Posted By: Double Naught Spy
First West Texas Hog Hunt - 05/29/16 03:39 AM
I spent two fun days out in Hall County, just east of Amarillo and Lubbock. It was quite and experience following hogs around and, even getting to shoot at a few.
Do not laugh too hard of me going rookie. On the first set of hogs, the guide started a countdown and that triggered an adrenaline dump. You can see my sight picture deteriorate as it happened, and a jumped the shot, screwing up both of us. Sadly, that is the reality of hunting and just shows that I still find the pursuit of hogs to be quite exciting, though I try to keep that under control.
The next night, shot 3 hogs. The Berger VLD-Hunting 130 gr. round only overpenetrated one of the hogs, the smallest. It managed to run well over 70 yards despite a blood trail that could be followed without lights. Well, with lights but you didn't need bright lights. That hog managed to go over 70 yards before getting into a thicket. I tracked it into the thicket until crawling was required and that is when I gave up on the track. After encountering rattlesnakes twice already that day, I wasn't tempting a 3rd encounter while down on my hands and knees.
The larger two boars each had one lengthwise shot and one broadside shot. That the round did not overpenetrate on the lengthwise shots is not a surprise, but it should have happened on the broadside shot. On the largest hog, the broadside shot was not videoed and happened during my walk-up when I realized that the hog was trying to get up as I approached.
I still like the VLD-Hunting bullet, but the additional results do not all fit well with my previous experiences. As ever, the larger your sample size, the more apt you are to have outliers.
The four hour drive each way was well worth the experience.
