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Good Ending to the Small Game/Hog Season

JTHOMP

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Joined
Oct 3, 2017
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862
Location
Louisiana
Didn't get to hunt as much as I would have liked to this season, but I made the best of the late season chasing pigs and squirrels. Over the past few hunts I walked many miles. Accessed areas by foot, pirogue, and finally got a new motor and took my boat. Learned a lot about the deer in the area, found some nutall oaks that they were still hitting hard in February, and a few beds where they spend their daylight hours in knee deep swamp. Looking forward to hunting them next year. Especially a big buck I bumped from a swamp bed.
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I put many squirrels and a swamp rabbit in the freezer, but lady luck hadn't been on my side for the pigs. Having to use small game loads for pigs isn't ideal because they are very tough animals. In Louisiana we're limited to using shotgun with BB or smaller size or rimfire rifle .22 or smaller. Have to be close and make a broadside head shot. Never had one that didn't drop until recently. In the past few hunts I had multiple encounters with no shots, 1 stalk were I was winded at the last minute, and two that were shot but not recovered. Finally Saturday it all came together within an hour long hunt.

From my prior hunt I was confident I was going to be in a heavy pig area. It had been raining the day and night before and I was slipping in search for a muddy track. When I got to an area that had a lot of sign I slowed down and looked harder for a muddy track. While searching something moving caught my eye about 20yds in front of me. It was a small pig. To the left of it was a bigger one bedded down with its head sticking out from behind a tree. There was little cover between me and the pigs. I slowly and carefully repositioned my feet to turn my body and put the cross hairs behind the bottom of the ear. Pulled the trigger and she immediately rolled over dead, which was a huge relief to see. The woods came alive with pigs crashing through the palmettos, but none offered a shot.

This was my last hunt of the season. I'm very thankful for the time I spent learning these woods, and glad that it all came together in the end with packing meat out back to the boat.
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Nice pics! Believe it or not, the part of Texas that I primarily hunt looks just like that. Not exactly what folks think of when they picture Texas.
 
Way to finish it up. I upgraded to the 22 mag this year as its legal here in MS. Heck of a lot better for hogs than what I've had (I still prefer the bow but can't use it during the small game season). Even the big boars can't take them to well (that's my size 13 boot against him).94762
 
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Thanks yall.

Nice! You ever pull any turtles to eat out of that swamp?
I've never purposely gone after turtles. Caught a few big enough worth eating while running jug lines and caught the biggest soft shell I've ever seen from a lucky bowfishing shot. Shot and missed a gar and thought my arrow was stuck in a log. Just so happened to hit a big softshell in the foot. Good eating!

Nice pics! Believe it or not, the part of Texas that I primarily hunt looks just like that. Not exactly what folks think of when they picture Texas.
What part of TX? Not too long ago I was living in Vinton, LA. Spent a lot of time hunting the Sabine Island. Set a few limbs line and caught some crawfish on the Texas side after the 2016 flood.

Way to finish it up. I upgraded to the 22 mag this year as its legal here in MS. Heck of a lot better for hogs than what I've had (I still prefer the bow but can't use it during the small game season). Even the big boars can't take them to well (that's my size 13 boot against him).

Nice pig! What were you hunting them with them? Past couple years I had been killing them with 12g BB shells. Never had a problem killing them but I also passed on a lot of shots that I felt weren't close enough. Last season I bought a Savage A17 to extend my range and still be able to sling lead. The one weekend hunt I made with it I had two opportunities to kill a pig that were both running but couldn't line up a shot. Would've made that shot with my shotgun though. So still on the fence about which I prefer.

The two pigs I shot and didn't recover this year, one was shot with shotgun and the other with the 17. I'll admit that the more I think of it the 17 wasn't exactly where it needed to be, but the shotgun hit I saw blood come the side of the head as soon as I shot, but it never stopped running. I've never hunted squirrels with a rifle until this year. It was fun and different chasing them with the 17 but learned to be very care of shot placement and choosy of shots so that no meat is damaged. At least it's rough on them with the CCI A17 bullets. Seen others killed with Hornady vtips that weren't too bad. How is the 22mag on squirrels?
 
Nice pig! What were you hunting them with them? Past couple years I had been killing them with 12g BB shells. Never had a problem killing them but I also passed on a lot of shots that I felt weren't close enough. Last season I bought a Savage A17 to extend my range and still be able to sling lead. The one weekend hunt I made with it I had two opportunities to kill a pig that were both running but couldn't line up a shot. Would've made that shot with my shotgun though. So still on the fence about which I prefer.

The two pigs I shot and didn't recover this year, one was shot with shotgun and the other with the 17. I'll admit that the more I think of it the 17 wasn't exactly where it needed to be, but the shotgun hit I saw blood come the side of the head as soon as I shot, but it never stopped running. I've never hunted squirrels with a rifle until this year. It was fun and different chasing them with the 17 but learned to be very care of shot placement and choosy of shots so that no meat is damaged. At least it's rough on them with the CCI A17 bullets. Seen others killed with Hornady vtips that weren't too bad. How is the 22mag on squirrels?

Yeah, there are definitely pros and cons to both. Overall there are enough hogs on the public land around here that if some run I either stalk up on them again or find another group. One shot to the base of the ear and they are done.

With squirrels you really need to hit them in the head or mid body or its too much damage. Not to be graphic but here is an example.

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Yeah, there are definitely pros and cons to both. Overall there are enough hogs on the public land around here that if some run I either stalk up on them again or find another group. One shot to the base of the ear and they are done.

With squirrels you really need to hit them in the head or mid body or its too much damage. Not to be graphic but here is an example.

Head shots with the 17 look the same. Definitely try to avoid body. It's a mess trying to clean and salvage meat.
 
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