emrah1028
New member
Well, after my entire deer season was reduced to a whopping 2.5 days (without success), I was able to do a pig hunt yesterday. Yes, it was guided on a private ranch, and I connected on a nice hog.
I live in MN, but work for a race team and we travel more than I'd like. Seems we're always in Florida but I've never had a chance to head off for the day and get a hunt in. I came down here over Christmas with my family to visit some friends and my buddy and I went out for a day trying our luck on wild hogs in a local WMA, but we were unlucky.
Fast forward to yesterday. I headed to Outwest Farms near Okeechobee, FL. Went on a meat hog hunt and after riding around in a swamp buggy around (and over) the ranch, I spotted a nice porker. We got within 40 yards and I took my first shot.... It went running. I hit it again on the run (not easy in a moving buggy and running pig), and hit it again in the lungs. And it kept running...
He holed up in a palmetto thicket, so we jumped down and went after it in calf-deep muck. The guide (his name was Bitt) released one of his dogs to go push it out. It came trotting out after a while, turned toward me and snorted. I put one last bullet in his head from about 20 yards away and it finally went down. Those @#$#ers are tough!
Finally dragged him to the buggy and brought him to the ranch to skin and quarter him (the guide uses the gutless method).
So no, it wasn't totally a DIY/OYOA deal, but it was about as free-roaming as it gets on a 200 acre property. They don't bait and it's not over a feeder, so I feel good about the hunt and bringing home some bacon. Well, more like to the hotel in Jupiter. We don't go home for a few days, so the meat's in a cooler with dry ice.
Hopefully, I'll have more time to hunt back home in MN this year, but our schedule is just as crazy as it was last year.
The price was $175 (meat hog (tusks under 2")), $30 for skinning/quartering, and I tipped him $30. All in all, I'm really happy to have pulled the trigger on something.
Emrah
P.S. I used my 30-30 with lead bullets I cast and handloaded myself.
I live in MN, but work for a race team and we travel more than I'd like. Seems we're always in Florida but I've never had a chance to head off for the day and get a hunt in. I came down here over Christmas with my family to visit some friends and my buddy and I went out for a day trying our luck on wild hogs in a local WMA, but we were unlucky.
Fast forward to yesterday. I headed to Outwest Farms near Okeechobee, FL. Went on a meat hog hunt and after riding around in a swamp buggy around (and over) the ranch, I spotted a nice porker. We got within 40 yards and I took my first shot.... It went running. I hit it again on the run (not easy in a moving buggy and running pig), and hit it again in the lungs. And it kept running...
He holed up in a palmetto thicket, so we jumped down and went after it in calf-deep muck. The guide (his name was Bitt) released one of his dogs to go push it out. It came trotting out after a while, turned toward me and snorted. I put one last bullet in his head from about 20 yards away and it finally went down. Those @#$#ers are tough!
Finally dragged him to the buggy and brought him to the ranch to skin and quarter him (the guide uses the gutless method).
So no, it wasn't totally a DIY/OYOA deal, but it was about as free-roaming as it gets on a 200 acre property. They don't bait and it's not over a feeder, so I feel good about the hunt and bringing home some bacon. Well, more like to the hotel in Jupiter. We don't go home for a few days, so the meat's in a cooler with dry ice.
Hopefully, I'll have more time to hunt back home in MN this year, but our schedule is just as crazy as it was last year.
The price was $175 (meat hog (tusks under 2")), $30 for skinning/quartering, and I tipped him $30. All in all, I'm really happy to have pulled the trigger on something.
Emrah
P.S. I used my 30-30 with lead bullets I cast and handloaded myself.
