After I got my 23 month old daughter down for the night, I headed to the woods to try and kill a hog. I've been putting out bait once or twice a week at two locations since mid January in hopes of attracting pigs. I put out 100 lbs of corn out yesterday morning and thought tonight would be my lucky night.
Spot 1 proved to be the gathering spot for every deer in a 10 mile radius. I counted over 50 deer in the 60 acre field. Seeing that many does made me think the hogs could not be close, so I headed to spot 2.
Spot 2 is an 80 acre parcel which was clear cut in 2007. 40 acres is farmed, and the lower 40 acres were left alone. As I pulled into the area, the cries of fighting hogs was loud enough to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I got goosebumps. I made the 120 yard walk to the stand in about 8 minutes. There wasn't the slightest bit of wind, so every step was made as quietly as possible.
After climbing into the tree stand, I could tell that the corn I put out yesterday had not been touched. The hogs were in the thick regrowth to my left and were not coming out. I was getting tired and decided to scan the field with my handheld thermal one more time before heading home when I saw a coyote trotting through the tall grass. I immediately powered up the Tico clip on thermal that was connected to a NF SHV scope atop a R700 M5 in .308. The first stop she made was her last. The Hornady Superformance 150g bullet spun her around and dropped her in her spot. She wasn't the biggest coyote out there, but I've been wanting to get a coyote for years.
Spot 1 proved to be the gathering spot for every deer in a 10 mile radius. I counted over 50 deer in the 60 acre field. Seeing that many does made me think the hogs could not be close, so I headed to spot 2.
Spot 2 is an 80 acre parcel which was clear cut in 2007. 40 acres is farmed, and the lower 40 acres were left alone. As I pulled into the area, the cries of fighting hogs was loud enough to make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and I got goosebumps. I made the 120 yard walk to the stand in about 8 minutes. There wasn't the slightest bit of wind, so every step was made as quietly as possible.
After climbing into the tree stand, I could tell that the corn I put out yesterday had not been touched. The hogs were in the thick regrowth to my left and were not coming out. I was getting tired and decided to scan the field with my handheld thermal one more time before heading home when I saw a coyote trotting through the tall grass. I immediately powered up the Tico clip on thermal that was connected to a NF SHV scope atop a R700 M5 in .308. The first stop she made was her last. The Hornady Superformance 150g bullet spun her around and dropped her in her spot. She wasn't the biggest coyote out there, but I've been wanting to get a coyote for years.
