slimjim wrote:

English Mike wrote: If feral hogs are such a pest, why aren't the ranchers falling over themselves to encourage hunters to shoot them? There are some guys that specialize in hog hunting. Not unusual for them to kill 10 to 20 a night with night vision and silencers. They multiple more than rabbits. They are so bad that Texas no allows hunting hogs from a helicopter. I've been out twice with no luck - feeders had run dry so they were no shows. I've got that straightened out so maybe next time.

I'd be happy to help with culling the buggers any time in May or October/November...

English Mike wrote:

I'd be happy to help with culling the buggers any time in May or October/November...

2018?

you go get some Slimjim.......knock a few ove for me too while you on the case,and the mighty .270 winchester with 130grn pills doesnt take prisoners of pigasaurusboarus either..... mine has taken down a few boards around that 140-150lb mark with no issue whatsoever (over here the 2 ton (200lb) is the holy grail for hunters with dogs) not many caught that size a really keen man might manage a couple in his time,biggest Ive shot would be around 180-190lb and Ive grabbed and knifed a couple up to 165lb......much prefer the stand back and shoot method myself.

Elvis, I will be using my 6.8mm AR (consider it a .270 minus 200 yards). I also just put a silencer on it which helps as the sound of the bullet impacting the hog is louder than the report so they don't know which way to run from. The AR also gives me quick follow-up shots to take out more than one in the sounder. I have found the 6.8mm very effective on hogs, deer, and elk with the right bullet. The 6.8mm is the number 1 hog slayer in Texas. I took a 180 lb sow at 210 yards that dropped in its tracks (110gr AB). I'm using 120gr MKZ on the hogs this year. I took an elk with the 6.8mm and 105gr MKZ last year. I will use it again this year if the elk is inside of 200-250 yards. Still rely on the .270 to reach out and touch someone.

Speaking of fast followup shots----saw a 2nd hand BLR in .270win forsale yesterday.........NO NO NO I do not need it.
I hear you slimjim........your 6.8 is sort of a modern .243 win (same bullet weights at similar speeds) without the stigma of being just a EBRG.....
man hunting hogs in them kind of numbers will be an absolute blast for you,give em heaps Mate.

slimjim wrote:

English Mike wrote: I'd be happy to help with culling the buggers any time in May or October/November... 2018?

Aye.
I'll be in NM for three or four weeks in late April/Early May, then again in October, though I'll probably be driving from Portland, OR to Rome, GA (Why? Why not? ) before heading for NM.

Well, this past Wednesday was "Game" Day. It rained most of the day, but stopped about 3pm. I was in the stand by 5pm. The humidity was very high. You could see the moisture hanging in the air but short of fog. About 30 minutes after sunset, the sounder came in. I was set-up with my 6.8, silencer, and a red LED spot-light above my scope. I've shot hogs out to 150 yards with this set-up before (without the silencer). They were not bothered by the light. Picked out the lead sow and touched off the first round. That is when everything went south. With the silencer, you get a lot of gas blowback through the action when it cycles. The cloud of gas particles bloomed the light around the scope and I couldn't see to aim for the life of me. The hogs scattered this way and that. A couple ran right toward me. I tried to shoot but it was fruitless. The lead sow ran but I didn’t see in which direction. The woods were less than 10 yards away. I couldn’t find anything in the dark. I know I got the lead sow because when I came back at 430am, the coyote activity was within 50 yards of my feeder in the woods.

Looks like I have more learning to do hunting with a silencer at night. Here I was ready to be King Kong and fell flat. I got a good laugh from the experience. I may have to get a night scope instead of relying on a spot light.

take a leaf out of the old school black powder shooters book...fire then move 4 steps sideways to get clear of the smoke to see.
never heard of the gas blowback issue before...... maybe you need to get out your bolt action and try the two at night just to see.....
yes I see you are in a stand but maybe you need to think/step outside the square for this one....
moving your light source a couple of feet works great too (2nd person) the only issue is they can see eyes and you maynot. a simple cheap lazer pointer as in used in lecture halls etc (mine cost $2) work awesome as they point and you shoot the red dot.

All good ideas Elvis. Another idea is to put the light on a gimbal arrangement on the tree stand, similar to what we do with vehicle mounted spotties, but the best option is a second guy like you mention...one on the light and one on the trigger, and swap around to share the duties.

Is the light you use a diffused or spot beam Slim? I like Elvis’s idea of a laser pointer too...I’m going to have to get one methinks.

Thanks, The weather conditions may have been the culprit and muzzle blast could have been more than issue than the gas blowback. I changed my handguard so I could move my light location to be up by the muzzle and added a laser. I should be better prepared next time.

slimjim wrote:

Thanks, The weather conditions may have been the culprit and muzzle blast could have been more than issue than the gas blowback. I changed my handguard so I could move my light location to be up by the muzzle and added a laser. I should be better prepared next time.

I take it you're using a semi auto, probably an AR15?

It might be worth considering a bolt action when using a suppressor, as any gas is going to be forwards of you & following shots aren't that slow with a bolt gun.

Oh & it looks like I'll probably be in Fort Worth some time late January - 76177 zip to be more precise.

I like my new set-up with the spot light on the front of the handguard. I can shoulder the rifle with it rotated 45 deg which puts the on-off button on my thumb. Turn the light on and lower the rifle towards the ground where I get a clear view of the situation without the scope in the way. I then rotate the rifle upright bringing the scope up to the eye for POA refinement when I'm ready to engage. With the rifle upright, it puts the thumb on the laser switch if needed.

I got to use this technique last night and took 2 boars. This was the big one I took at 75 yards. Shot it high in the shoulder with a 6.8mm 120 grain MKZ and it dropped like a sack of potatoes. This boar is 12" longer than my rifle, nose to butt (not including the tail).

Ii needed the rancher's help in the morning to move the big boy out of the way.

Ok, Elvis. How big is this guy?

I would hazard a guess at 200lb maybe 250...thats a big lump of pork.

Wow Slim, that is BIG porker and a whole mess of pork steaks, ribs, pork tenderloins, and bacon mate. Well done.