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Triple Sows Hog Hunt with Pulsar Apex XD50 & 6.5 Grendel
#5674064
03/29/15 02:31 AM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,218
Double Naught Spy
OP
THF Trophy Hunter
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OP
THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,218 |
I was able to team up with Glenn and Michellle Guess of Hog Zombies for the evening and we headed up into Montague County to see what we could find. We were on the first property of the evening when we topped a hill and Glenn spotted some hogs. We got out of the vehicle and I started scanning the area. Glenn tapped me and suggested we move a lot closer and so we headed down the hill toward the hogs. Michelle and I set up about 20 yards apart with Glenn coordinating things. I was told to go ahead and take the first hog and that was when Michelle was to followup with running hogs, but she never did and this first set was mine. All the hogs shot were sows. First hog was DRT. As the hogs scattered, caught the second hog in the right shoulder as it approached quartered toward me. It changed directions and started running across my field of view. As it ran in front of me, dropped it with a second shot that exploded a bunch of the cheek teeth out of the left side of its mouth with a through a through shot - a bit too much lead. That showed up pretty well in the video. Two more hogs ran by the 2nd downed hog and I had trouble staying on them as I had pivoted around on the bipod shooting sticks and ran into one of the legs. As I finally started to track the third hog, it suddenly changed direction after it flushed some birds from the ground that scared the sow. This is where Angry Bird's influence is finally starting to pay off. And then the sow came to a stop and provided a nice profile shot. I was way too jacked up on adrenaline by this point and my mind screaming like the dinosaur wrangler from Jurassic Park to "Shoot it!" I placed the shot in her shoulder instead of the head or neck where it should have gone. No surprise as she also ran despite the Hornady SST 123 gr round entering at the arm pit, traveling across the chest while leaving behind a racquetball-sized cavity in the center of the chest as it exited and broke the opposite leg, but the hog ran. The second shot did not have enough lead and the hog was center punched. Combined with the first shot, the hog started to slow and the third shot took it higher through both shoulders. While I shot the number 3 sow, the other hog running with her disappeared off to my right. I heard Glenn loudly whisper to look out as a hog was headed my way. As I focused on shooting the 3rd sow, I heard the hooves of the 4th hog thrumming the ground as it ran by me. I would like to think that I was cool under pressure and was able to remain on target but in reality it was probably just a simple matter of target fixation, LOL. I have no idea where that hog went after it ran by. While the hogs started off at about 60-80 yards distant, the first hog was shot at about 60 yards, the second hog shot as close as 40 yards, and the furthest shot on the third hog was at ~80 yards. Getting into a sounder like this gave me reason to appreciate the Picture in Picture (PiP) mode of the Pulsar Apex XD50 scope. The digitally zoomed 4x PiP allowed for more precise aiming on the first target when additional field of view (FOV) was not necessary. However, once the hogs started to scatter, the wide FOV was much more useful for spotting, tracking, and targeting running hogs. It is a neat feature. When folks discuss scope features, you will often read folks talking about wanting a more narrow FOV for X reason or a wider FOV for X reason. This scope gives you the opportunity to run both simultaneously, but it takes some getting used to using. This time I ran the scope in white hot mode. I did not like it as well as running black hot. The three sows ranged in weight from about 110 to 140 lbs. At the next property, Michelle landed a big 240 lb. boar (sorry, no vid). We spotted hogs one more time that evening and despite our best efforts to get to them, they got away. Four hogs in total. Not a bad evening.
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Re: Triple Sows Hog Hunt with Pulsar Apex XD50 & 6.5 Grendel
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#5674097
03/29/15 02:54 AM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 5,113
flintknapper
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 5,113 |
Good Job.
Nice accounting of the event. I like the 'white hot' (in that setting). Might have picked a more contrasting reticle (if available).
Y'all Done Good! We would say...in Deep East Texas!
Spartans ask not...how many, but where!
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Re: Triple Sows Hog Hunt with Pulsar Apex XD50 & 6.5 Grendel
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#5674133
03/29/15 03:22 AM
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 3,453
dfwroadkill
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 3,453 |
Great story to go along with the vid!
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Re: Triple Sows Hog Hunt with Pulsar Apex XD50 & 6.5 Grendel
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#5674155
03/29/15 03:46 AM
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Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,929
Lance Vick
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,929 |
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Re: Triple Sows Hog Hunt with Pulsar Apex XD50 & 6.5 Grendel
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#5674216
03/29/15 05:17 AM
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Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 131
IamMr2
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 131 |
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Re: Triple Sows Hog Hunt with Pulsar Apex XD50 & 6.5 Grendel
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#5674241
03/29/15 07:26 AM
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Joined: May 2010
Posts: 2,972
HuntTXhogs
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 2,972 |
Dang , that Pulsar APEX hunts well - superb job DNS
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Re: Triple Sows Hog Hunt with Pulsar Apex XD50 & 6.5 Grendel
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#5674431
03/29/15 02:40 PM
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Joined: May 2010
Posts: 536
cazador1022
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 536 |
this is the way hunting posts should be done...all the details and video to boot... thumbs up
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Re: Triple Sows Hog Hunt with Pulsar Apex XD50 & 6.5 Grendel
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#5674635
03/29/15 05:25 PM
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Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 7,918
bigjoe8565
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 7,918 |
Awesome video and great shooting.
