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Father/Son MS Hog Hunt

4K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  pruhdlr 
#1 ·
All of us seem to have those hunting stories that either make us laugh or make us cry or cause our hearts to swell with pride at how much joy a successful hunt can bring. You decide which one this is for you.

During the last weekend in Feb 2004, 7 days ago, my son and I went on our first ever dedicated private ranch hog hunt in Pachuta, MS. We arrived at 1330hrs on a Friday and left at 1130hrs on Sunday. Total cost of the hunt, including, according to the outfitter, an unnecessary MS Non-Resident 7 day large game license, was $1,029.

I had spent the day before at our range fine tuning our rifles. I was shooting my Weatherby Vanguard w/30-06 handloads using Hornady 150gr BTSPs with IMR 3031 pushing the bullets at 2800fps. I had consistent 2" groups (my shooting) at all ranges out to 200 yds with a 200 yard boresight.

My young son Michael shoots a H&R .223 bull barrel with factory 55gr ammo. We chose FMJs for this particular hunt with every intention of NECK shots only. He had taken his first button buck at 150 yds 30 days earlier with Remington 55gr SPs. Michael was also shooting 2" groups at all ranges out to 200 yds with his weapon.

We thought, according to the 'hog holes with corn', that all of our shots from enclosed or open two man stands, would be within 100 yards. Perfect planning for both weapons...or so I thought...

Michael and I have the exact same optics...2003 model Simmons Whitetail Expedition 4x12x42 with AO from Midway USA. Excellent optics and superior in every category to the Leupold Rifleman I had compared it with.

All of our transport to the selected stands was accomplished in either a 4x4 F250 Crew Cab or an 89 Suburban. Neither of the vehicles had a gun rack to hold our weapons. We had to place the butt of the rifles under the drivers seat and the barrels resting on the left rear passenger seat. We would spend anywhere from 20-35 minutes one way on very rough roads.

Micheal and I sighted his .223 at the sight in range before our first hunt on Friday afternoon. We set him at 3" high at 100yds and right at zero for 200. Since I had sighted the night before and transported both weapons in hardshell cases I did NOT check sight in on my Weatherby.

Needless to say the rifles got knocked around in the trucks. I asked the outfitter to stop by the 100 yard sight in range, for the second time, on the way out for our Sat afternoon/evening hunt (our last PM period hunt) since I had concerns about our boresight and just wanted to double check.

The outfitter advised my son and I that since he had another father/son bow hunter in place some unknown distance away he did not think using the sight in range was safe. In hindsight, I should have stopped the hunt right then and there IF we could not have gone somewhere else to check our boresight. Shame on me...

At 1700hrs, Michael and I saw a 200-250lb boar walk across the flooded road at our 12 o'clock position and about 200 yards. Since he was down in the swamp area we got ready for what we thought would happen. We thought the boar would come up through the heavy cover and step out at about 75 yards in front of us to munch on some corn in the hog hole.

Never happened. After 10 minutes of no visual contact the boar stepped back out into the flooded road and went to his wallow hole and proceeded to give himself a mud bath. I was not happy about the distance for Michael's sake. He knew that his MPBR was 150 yards. We carefully studied the boar in our Simmons Expeditions for a few minutes.

I told him that I was going to take the boar with a neck shot...one shot one kill. Eight shots later, with two definite misses, we had dropped the boar 3 times with both 30-06 and .223 shots. The boar crawled off into the swamp before we could finish him and was never to be seen again. The guides lost the blood trail in a scrub pine clearing in the dark and lost it again the next day in heavy cover.

I knew from my first shot and from Michael's first shot that both of our bullets were NOT hitting where we aimed. On the way home I stopped by our range in Alabama and checked both of our rifles. My boresight was now 9" high and 2" right. Michael's was 7" high and 1" right. I shot both rifles 3 times with a mutual 2" group with the same ammo we hunted with. Both rifles were shooting high and right.

The father/son bow hunters that put a dent in our ability to re-check our boresight also lost their boar in the Ranch Swamplands. Two lost leap year boars...

I have tried my best to figure out what happenend and the only thing I can come up with is the fact that the rifles got banged up a little too much. I am not ready to condemn the scopes because they have proven their ability to handle normal transport boresight retainability in the past.

