2021-2022 hunting thread

[JCHIL 414]

Now , if this was a turkey contest, we might have a better chance as they have been eating the hell out of it during the day.  Spring turkey will def be game on. They have been killin our sauce piles🦃

Edited February 11, 2022 by JCHIL

[fattyflattie 4639]

378# is a monster.  

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2732]

Heard the largest cutters in that tournament were about 4.5”

[JCHIL 414]

6 minutes ago, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:

Heard the largest cutters in that tournament were about 4.5”

Yes currently 4.5”

[Reagan1k 3024]

Highly recommend the podcast Beyond the Kill.  Recent episode on terminal performance was very good.  Goes into lethality of various calibers and short action vs. long action at distance in big game. 

And that big cat photo is cool.  Not sure I’d take the shot but no judgement either way.  It is a retread however.  That cat was killed in ‘20 and the Facebook Catherine wheel is spinning it back up now. 

[Herbie Hancock 7367]

14 hours ago, Speedtrucker said:

Buddy of mine was showing my his weighed hogs in the wise county competition…

Then I looked up the leader board and holy shit!

378lb is the leader right now…

Buddy is trying to get at least 1 300+lb hog to place.

My land ain’t yet to see any 200+lb hogs

Check the leader board again there Pancho. Last night they updated with a 459.7. Now, I’m no subject matter expert, but I call horseshit. There is absolutely no way, no way that following all of the rules of the competition someone was able to bag one that big. Much like the big cat contest where the guy had been feeding it out in a pen for several months and it came in something like 10 pounds heavier than the biggest cat they’d ever recorded, this is blatant dishonesty.

[Speedtrucker 2071]

Check the leader board again there Pancho. Last night they updated with a 459.7. Now, I’m no subject matter expert, but I call horseshit. There is absolutely no way, no way that following all of the rules of the competition someone was able to bag one that big. Much like the big cat contest where the guy had been feeding it out in a pen for several months and it came in something like 10 pounds heavier than the biggest cat they’d ever recorded, this is blatant dishonesty.

WTF?!?

No way that’s legit. That has to be a pen raised sow that’s pregnant with 8 cinder blocks!

That would be a time for me to plug in that polygraph they mention in the rules.

[Herbie Hancock 7367]

WTF?!?

No way that’s legit. That has to be a pen raised sow that’s pregnant with 8 cinder blocks!

That would be a time for me to plug in that polygraph they mention in the rules.

Yeah I’m not buying it which is one of the reasons I don’t participate in those hunts anymore. Never fails the last 24-48 hours of the competition is when the heaviest pigs appear. If you’ll go look at the FB page the guys that killed it are adamant they shot it free range, but the pics don’t add up. It looks to have some potbelly in him and it also doesn’t have any of the characteristics of a true wild hog.

[hookemATL 11759]

35 minutes ago, Herbie Hancock said:

Yeah I’m not buying it which is one of the reasons I don’t participate in those hunts anymore. Never fails the last 24-48 hours of the competition is when the heaviest pigs appear. If you’ll go look at the FB page the guys that killed it are adamant they shot it free range, but the pics don’t add up. It looks to have some potbelly in him and it also doesn’t have any of the characteristics of a true wild hog.

How big of a purse is it?  Curious to see how much money would incentivize someone to cheat so elaborately in a fucking hog killing contest. 

[Herbie Hancock 7367]

[hookemATL 11759]

[Herbie Hancock 7367]

January big cat contest wasn’t anything to sneeze at either 

[hookemATL 11759]

Jfc. 

[CHIEF 5094]

4 hours ago, Herbie Hancock said:

Check the leader board again there Pancho. Last night they updated with a 459.7. Now, I’m no subject matter expert, but I call horseshit. There is absolutely no way, no way that following all of the rules of the competition someone was able to bag one that big. Much like the big cat contest where the guy had been feeding it out in a pen for several months and it came in something like 10 pounds heavier than the biggest cat they’d ever recorded, this is blatant dishonesty.

When we hunted the Swenson Ranch in Aspermont, we had quit a few hogs that would have gone over 450 easily. I have never hunted anywhere that had hogs as big as what we saw. They were no longer a part of herds. They were just big solitary animals, away from other pigs. I shot a sow that was eight feet long, she was about two feet thick laying on her side. I thought she was an angus cow when she was about 3/4s of a mile away. Absolutely massive. It comes down to age, and how long they can avoid being killed.

