Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
I have a college-aged daughter that asks to go hunting every few years. I think the last time we went was before the pandemic back when she was in high school. So this was going to be a fun trip.
I gave her two options. We could sit in the blind at our place and watch for hogs or try open land hunting and she opted for the open land hunting. We set up on my buddy's place in an area he had recently seen damage and we waited. During that time, I reoriented her on the operation of the rifle and taught her how to use a new thermal scope she had never used before.
A couple of hours after dark, I spied a hog in the next field, through brush and across 2 cross fences. We could not get to the field it was in and if we shot and it ran, we would have little chance of finding it, We waited for it to come to our side, but it turned around and headed away, back in the direction that we could hear squeals and such coming from over the hill from us. While we were probably within 500 yards of the hogs, due to wind direction and gate locations, our only way to approach the hogs was to leave the property out one side and drive around to the other side and see if we can anticipate where the hogs were going. They weren't there when we arrived. So we drove around and checked some other properties and returned after an hour. I figured the odds were 100:1 against us getting that lucky as the hogs could have changed directions over the course of the several hundred yards they had traveled, part of which was through woods, but they were there!
We made about a 300 yard stalk to get into shooting position where we intercepted the hogs that were coming in our direction. I explained to her that we had cattle in the field and that she was to make 1 shot and 1 shot only unless I gave her the go ahead to shoot again. She agreed. The plan is for her to shoot and see what develops. If the cattle spook and run, we could have the rest of the cattle herd run through our shooting area. Plus, we had 2 in the shooting area already, grazing.
I told her to pick the any hog not close to one of the cattle. She told me she had a target. I told her to shoot it at her convenience. Well, the boars were chasing sows and there were not very many large hogs, but she finally targeted a decent sized hog (as compared to the rest) away from the cattle and shot it at roughly 90 yards. It wasn't the largest by any stretch, but it was the largest best target. She made her shot, hitting the high shoulder on the hog and it ran. To my relief, she did not fire again as it ran right by the bull. Once it was clear of the bull, I told her she was clear to fire and she immediately hit it mid body while on the move and dropped it. It got up again and she hit it in the side of the head at 100 yards. It was down and doing the curly shuffle and I told her to shoot it again, just to be sure. She put another round into it and it, thusly.
Honestly, I could not be prouder. She hasn't been shooting since the pandemic in 2020 and I don't think had been hunting or gotten a hog since 2017 or 2018. She had never used this thermal scope before. She came in, listened to everything I had to say, shot when she was supposed to shoot. She didn't shoot when she wasn't supposed to shoot. She landed all 4 of her shots including hitting a runner at distance. She could not see it, but once that boar crossed in front of the bull and she didn't shoot, I started smiling as I watched her make followup shots I would not have made successfully, could not have made successfully, with that little experience.
Her prize? The hog came in at 100 lbs and to celebrate, we made a midnight run to Whataburger.
6.5 Grendel, 18" barrel, Silencerco Omega Suppressor
92 gr. Power Hammer bullets by Hammer Bullets, loaded by Druid Hill Armory
Rix Optics Leap L6 Thermal sight
Brass catcher by Tactical Brass Recovery
I gave her two options. We could sit in the blind at our place and watch for hogs or try open land hunting and she opted for the open land hunting. We set up on my buddy's place in an area he had recently seen damage and we waited. During that time, I reoriented her on the operation of the rifle and taught her how to use a new thermal scope she had never used before.
A couple of hours after dark, I spied a hog in the next field, through brush and across 2 cross fences. We could not get to the field it was in and if we shot and it ran, we would have little chance of finding it, We waited for it to come to our side, but it turned around and headed away, back in the direction that we could hear squeals and such coming from over the hill from us. While we were probably within 500 yards of the hogs, due to wind direction and gate locations, our only way to approach the hogs was to leave the property out one side and drive around to the other side and see if we can anticipate where the hogs were going. They weren't there when we arrived. So we drove around and checked some other properties and returned after an hour. I figured the odds were 100:1 against us getting that lucky as the hogs could have changed directions over the course of the several hundred yards they had traveled, part of which was through woods, but they were there!
We made about a 300 yard stalk to get into shooting position where we intercepted the hogs that were coming in our direction. I explained to her that we had cattle in the field and that she was to make 1 shot and 1 shot only unless I gave her the go ahead to shoot again. She agreed. The plan is for her to shoot and see what develops. If the cattle spook and run, we could have the rest of the cattle herd run through our shooting area. Plus, we had 2 in the shooting area already, grazing.
I told her to pick the any hog not close to one of the cattle. She told me she had a target. I told her to shoot it at her convenience. Well, the boars were chasing sows and there were not very many large hogs, but she finally targeted a decent sized hog (as compared to the rest) away from the cattle and shot it at roughly 90 yards. It wasn't the largest by any stretch, but it was the largest best target. She made her shot, hitting the high shoulder on the hog and it ran. To my relief, she did not fire again as it ran right by the bull. Once it was clear of the bull, I told her she was clear to fire and she immediately hit it mid body while on the move and dropped it. It got up again and she hit it in the side of the head at 100 yards. It was down and doing the curly shuffle and I told her to shoot it again, just to be sure. She put another round into it and it, thusly.
Honestly, I could not be prouder. She hasn't been shooting since the pandemic in 2020 and I don't think had been hunting or gotten a hog since 2017 or 2018. She had never used this thermal scope before. She came in, listened to everything I had to say, shot when she was supposed to shoot. She didn't shoot when she wasn't supposed to shoot. She landed all 4 of her shots including hitting a runner at distance. She could not see it, but once that boar crossed in front of the bull and she didn't shoot, I started smiling as I watched her make followup shots I would not have made successfully, could not have made successfully, with that little experience.
Her prize? The hog came in at 100 lbs and to celebrate, we made a midnight run to Whataburger.
6.5 Grendel, 18" barrel, Silencerco Omega Suppressor
92 gr. Power Hammer bullets by Hammer Bullets, loaded by Druid Hill Armory
Rix Optics Leap L6 Thermal sight
Brass catcher by Tactical Brass Recovery
