Day 1 leverguns hog hunt

[n2t]

So today was the first day of the leverguns hog hunt after a long trip to TX. This was the GFs first time hunting with the .357mag marlin 1894. Of course..she then proceeds to double lung a 210lbs boar in one shot at 45yards. Biggest pig of the day sofar, bullet entered between 2 ribs, punctured both lungs, broke a couple ribs on the offside and lodged under the skin. Pics will follow once I get them back, but the bullet (a 158grn fp/xtp) performed flawlessly and came out perfectly mushroomed. Great performance from that round.
I shot a small 100lbs boar with the 35rem and 200grn handloaded ftx round. Same distance, full penetration and an easy to find blood trail. Though not as big, the pig was a gorgeous white/black/brown and is going to make a very attractive rug. Overall a great time, good tomales and both rounds performed flawlessly. Now if I can figure out how to propperly work the video camera maybe we can do this again tomorrow and have a full video of the event. Day two coming up, got my rug, now I want some size, GF is going in the other direction, more to come...

[kimwcook]

Sounds like great fun. Can't wait to see pic's or the vid.

[Griff]

And I drove right by where you guys are late this afternoon... unfortunately, I passed this hunt up for work... and alas... no loads til either late Monday or Tues!

[FWiedner]

Never heard of anyone making a rug out of a hog hide before.

Probably a few month up the road, but I'd like to see a photo of that when you get it all laid out.

[n2t]

Saw one in cabelas, HAD to have one, lol. More a display than a walk on type of rug..but oh so cool. My hog had bright white ears and great color, should be perfect for such an endevor. Here are links to a couple pics of the GFs pig.
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg29 ... GFhog2.jpg
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg29 ... GFhog1.jpg

[RIHMFIRE]

Dang....I'm jealous!

Continued success and have a great time!....

double lung....I usually shoot mine in the head/neck...
everyone has dropped on the spot!...

[SJPrice]

Thanks for the report. Good luck today.

[SJPrice]

And I drove right by where you guys are late this afternoon... unfortunately, I passed this hunt up for work... and alas... no loads til either late Monday or Tues!

Hey Griff,

If I may ask, where are you located? Anywhere near Poetry?

Steve

[crs]

Congrats on the good hunting.
Colin and I will drive up to Clarksville this afternoon with my grandson, Troupe, and be out to hunt hogs Sunday morning. Hope to see you there.
It is not near as muddy as last year is it?

[n2t]

Took two more hogs today with two shots. Gf with the .357mag (getting 1900fps with a 158grn fp/xtp) and one more with the 35rem. Sofar the .357 has actually proven superior to the 35rem. I think the hornady gummy tip bullets (ftx) are to blame. Summer project will be to experament with the 200grn rem core locs and maybe cast because the FTX is junk. Little expansion at 50 yards making me highly doubtfull of any expansion at all at 100 on deer sized game, and performance not at all superior to the .357mag. I am however impressed with the 158grn fp/xtp out of the 35rem..with that bullet the 35 rem makes a wonderfull .357. I was expecting much more from the gummy tips and though they were lethal, they were not impressive in penetration, blood trail, or bone breaking ability. Hog shot strait through the heart on a low body shot failed to leave any blood and ran 50 yards, the same shot with the GFs .357mag led to a blood trail and the same penetration. Truely not outstanding performance. More pics and vids to come..some of the GF elbow deep in pork..very impressive.

[n2t]

