# Friday night porker



## AndrewOSpencer (Jun 18, 2013)

With the region gripped in a winter storms (34 and rainy) my pal Clayton and I figured there would be no better time to procure some pork. I was as excited to test some of my cold weather gear, as I was to actually be hunting. Most passed the test.

We began our hunt around 11 and with the wind in our face, Clayton and I crept through some dense underbrush which displayed a ton of pig sign. Rifles strapped to our backs and carrying 12 gauges with buckshot, we made two long stalks with no success. We did creep within 40 yards of a sizeable herd of deer, but we have enough venison.




After a lunch of sardines, crackers and grapefruit Claytonâs brother arrived. While they took care of some ranch business for an hour or so, I did a quick stalk on my own and settled over a field which we baited with some diesel soaked corn.

I hadnât been sitting five minutes when out walked an 8 point, within 40 yards of me. Iâd have pictures, but my phoneâs storage was full. Bummer. Seeing an adult buck always gets me excited. Nothing was interested in the corn and I met back up with the Bonnot brothers.

We scattered out over their property and I hunted from the leaning box stand. Anchored to a pecan tree. Three lanes have been cut into the dense Southeast Texas underbrush and you can see down left lane 560 yards, down the middle lane 275 yards and the right lane 125 yards.

This is a fun spot to hunt because you have to stay ready, the critters will appear and disappear within a matter of seconds asthey cross these lanes. This year Iâve seen several doe, a young 7 point buck, several pigs and racoons, and a bobcat. Lots of activity.

So while diligently looking for porky straight ahead of me, I glance to the left and suddenly glimpse a mammoth red hog as it just finishes crossing the shooting lane. My disappointment in letting this âcolor phaseâ pig walk dissipated quickly when a smaller black pig materialized. The wind was wrong for this lane, and it lifted its head to smell me giving me just enough time to squeeze off a shot and see the pig drop in its tracks. Success!

After having to track my last boar, I did some research into their anatomy. I have been using the same round I used on my bear hunt and was miffed that the piggies werenât dropping dead in their tracks after taking 180 grains from my .3006 into their shoulder. This link link explains why I have been having to track these animals. Notice the how much further forward the vital organs are on pigs, compared to deer and other game animals. I will now aim well forward of the shoulder and the results are clear.

As I approached I was pleasantly surprised to find it was much larger than I thought.

My shot went through the jaw and out the back of the opposite shoulder, severing the spinal cord and aorta.



This pig is by far the fattest Iâve killed. She weighed 150 pounds even on the scale, also making her my heaviest pig to date. The pork belly is close to 3 inches thick which is nearly the size of domesticated pigs. Definitely going to be making some maple flavored bacon with this sow.

There's a few more pictures here


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

Diesel soaked corn? That can't be good.

That's a nice pig! It's strange that they aren't hunted to extinction. We can do it to any other animal on the planet except maybe coyotes or cockroaches.


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## AndrewOSpencer (Jun 18, 2013)

Too high of a reproduction rate....


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

pigs are reproducing machines 3-4 liters of 8 , but so are musk rat with 3-4 litters a year but it is possible to trap musk rats out , trapping seems it would be a better option to thin pigs , set up with lots of snares and corral traps.

I suppose the other difference is that you can set a rat trap every 90 seconds


the difference is that most water is open to trapping , land can be a different story , but if your going to really reduce the numbers working 24/7 will work better than a weekend here an there


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## brownegg (Jan 5, 2006)

Nice Pig....however, I have to laugh at you testing cold weather gear, without even snow on the ground.... -10f today for a daytime HIGH....you wanna test gear, try this weather. With the wind-chill today it's -30f.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I shoveled the end of the driveway today and got cold even with a coat on. We've got the same weather.

Even 3 litters a year shouldn't outproduce a serious effort to eliminate them. The "refuges" created by posted land would be a serious impediment to wiping them out.

