Posted By: Darrell H
North GA Hog - 08/20/2016 1:01 PM
Even though it is 90+ degrees with high humidity, the GA DNR felt that this week would a good time to conduct a modern weapons hog hunt on a wildlife management area in North Georgia that I like to frequent. This time of year, the hogs seem to be living on the mountain tops and had to be approached from the foot of the mountain so by the time I reached the area that I wanted to hunt, I was drenched with sweat.
I was slowly moving along the ridgeline of the high ground when I spotted something black moving in the weeds in an 11:00 direction from my position. When I see a black animal in this area it is usually a black bear and I had already seen a small one just a few minutes prior. However, this black object had a curly tail so I knew that it was a hog as it disappeared into the weeds. I popped my earplugs in and brought my Freedom Arms 83, fitted with a 45 Colt cylinder shooting 300 grain Sierras over a case full of 296, into position.
The hog reappeared at a 9:00 position from me about 30 yards away. The wind was blowing from 3:00 to 9:00; it was directly downwind. I had recently been humbled after snap shooting at a pig in Australia so on this hunt I had determined that I would take only slow, deliberate shots on hogs. Since the hog was slowly walking directly downwind from me, I knew that it was going to bolt at any second so that strategy quickly went out the window. As soon as the red dot of the Trijicon RMR touched the hog's shoulder I pulled the trigger and it took off running down the mountain.
Due to the softness of the ground, the hog was relatively easy to track by his hoofprints as he ran down the mountain. However, I could not find one drop of blood. A feeling of deja vu began to set in as I remembered the long pig chase in Australia. However, after tracking him only about 50 yards, I found the hog piled up and stone dead. He was a young boar that I estimated to weigh about 200 lbs.
After hoisting him up in a nearby tree, I skinned him and deboned the meat and packed it off of the mountain. Although it is definitely too hot to be hunting hogs in the mountains, I was very glad that I had went because this was a very fun hunt.
I was slowly moving along the ridgeline of the high ground when I spotted something black moving in the weeds in an 11:00 direction from my position. When I see a black animal in this area it is usually a black bear and I had already seen a small one just a few minutes prior. However, this black object had a curly tail so I knew that it was a hog as it disappeared into the weeds. I popped my earplugs in and brought my Freedom Arms 83, fitted with a 45 Colt cylinder shooting 300 grain Sierras over a case full of 296, into position.
The hog reappeared at a 9:00 position from me about 30 yards away. The wind was blowing from 3:00 to 9:00; it was directly downwind. I had recently been humbled after snap shooting at a pig in Australia so on this hunt I had determined that I would take only slow, deliberate shots on hogs. Since the hog was slowly walking directly downwind from me, I knew that it was going to bolt at any second so that strategy quickly went out the window. As soon as the red dot of the Trijicon RMR touched the hog's shoulder I pulled the trigger and it took off running down the mountain.
Due to the softness of the ground, the hog was relatively easy to track by his hoofprints as he ran down the mountain. However, I could not find one drop of blood. A feeling of deja vu began to set in as I remembered the long pig chase in Australia. However, after tracking him only about 50 yards, I found the hog piled up and stone dead. He was a young boar that I estimated to weigh about 200 lbs.
After hoisting him up in a nearby tree, I skinned him and deboned the meat and packed it off of the mountain. Although it is definitely too hot to be hunting hogs in the mountains, I was very glad that I had went because this was a very fun hunt.
