Ballistic Bacon....

[Jared D]

Well, I met up with Marty yesterday for a day long marsh pig hunt. We checked out 4 islands. First Island I saw two deer no pigs. Second spot we backed out of due to lack of sign. Third spot we hunted. This was more like a swamp than a marsh. It was thick, wet and dank. Perfect for pigs.

Marty and I split up and hunted apart from each other. He was toting a 44 mag pistol, and I had my .45 auto. After an hour of easing along in the thick boot sucking mud, I found a nice little trail with fresh sign. I followed it about 45 feet and found a nice little cypress knee that was large enough for me to sit on. I sat there soaking in the sights and sounds. Due to the denseness of the swamp, my line of sight was limited to about 50 feet either way down the trail.

I had started to get lulled into a sense of serenity when all of a sudden I hear Martys pistol bark. That got my senses back. Boom, another shot sounds off, then another. I stand to my feet and a minute later I hear something blazing through the palmettos right for me. I yank my hand gun out, and get ready.

Round the corner comes a black pig. Not too big, maybe 125-150. This is a no brainer... either I shoot or its going to mow me over. I pull the handgun up, put the front site right between its eyes, and touch off the round. As soon as the 230 grain JHP hits it, the pig piles up, gives a twitch and lies still. I bring the handgun back down, and breath out. Not two seconds later, the pig snaps back to life and blazes off towards my right. I yank the hand gun up again fit the front sight in behind the shoulder as its plowing through palmettos and touch off another shot. It grunts loudly at the shot, and hightails it through the brush.

I relax a bit and try to figure out how the pig got back up after the first shot. Surely it cant go far toting an extra 460 grains with it. Obviously if it got up from the head shot, I missed the computer... But I know my second shot slapped it in the boiler somewhere. I decide 45 mins for it to stiffen up is a good idea. I mark my shooting local, and go to where the pig first piled up. While I am doing that, I hear Marty touch off another 3 shots. I told him I needed meat.... not a whole herd.

I get to where the pig piled up. Its easy to see where that was at it slid in the mud about two feet when the bullet stuck. Pretty good blood. I track the blood to where the second shot was. All over a tree behind where the pig was struck was blood. Splatter about the size of a plate. I give it the 45 mins plus a few minutes (after all, this is some THICK stuff). I begin trailing. I tracked it for about 800 yards with lots of blood for the first 600 yards. After that the blood slowed to a trickle. I couldnt believe it. It went accross a small creek that was covered in cattails. I knew it must have buggered up there, but I snaked in and out. Spent over a hour tearing the place apart looking for my bacon. No go. The funny thing was, in all that tracking, the thing never lied up. I know I smacked it in the side somewhere, but with a lung/heart shot, it should have bellied up somewhere. It had moving tracks the entire way.

I made my way back to the boat a 1/4 mile away (thank God for GPS), and found Marty with two. He thinks that the one I shot was another one he had shot, the only one that tore off in my direction. If thats the case, the thing was carrying an extra 280 grains of lead. I was bummed, but it is the breaks of the game when hunting the Georgia Swamps.

We checked one other spot out on the way out... lots of sign, just nothing standing in it. We had to leave earlier than sunset as the ride back down the river was long, and we didnt want to strike a log in the dark.

[cravertosu]

Great stuff! They sure as hell can be some tough animals! At least you got a couple for the freezer!

[weekender]

I have hunted a little bit of everything, hogs are about the toughest animal out there. I have shot them with the bow knowing they would not make it 50 yds and 1/2 mile later the blood just trickle out, no hog. They are like fury tanks, big boars are the Abrams.

[seapower]

Yes they are tough and blood trails are hard to come by. I like my .44 Smith&Wesson, but my 30/30 is tops in the woods. A good shot to the "Hard Drive" puts 'em down for keeps.Frank,SeaPower