Saturday morning breakfast was announced at 6:30AM. After a large breakfast we split into groups of 5 hunters and were driven to the 500 acre hunting preserve via Kawasaki Mules. We hiked quite a bit before finding any hogs. Some of it was very steep and tiring. I shot my hog at about 10:30AM. It was a 50 yard walking shot in timber. My 200 grain bullet (35 Remington core-lokt) tore through the chest and the animal rolled down the steep slope until a tree was struck. A huge exit hole was noted. It never knew what happened. We used a cable winch to pull it up the slope where the hog could be transported with the Kawasaki Mule. Estimated live weight: 185 lbs.
One of the guys hunted with a Ruger 44 MAG revolver shooting hollow tip bullets. He shot his hog 5 times to down it and once to finish the job. He was extremely disgusted with this bad performance. The bullets penetrated very poorly through the thick chest wall. I strongly recommend do not hunt hogs with hollow tip revolver bullets! Years ago, Elmer Keith said the same thing.
Later on, the guides took us back to the barn where our hogs were skinned and quartered by professional butchers. Then a big hot lunch was served. I was home by 5PM.
This is a high fence hunting operation named Whispering Hollows. It’s basically a “canned hunt” but I had a good time, met new friends, and came home with much meat. No criticism from me.
TR