Update, new photos. Going to get a rug made from the gold pig, amazing colors, going to switch from the hornady ftx to the spear 180grn flat point or the rem core locs to try to make the .35rem more than a loose bored .357mag carbine.
GFs second pig with .357mag carbine.
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg29 ... GFpig1.jpg
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg29 ... GFpig2.jpg
My second pig with the 35 rem.
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg29 ... g/Pig2.jpg
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg29 ... g/pig1.jpg
Both pigs shot at 50-60 yards. The GFs spotted pig was quartering toward. The 158grn fp/xtp entered the onside just behing the shoulder, broke two ribs, penetrated both lungs and lodged just under the hide behind the last rib on the off side. Pig ran 50 yards with a good blood trail and piled up. Total penetration 20".
My gold pig was quartering hard away at 50 yards. I placed my shot low behind the last rib. The 200grn hornady entered behind the last rib, punctured a lung, and blew a thumb sized hole strait through the heart, lodging just under the armpit on the off side. Pig ran 60 yards with no blood trail, bullet had a flattened nose and some copper jacket shards hanging off the front, but showed little actual expansion. Penetration was 22" and though lethal, performance was actually less impressive than that of the .357mag. Similar shot, less bone met, similar penetration with less expansion. Though we did recover the animal, on my own, in a more open environ and on deer sized game, it would have been coyote food. I'm am not impressed with this round. Overall however both guns proved to be accurate and adaquate hog rounds, 4 pigs in 4 shots is not a bad couple days and food was excellent. This was a great chance to have some good food, good conversation, do some real world bullet testing and watch the GF get elbow deep in pork on the hoof. What dissappointment I had in the FTX was more than balanced out by the accuracy of the 336 marlin, the performance of the FP/XTP in the GFs 1894, and watching her get elbow deep in processing/caping her own hog. Good times.

[RKrodle]

Just got in from the hunt!! WOW what a great weekend. Lots of hogs taken with everything from 38 spl. to a 470 doublegun and most everything in between. Hunters ages ranged from 5 to .... well..... we'll just say there was a couple of people there who can be called old fanny burbs . n2t's GF left with top honors of the biggest hog at over 200lbs, with several others slightly less then hers. She is deadly with that Marlin 1894 357 mag. I think there was 17 hogs taken in all from Friday evening til this morning , it sure kept the skinners busy and on their toes.

[Griff]

And I drove right by where you guys are late this afternoon... unfortunately, I passed this hunt up for work... and alas... no loads til either late Monday or Tues!

Hey Griff,
If I may ask, where are you located? Anywhere near Poetry?
Steve

Nope, McClendon-Chisholm

Update, new photos. Going to get a rug made from the gold pig, amazing colors, going to switch from the hornady ftx to the spear 180grn flat point or the rem core locs to try to make the .35rem more than a loose bored .357mag carbine.
GFs second pig with .357mag carbine.


My second pig with the 35 rem.


Both pigs shot at 50-60 yards. The GFs spotted pig was quartering toward. The 158grn fp/xtp entered the onside just behing the shoulder, broke two ribs, penetrated both lungs and lodged just under the hide behind the last rib on the off side. Pig ran 50 yards with a good blood trail and piled up. Total penetration 20".
My gold pig was quartering hard away at 50 yards. I placed my shot low behind the last rib. The 200grn hornady entered behind the last rib, punctured a lung, and blew a thumb sized hole strait through the heart, lodging just under the armpit on the off side. Pig ran 60 yards with no blood trail, bullet had a flattened nose and some copper jacket shards hanging off the front, but showed little actual expansion. Penetration was 22" and though lethal, performance was actually less impressive than that of the .357mag. Similar shot, less bone met, similar penetration with less expansion. Though we did recover the animal, on my own, in a more open environ and on deer sized game, it would have been coyote food. I'm am not impressed with this round. Overall however both guns proved to be accurate and adaquate hog rounds, 4 pigs in 4 shots is not a bad couple days and food was excellent. This was a great chance to have some good food, good conversation, do some real world bullet testing and watch the GF get elbow deep in pork on the hoof. What dissappointment I had in the FTX was more than balanced out by the accuracy of the 336 marlin, the performance of the FP/XTP in the GFs 1894, and watching her get elbow deep in processing/caping her own hog. Good times.

Nice!

[RKrodle]

And I drove right by where you guys are late this afternoon... unfortunately, I passed this hunt up for work... and alas... no loads til either late Monday or Tues!

Hey Griff,

If I may ask, where are you located? Anywhere near Poetry?

Steve

Are you speaking of the big city of Poetry just south of the equally large urban area of Union Valley on FM 1565?

[RKrodle]

And I drove right by where you guys are late this afternoon... unfortunately, I passed this hunt up for work... and alas... no loads til either late Monday or Tues!

You should of stopped on by and pulled up a stomp Griff.

[Warhawk]

It was good to meet everyone who was there Friday evening. I worked Friday over in Blossom, TX (just east of Paris) and didn't get away as early as I'd hoped, I found the hunting camp at about 4:30. Joe and his son Brandon had just come in and Joe asked if I wanted to go out before it got dark.