We learned some lessons on this hunt that will impact who we choose for an outfitter the next time. We also learned some important communication lessons...when in doubt shout it out!!! We also learned some important gear lessons. We also learned that regardless of what you 'think' will be your ranges on a shot, plan for the worst case and overpower.

Michael and I will both be carrying 30-06 Weatherbys the next time we hunt hogs. I will also handload some 180gr BTSPs. Anchoring power is critical and even though the Muzzle Energy difference between a 150gr round and a 180gr round is 200ft/lbs I want the extra margin in my favor.

Shot placement is everything. Michael and I learned that we will not hesitate to aim for the head the next time. We prefer the neck but will aim for a hog's head.

I think we have all at one time or another lost an animal after shooting it and felt awful. I know I do. I consider myself an ethical hunter that tries for the one shot one kill philosophy. My son believes as I do.

Both father/son teams lost their hogs on 29 Feb 2004. I deeply regretted that the outfitter would not use any of his penned up dogs to help track the wounded boars. That is not my call. What is my call is repeat business.

One Shot One Kill,

JP

Note: I originally posted this story under the 'General Hunting' stories site. Reposted here 15 Mar 2004.
 
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#3 · (Edited)
I read your story and can not help but think that if you would have purchased a higher quality rifle scope for your gun and your sons, such a moving of the internal parts of the scope would have not happened.

I have been on African safari with my guns getting bounced around like a rubber ball at times and neither of those Leupold scopes never became off on target at 200 yards. I will asure you sir, that we traveled over more rugged terrain than you and your son.

The other fact I would like to bring up is that you stated your son's rifle in a .223 was sighted in at 3 inches high at 100 yards!!!.....Now you also stated that it was on the money or your words were "Zero" at 200 yards. I would like you to explain that one for me OK. As the way I see it your 200 yard zero would have been higher than right on the money.

Shooting hogs in the 200 lb range is not the way to go using a .223 caliber. I suggest you get your son a 7 x 57, .270 using 150 grain bullets or larger for his next hog hunt and use bullet that don't come apart, such as in premium bullets like Speer TBBC or Nosler Partitions.

Simmons scopes have just about the worst reputation in the industry for giving problems to those that buy them and put them on top of a rifle barrel. Go buy yourself a quality scope before your next hunt and I know you will be a happy hunter afterwards.
 
#4 ·
223 for hogs??? "neck shots only"???? factory 55gr. FMJ's ??----- Huh?? What?? If you go out and buy a $79. scope,you will be gettin' about $79. worth of scope. These are just my RESPECTFUL opinions.------pruhdlr
 
#5 ·
I now have read and reread the above post by sjpi. I have been wondering about several things that were said and some of the conclusions that the author has come up with. I was not there and I don't want to sound (too)critical,but there are several things that I am interested in finding out the answer to. What led the author to conclude that a Simmons scope is "superior in every category" to a Leupold? How far did you expect to be shooting at the hogs,given you had your '06 zero'd at 200yds. and your sons .223 zero'd 3" high at 100yds.? Does your son normally hunt deer with a .223 shooting 55gr. spire points? You stated that you thought that all your shots would be within 100yds. and this was "perfect planning for both weapons". Can you please explain this,given the ranges that you had both of the weapons sighted in at.( I might be doing something wrong.) Why did you "have to" ride in the transportation with you weapons placed the way that you had them? With your son using a .223,shooting FMJ's,why did you intend to take NECK shots only? With the .223 set 3" high at 100yds,how do you figure that the MPBR was 150yds.? Do I read the post correctly in that you attemped to take a neck shot at 200yds.,shooting 150gr. handloads out of a .30-'06? You stated that the next time you will not hesitate to aim for the head. Would that be with your .30-'06 and the 180 gr. bullets? Sir,I am glad to hear that your son wont be using his .223 for hogs again. I would respectfully suggest that he not use it for deer either.I would also suggest that to be an ethical hunter you DO NOT have to take head shots only. If you put one on his shoulder and (your using enough gun)you don't find him thats one thing,but after the shot you walk up and find his lower jaw,lots of blood,and never recover the animal,thats something else all together.I have,and will,ALWAYS,ALWAYS,take shoulder shots on hogs,and I feel that I owe it to the animals that I hunt to ALWAYS use "enough gun". This is just one respectful opinion. I'm sure that there are others.-----pruhdlr
 
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