Mountainman56
50 Cal.
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- Oct 8, 2007
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As I was driving around at work early this morning I spotted what was almost certainly a large feral hog way back in the trees. Since I was only a short distance from my office I decided to go load up my .50 mountain rifle. I carry two centrefire rifles and a handgun in my truck but while I’ve shot several pigs with my blackpowder rifles I’ve yet to shoot a big boar with one. 80 grains of FFFg down the pipe and a PRB and back out I went.
The wind was in my favour but the hog was at the East end of the trees and the adjoining outlying areas are very close very tough country that are choked with mesquite. A long shot in there is going to be measured in feet instead of yards. If he got in there he would be gone for sure. Fortunately we’ve had a fair amount of rain recently and the ground was wet and quiet. With my rifle on half-cock and trigger already set I creepy-sneaked down a row of trees for about ¼ mile. At about 75 yards he lifted his head up and looked around trying to scent something. I thought he must have heard me so I figured this was as close as I was likely to get. The old mountain rifle belched out a cloud and when the smoke cleared I saw of my hog hauling a$$ straight into the mesquite. Now I’d been kinda hoping to bust his left front shoulder on the way to his lungs but that old pig didn’t seem to be slowed down much the last I saw of him.
Well the fun’s all over now for sure I thought as I filled up my rifle again and headed into the brush. I was pretty sure of my shot but there was not a spot of blood to be found anywhere. Once again the wet ground was an advantage as I could spot his tracks every time he ran across some bare ground. It took me about 20 minutes to track him 150 yards into that stuff. A wounded boar can be meaner than a grizzly with a hernia and visibility was ranging from 25 out to about 60 feet. I gotta admit the sphincter factor was getting well up in the red zone. Now Maw didn’t raise no fools and since She Who Must Be Obeyed insists I come home every day in the same condition I was in when I left and since I was all by my lonesome I ain’t ashamed to tell you I marked my location, did a 180 degree turn and headed back to the pickup.
Discretion is the better part of valour”¦..isn’t that how it goes? Anyhow I traded my smokepole off for a Model 94 30-30 shoved my 1911 in a clip-on holster and headed back in the mesquite feeling a little more comfortable. I figured if something quick happened I may only have time for 4 or 5 of the 15 rounds I had available but the sphincter meter had eased back down into the yellow zone anyway. Long story short (I know, I know, it’s kinda late for that) I found my very dead hog about 40 yards from where I’d turned around. Sort of anti-climatic but certainly the ending I preferred. I’d hit him higher than I thought”¦.oh yeah, this is the rifle I’m using for the shooting contest and I have it sighted for a 6 o;clock hold”¦.doh!!
Getting him drug out of the mesquite and the long grass where I could take a good picture was time consuming to say the least and involved a four-wheeler, a pickup truck and a 3/8” rope that broke twice.
The wild hogs in West Texas run much smaller than the majority of hogs found elsewhere and while this hog may be an exceptionally large one for this area it doesn’t measure up to hogs that have better foraging. In hindsight is a .50 calibre roundball enough for wild hog and would I use it again? If it was the only muzzleloader available as it was today, certainly. That being said if I was going out for hog intentionally I would take my .50 GPR, put the tight twist barrel back on her and load her up with 385 grain Great Plains conicals. If I were hunting with a roundball exclusively I think something in at least a .54 would be more suitable.
Hope y’all enjoy the picture but please don’t tell my boss....I was supposed to be at work. :grin:
The wind was in my favour but the hog was at the East end of the trees and the adjoining outlying areas are very close very tough country that are choked with mesquite. A long shot in there is going to be measured in feet instead of yards. If he got in there he would be gone for sure. Fortunately we’ve had a fair amount of rain recently and the ground was wet and quiet. With my rifle on half-cock and trigger already set I creepy-sneaked down a row of trees for about ¼ mile. At about 75 yards he lifted his head up and looked around trying to scent something. I thought he must have heard me so I figured this was as close as I was likely to get. The old mountain rifle belched out a cloud and when the smoke cleared I saw of my hog hauling a$$ straight into the mesquite. Now I’d been kinda hoping to bust his left front shoulder on the way to his lungs but that old pig didn’t seem to be slowed down much the last I saw of him.
Well the fun’s all over now for sure I thought as I filled up my rifle again and headed into the brush. I was pretty sure of my shot but there was not a spot of blood to be found anywhere. Once again the wet ground was an advantage as I could spot his tracks every time he ran across some bare ground. It took me about 20 minutes to track him 150 yards into that stuff. A wounded boar can be meaner than a grizzly with a hernia and visibility was ranging from 25 out to about 60 feet. I gotta admit the sphincter factor was getting well up in the red zone. Now Maw didn’t raise no fools and since She Who Must Be Obeyed insists I come home every day in the same condition I was in when I left and since I was all by my lonesome I ain’t ashamed to tell you I marked my location, did a 180 degree turn and headed back to the pickup.
Discretion is the better part of valour”¦..isn’t that how it goes? Anyhow I traded my smokepole off for a Model 94 30-30 shoved my 1911 in a clip-on holster and headed back in the mesquite feeling a little more comfortable. I figured if something quick happened I may only have time for 4 or 5 of the 15 rounds I had available but the sphincter meter had eased back down into the yellow zone anyway. Long story short (I know, I know, it’s kinda late for that) I found my very dead hog about 40 yards from where I’d turned around. Sort of anti-climatic but certainly the ending I preferred. I’d hit him higher than I thought”¦.oh yeah, this is the rifle I’m using for the shooting contest and I have it sighted for a 6 o;clock hold”¦.doh!!
Getting him drug out of the mesquite and the long grass where I could take a good picture was time consuming to say the least and involved a four-wheeler, a pickup truck and a 3/8” rope that broke twice.
The wild hogs in West Texas run much smaller than the majority of hogs found elsewhere and while this hog may be an exceptionally large one for this area it doesn’t measure up to hogs that have better foraging. In hindsight is a .50 calibre roundball enough for wild hog and would I use it again? If it was the only muzzleloader available as it was today, certainly. That being said if I was going out for hog intentionally I would take my .50 GPR, put the tight twist barrel back on her and load her up with 385 grain Great Plains conicals. If I were hunting with a roundball exclusively I think something in at least a .54 would be more suitable.
Hope y’all enjoy the picture but please don’t tell my boss....I was supposed to be at work. :grin:
