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Live from Skybox... North west lake okeechobee pig hunt
Waiting... We have six pigs in the trap, and waiting for wanders.
"A patriot is mocked, scorned and hated; yet when his cause succeeds, all men will join him, for then it costs nothing to be a patriot." Mark Twain
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.... now who's bringing the hot wings? :jester:
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.... now who's bringing the hot wings? :jester:
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The guy that runs cows on our lease's wife hunts and runs hog traps. They run those traps at least every other day and they average two or three hogs a month from 4 traps. Damn hogs are getting smart. I told her she needs to camouflage those traps because the hogs won't hardly go in em now. They got used to seeing their relatives get caught I guess. They still get more than we shoot, but not by much. Building those traps is expensive nowadays and I'd rather shoot em anyway.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
We pulled up to the gate:
My hunting partner, Bob, decided to surprise me. He was behind me at the gate, and the owner, Danny, looks back and says "What the h.. are you doing Bob?" I looked out my driver side window and saw this...
Apparently this guy was crossing behind me so Bob thought it might be fun to catch him. After that fun he dropped him and he scampered off into the field. About a mile or so of dirt road through cattle lands we arrived at "Skybox." This is a two story cabin in the middle of forty acres, with 1500 acres of cattle land around it. The upper bedroom has an observation deck, on floor three, with a 300 yard view all around.
Here is a view from the upper deck.
As we arrive, Danny tells me the pig trap, 100 yards from the cabin has some hogs in it... six! including a 200 + lb female, a 150 + lb male ( spotted hog ), two piglets, and two 75 ish pigs, one male one female.
We decide to leave them in the trap overnight and look for free ranging game.
This is a panoramic view from the roof. My feeder was 200 yards from the truck to the left of this image.
The hogs get big here. here is a jaw from a boar taken a few months ago with my 4 inch knife blade for a comparison:
We split into three areas and watched our feeders. We call this a one shot property, because one shot and the whole place clears out. At 6:33 PM, 15 minutes after sunset a 120 pound boar shows up at the 200 yard feeder. The light is so faint I have to adjust the 4x12 Redfield back to 6x to see anything clearly. I let a 100 gr 6mm bullet go, but the muzzle flash covers it up and I cannot see a thing, and with no spotter I don't know what has happened. I go to where I shot, but no blood sign at all, after looking in the dark for an hour.
Here is a view of my " lane"... The trash heap is 50 yards the first tree is 100 yards and the second set to the left is 200 yards, and in it is the feeder where I saw the pig.
The accommodations were great, and I really felt sincerely privileged to have been there. Here is pic of my " stuff", my .243 and my 30-06 plus G20, etc....
We had a camp dinner of chili and beans, and corn bread and sacked out for the night. This was perfect Florida hunting weather, 72 F in the day an 55 F at night. We woke to coffee and donuts, OJ and milk and raisin bran, but no pigs. We did see four deer , five turkeys and some 1500 lb bulls!
Since this is not a crop property and strictly kept for hunting we decided to release the six pigs in the pen... And we were all feeling lazy and didn't want to skin out a pig... plus it just isn't very sporting...
[video]http://vid1284.photobucket.com/albums/a561/Daniel_Scipione/F61B0AE4-67E0-488E-BBA0-D3B9141945BB_zpswu530inv.mp4[/video]
finished the day in Clewiston at "Roland Martins" ... yep, that Roland Martin. He has a Tiki Bar on the edge of lake Okeechobee.
And sadly, I received a text that my shot was true. My 120 lb boar had run off and was found near the road about 150 yards from our cabin being eaten by buzzards. I hate to waste an animal or make them suffer. Next hunt I will go with my 30-06.
D
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.... now who's bringing the hot wings? :jester:
This is meant as a helpful hint. We hunt hogs every weekend with .223's, .243's and my middle son uses his .308. We never take a shoulder shots, actually they're not allowed on the ranch for shooting hogs. It's head shots only, below the ear or in the eye socket if they're looking in your direction. Easy shots out to 200 and 250 yards. What I'm getting at is there's no tracking hogs as they drop like rocks and there's no need to go up in caliber.
I don't think you need a to go up to 30-06 just change your shot placement. Also you don't ruin any of the meat!
Hope it helps!
John 3: 1-21
I totally agree.
However, at 200 yards the difference in performance between the two is substantial.
The light was so bad I was having trouble focusing on the target and making an accurate shot. First I won't try it again without a spotter, and second, a 30-06 would deliver a more energy and likely stop them in their tracks, better.
D
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.... now who's bringing the hot wings? :jester: