratching post at the edge of it. We got about halfway across the bridge when I spotted a sounder of 8 younger hogs. They were about 150 yards away and slowly walking in a freshly plowed field. They were making their way to the pig pipe and we were there to protect it.
We got to 40 yards and Shooter dropped the hammer and hogs started running. Yes.... I said Shooter dropped the hammer. I bring this up because I was supposed to shoot too, but someone else didn't do the count down. All I got was a "ready, take 'em, BOOM". So I'm scrambling to find a target after the shot. I managed to tag one smaller hog and Shooter got a decent sow.
I think if there would have been a little more ambient light we would have cleaned them out. But, this was a small field and the hogs were gone in instant.
Glad you made it to hunt Shooter. Looking forward to you coming back.