CHIEF

 

[Reagan1k 3024]

I don’t know if someone’s cheating or not but my experience is that it’s difficult to get a wild hog above 300#.  I’ve killed many 100’s and have seen 1000’s dead and alive and 250#-275# is a freaking tank in the wild and bordering on an outlier.  

Short of intentionally fattening them for a contest, my belief is that a hog can’t get that large unless they have a permanent agricultural resource from which to eat.

Given 1000’s of acres of farm land, I could see a big boar topping 3 bills but foraging for revolving natural food sources doesn’t seem to get it done based on my observations.  YMMV. 

 

[CHIEF 5094]

12 minutes ago, Reagan1k said:

I don’t know if someone’s cheating or not but my experience is that it’s difficult to get a wild hog above 300#.  I’ve killed many 100’s and have seen 1000’s dead and alive and 250#-275# is a freaking tank in the wild and bordering on an outlier.  

Short of intentionally fattening them for a contest, my belief is that a hog can’t get that large unless they have a permanent agricultural resource from which to eat.

Given 1000’s of acres of farm land, I could see a big boar topping 3 bills but foraging for revolving natural food sources doesn’t seem to get it done based on my observations.  YMMV. 

 

The hogs I referenced above had thousands of acres of wheat and milo fields to graze, however I seldom saw them in the fields. That is where you would see massive herds of smaller hogs. I assume the larger hogs hit the fields at night. At our current lease, I haven't seen anything remotely as large. These hogs do not have massive acres of cultivated land to forage.

Another consideration is how distant, genetically, a feral hog is from their domesticated ancestors. I know certain buyers that will not buy hogs with "floppy" ears. They consider them too closely related to their domesticated origins.

CHIEF

Edited February 12, 2022 by CHIEF
punctuation and buyers

[fattyflattie 4639]

2 hours ago, hookemATL said:

How big of a purse is it?  Curious to see how much money would incentivize someone to cheat so elaborately in a fucking hog killing contest. 

I’ve seen people blatantly cheat in fishing tournaments where they’d never work in the industry again, for tiny pots. In tournaments where everyone knew everyone and their rep would be tarnished on a personal level, no fucks given. Some people just like to cheat at shit like that.  Takes the fun out of it completely, I’d assume. I’ve been polyd before on a 2nd place finish (600 boats) and it sucks because you can’t enjoy the festivities until that’s over but give me a tourney with a poly every time. 

[Reagan1k 3024]

3 minutes ago, CHIEF said:

The hogs I referenced above had thousands of acres of wheat and milo fields to graze, however I seldom saw them in the fields. That is where you would see massive herds of smaller hogs. I assume the larger hogs hit the fields at night. At our current lease. I haven't seen anything remotely as large. These hogs do not have massive acres of cultivated land to forage.

CHIEF

Makes perfect sense to me and I’d expect they’d get that big- they’d certainly have the opportunity.  Without crops, I’d guess the caloric burn vs. caloric intake is just too high when foraging on only natural groceries.. 

[hookemATL 11759]

A fucking polygraph test?  Holy fuck. 

[T’Boo Ted Marshall 2732]

I would assume some are being trapped and grown.

[deadshank 24653]

The splendor of the blue Texas sky. 

[fattyflattie 4639]

10 hours ago, hookemATL said:

A fucking polygraph test?  Holy fuck. 

 Any fishing tournament worth its salt will have at least the threat of one. If not, rampant cheating.  Sad really, but is what it is. Like I said the worst part is you can’t drink until you clear your test, and obv when you win something big like that your first thing is to enjoy the moment with everyone (and some drinks). 

[hookemATL 11759]

Wow I had no idea but it makes sense. I assume one cheats at the fishing tourney by having a big fish on hand already and just pulling that one out when judging happens?  I find it sad that people would rampantly cheat at an event like this but it tracks. Lots of douchebags and fuckbois out there without the balls to be a man and win the right way. 

[Izhmash 563]

I don’t give a shit about contests…but as soon as the cedar retreats, I am gonna join you fellas in culling pork. One of my favorite past times is walking the land in March/April to shed hunt and stalk pork.

