Some may recall that I've been sidelined for a few months lately with a broken leg. I'm recovering, and now walking (slowly) without much of a limp. Well, that's good enough to go out and at least look around for hogs, eh? I met my buddy who owns the property where I hunt, really expecting that we'd just hang out and play cards. We grilled some burgers, and then he surprised me by suggesting that I grab my rifle and we go take a quick look at the property.

Sure, I'm up for that! I told him I wasn't going to take the AR-10 with the Photon because I didn't want to sit out half the night. Instead I brought my fairly new 300 Blackout. I got it late last year and have only sighted it in. I hadn't yet shot any hogs with it. That changed pretty quickly.

I'm pretty much the only one who hunts here, so with my broken leg the hogs have had free run with no one to bother them for most of this year. We drove out to a pasture where we sometimes see hogs, and immediately spotted a sounder a little over a quarter mile away. The sun was just setting so there was still light. We drove through the trees about ½ of the way, then walked another 100 yards or so. They were in some tall grass which made it difficult to ascertain their true size, but there appeared to be a large hog near the fence just inside the pasture. The other side of the fence where we stood is wooded. The hog was too close to the fence to shoot unless I got out into the pasture because of overhanging tree limbs.

I slipped into the pasture and my buddy handed my rifle to me. There were several smaller hogs out in the pasture, but there were cows behind them. The big hog near the fence offered a clear shot, but he was facing directly away from me. I guess I waited over a minute hoping he would present a broadside shot. Finally, he moved slightly and I took a quartering away shot at an acute angle. The distance was only 75-80 yards, and I was sitting cross-legged, so it wasn't a difficult shot. I put a 130 grain Hornady soft point into his side, and it went forward into his vitals. He went straight down and didn't get back up.

I admit that I'm not a fan of 5.56 for hogs, and I really consider the 300 BLK a lightweight weapon against hogs as well. But, I'm thinking that this rifle will eventually wear my NV scope and be used mostly for short range (less than 125 yards) shooting. At night, where I can usually stalk and wait for a good shot, I'm hoping that it will work out. It seemed to do okay this time.

My buddy dragged the hog out of the pasture and we loaded it onto the truck.

We put a tape measure around the body just behind the front legs and measured 47 inches, indicating a weight of 270 Lbs! That's the largest hog we've shot on the property to date. For Central Texas, this is a pretty dang big hog.



I didn't get a really good picture of the hog. I just held my phone as high as I could and snapped this photo. I didn't want to start telling the guy who owns the land to move the hog around for a photo shoot, given that he had already dragged it in and loaded it pretty much by himself. The shield was thick and tough, so we decided we'd just take the hind quarters. I didn't want to stand around on my bad leg too long, so that worked out fine. We just left it on the truck tail gate and skinned the back half, then cut off the leg quarters and put them on ice. I deboned them the next afternoon and the meat is in his freezer waiting for us to come out again and make sausage.



My leg still needs to mend a bit more before I can go out solo again, but I know the hogs have been missing me and I intend to make it up to them as soon and as often as I can.

Way to go!

Awesome pig

Excellent job, sir!

nice job

That's a big hog. I'm envious.

NICE PIG.

I'm glad you're back in the saddle!

Congrats, good hog. I see quite a few that size in West Texas.

Heck of a hog. Good job.

Glad to hear you are mending well.

So, tell us how good it felt to be back hunting again after a forced vacation.

It's really a good thing just to be able to walk without crutches or a cane, even though I'm still moving pretty slowly. I wish I could have been out more in the Spring. I suspect that the rain and cooler weather we had earlier in the year probably caused the hogs to come out early and often. The forced curtailment of outdoor activities had definitely given me cabin fever. The guy who owns the property is a long time friend of over thirty years, and he understood that I was anxious to get back out. He called and suggested that we meet, and he volunteered that (as long as I didn't shoot something over 200# waaaay out in a field somewhere) he's drag in whatever we shot. When we went out, he didn't even bring his rifle in order to be sure I'd have the opportunity to shoot any hogs we found.

As I mentioned above, I'm still not ready to go solo (I'm not yet capable of dragging or loading a large hog alone), but this was definitely progress. Things are going the right direction.

Went dancing Saturday with my wife. We didn't do much, and Sunday my leg hurt, but it's better today. I've been around long enough to know that, if I expect to convince my wife that I'm healthy enough to go hunting, the way to do it is to take her dancing. It's something she really enjoys, and I use the argument that if my leg is good enough for dancing, then hog hunting should be okay also.

You know the saying: "Happy Wife, Happy Life!"