While the previous night’s hunt had been successful, there were signs of more hog activity was ongoing at TBR and so I returned for another evening of hunting. I was off to a slow start, I had hiked nearly half way in when I realized I had forgotten a piece of gear and had to return for it. Fortunately, that tardiness did not cost me.
I arrived at the stand and was unpacking my gear and getting situated for the evening when movement caught my eye and a stream of tiny hogs poured from the treeline and ran to the feeder. Usually after getting situated in the stand, I verify everything on the rifle including the focus and brightness settings on the scope to be sure that I have a clear view at the distance I will most likely be shooting. In this case, it would be 65 yards to the feeder out in front of me. So the hogs arrived before I was fully ready.
I got everything powered up and by this time all the hogs were under the feeder. All were black and their silhouettes blended together in the scope. I could make out one hog larger than the rest and assumed it was the sow of the sounder. Pretty soon, she moved from underneath the feeder amongst the other hogs and out into open. She turned and faced in my direction and was fairly stationary and I fired.
The sow dropped immediately and the smaller pigs scattered and were gone by the time I had another round chambered. I waited for over an hour to see if any of the pigs would return, but the did not. This, despite repeated attempts at calling them back in with a grunt tube.
Upon inspection of the sow, I discovered she was a mulefoot hog. This is a condition of syndactyly where the cloven hooves are fused into a single hoof much like that on a mule. This condition is fairly rare in feral hogs and usually goes unnoticed by hunters who are not even aware the condition exists. Mulefoot hogs were a popular breed of hog in the late 1800s and early 1900s and were considered amongst some of the top meat quality breeds. The condition can also occur naturally, though rarely, outside of the breed.
The shot entered the right side of the neck just behind and below the ear. The bullet traveled down and across the body, exiting behind the left leg just left of the sternum. The exit wound was gaping and included frothy blood.
Based on hearth-girth measurement, the sow weighed approximately 110 lbs. She was shot at a distance of approximately 65 yards.
Rem 788 .308
150 gr. Nosler Accubond loaded by Silver State Armory
Pulsar N550
This was my 50th hog to date, 29th this year!
While not meaning to imply any sort of special powers or superstitions, this was the 3rd time out while wearing my LSB logo patched cap and this was the 3rd time for me getting a pig while wearing my LSB logo patched cap. Just sayin'! ;)
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