Wild Pigs

 Late last week I joined my eldest and his son on a wild boar hunt in South Carolina. My son stayed with his son of 15 the whole time. I never got a shot , but the grandson harvested a 160 pound pig. He said the shakes got him after the shot. Very normal for an inexperienced hunter. I'm quite happy the youngster not only got a shot but brought home the bacon as well.

Years ago I got 2 Russian boars, one about 200lbs the other 450lbs. I think they're going to consider going to Tennessee next time, and maybe hunt some Russian boars.

357 Deer

 Back when it first became legal to hunt deer in Ohio with a handgun I carried a 6" Ruger Security 6 in 357Mag. That was the minimum legal cartridge. All the so called experts writing magazine articles claimed the 357 was too small and that we should use a 44Mag. I took many deer with that revolver loaded with 158gr JHP at 1250fps from 15 to 120 yards. They all went down quick from a single bullet. So much for those so called experts.

Today I learned that a friend took a deer at 60 yards with a 158gr JHP 357 chambered lever action. He said the shot was thru and thru with the animal dropping in his tracks.  No surprise to me! The one I took at 15 yards was head on and the bullet went full length.

Texas Pigs

Yesterday the eldest asked if I was interested in a trip to Texas to shoot pigs.  I friend lives down that way and has access to a large tract of private land.  If we go we'd be joining 2 of his friends to rid the land of as many pigs as we care to kill.

He and I both have a problem with killing animals and letting them lay, even if they're considered pests.  Not only that, but short notice is an issue. 

I think the trip will have to wait until next winter when we can transport some pork back with us.

I Miss The Deer

The other day, near the 'little house', I saw a sign advertising deer processing. I suddenly missed hunting when I saw it. Because of various health issues it has been about 5 years since doing any hunting. I dusted off my bow and pulled back the string. Damn! That was a lot harder than it used to be. After we get moved I need to sling some arrows for strength, as well as accuracy.

Next year I'm doing some deer hunting. There's nothing like spending time in the woods.

Here Piggy, Piggy

Several years ago I went to Tennessee for a long weekend of hog hunting. I harvested a 230 pounder the first day, then later in the hunt a Russian that weighed a bit over 450 pounds. The head of the larger is hanging on the basement wall. I thought he was rather handsome, but the Boss banished him to the basement, out of sight from our "civilized" guests.

I thought I bagged a BIG pig, but he pales in comparison to this guy.

357 Cruel to Animals ??

Yesterday I went out for lunch with a couple of the other engineers and the director of production. The other engineers are all process types and one that I work with regularly has a PHD. He's also from Finland.

He asked me about deer hunting here in Ohio. In particular he was very surprised that hunting with a hand gun is legal. In his home country only rifles are allowed and a marksmanship test is required to get a hunting license. In his mind a handgun is cruel to the animals.

I explained that a 357Mag is very capable of dispatching a deer just as quickly, and maybe quicker than the typical shotgun slug. I told him that I've taken many deer with my 357 at distances of 20-120 yards. As long as there is sufficient penetration, it's all about bullet placement, not bullet size or velocity. I'm not at all sure he was convinced.

That Makes me Hurt

The Boss and I spent most of the day working in the church building where she attends. There are 4 large rooms in the basement where assorted stuff is stored, one of which is supposed to be for building/construction supplies. The oldest adopted grandson helped me for 5 hours transporting stuff from the other 3 rooms, and straightening up that one room. You'd think only teenagers were allowed in there instead of adults. My arthritic joints hurt like hell now.

I was sitting in the armory, after getting back home, watching the Ohio State vs Iowa game on the tube when the grandson's latest "father" arrived. He wanted to know about getting a license to hunt deer. After going through all that, I offered to let him use either my smooth bore slug gun or muzzle loader if he was serious. I won't him let borrow one of my revolvers for that purpose because I've seen him shoot.

Since he hasn't had a license before, he'll have to sit through a hunter safety course. There's one offered locally a week from today. If he gets his license I'll probably go also. I was invited, and I haven't been hunting in a couple of years. I could use some time spend in the woods. Time spent in the outdoors is a good thing, whether I see a shootable animal or not. I probably wouldn't even take a shot, that's when the work begins.

One With Nature

I just bought my deer license on-line. Thursday the brother-in-law and I will be traveling a couple of hours to public land for what used to be our annual, end of the gun season, 2 days or so in the woods. No, we don't do the opening day thing. We'd both rather come home empty handed than see a lot of orange clad bipeds stomping around, disrupting the peace and quiet.

We used to do this every year after a couple of months sitting in tree stands with a bow. The last time we went hunting together was 2 days, 3 years ago, when I got 1 and missed 1 with a revolver. Last year I hunted 1/2 of 1 day. Bummer! I haven't bow hunted in 3 years. That's my favorite method of deer hunting, but I haven't been able to participate recently for multiple reasons.

If you've visited here for very long you know that I hunt deer with either a .357 Mag or a .454 Casull. My brother-in-law uses a .41 Mag, which happens to be a great deer cartridge. Last time I let him use my bandolier holster because the crappy one he has is too big for his S&W, but a tad small for my scoped .454 Ruger. I keep thinking about buying one for the big Ruger but never seem to get it done. So once again I'll carry my scoped .454 in his crappy holster that's way too big for either my Ruger (red dot sighted) .357 or his S&W .41.

We've both decided that if a deer is shot by either, the drag back to the truck will be down hill, or flat at worst. He has a knee issue and I'm still bothered with gout and arthritis in one hip. I don't think that both of us, together, can drag a deer uphill where we're going. So why bother going when we'll both be limping around the woods? It's not about the killing. It's about the hunting, and being one with nature.