So I put on my boots, loaded my 92 off we went. I have to apologize to Joe for being so slow in navigating that mud, I broke a couple of bones in my foot at Christmas time and am not 100% yet. Anyway ... We saw hogs before we ever got to the stand, saw a big hog laying down with some smaller hogs milling around it. I decided to take the one that was laying down and put a .44 bullet in it's head. But it turns out that was the hog Brandon had shot earlier. Funny thing is that it was laying there on it's belly and looked like a bedded down hog. Oh well, no meat was ruined by the extra shot.

Joe, Brandon and myself got into the box blind and it wasn't long before more hogs showed up. There was a gray sow that was acting gimpy and Joe wanted me to take her. We stayed a few more minutes to try and take a second hog, then decided to head in before it got dark. We saw a little red hog, about 50 pounds or so on the way out and I took that one too.

Joe, Brandon, Ricky, Ted, Brian, Shane, and everyone else who was there Friday night ... it was good to meet you all, and I hope you all had a good time in Texas.

Jim

[Griff]

And I drove right by where you guys are late this afternoon... unfortunately, I passed this hunt up for work... and alas... no loads til either late Monday or Tues!

Hey Griff,
If I may ask, where are you located? Anywhere near Poetry?
Steve

Are you speaking of the big city of Poetry just south of the equally large urban area of Union Valley on FM 1565?

There's ANOTHER one???

[Warhawk]

Update, new photos. Going to get a rug made from the gold pig, amazing colors, going to switch from the hornady ftx to the spear 180grn flat point or the rem core locs to try to make the .35rem more than a loose bored .357mag carbine.
GFs second pig with .357mag carbine.
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg29 ... GFpig1.jpg
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg29 ... GFpig2.jpg
My second pig with the 35 rem.
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg29 ... g/Pig2.jpg
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg29 ... g/pig1.jpg
Both pigs shot at 50-60 yards. The GFs spotted pig was quartering toward. The 158grn fp/xtp entered the onside just behing the shoulder, broke two ribs, penetrated both lungs and lodged just under the hide behind the last rib on the off side. Pig ran 50 yards with a good blood trail and piled up. Total penetration 20".
My gold pig was quartering hard away at 50 yards. I placed my shot low behind the last rib. The 200grn hornady entered behind the last rib, punctured a lung, and blew a thumb sized hole strait through the heart, lodging just under the armpit on the off side. Pig ran 60 yards with no blood trail, bullet had a flattened nose and some copper jacket shards hanging off the front, but showed little actual expansion. Penetration was 22" and though lethal, performance was actually less impressive than that of the .357mag. Similar shot, less bone met, similar penetration with less expansion. Though we did recover the animal, on my own, in a more open environ and on deer sized game, it would have been coyote food. I'm am not impressed with this round. Overall however both guns proved to be accurate and adaquate hog rounds, 4 pigs in 4 shots is not a bad couple days and food was excellent. This was a great chance to have some good food, good conversation, do some real world bullet testing and watch the GF get elbow deep in pork on the hoof. What dissappointment I had in the FTX was more than balanced out by the accuracy of the 336 marlin, the performance of the FP/XTP in the GFs 1894, and watching her get elbow deep in processing/caping her own hog. Good times.

I used the factory Hornady FTX ammo in .45-70 on a big Kansas buck and a 175# hog in 2009, I was not impressed with the performance on either one and sold the rest of the ammo.

You can see the entry wound on the shoulder in this pic ...


This is the core of the bullet, recovered from the guts of the deer. Originally it weighed 325 grains.



I've gone back to the 405 Remington JSP or 400+ cast flat nose bullets for the 45-70.

Jim

[SJPrice]

And I drove right by where you guys are late this afternoon... unfortunately, I passed this hunt up for work... and alas... no loads til either late Monday or Tues!

Hey Griff,
If I may ask, where are you located? Anywhere near Poetry?
Steve

Are you speaking of the big city of Poetry just south of the equally large urban area of Union Valley on FM 1565?

There's ANOTHER one???

That would be the one. Just down the road from Burgers & Fries.

