OK, you older guys will get the Bon Jovi reference: ""shot through the heart..."
Had a sounder come in a little before 1 a.m. Most seemed to be in the 30-45 pound range with the lone exception of this sow, and observing them in the brilliant moonlight told me she was definitely the leader of the pack, so to speak.
My intent was to harvest a smaller specimen for a whole-hog roast, but in this situation, taking out the sow left me with pretty good odds that the rest may return at some point.
As the shoats rooted around, the sow kept herself in the background, darting in and out of cover and making things a little tough for me. A couple of times, she did pause for a few seconds, but I didn't care for the angle of the presentation. Soon enough, though, I got the broadside look I wanted.
Tonight I was using the 23" MGM Contender in .223 with a 1:8 twist and loaded with 55 grain Barnes TTSX at 3294 fps MV. That load has done beautifully for me before on both hogs and deer, and I was eager to put it into use once again. So as the hog came to a halt, I put the red dot of the Zeiss Classic Diatal 7x50 where I hoped it would do the most good and sent the little Barnes speeding downrange.
The impact planted the hog in its tracks, breaking bone upon entry and leaving the leg on the entry side loose to flop around. The Barnes chewed through and demolished about 1/3rd of the heart and broke through bone on the opposite side before leaving a nickel-sized exit in its wake. Honestly, one couldn't ask for better performance than that.
The range of the shot was only 120-125 yards.
Below is the exit. By the time I removed the heart, my gloves were quite bloody and my phone was in my pocket, so I didn't get a picture of the internal damage. You'll just have to take my word that it was more than adequate -- if not downright impressive.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Nor Cal Mikie
Bookmarks