are encouraged to shoot hogs on sight. Property owners are, in some cases, opening their land to responsible hunt- ers in a desperate attempt to control the damage being caused. I began hunting feral hogs some
fi ve years ago, when friends of mine, who were ranchers and farmers, began complaining about the “hog invasion.” I was invited to their homesteads to inspect the chaos being caused, and I was stunned at what I saw. I began do- ing research on this species and quickly learned that they could, indeed, become wildlife enemy No. 1 wherever their populations were allowed to grow un- checked. Being an avid varmint hunter, I wanted to fi nd out as much about this animal as I could so that I could develop the proper techniques and equipment to be of some service to these ranchers and farmers. Around here, the average weight
of a male hog (boar) is 130 pounds; the average sow is closer to 110 pounds. Reports of 400-500 pounders occasion- ally surface, but they are few and far be- tween. My largest boar to date weighed
281 pounds on the processor’s scale. In other southern states, like Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia, the average weights are higher because of better for- age and water available to them. Feral hogs, unlike commercially raised hogs, do not have much fat on them; they are solidly built, tough animals. While I have taken them with everything from a .223 to a .45-70, to a 12 gauge shotgun loaded with 00 buck, I recommend a minimum caliber of 6mm for reliable, humane, one-shot kills. The type of firearm should be
determined by the habitat in which you’ll be hunting for them. They gen- erally prefer to lay up in fairly thick underbrush during most of the day, and then venture forth early in the eve- ning to begin their more serious night foraging. Kicking them out of thick vegetation is exciting, and requires a short barreled, quick pointing, open- sighted rifl e or shotgun. Ranges will be from point blank to 30-40 yards, and the shots will be at rapidly moving targets. A heavy fl at- or round-nosed bullet that will penetrate well before it
expands is the best choice. My prefer- ences for this kind of hunting are an old Marlin .30-30, a Ruger Ranch Rifl e, or a Remington 870 trimmed down to “self defense” proportions with high brass, 00 buckshot. Once the animals clear the heavy brush, and you begin hunting them in more open areas, “deer” rifl es, with low-powered scopes that have excellent light gathering qualities, will serve the purpose quite well. Shotguns with rifl ed slugs and 00 buck are very effective. My Savage in .243 Winchester and Mossberg Grand Slam Turkey in 12 gauge with a red dot sight are my “go to” choices for this environment. At night (it’s legal here in Texas, and is the most productive time of day to hunt them), I’ll use a Bushmaster in .223 topped with a night scope or a Bushnell Compact, and a Remington Model 700 in 6.8mm Remington SPC with a scope- mounted varmint light on it. I've also used the Ruger Ranch Rifl e in 7.62x39, a Ruger No. 1 in .30-06, a Winchester Model 70 in .270 Winchester, and a Browning Model 1885 in .45-70. (The .45-70 cartridge is somewhat of an over-
NEW VARMINT HUNTER HP
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.177 BREAK BARREL AIR RIFLE WITH 4X32 AIR RIFLE SCOPE
GREEN STOCK LASER & LIGHT Page 98 July — September 2011
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