Posted By: SChunter
Saturday Hunt - Two'fer - 10/28/2013 2:07 PM
Saturday morning broke clear and cold - my friends had been seeing a bunch of rutting activity as of late, so I was excited to get out and sit for a while. Sneaking into the stand, I was rewarded with a smallish 6 point slipping along in the breaking dawn. He melted off into the gloom, and I sat watching the squirrels and birds come to life with the day. The next visitors were a pair of does - I watched them browse for a while, then it came to me...the landowner had requested that meat hit the ground, and the bigger one looks delicious
It was fairly early still, I knew I had a long sit this morning, and I could let things quiet back down. The Whisper gun was back at camp, so I would be making a bit of noise with the 6.5/284 XP...ranged them at 115, muffs slid into place, sight picture acquired, safety off, and squeeeeeeeeeeze. When I recovered from the recoil (or concussion, more appropriately), I saw legs in the air - the 130 gr Accubond performed its magic once again.
The morning settled back down quickly, as 2 more does showed up on the scene not 15 minutes later - the largest was bigger than the one on the ground...she doesn't know how close she was to being made into cube, burger and sausage. Safety was off, muffs were on, and I was close to pulling the trigger again that AM, but I decided to wait. I'd be hunting the evening as well, and still had a sit ahead of me.
Well, Big Papa decided not to show, but I saw 4 more deer, including three more bucks cruising, looking for action.
The obligatory pic at the processor - the guys got a kick outta the HS-stocked Nanny Hammer.
We spent the day riding around, checking stands, tracts, and guns - I introduced several guys to specialty pistols, suppressed weapons, and all kinds of toys. Also got to shoot my FA 44 on the range - 1" at a 100, with factory ammo. That gun is scary accurate.
The evening had me in a stand on a tract that is loaded with hogs - my best boar had come from this piece, and I had taken a nice boar earlier this year with dogs (and a tiny knife) in an effort to thin the herd
Since the XP had time to play in the morning, I figured it was wheelgun time. The FA 44 was slung over the shoulder and I hoofed it off through the swamp, headed for a slight ridge that was a magnet for game in the area. As I climbed the ladder, I heard something over my shoulder...BIG pig! I got squared away on the stand to see the big hog exiting the area - he/she apparently was bedded within 50 yards of the stand in a little cane thicket slough. Dang it! It didn't blow out of there, so hopefully it would return.
The sounds of the swamp came on as darkness encroached - wood ducks whistling overhead, turkeys yelping nearby, hogs squealing in the distance
Squealing, splashing, crashing their way through the swamp, the first hog on site was a smallish sow, followed by another, and another, and another...8 sows showed up in a little under a minute, followed by their community boyfriend. But he wasn't very nice - pushing them around the food plot, chasing them around, popping his tusks. He was a bully - it doesn't pay to be a bully.
105 yards - Muffs on, hammer back - his head was down, feeding, crosshairs centered between the ears, breathe and squeeeeeeeeze. Boom, thwack as the 240 gr XTP took him between the shoulders just over the skull. DRT, with very little flop at all, maybe a leg quiver or two. I tried to get on one of his girlfriends, but they decided not to stick around for the same fate as their Romeo. Upon autopsy, bullet had exited his left flank for a solid 2+ feet of penetration. Not too bad on this 200 pounder.
It was a great day in the field!
