JGarduna
Member
Longtime Lurker 1st time poster [Cont]
Finally last Friday was gonna be our first hunt.
I don’t have a real blind yet, ground or stand. [We are going to get one, I just haven’t gotten around to getting it yet] So we got some cammo blind fabric and draped it over the golf cart and tied it down with velco strips. (I know… Kinda getto but you gotta work with what ya’ got)
The golf cart has a windshield that folds down in half so that was our rifle rest and the only thing that wasn’t covered.
I backed into a spot off our sendero facing the feeder about 50 yards from it.
I have an ATN X-Site HD I night vision scope and let my son mount it on his 300 Blackout.
I had a night vision monocular so I can see what was going on too.
For those of you that don’t know, the ATN unit is super heavy, like almost 5 lbs with extra battery pack. His gun was too heavy to hold for any amount of time, so I would use the monocular to call out any movement down range.
The wind was blowing perfectly into our position. It came from the feeder directly into the golf cart and down the sendero we made. The only problem we thought we might have was if the hogs were to come in from the road, we were convinced that we were going to be sniffed out but it never happened.
It was great sitting there with my son, in the dark, hunting game, on property that we owned.
I can’t even describe all that I felt but it was a time that I will cherish for as long I have breath.
At one point in the night, something did walk up the sendero from behind us, and when it got about 20 feet from us, it cut into the bushes and kept moving. It was making a wild low grunting growl and it was fast. You’d hear the sound then seconds later you’d hear it 25 yards from where you last heard it.
It scared the both of us since we weren’t sure what it was and neither of us could catch it in our scopes.
It passed on but left us both acutely aware that we were in their comfort zone and not ours.
As the night went on and after lifting the NV to your eyes so many times your eyes begin to play tricks on you. You think you see something but then you refocus and there is nothing there.
One time about 10:45 PM I pulled the NV from my eyes and was just looking out with the light of almost a full moon. I thought I saw a bait bucket move and thought, ‘that’s weird.. my eyes are really mixed up?!’
But then it moved again!??!
I pulled the NV up and saw a pig under the stand just going to town on the corn there!!!!?!
I was like “OMG!!! Josh PIG, PIG, PIG!!!! “
Josh was trying to get his rifle up and find it in view when it slipped right back into the bushes.
That pig wasn’t there even 25 seconds and it moved on!!!??!?!?!???
I was like, “Oh man did you see it!!!?!”
He said, “No, I never saw it..!!?”
What happened?, Did we miss our only chance?, Were we blown by our scent?, Did we make some weird noise? We didn’t know what to think. We just sat there in stunned silence for a few minutes hoping he would come back…..
It’s now 12:45 am and we are both getting tired as this was the end of a normal work day for the both us. All of a sudden I noticed a hog walking out of the brush just to the right of the feeder.
It was the same pig. I whispered as fast as I could, “Pig, Pig, Pig, Pig”
Josh has the rifle ready but can’t see it again. He says, “The IR illuminator is lighting up the bush too much and it’s washing out my view!!!?”
Crap, crap, crap, crap..!!! We are going to lose it again!?!?!
He says, “Let’s switch spots!!”
So right in the middle of all this I’m supposed to slip my not so slender body under his while he stands up and leans forward so he can sit where I am currently sitting..!!??! All the while not making a sound that would alarm the hog!?!? Are you kidding me!?
I said, “Ok, let’s do this now!!!”
He’s up, I slide over and he somehow slips into my now vacant position.
I bring the NV up to my eye and he’s still there, still feeding not aware that we are freaking out.
[Did I mention that we are newbies at hog hunting?! This was our first ]
Josh takes aim and the pig turns broadside, perfect shot..
I say,”SHOOT!!!” and Josh says, “I can’t see again!!!?”
The night vision scope was turned up so high that the pigs eyes were reflecting back into the scope and washing his view out!!!?
Finally the hog faces to the left, starts to eat again and Josh lines up his shot.
Just about then the pig makes a quarter turn away and Josh lets go a round down range.
It strikes the pig just between the left ear and the front shoulder and exits out right behind the right ear.
The pig dropped to the ground instantly and never took another step!!!!
We were so hyped up by that point we couldn’t even stand it!