[horsesoldier03]

It was great to hear that TOP HONORS went to your girl friend, and the paltry .357 mag. I can't remember how many threads we have seen in the past year suggesting the .357 is less than desirable on hogs and deer. I am sure there was a 30-30 or two in the mix of those 17 hogs as well. Maybe next year I will be able to participate.

[86er]

The attendees were:

BuckNDuck
Jimmy Frye
TFrye
Warhawk
n2t and Amanda
CRS and Colin and Troupe
RKrodle
BrianSH
Warhawk
TedH
43 and me
(did I forget someone?)

The results were 17 hogs down and all recovered.

From Brandon and I, a special thanks to Griff for the rifle, Nate Kiowa Jones for the stock and Mike Rintoul for the ammo. Brandon used a 38 Spl Rossi with a cut stock shooting 158 gr WFNPB @ 1230 fps (BrianSH chronographed them at the hunt). Finally, Brandon is big enough to shoulder the rifle properly instead of putting the stock under his arm. We had several hogs come in and of course he had to pick the biggest and furthest away (later paced to 28 yards and a 160 pound hog). He was on his own to shoot whatever one he wanted. One well placed shoulder shot knocked the hog down in his tracks, and knocked Brandon off the stool he was kneeling on. Brandon climbed back up and the hog was still kicking a little so I gave him another cartrige and he shot it again, and fell off the stool again! The next day he guided Warhawk and was able to point out a hog coming to the stand and then get him another he spotted coming through the woods. Here is a Brandons view from the stand and a photo of his hog: BTW - the lowly 38 SPL broke the shoulder and penetrated 25" of hog! We shot into another hog and also a pile of meat, bone and hide and could not stop the bullets in order to examine one!

[2ndovc]

I'm seriously bummin' I mised it!! Was sick as a dog for the three days before. just couldn't make the 15 hr drive
in that condition.

Glad everyone had a good time and congrats Amanda on baqggin' a real trophy!!!

jason

[n2t]

Anyone who thinks the .357 is lacking is mistaken. In this instance, the .357 performed better than the 35 remington in terms of penetration, blood trail, expansion and velocity. My 200grn load was clocking 1939fps, my 158grn 35rem load was clocking 1954fps and the GFs .357mag load with the same 158grn bullet clocked 1975fps with a safe load published in a common reloading manual/site. I shot 2 pigs with the 35 and 200grn ftx, and a dead pig with the 158grn fp/xtp at a similar velocity to the GFs .357mag. People were far more impressed with the .357mag bullet at .357mag velocities. Simply put, I think that with propper bullets and handloads the 35rem is a great round, and bests the .357 mag. BUT, I think that at traditional velocity with off the shelf ammo, it's quite likely you're running equal to or less than a .357mag. The idea that the 357 will barely penetrate a hog on a shoulder shot, and the 35rem is a bone crunching monster isn't always the case, and a person armed with a .357mag rifle and a good bullet has more power and penetration at their disposal than you would think. If a 158grn cast .38spl at 1230fps can break a hogs shoulder, and one shot from a 158grn .357mag at over 1900fps can drop a 210lbs boar, what do you think that's going to do to deer sized thin skinned game? Pick the right bullet...put it through something important, and give Amanda a sharp knife.

[RKrodle]

It was great to hear that TOP HONORS went to your girl friend, and the paltry .357 mag. I can't remember how many threads we have seen in the past year suggesting the .357 is less than desirable on hogs and deer. I am sure there was a 30-30 or two in the mix of those 17 hogs as well. Maybe next year I will be able to participate.

As a matter of fact not a single person shot a hog this year with the 30-30. But I know for a fact that the 30-30 is Great hog medicine.

Some of the calibers and rifles used this year:

38spl -- Rossi Mld 92
357 Rem Mag -- Marlin 1894
44 Rem Mag -- S&W Mdl 29 4 inch barrel
44 Rem Mag -- Rossi Mdl 92
44 Rem Mag -- Single shot
45 Colt -- Winchester 94 AE Trapper
Bow and arrow followed by .223 Rem AR
7mm-08 -- Howa Bolt Gun
308 Win -- Rem Bolt Gun
35 Rem -- Marlin 336
470 NE -- Krieghoff Double Gun.

I think that's all of them. Leverguns were well represented!

