Another score for the Photon

I'm still pretty new at the night vision game, and it's like any new toy — learning about it is a large part of the fun. I finally arranged to make some time for hunting a few days ago with my Photon 3.5X, and managed to score a 150 Lb boar shortly before dawn.

Sunrise here in Central Texas in mid-August is around 7AM. I got to my chosen hunting spot about 5:45AM but couldn't see any hogs using IR illumination. As I waited the sky began to gradually get lighter. By 6:15AM it was still very much too dark to see anything with the unaided eye, but there was sufficient light in the sky to allow the NV scope to see out over half a mile of pasture. I spotted a lone hog approximately five to six hundred yards out and began moving toward it.

The wind was perhaps 2-3 mph in my face, so it was an easy approach. It was still too dark to see the hog without the aid of the NV scope. I eased to within 75 yards and shot. The hog never knew it was in danger until the bullet passed through (a .30 cal 180 grain Hornady BTSP).



Clearly, in hot weather I'll be out early again waiting for that magical pre-dawn time just before twilight searching across the pastures looking for unsuspecting hogs with my Photon. I see a bright future in that, even if it's still dark outside.

BOOM! There it is!

Great job!

nice one!

Congrats on the kill

Hunting with night vision is a whole new world. Glad you are enjoying it!

Nice! Glad you are liking the Photon!

I need to move to TEXAS!!

C'mon down! Or up. Whatever. Where do you live now?

Is it just me or is there something not right about that pigs right front foot????

I don't know about the right foot, but the left front foot is definitely polydactyl. He has an extra dew claw on it.

That is a very good observation. It is my contention that hunters often don't look closely at their kills and miss features like that. We had a mulefooted hog for over an hour, dragged him, loaded him, and then just before I was about to leave finally realized what was bothering me about the pig. He had mulefeet (syndactyly) where the center hooves fuse together.

Polydactyly isn't uncommon, but you don't often hear about it with ferals. In domestic stock, culling is advised to preclude the trait from getting passed down.

I bet folks often miss such anomalies, not that they matter all that much, but they sure are interesting.

Yep that would be the left foot!!! I never learned my right and left as a child

Ohio...no Hogs here...well, maybe 500 - 1,000 estimated on the counties that border the Ohio River

Yeah, I noticed that when I was posting the photo, but I didn't know how unusual it was and I didn't want to expand the topic. I didn't catch it while I had the hog, only when I looked at the photo. I was curious about the other feet, but that's the only photo I have which shows it.

Polydactyly in hogs is uncommon, but not terribly rare, according to what I have read on it. It can occur in one or more feet, front, hind, or both, and the extra toe or toes may be medial or lateral. With that said, I have yet to see it on a feral hog and I regularly look at the feet, but I am looking for mulefeet. It is possible I completely missed extra dew claws.

I still think it is pretty cool.