Date night last night consisted of a quick, light meal followed by an evening stroll...to get set up for hogs.

After dark, this lone boar came wandering up from the South...just enjoying the moonlight and going nowhere in particular. When I was ready, Jane clicked on the Predator Cannon and slowly cranked up the rheostat on the big, red light. When the crosshairs of the 6x settled on his engine room, I gently mashed the trigger on the 7x57 and sent a Cutting Edge Raptor downrange.

The hog had been close to the edge of heavy brush, and he dove into it at the shot. Leaving the 7mm with Jane, I picked up my Marlin .357 carbine and flashlight and strolled down to ground zero. I found where he'd bolted at the shot, but no blood. Levering a round into the chamber of the carbine, I started into the thick stuff following a game trail. Fifteen steps in I found a prickly pear alongside the trail sprayed with bright red blood. I followed the trail another 30-40 yards without another sign. Hmmpfh...missed something. Backtrack to the prickly pear.

A smaller trail branched off from the main and I picked up the blood trail again...but not on the ground. In this thick stuff, tracking needs to get done a foot or better above ground level, as blood and gore often gets wiped off and never reaches the ground. The blood trail dropped into a dry wash and I followed...after letting the light probe everything in front of me. The thinning blood spatter crossed the wash and appeared to be heading up the other side...a solid wall of greenbrair and brush. Carbine and light both leveled, I eased up to the edge of the brush...and spotted a sliver of black hide imbedded in the greenbriar.

Closer examination showed the hit was a winner, and the heart-shot boar had covered about 80 yards before running, dead on his feet, headfirst into the thorny mess.

Pics from this morning of where he wound up:


Closer still (and in daylight) and you still can only barely make out the carcass:


Drug out into the open for pics:

Nice!
Indeed, I've had heart-shot hogs run 200-300 yards before expiring. Apparently there's enough oxygen in the brain for about 15-20 seconds of activity before they collapse.
Good job tracking.

Good Job

Good stuff sir

Bigger man than me. I would have let the buzzards track him in the morning. Good job.

Kill every one of them, great job!