[deadshank 24653]

Sheds are hitting the dirt already in south Texas 

[deadshank 24653]

Need rain here and upstream.  One of the best fishing holes is all rocks. 

[JCHIL 414]

On 2/12/2022 at 1:08 PM, Reagan1k said:

I don’t know if someone’s cheating or not but my experience is that it’s difficult to get a wild hog above 300#.  I’ve killed many 100’s and have seen 1000’s dead and alive and 250#-275# is a freaking tank in the wild and bordering on an outlier.  

Short of intentionally fattening them for a contest, my belief is that a hog can’t get that large unless they have a permanent agricultural resource from which to eat.

Given 1000’s of acres of farm land, I could see a big boar topping 3 bills but foraging for revolving natural food sources doesn’t seem to get it done based on my observations.  YMMV. 

 

I agree we have been killing and watching hogs on our place for a few years.  Tonight we shot these 3 rascals and before we weighed them I guessed the largest was atleast. 275...WRONG! These weighed in at  220lb, 212lb and 168lbs.  The 212 lb was almost 6 feet long when strung up!  A 300 lb is Def a freak!!! 

[Speedtrucker 2071]

FYI this is the leader right now.

[JCHIL 414]

4 hours ago, Speedtrucker said:

FYI this is the leader right now.

Wow. Ridiculously big.  We just don’t have any that big in our place.  Out of hundreds of hogs we have seen or shot, not sure we have any that are 300 lbs....

[crimsonlonghorn 2306]

I caught a pig by the leg in a snare last week who managed to get away after a couple of hours. Since then I haven't seen a single one on any of my cameras. It's like they all got spooked and left, although I know what really happened is that they have found some other food source somewhere and are depleting that every night until they decide to come back to my place. 

 

I did notice for the past week that all of my sour corn hog bait was being eaten and the same large raccoon was coming back to the feeder every night.

 

I drove up on him last night literally 2/3 of the way deep into the hog hole with his rear end straight up in the air. I didn't have a gun and I was so surprised that I started laughing and didn't have time to take a picture. He popped up out of the hole and staggered off behind the tree and disappeared. Damn I wish I had a picture. Here is an artist's re-creation. 

 

That dude has eaten an entire 5 gallon bucket of sour corn all by himself it appears. 

 

[BabaYaga 15301]

52 minutes ago, crimsonlonghorn said:

I caught a pig by the leg in a snare last week who managed to get away after a couple of hours. Since then I haven't seen a single one on any of my cameras. It's like they all got spooked and left, although I know what really happened is that they have found some other food source somewhere and are depleting that every night until they decide to come back to my place. 

 

I did notice for the past week that all of my sour corn hog bait was being eaten and the same large raccoon was coming back to the feeder every night.

 

I drove up on him last night literally 2/3 of the way deep into the hog hole with his rear end straight up in the air. I didn't have a gun and I was so surprised that I started laughing and didn't have time to take a picture. He popped up out of the hole and staggered off behind the tree and disappeared. Damn I wish I had a picture. Here is an artist's re-creation. 

 

That dude has eaten an entire 5 gallon bucket of sour corn all by himself it appears. 

 

Fat, corn thieving turds!

 

 

[Frank Drebin 5644]

On 2/13/2022 at 7:57 AM, hookemATL said:

Wow I had no idea but it makes sense. I assume one cheats at the fishing tourney by having a big fish on hand already and just pulling that one out when judging happens? 

That or having a pro on the boat.  Or using live bait if it is an artificial only tourney.

I fish in one tourney a year and am no threat to win it as there are some great anglers in it who also live nearby and fish their routinely (Lower Laguna Madre).  It is almost all friends.  Usually around 50-60 boats and a couple thousand buy in if you enter all the pots.  So obviously not some massive tourney like others. They have a poly option.  Not sure if they actually do it.  But it is there. 

[deadshank 24653]

Gato montes tomas taking down a full grown doe right next to blind this afternoon.  (Pic and video by another camp member). 

[hookemATL 11759]

Fuck yea, nature!

[fattyflattie 4639]

Where did all the damn quail go?  Plenty of deer out and about this afternoon but nothing I’m looking for. Almost had myself a situation a moment ago. Came walking around the cabin back to my trailer and all I see is black, white, a tail straight up in the air and a polecat butthole.   Thank God, calmer heads prevailed but that dude is persona non grata at moment. 
 