[TedH]

It was great to meet everyone and get the opportunity to put some pork in the freezer. I had brought three rifles, but settled on the 470 for the first hunt. Wouldn't ya know it I saw a hog that I just couldn't resist and turned loose a 500 gr. cast bullet on it. This load is reduced quite a bit and runs right at 1600 fps. It did a number on that pig, left quarter size entrance and exit holes and a short blood trail that looked like someone poured it out of a bucket. Tracking wasn't necessary though as the hog piled up within just about 20 yards or so, and still in sight.

!CID__0121111740-00.jpg

[86er]

We have several award categories for the hog hunt and each person got a prize.

First Boar Award - Amanda - first boar she has ever shot
2Fer Award - n2t - shot two with one shot, even though unintentionally
Down and Out Award - Warhawk - showed up, knocked two down consecutively where they stood and he was outa there.
Mythbuster Put 'em Down Award - Brandon - dropped the hog on the spot with one shot from a 38 Special
Stick and Smoke Award - Jimmy Frye - shot with arrow and follow up shot with rifle
Hi-Tech Award - Collin - shot with a synthetic, triangular barrel, ported rifle with ultra modern complex scope
Short Stuff Award - BrianSH - shot two with a handgun
Which Way Did He Go George Award - TFrye - had no idea if he hit it or not or where it went, but the 44 Mag rifle left it dead 100 yds away.
Double Header - Ricky - two head shots on same hog
Big Barrel o' Boar Award - TedH - biggest boar hog, with biggest barrel diameter (used 470 N.E.)
I'm Not Your Typical Hog Award - Troupe - shot a blond hog and a black and white hog

Thanks for coming out and participating everyone! Did you miss out? Get in on our SPRING LEVERGUNS HOG HUNT in APRIL. Look for details soon.

[Griff]

That would be the one. Just down the road from Burgers & Fries.

Only place better is Joe Willy's!!!!!
Unless ya wanna drive into Irving and hit "Griff's"!!!!

[Mike Rintoul]

Good shooting, everyone! I'm glad to see our cartridges were represented and it sounds like the .38 Special that little Brandon used out did what I would have expected. Later this year we have a new 30-30 cartridge coming out that is a joint effort with Bill Hober and Swift Bullet company. The 150 gr and 170 gr bullets are going to be A-Frame designs specifically constructed for the 30-30 velocity and most common uses of deer, bear and boars. I hope to see some hogs shot with these next year, in fact I may come try them out myself.

[fordwannabe]

Anybody from Pennsylvania wanna carpool to Texas in April? My hog hunt in Ga fell through so I am a thinkin Texas would be good. I have a dodge mega cab fits four comfy. Tom

[SJPrice]

That would be the one. Just down the road from Burgers & Fries.

Only place better is Joe Willy's!!!!!
Unless ya wanna drive into Irving and hit "Griff's"!!!!

Okay, where is Joe Willy's

[86er]

Joe Willy's is 205 and 30W service rd in the Hobby Lobby shopping center, Rockwall.

[Griff]

From Brandon and I, a special thanks to Griff for the rifle, Nate Kiowa Jones for the stock and Mike Rintoul for the ammo. Brandon used a 38 Spl Rossi with a cut stock shooting 158 gr WFNPB @ 1230 fps (BrianSH chronographed them at the hunt). Finally, Brandon is big enough to shoulder the rifle properly instead of putting the stock under his arm. We had several hogs come in and of course he had to pick the biggest and furthest away (later paced to 28 yards and a 160 pound hog). He was on his own to shoot whatever one he wanted. One well placed shoulder shot knocked the hog down in his tracks, and knocked Brandon off the stool he was kneeling on. Brandon climbed back up and the hog was still kicking a little so I gave him another cartrige and he shot it again, and fell off the stool again! The next day he guided Warhawk and was able to point out a hog coming to the stand and then get him another he spotted coming through the woods. Here is a Brandons view from the stand and a photo of his hog: BTW - the lowly 38 SPL broke the shoulder and penetrated 25" of hog! We shot into another hog and also a pile of meat, bone and hide and could not stop the bullets in order to examine one!

WOW!!!! Brandon (& Joe), that just warms my heart! I'm glad that Nate was able to provide a stock so it'd be more useable for ya! Sounds like a great loading from Mike. But, mostly, CONGRATS to Brandon on some fine shooting on his first hog!

