After another week working at home it was time to come up and feed the cows. Friday was cold so I figured the hogs would be out. Decided to take the 300BO with the Wraith scope along with the thermal setup. Turned out to be a lucky choice- the whole day was cold and misty so the thermal was pretty washed out.
Before dark a single boar showed up and started wading his way through the mud hole under the feeder, eating away. I waited until he got on the edge of the hole and shot, down he goes then flops around until he almost disappeared from sight. Oh, well- another muddy extrication coming up.
Sat in the box surfing the THF for a while and then decided to take a look out of the north end of the box. Was messing with focusing the new IR source when a bunch of hogs came out under the feeder and started milling around, jostling each other for position. I picked the biggest sow and let go, pig pandemonium ensued but I noticed her running a little distressed so I figured I hit her good. About 45 minutes later another group came out and I shot the closest one and decided to call it a night since I had some mud hole wading coming up. I went and got the 4-wheeler and took the thermal with me and loaded the one laying in the wheat, then started looking around in the woods in the direction I thought she ran. Eventually found her with the thermal- about 50 yards from the feeder in the thick stuff. Dragged her out to the field, then loaded the smaller one and hooked her up to the drag and took them to the boneyard. Went back to the mud hole and yep, it was bad.


Got ahold of the back leg with a rod and slipped the drag on and yanked him out and took him to the others.


Pretty good night, and I’m all set to go back after them tonight.....

A good, if muddy, night indeed!
Looks like you've got ammo for a few more hunts, at least!

Keep After 'Em!

Very nice!
Pigs love that mud.

well played sir

Get some, my man, GET SOME. And while you're at it, GET SOME MORE OF THEM! Good work!!

I would need better boots!

Very good job!

Where did you get the hog hammer? I thought it had been discontinued.

Midway- some time ago. They show out of stock now.

They're nasty animals. Good work

Heck of a mud hole.

Went back out Saturday night. No hogs showed, but 1 chupacabra did....

That is one ugly dog. Did him a favor.

The wife and I are wanting to start going night hunting in Gonzales and we have looked at night vision and thermal and really not sure what we should buy. The setup you're using sounds like what we need but if you have any suggestions or recommendations it would be greatly appreciated

Nasty thing

Night vision is much cheaper to get into than thermal, and seemingly less likely to give problems. I have tried a Sightmark Photon and a Wraith in NV, and a PTS536 FLIR thermal scope. The rifles, can, scope, illuminator, ammo, hard case, etc. for the NV setup still was less than the FLIR 536.
That being said, thermal is a whole different dimension. I absolutely love the thermal hunting, and I rarely do "spot and stalk" since my place is relatively small - 130 acres. So I tend to set my feeders to after dark after deer season goes out, then I slip to a blind before dusk and sit for several hours.
When my FLIR went in for service (under warranty and back good as new), I went back to the night vision and killed quite a few hogs during the "thermal-free" time.
That being said, with the night vision you can't see nearly as well into any kind of cover - the night vision washes out. Conversely, on a really humid (think misting rainy) night the thermal is almost useless but the night vision works.
Both have their place, but thermal is a whole higher level of fun (and expense). I would recommend contacting Jason at Outdoor Legacy Gear- he spent lots of time with me helping me tailor my purchases to my style of hunting and budget.
Video, audio, external battery packs, all that is something to consider too. The video is nice.
This is a good forum for helpful advice, and there are other dealers who frequent here too.
Best recommendation is to see if you can tag along with someone and try some out.