Big fat golf hogs

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Went to the new location this evening and got two more hogs. Here's the story.

This evening I went to some new hunting grounds, another farm in town about five
miles in the opposite direction from the one I've been hunting for the last few
months.

There's a lot of property at this location. It used to be one of many dairy farms
in the valley, but most of them have been sold and or developed. It borders another
large piece of property that's owned by a friend of mine as well as by a golf course
to the south. Potential three hundred yard shots. The longest for me to date. I
will get pictures time. Forgot to bring my camera. More on that later.

I pulled off the main road into the driveway and immediately spotted a mature hog
grazing in the newly cut grass along the edge of some weeds that drops down into a
stream. As soon as he saw me he ran into the weeds through an opening that he
obviously uses on a regular basis. I swung the truck around and parked on the
opposite side of the yard, in front of the barn, facing in the direction I last saw
him.

It wasn't more than two minutes and he was out munching again, oblivious to my
presence. I grabbed the Thompson Center, loaded a 34 grain jacketed hollow point,
raised the window to use as a rest and put the crosshairs on him. The shot later
measured sixty yards, a broadside through the neck just like one from last night,
only this one raised his tail as a last gesture of surrender. Since there were no
other hogs in site, I drove over to where he lay. What a pig! A huge male. My
biggest one yet! Because I forgot my camera, I took the hog home so I could take a
picture. Check it out below.

While I was admiring my trophy, I saw the owner of the property come out of the
house and walk toward me. He has the beginning stage of Alzheimer's, sugar diabetes
and is hard of hearing, so I drove over to meet him and talk for awhile. Once we
were done jawboning, I backed the truck up and noticed two more hogs in my
peripheral vision heading for their lairs under the barn.

Since I haven't hunted this property before and didn't know the lay of the land, I
decided to drive over to the large adjoining field and glass the area to see if I
could spot anything. Lots of holes as evidenced by the taller grass dotting the
field, but not a hog in sight. I probably spent and half hour there, but nothing.

So I drove back over in the direction of the barn, but this time I parked opposite
the barn on the far side of the stream and a row of trees. I had a pretty clear
view of the barn and the two spots where I saw the two hogs head for cover. I
probably waited twenty minutes until I finally spotted one on his hind legs at the
far corner of the barn. I pulled up the rifle to put the crosshairs on him, but
there were some tree branches in the way. He was grazing and moving, grazing and
moving, but the branches blocked my view. I kept the crosshairs on him until he
moved to an opening that presented a clear shot. By this time he was facing me and
when he stopped to look up, I pulled the trigger. Another sixty yarder and another
flag waiving farewell.

I waited awhile, hoping the other one would emerge from his hiding place, but it was
now seven o'clock and dinner was waiting. So I drove over to where he lay and as I
came around the corner to the front yard, two more hogs headed for the hills. Maybe
they'll be tomorrow night's victims??? I got out of the truck and walked over to
him. Actually, I don't know what sex of this one was because the bullet zippered it
open from the neck to the anus and it's guts were hanging out all over the place.
There's no way I could identify it.

Because I didn't have my camera with me, I couldn't take an evidence photo and I
wasn't going to put the sack of guts in my truck, so I walked him behind the barn
and gave him a heave ho into the weeds. When I looked up, I was facing the golf
course. First I saw two golf carts on the cart path and then something caught my
eye to the left. There were six hogs big enough to ride, bunched up and feeding on
the adjoining gourmet fairway grass. I'll bet the shot would be close to two
hundred yards, but I don't think it would be a smart thing to do, shooting toward
the golf course. Going to have to think about this one for a while.

I'll be going back tomorrow night, with my camera, to see what kind of luck I'll
have. Then we'll be gone for a long weekend. No hunting until next Monday.

Doug from NJ