Maybe someone should start a 'raw' dog food company and start buying them from hunters. At the prices they charge for raw food I think it would be win for everyone.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

brownegg said:


> Nice Pig....however, I have to laugh at you testing cold weather gear, without even snow on the ground.... -10f today for a daytime HIGH....you wanna test gear, try this weather. With the wind-chill today it's -30f.


I was having that same chuckle , but all the green in them pics was kind of nice to see 

34 would be near t shirt weather if it got that warm here again


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## AndrewOSpencer (Jun 18, 2013)

GREENCOUNTYPETE said:


> I was having that same chuckle , but all the green in them pics was kind of nice to see
> 
> 34 would be near t shirt weather if it got that warm here again


Down here, it so cold my orange tree's leaves are starting to curl some. It's so cold I only had to buy 1 bag of ice to keep the meat from spoiling. Might even be freezing rain tomorrow. Might. 

Seriously, I have no real concept of cold weather. That's as cold as it gets here. However, it can be 90 in November. 

I got to visit the Kettle Morraine State Park in Wisconsin in mid October and almost succumbed to the 40 degree weather. It was nice seeing what fall is.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

AndrewOSpencer said:


> Down here, it so cold my orange tree's leaves are starting to curl some. It's so cold I only had to buy 1 bag of ice to keep the meat from spoiling. Might even be freezing rain tomorrow. Might.
> 
> Seriously, I have no real concept of cold weather. That's as cold as it gets here. However, it can be 90 in November.
> 
> I got to visit the Kettle Morraine State Park in Wisconsin in mid October and almost succumbed to the 40 degree weather. It was nice seeing what fall is.


the end of October we were in SC it was 64 and we were in the ocean swimming and thinking it was the perfect temperature all the locals were bundled up and complaining about the cold snap while we walked around in shorts tshirts and sandals , we hadn't noticed it was cold


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Where I hunt Hogs this time of years during the day they are balled up in Caves, no way getting them out.

I even offered two Guys a 12 Pack and $40. :whistlin: To go in with knives and run them out. They said No Way!:shrug:

big rockpile


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

Today would be a good day to test cold weather gear in Michigan. My weather station says Negative 9 below zero and a wind chill of negative 21 below and the wind isn't even blowing hard yet.
I plan on cutting some of next years fire wood.

having gotten used to these well below zero days if it got to 36 here people would be running around in t shirts shorts and sandals, HEAT WAVE.

 Al


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## AndrewOSpencer (Jun 18, 2013)

yea you guys are just ice chunks I bet today. Sadly, our Icemageddon, didn't materialize. Supposed to be lots of precipitation and low of 24, and all I awoke to was a dry 43. Bummer. 

One day, I plan on being a sun bird and escape 8 months of summer for a location with a fall.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

big rockpile said:


> Where I hunt Hogs this time of years during the day they are balled up in Caves, no way getting them out.
> 
> I even offered two Guys a 12 Pack and $40. :whistlin: To go in with knives and run them out. They said No Way!:shrug:
> 
> big rockpile


Let them go in the cave and then put a baited trap across the front. Put a gravity operated door on it like a colony muskrat trap.

They've got to come out sometime.


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## rod44 (Jun 17, 2013)

Those guys down south have to toughen up some for cold weather!
[URL=http://s384.photobucket.com/user/Rodhorses/media/furtherwithshorts.jpg.html][/URL]


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

aw thats nuttin I was out in my bath robe and crocks in ankle deep snow to start the wifes van and let it warm up a few weeks ago

of course Rod you didn't tell him we were in the middle of a heat wave today , it warmed up all the way to 15 above so it could snow on us again


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## AndrewOSpencer (Jun 18, 2013)

Well, I had another cord of wood delivered and I've dressed in layers and won't leave the house unless I must.


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## rod44 (Jun 17, 2013)

It was so cold one day last week that when I came in from doing chores my fingers were shaking so bad that I could thread a sewing machine needle while it was still running!!


