Won a hog hunt at Inks Ranch (Oxford area) from a Friends of NRA dinner last Fall. Finally got the time last Friday to take it. Really great folks there. They treated husband and I wonderfully. Friendly, down to earth. Put us in their pickup truck and drove us around the ranch to prime areas. First stop was about 5:30. Petey (the guide), my husband, and I climbed out of the truck and quietly stalked in to the location. There were about a half dozen hogs there, with a 5 year old sow just perfectly broadside, standing pretty as you please, just like she was waiting for me. Petey whispered "Aim for the neck". I wasn't sure about whether I could hit the neck, but I braced up against a handy tree, got on target, realized yes I could hit the neck, so finger on the trigger and slowly starting to move. I started talking to myself to make sure I held steady on target. Suddenly BOOM went the rifle (first time ever that I really was 100% totally "surprised" by the shot going off), and down went the sow - shot clean thru her spine. Took me a second to realize she really was down, then I started to get excited.
Meanwhile, the other hogs scattered, though two of them went only 10 feet, then stopped to look at us. Petey whispered "Take another shot". Of course, I wasn't thinking about taking a second hog, so by the time I was back in position, they had decided it was time to run for real.
At this point, Petey indicated she wanted my husband to get a hog, too. (We all know what vermin hogs can be.) So we spent the next couple hours touring the ranch, visiting prime locations for hogs. Saw a couple BEAUTIFUL Tom turkeys, strutting for all they were worth for their dozen hens. Husband was considering "Can I take a turkey with a 308?" and Petey and Roy were debating if it was still turkey season. Before anyone came to a decision, the turkeys decided they didn't want to be around us, so no turkey that evening. But just as it was starting to get on the edge of too dark to shoot without spotting, we came onto a location and saw a hog running away. Roy slammed on the brakes and yelled to my husband "Shoot him!". It was a tough shot - 80 yards, and a moving hog, but husband dropped him like he was standing still!
Loaded husband's boar into the back of the truck along with my sow and headed back to the ranch house. They skinned, gutted, and quartered our prizes for us. I swear between the two hogs we had well over 100 lbs dressed out. We proceeded to spend the next two days butchering those two hogs. That's a lot of work, but I'm still beaming from the experience.
Now I just have to figure out the best way to preserve my trophy tusks. (They may be small, but I will have them for the rest of my life!
)LST
