Gigem
02-27-2010, 04:00 PM
We originally had Randy booked to come down from Arkansas and hunt with us on Feb. 11. He was going to hunt with us and then go on a two-day varmint hunt in West Texas, before returning to the Hot Springs area. When we saw all of the snow and ice on the weather forecast, we were able to re-schedule his hunt for the 15th...after his varmint hunt. A wise move !
We got started shortly after dark but it took a while to find the hogs....we saw plenty of deer, raccoons, rabbits and "possums on the half-shell"... but no rooters. But, after checking the fourth ranch, our luck changed.
We had already made it through all of the creek bottoms and were almost back to the highway when Carl spotted the hogs on the FLIR. (Jed was shooting in the Los Cazadores varmint contest and Carl was taking his place). After a short stalk, we flipped the goggles up and "put the hammer down" on 4 members of the Sus Scrofa gang! (we only got 3 in the picture)
http://www.tacticalhogcontrol.com/clark/randy1.JPG
We loaded a couple of them up and headed out to find more. It didn't take long. After crossing the highway to the next ranch, I spotted a group of five, rooting along a fenceline. Cattle were everywhere so we had to be careful....if we spooked the cattle, the hogs would probably figure out that something wasn't quite right. We also had to manuever around to get a clear shot, without any cattle in the line of fire. We managed to get around the cows and stalked to within about 50 yards of the unsuspecting swine. 3-2-1 BOOM! ....3 more fell ! Nice shootin' Randy!
As we walked up to inspect Randy's "handywork", I noticed a cow and calf about 30 yards away, across a fenceline...but something just wasn't right....the calf was just too short. After a quick look through the night scope it was clear that the "calf" was really a sow, wondering what had happened to the rest of her friends.....another hog bit the dust!
http://www.tacticalhogcontrol.com/clark/randy2.JPG
All-in-all, we wound up with eight on the night...and plenty of pork in the cooler! Come back and see us Randy....We had a blast!
We got started shortly after dark but it took a while to find the hogs....we saw plenty of deer, raccoons, rabbits and "possums on the half-shell"... but no rooters. But, after checking the fourth ranch, our luck changed.
We had already made it through all of the creek bottoms and were almost back to the highway when Carl spotted the hogs on the FLIR. (Jed was shooting in the Los Cazadores varmint contest and Carl was taking his place). After a short stalk, we flipped the goggles up and "put the hammer down" on 4 members of the Sus Scrofa gang! (we only got 3 in the picture)
http://www.tacticalhogcontrol.com/clark/randy1.JPG
We loaded a couple of them up and headed out to find more. It didn't take long. After crossing the highway to the next ranch, I spotted a group of five, rooting along a fenceline. Cattle were everywhere so we had to be careful....if we spooked the cattle, the hogs would probably figure out that something wasn't quite right. We also had to manuever around to get a clear shot, without any cattle in the line of fire. We managed to get around the cows and stalked to within about 50 yards of the unsuspecting swine. 3-2-1 BOOM! ....3 more fell ! Nice shootin' Randy!
As we walked up to inspect Randy's "handywork", I noticed a cow and calf about 30 yards away, across a fenceline...but something just wasn't right....the calf was just too short. After a quick look through the night scope it was clear that the "calf" was really a sow, wondering what had happened to the rest of her friends.....another hog bit the dust!
http://www.tacticalhogcontrol.com/clark/randy2.JPG
All-in-all, we wound up with eight on the night...and plenty of pork in the cooler! Come back and see us Randy....We had a blast!