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## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

Texas has around 4 to 8 MILLION feral hogs running around. They can't get an accurate count. Way too many to the point that Texas has said you can hunt them in any manner. Spotlighting, shooting, spearing, knifing, trapping, and helicopter with machine guns...with dogs is the best and the most fun and more accurate method. Now with that being said, other states are starting to have a real feral hog problem. Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and, yes, in Wisconsin and Minnesota. They're able to survive the cold because some morons imported pure Russian hogs...those hogs are bred to be super hairy, super aggressive, and big so they interbred with regular 'ol rooters and have created hybrids that are far more tougher than their parents and in some areas of the country, all the feral hogs have a very high percentage of Russian hog blood while in some, very little...but the hogs all look the same except for the Russian ones...they look different. Literally 50 states have them now...with Alaska being an exception but it might eventually happen. Even Hawaii has problems with them too. They hide out in lava beds during the day and come out at night.


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## AndrewOSpencer (Jun 18, 2013)

Ted you wouldn't believe how furry these South Texas hogs were I shot. I'm thinking about tanning the next one I shoot, if its as furry as the last two I've killed. Pigs would have no trouble in the northern states. 

Google transylvania or romania pig hunts and you'll see them standing in deep snow. 

I'd like to see wild hog and wolf interactions. I'm not sure wolves would think pigs are worth the effort. But if they like bacon...


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## TedH71 (Jan 19, 2003)

Think I've seen a Youtube of Russian wolves working to bring one down. Lemme see if I can find it. [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8Zbjz76iIs[/ame]


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## solsikkefarms (Jun 1, 2013)

I worked with the DNR a few years back on a Feral Pig project in SW Wisconsin. Though it's illegal to release a wild hog once it's caught I do believe that the Judas Pig Trap is the most effective method for eradication. With the success of other animals in the state of Wisconsin i'm happily surprised that the Feral hog population hasn't spiked, the chatter has actually gone down dramatically in the last few years, my only guess would be it has something to due with our states obsession with hunting.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

I was wondering if it would become an issue , when the DNR said feel free to shoot any pig you see. no matter what your hunting for.

between the hunters ,trappers and farmer we would know if we had them


obsession , come on i though most schools still had class the week of deer season , we never went but they had class i think a few girls showed up , there were a few that just closed for the week , after all who needs spring break just give them deer break , come spring you never know if the ice is going to be good for fishing or not and all the other seasons are closed.


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## solsikkefarms (Jun 1, 2013)

they might have had classes, but at least here they gave you off excused if you hunted. Even now they close down the plant i work at for the week... #1 holiday of the year, deer season. lol


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

my dad wrote me a note not sure any mention of where i was going was involved.

if it had been any of their business where I was going , he would have told them it was a family reunion and been completely correct , I even have an uncle who won't carry a gun just a camera who comes deer hunting , If anyone asks he is our inbedded photo journalist and that is why he doesn't have a license and a Great aunt in her 80s that still gets out for a drive or two and a cousin who has to use a bow due to his past problems with the law many years ago , uncle bob with one eye got a deer 2 years ago at 80 he still hunts the hole day 


and it is completely normal that my 10 year old son has his deer gun ready to go , i have a friend whos' daugter had a 243 rifle and was shooting it at 8 or 9

they probably figure it is just easier to close the plant when more than 75% of the employees want off for the same week


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## AndrewOSpencer (Jun 18, 2013)

I'd like to shoot a deer in Wisconsin sometime. We visited Plymoth and Kettle Morraine state park in October and it was gorgeous.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

you could start testing your cold weather gear early then opening day it was 14 degrees and blowing 20+ knots 
the ground was already frozen the the blood flash froze on contact with rocks , leaves grass or trees
deer were froze solid in a day of hanging had to let them warm up some in the garage to cut them

I had a cousin who thought he was going to be on easy street elevated enclosed blind he built and put overlooking a field , he was at the south end and a north east wind with the whole field to blow even though the blind was well anchored he thought it was going over on several gusts it was just shaking in the wind , he had a heater that would just about cook you out in the early season and he was freezing on opener with that much wind he just couldn't keep any heat in the blind.


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