[SJPrice]

Joe Willy's is 205 and 30W service rd in the Hobby Lobby shopping center, Rockwall.

Thanks Griff,

I wil give it a try.

Be Well,

Steve

[crs]

Due to busy schedules, Colin, Troupe, and I arrived after dark Saturday evening with only Sunday to hunt. We stayed at the Red River Inn in Clarksville and Brian SH dropped by that evening and told us of his hunt and some bullet testing srtories. Naturally these stories of 14-15 pigs being taken since the hunt began Friday were very encouraging to three tired would-be hunters.
We were up at 5:15 Sunday morning for the short drive to the hunting camp, where Ricky was waiting for us at the entrance in his Jeep. After a few sleepy hellos, and a quick hog hunt story from a smiling Brandon, we grabbed our gear and followed the landowner, Brian, out into the dark to our box blinds. Brian left Troupe and me standing at a trail intersection while he guided Colin to his blind; while silently waiting, we heard several groups of hogs grunting out in the dark timber. As Brian led us to our blind, a two person box about three feet off the ground, we saw pigs crosing the trail behind us and heard more hogs off toward Colin's blind; it promised to be a busy morning when the feeders went off around sun up.

In the pre dawn twilight before the feeder ran, Troupe began to see several hogs in the timber, so I put on my driving glasses and I saw them too! He decided to shoot a blonde pig first and his second choice was a blonde pig with large black spots, but they saw us in the blind and drifted back into the timber. After the feeders ran, we hear Colin fire his .308 and soon received a text message stating "I got one". After a few minutes of silence, hogs returned to our location and Troupe set about trying to select one to shoot. Finally, he had a broadside view of the blonde pig and fired his scope sighted Howa 7mm-.08; Blondie flinched and ran out the back side of the feeder clearing and the other pigs dissapeared too.While reloading, Troupe told me that he had a good sight picture of the heart lung area and that he had killed the blonde pig. He even pointed the large blood pool left on the damp ground where his bullet had exited the rib cage.

Brian had told us that after a shot, pigs will often return to feed, so we sat still, waited, and listened to the sound of Brian's ATV as he drove over the muddy trails to help Colin load the 150 pound boar he had shot. As the sound of the ATV receeded to the camp, pigs again appeared in the woods and began to approach the feeder area and the mottled pig was still in the group. Troupe carefully waited for an open broadside shot and when he fired, the hog reacted sharply and exited stage-left and the rest of the group of hogs scattering off to our right. We texted Colin, Joe, and Ricky that Troupe had shot two.
When we heard the ATV begin to wend it's way back to us, we gathered our gear and climbed down from the blind to await Brian to help us track the wounded hogs.

Brian promptly found light frothy blood and bits of lungs tissue from the first hog and darker blood from a heart shot on the mottled pig. Withing a few minutes of following the blood trails and tracks, Brian had located both dead hogs and proceeded to load them on the ATV for the trip back to camp. Brian and I complimented Troupe on his precise shooting and good fortune to have taken exactly the two hogs that he wanted. he was so excited that he ran all the half mile back to camp while I followed Brian on his ATV. See Happy hunter and hogs below:



Colin and Troupe while Brian cleans up Colin's boar for pictures:


Even the Boar is smiling:


On the way home we dropped the hogs off at Poor Boys' Wild Game Processing and are looking forward to some great pork soon; especially the breakfast sausage. Thanks to Brian, Joe, Ricky, Terry, and all for a fun and productive hunt.

[Griff]

CRS, Colin & Troupe,

Congrats on the hogs fellas! Good shootin' and let me know how that sausage is...

[SJPrice]

Congratulations to all the hog hunters. Especially the young folks and Amanda.

[n2t]

Here's a few more pics with Amanda and her boar. First pig for her, and first hunt with the .357mag carbine. She's already planning out next year and wants "something african with impressive horns". My gold pig is going to be made into a rug as well, the black and white one Amanda wants to try doing herself, the gold one I shot is getting done by the taxadermist that was on site(sorry forgot the name. Anyway here are the pics!!
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg29 ... GFhog6.jpg
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg29 ... GFhog5.jpg
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg29 ... GFhog4.jpg
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg29 ... GFhog3.jpg
and a couple of me with the gold pig. The camera phone does not do this animal justice, it's blond areas are a metalic gold color and the lighter areas are metalic silver, I'm unsure how common this is, but I thought this was a very attractive pig. Full rug pics will be coming as soon as the project is finished!!
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg29 ... g/Pig2.jpg
http://i251.photobucket.com/albums/gg29 ... g/pig1.jpg

[FWiedner]

... I thought this was a very attractive pig.