He was shaking and I was beaming..!!!
[Continue]
Finally last Friday was gonna be our first hunt.
I don’t have a real blind yet, ground or stand. [We are going to get one, I just haven’t gotten around to getting it yet] So we got some cammo blind fabric and draped it over the golf cart and tied it down with velco strips. (I know… Kinda getto but you gotta work with what ya’ got)
The golf cart has a windshield that folds down in half so that was our rifle rest and the only thing that wasn’t covered.
I backed into a spot off our sendero facing the feeder about 50 yards from it.
I have an ATN X-Site HD I night vision scope and let my son mount it on his 300 Blackout.
I had a night vision monocular so I can see what was going on too.
For those of you that don’t know, the ATN unit is super heavy, like almost 5 lbs with extra battery pack. His gun was too heavy to hold for any amount of time, so I would use the monocular to call out any movement down range.
The wind was blowing perfectly into our position. It came from the feeder directly into the golf cart and down the sendero we made. The only problem we thought we might have was if the hogs were to come in from the road, we were convinced that we were going to be sniffed out but it never happened.
It was great sitting there with my son, in the dark, hunting game, on property that we owned.
I can’t even describe all that I felt but it was a time that I will cherish for as long I have breath.
At one point in the night, something did walk up the sendero from behind us, and when it got about 20 feet from us, it cut into the bushes and kept moving. It was making a wild low grunting growl and it was fast. You’d hear the sound then seconds later you’d hear it 25 yards from where you last heard it.
It scared the both of us since we weren’t sure what it was and neither of us could catch it in our scopes.
It passed on but left us both acutely aware that we were in their comfort zone and not ours.
As the night went on and after lifting the NV to your eyes so many times your eyes begin to play tricks on you. You think you see something but then you refocus and there is nothing there.
One time about 10:45 PM I pulled the NV from my eyes and was just looking out with the light of almost a full moon. I thought I saw a bait bucket move and thought, ‘that’s weird.. my eyes are really mixed up?!’
But then it moved again!??!
I pulled the NV up and saw a pig under the stand just going to town on the corn there!!!!?!
I was like “OMG!!! Josh PIG, PIG, PIG!!!! “
Josh was trying to get his rifle up and find it in view when it slipped right back into the bushes.
That pig wasn’t there even 25 seconds and it moved on!!!??!?!?!???
I was like, “Oh man did you see it!!!?!”
He said, “No, I never saw it..!!?”
What happened?, Did we miss our only chance?, Were we blown by our scent?, Did we make some weird noise? We didn’t know what to think. We just sat there in stunned silence for a few minutes hoping he would come back…..
It’s now 12:45 am and we are both getting tired as this was the end of a normal work day for the both us. All of a sudden I noticed a hog walking out of the brush just to the right of the feeder.
It was the same pig. I whispered as fast as I could, “Pig, Pig, Pig, Pig”
Josh has the rifle ready but can’t see it again. He says, “The IR illuminator is lighting up the bush too much and it’s washing out my view!!!?”
Crap, crap, crap, crap..!!! We are going to lose it again!?!?!
He says, “Let’s switch spots!!”
So right in the middle of all this I’m supposed to slip my not so slender body under his while he stands up and leans forward so he can sit where I am currently sitting..!!??! All the while not making a sound that would alarm the hog!?!? Are you kidding me!?
I said, “Ok, let’s do this now!!!”
He’s up, I slide over and he somehow slips into my now vacant position.
I bring the NV up to my eye and he’s still there, still feeding not aware that we are freaking out.
[Did I mention that we are newbies at hog hunting?! This was our first ]
Josh takes aim and the pig turns broadside, perfect shot..
I say,”SHOOT!!!” and Josh says, “I can’t see again!!!?”
The night vision scope was turned up so high that the pigs eyes were reflecting back into the scope and washing his view out!!!?
Finally the hog faces to the left, starts to eat again and Josh lines up his shot.
Just about then the pig makes a quarter turn away and Josh lets go a round down range.
It strikes the pig just between the left ear and the front shoulder and exits out right behind the right ear.
The pig dropped to the ground instantly and never took another step!!!!
We were so hyped up by that point we couldn’t even stand it!
He was shaking and I was beaming..!!!
[Continue]