Stunning moon out tonight. 

[Speedtrucker 2071]

We hadn’t seen a deer on our property or cams since early January…

A couple of bucks survived for another year.




There were 8 total that showed up for a little over an hour to have a meal.

This was a day after we shot 3 hogs hence all the corn on the ground.

[deadshank 24653]

As predicted, the bobcat covered his kill. 

[fattyflattie 4639]

Didn’t feel like sitting in the blind this afternoon so went on a walkabout (shed hunting, actually). Found a sounder in a low lying area, and made a stalk on them. Broke in daughters new 300BO on a 150# boar.  Made my way back to the truck and got two more, about a 30# and 60# - perfect eaters. Concerned I didn’t see a pig out here for years and it seems like I see them every time now.  Need to get this in control quick. Still haven’t seen a Javie this year, they used to be regular.  Walked up 4 hens, no beards. Saw a small buck, still had horns. Probably another 25+ antlerless deer. Haven’t found any sheds, usually the pens are good for a few but nada. Quail have decided their season is over early…   Got a half bed of mesquite cut and stored. Wx couldn’t have been any better. 

[deadshank 24653]

One more week after this and then it’s over.  
 

[deadshank 24653]

Spent 2 hours just driving around this afternoon.  Errbody else done gone home so I’ve got the joint to myself for the evening.  A very pleasant evening with my two mutts. So quiet. 
 

Back to the crucible tomorrow. 

[fattyflattie 4639]

5 minutes ago, deadshank said:

Spent 2 hours just driving around this afternoon.  Errbody else done gone home so I’ve got the joint to myself for the evening.  A very pleasant evening with my two mutts. So quiet. 
 

Back to the crucible tomorrow

That’s basically what I did all weekend. Had the place to myself.  Just relaxed. Completely wiped by brain of all my troubles. Just putted around listening to old school tejano music and drank beers.  Zen. 

Edited February 21, 2022 by fattyflattie

[williemackgarza 1826]

Fatty…
My old school tejano favs: emilio, la mafia, mazz, dlg, jaime de adande, tropa f, hometown boys, garcia bros, dang. Love those tunes.
Just got home from the last weekend in mexico .
The boy got his first deer and some javis.
Gonna shoulder mount the male with long chompets.
Never seen any that long before.

[Lat22 4015]

On 2/18/2022 at 7:31 PM, deadshank said:

Gato montes tomas taking down a full grown doe right next to blind this afternoon.  (Pic and video by another camp member). 

That’s impressive. And I thought they were just quail killers. 

[deadshank 24653]

This is the video of the cat jumping out of a tree like Johnny Rambo and taking down the deer.  
 

At first we thought it was a doe but I went out yesterday afternoon to check on the final disposition of the carcass.  The prairie poodles dragged it about 150 yards and ate it.  

Turns out the deer was a young buck that had already dropped its antlers as evidenced by its bare pedicles.

[fattyflattie 4639]

@deadshank That sucks, but what an absolutely awesome sight to see.  
 

@williemackgarza thanks for the recs. I wouldn’t recognize any of it but as long as it’s the old stuff I’m going to listen.  God I love old Mexico and your pics bring it home. Wish I had the balls to get a place down there. 

[hookemATL 11759]

That’s fucking awesome. Thanks for sharing. 

[williemackgarza 1826]

Shank, that video is prolly a 1 in a million chance to catch on dub.
One of the coolrst outdoor videos ive seen. Thanks for posting.

[deadshank 24653]

A little more video.   Check out the cat’s eyes.  Our defense could learn from this lesson on focus, finding and not letting go of the jugular.

[HOOKEM4 5037]

6 minutes ago, deadshank said:

A little more video.   Check out the cat’s eyes.  Our defense could learn from this lesson on focus, finding and not letting go of the jugular.

IMG_3996.MOV

I wish I could watch these videos. They never work for me on chrome. Maybe I need to post in the dumb question amnesty thread.

[BabaYaga 15301]

On 2/18/2022 at 7:31 PM, deadshank said:

Gato montes tomas taking down a full grown doe right next to blind this afternoon.  (Pic and video by another camp member). 

IMG_3987.MOV

Big.  F ing.  Cat!