Behind the Ear Failure...And The Sow Runs Away

Well the shot was intended and a below and behind the ear shot, but apparently the hog may have moved about the time I pulled the trigger, dipping its head again. A lot can happen in the 1/10th of a second or so flight time when an inch or two may matter. However it happened, the exit ended up being just behind the ear and above where I intended - no apparent connection with the skull or the cervical vertebrae and the hog took off for the creek bottoms. There was no blood trail, though I could see the blood spot forming on the side of the hog. There were tracks...all over the creek bottom that was still soggy as a result of recent rains. In fact, where the hog was located in the oats field had not been mowed because the ground was soggy there.

Connecting with bone of the head or neck does a lot better job than passing through neck muscle. Sometimes you can get luck with hydrostatic shock dropping the hog, but even just behind the head, it is not always reliable.

We all try for the best and sometimes we just don't connect. It's hunting.

I like the picture with the Double Ear Holes and Crown Shot!
Thanks for posting Keep trying.

That was done with a .308 by my hunting partner back in 2013 @ 80-90 yards, IIRC. The hog ran (no kidding) and we picked it up on the run.

That double ear shot is pretty impressive. I had a similar exit wound on a large hog where it traveled about 10" up the side of the hog after exiting and "burned" a trail where the hair was gone in a perfect streak like the top of your hogs head

Most likely another one for the coyotes and buzzards. They're probably celebrating around a totem of you as I write this.

Good Video!
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Nothing back there that will stop the hog and the temporary wound cavity most likely was not even close to anything that matters. Shoot a 5.56mm. Problem solved.

Actually, very close to things that matter, but not through any of them. Part of the point of the post is noting the spot isn't magical and that hydrostatic shock not reliable.

What a silly caliber comment.

that is why I shoot for the shoulder, top rear corner of it, they may run a bit but so far not one of them has made it more than 5' (5.56 62 gr. lap from a windham vex/20" barrel).
still waiting to see how the rock river lar 47x1 does with the 7.62, got some hornady bthp in brass to knock em down with but so far they are skeert and won't show for some reason. think the neighbor heli hunting them a couple of weeks ago ran them off again.

have an xsight gen 1 3-12 on the rra, will try to get some video but wish it was thermal like yours, I like watching them.

Nothing you can do about that shot. Been there many times before... Great video

I shot a sow a few years ago. The shot was a couple of inches back and a couple low. 45 minutes later I was sitting at the same feeder and shot a sow. When I hung it up, it had two holes behind the ear. One that dropped it in its tracks and the other from 45 minutes earlier. Those are some tough critters. I was using a 30-06.