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Re: Triple Sows Hog Hunt with Pulsar Apex XD50 & 6.5 Grendel
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#5674642
03/29/15 05:38 PM
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 2,493
der Teufel
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 2,493 |
Really nice work, and I certainly like the 'dual-view' feature in that scope.
I have two unwritten rules: 1. 2.
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Re: Triple Sows Hog Hunt with Pulsar Apex XD50 & 6.5 Grendel
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#5674914
03/29/15 10:34 PM
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Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 639
DrifterAT
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Jan 2015
Posts: 639 |
The PIP is an awesome feature! Good shooting sir.
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Re: Triple Sows Hog Hunt with Pulsar Apex XD50 & 6.5 Grendel
[Re: DrifterAT]
#5675750
03/30/15 02:23 PM
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 9,061
Espy
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 9,061 |
The PIP is an awesome feature! Good shooting sir. nice video
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Re: Triple Sows Hog Hunt with Pulsar Apex XD50 & 6.5 Grendel
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#5677033
03/31/15 01:50 AM
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,836
Hunter-Steve
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,836 |
Great vid. Wish those Thermals were not so expensive.
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Re: Triple Sows Hog Hunt with Pulsar Apex XD50 & 6.5 Grendel
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#5677117
03/31/15 02:28 AM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 473
Beaubien
Bird Dog
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Bird Dog
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 473 |
Great shooting and write up. Thanks for sharing.
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Re: Triple Sows Hog Hunt with Pulsar Apex XD50 & 6.5 Grendel
[Re: Hunter-Steve]
#5677194
03/31/15 03:05 AM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,218
Double Naught Spy
OP
THF Trophy Hunter
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OP
THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,218 |
Great vid. Wish those Thermals were not so expensive. As I understand it, the big difference between the XD50 and XD50a is the screen inside. I have not seen the XD50a, but Sportsmansguide.com has them at $3K. People pay that for spotting thermal scopes. That is much lower than you might expect.
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Re: Triple Sows Hog Hunt with Pulsar Apex XD50 & 6.5 Grendel
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#5677603
03/31/15 01:37 PM
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Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 130
Dogpaddlin
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Jan 2014
Posts: 130 |
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Re: Triple Sows Hog Hunt with Pulsar Apex XD50 & 6.5 Grendel
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#5678150
03/31/15 07:23 PM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 38
krm944
Light Foot
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Light Foot
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 38 |
DNS-
I really think Im gonna like the PiP for a single target, but love the wide FOV for "runners". I think I will be able to "train" my brain to use the PiP function and maybe practice with it on coons/possums. Any difficulties adapting to this feature?
Kyle US Navy Got Hogs? Always up for a road trip!
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Re: Triple Sows Hog Hunt with Pulsar Apex XD50 & 6.5 Grendel
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#5678181
03/31/15 07:57 PM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,218
Double Naught Spy
OP
THF Trophy Hunter
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OP
THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,218 |
I only hunted with it three times and had only one real experience getting on the runners and goobered the first time with trying to swing the PiP onto the runners. I corrected quickly, but the mistake was due to inexperience. It is a neat feature and should work very well for precisely aiming when needed and getting on runners when needed.
It is kind of like when you were learning to drive (assuming pre-digital readouts) and you had several dials to look at and getting the tach and the speedo mixed up. It sorts out pretty quickly.
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Re: Triple Sows Hog Hunt with Pulsar Apex XD50 & 6.5 Grendel
[Re: Double Naught Spy]
#5678205
03/31/15 08:13 PM
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Joined: May 2010
Posts: 2,972
HuntTXhogs
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 2,972 |
I recall hunting with a scope that had a native optical magnification of 4 or 5x and missing out on additional targets that were crossing beneath the animal I was targeting. I didn't even realize they were there until I got home and reviewed the video which had more field of view than the scope.
Anyhow the point is this, while the Pulsar thermal scopes come in 1.5 and 2.0 native optical magnification which at a glance may appear as anemic compared to other competing brands it is possible with PIP to maybe be more effective after you've trained your mind to use the feature running wide FOV and tight FOV simultaneously.
It bears watching.....
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