[O.S.O.K.]

Hey! Great pics guys and gals - and great stories. Wish I could have made this year's trip... and you had mud too.... what would a hog hunt be without the mud?

Love to see the young hunters there partaking - good on you Dads!

[n2t]

Lol, not nice.
This is the doubles pig hit. I loved this guys bright white ears, and coloration, he also gave me my only clear shot that morning, lol.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keXEMnw6rs4
2nd pig vid, the gold one. Bullet penetrated 22"+of pig from behind the last rib, through the heart and lodged under the skin on the offside shoulder. Pig went 50yards with no blood trail and bullet showed little/no expansion beyond a flattened nose. If you look closely you can see the bullet in flight. Still learning the video thing, but more to come!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=435UpMKIrTY

[tman]

Your confirming what Doug Wesson proved with a .357 hangun way back in 1935. A good shot who respects the range limitation can take anything in North America with the right bullets. Shot placement Trumps MV/FPS. everytime. Looks like youns had a good time.

[Dave]

Looks like a huge time was had by all! I am particularly impressed with Troupe's and Brandon's shooting! Way to go! I need to start saving my pennies and some vacation time for the next go around.

[86er]

Dave - the "other" leverguns forum is having a hunt in your neck of the woods. It is coming up soon. It is a little more than twice the price of the hog hunt I offer, but if you eliminate the travel costs it may be favorable to you. Otherwise, we're having another one in the Spring and I hope you can make that one!

[n2t]

Ok..did some first attempt video editing (thanks Amanda). In this first video, you'll see a rather bad tempered ram come in and butt a pig on the right of the screen in the first few seconds. The .357mag almost drops Amandas pig but he makes it 50 yards after the shot.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xOoM5wT1LiI
Second video is an update of my gold pig. Love the colors on this animal, enough that he's going to be my first professionally done mount, he's just super cool. Also in this vid, you can see the bullet flight, very cool with the slow old 35rem. Bullet penetrated 22"+ of pig, took out the heart but left no blood trail. Pig made it 50 yards and I owe it to these guys tracking ability that we recovered it at all. I took the quartering away shot knowing I could reach the heart, I did not think about the fact that fat and inards would clog the wound and make tracking impossible. I'm hoping with a bullet switch an exit wound and more shock from expansion will solve the problem. Other than that, the bullet placement wasn't bad if I do say so myself, lol.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGtfjAnWErU
Lastly is my double. I took the shot as he was broadside, and I liked his ears. Double lung, but bit too far back for a heart shot. Ran 50 yards bullet got full penetration, but showed little/no signs of expansion.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keXEMnw6rs4
I will be trying the speer 180grn flat point or the remington corlocs next, I am not impressed with the hornady gummy bullet performance, I am however pleased with my williams peep sight and it's ability to help me place my shots.

[Ysabel Kid]

Awesome guys! Continued luck!!!

[Dave]

I will be trying the speer 180grn flat point or the remington corlocs next and it's ability to help me

My main hunting partner has used the 35 for 20 years and killed a train car load of critters with it. Every Core Lokt bullet we have recovered from his game has expanded into a perfect mushroom. They seem pretty good.

[n2t]

I think it's a great round with those bullets, but I'm not really impressed with it's capabilities with the gummy tips. They need special loading techniques, can't be loaded to normal lengths and max out on powder charge about like a 220grn bullet though they only weigh 200grns. Barely expand at 50 yards on pigs, which means really questionable expansion at 100yards on thin skinned game. Add to that that the gummy tips catch the loading gate, get pinched under the rim of the preceeding round in the feed tube, deform in the cold, and can't be left in the tube for long periods of time, I just don't think they do a very good job to be honest. I think the speer or the remington offer far better options and that's what I'll be messing with this summer.

[n2t]

I think she had a good time..

[TedH]

Hey Will, PM me your address if you want to try some of those 35 cal. Ranch Dog cast bullets we talked about.