Hog-Wild Turkey Calling, Bring In Backup
Posted: Sat Mar 26, 2016 3:07 pm
Turkey season opened last Sunday, and my dad and I had been planning for the last couple of weeks to go turkey hunting today. I had been scouting the property and wasn't feeling too confident we'd have success with turkeys, but I was positive we'd see some wild hogs, so I planned to bring a backup gun just for that possibility. (I brought the 91/30 PU sniper) (I had the Winchester Mod 12 for the turkeys)
So this morning we went out to where I set up the blinds near some good roosting trees and started calling. My cousin makes custom box calls by hand and they sound amazing; we had a couple. I was surprised to hear some turkeys calling back, but they didn't sound very enthusiastic. What I wasn't surprised to hear were all the squealing hogs nearby through the brush when we'd "gobble". I new they'd be there.
Just as it began to lighten up a bit, we saw a hog come out of the brush and begin rooting around possibly 20 yards away; it looked pretty big. I raised my rifle, but with the close range and low light I couldn't get a good sight picture before it wandered back where it came from.
We kept calling for turkeys for a while and got a few lazy responses, then another hog, even bigger, came out of the brush and wandered around a bit. This time, there was more light. It took a minute for him to get in a position to shoot, but once I had him, I had him....BAM! He dropped right where he was, dead as a hammer.
It was male, and weighed close to 200 lbs. I don't have a scale, but I weigh 175 and couldn't counter balance it when I hung it on one side of the gambrel. It outweighed me. Dad and I spent the rest of the morning dressing and butchering it. It was a fun experience, and we got a lot of meat off of it. Yes, the rifle was necessary; during skinning it looked like the turkey loads we had wouldn't have been much use against that thick pig skin. Bring an extra gun, you never know what else you might see. (Hogs are in season year round here, by the way).
The only downside to the hunt (not even the rain was deterring) was that my dog decided to roll in the pool of blood and fatty bits beneath the gambrel as we were out of site dumping the guts, so she needed a bath.
So this morning we went out to where I set up the blinds near some good roosting trees and started calling. My cousin makes custom box calls by hand and they sound amazing; we had a couple. I was surprised to hear some turkeys calling back, but they didn't sound very enthusiastic. What I wasn't surprised to hear were all the squealing hogs nearby through the brush when we'd "gobble". I new they'd be there.
Just as it began to lighten up a bit, we saw a hog come out of the brush and begin rooting around possibly 20 yards away; it looked pretty big. I raised my rifle, but with the close range and low light I couldn't get a good sight picture before it wandered back where it came from.
We kept calling for turkeys for a while and got a few lazy responses, then another hog, even bigger, came out of the brush and wandered around a bit. This time, there was more light. It took a minute for him to get in a position to shoot, but once I had him, I had him....BAM! He dropped right where he was, dead as a hammer.
It was male, and weighed close to 200 lbs. I don't have a scale, but I weigh 175 and couldn't counter balance it when I hung it on one side of the gambrel. It outweighed me. Dad and I spent the rest of the morning dressing and butchering it. It was a fun experience, and we got a lot of meat off of it. Yes, the rifle was necessary; during skinning it looked like the turkey loads we had wouldn't have been much use against that thick pig skin. Bring an extra gun, you never know what else you might see. (Hogs are in season year round here, by the way).
The only downside to the hunt (not even the rain was deterring) was that my dog decided to roll in the pool of blood and fatty bits beneath the gambrel as we were out of site dumping the guts, so she needed a bath.
