Night Vision NV and thermal kills...

Hogster 35mm doin work!
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Used 115 msr bullets that I have built up to save my 120 sst until supply comes back or I reload. I’m pretty sure I have another dead one in the brush but I accidentally hit the battery compartment on the hogster and it turned off before I could get another bullet in him but I saw him drop. He was gone when I got the hogster back on
 
Back to the swamp and the 6.8 for the season finale. Decent sow and a small boar down. Had to high tail it through the water to get a clear shot to finish off the boar and along the way discovered my water proof snake boots are not so waterproof. But I guess that is better than finding out they are not snakeproof.

Been a challenging year with our local hog population being noticeably down. Which is great except for those evenings when I am hunting. Be back at it come February, and in the interim will swap over to a day scope on the 6.8 and work them over best I can during deer season.
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This was my last time out on other properties until after deer gun season is over. Not much, but he bit the dust hard at least.


We have to shut down till February 11th....I am already having withdrawals LOL....and of course they are already the feeders after a week of no pressure....State F&W sent out an email this week whining over the hog population going up despite hunting and all I could think of is them being part of the problem with regs, permits, reports, etc....should be 24-7/365 any means necessary.

Enjoy your posts and vids, hope to see more after deer season!
 
We have to shut down till February 11th....I am already having withdrawals LOL....and of course they are already the feeders after a week of no pressure....State F&W sent out an email this week whining over the hog population going up despite hunting and all I could think of is them being part of the problem with regs, permits, reports, etc....should be 24-7/365 any means necessary.

Enjoy your posts and vids, hope to see more after deer season!

Couple of landowners complained to the local warden about their damage...I'm back on until Nov 20, and then shut down for a few weeks.

Unfortunately I've got hogs coming back onto a small, secluded strip of pasture at my place. Frigging neighbor will not brush hog his place, and I have no way to actively look for them. I suck at still hunting, and these hogs are here for just a few minutes every couple of nights.

At least the neighbor's property looks like the surface of the moon...makes me feel better knowing that the next time he ever actually tries to do something with his land that he's going to jar a filling loose on a tractor.

Until Feb 11 is bullshit...mid-December until the end of March is the best time for hogs to be out in pastures.
 
Couple of landowners complained to the local warden about their damage...I'm back on until Nov 20, and then shut down for a few weeks.

Unfortunately I've got hogs coming back onto a small, secluded strip of pasture at my place. Frigging neighbor will not brush hog his place, and I have no way to actively look for them. I suck at still hunting, and these hogs are here for just a few minutes every couple of nights.

At least the neighbor's property looks like the surface of the moon...makes me feel better knowing that the next time he ever actually tries to do something with his land that he's going to jar a filling loose on a tractor.

Until Feb 11 is bullshit...mid-December until the end of March is the best time for hogs to be out in pastures.
Yep, sucks. Our F&W folks are more worried about deer poachers than pigs. But poachers are going to poach no matter what. You are spot on about them moving into the open pastures over winter, even here. A rancher friend had a bad case of the piggies last December and was able to get a special permit for us. He is already seeing signs...hope for his sake and business they move on but if not that will give us something this winter to stay active.
 
First blood a few minutes ago with the 6.5G / 120gr Nosler BT in my troubled spot that I posted about a few hours ago. Was making my way to the sounder when a lone sow broke off and came toward me. One is better than none and I'm really starting to become a believer in the NBT...We will see how it stacks up once I've put another dozen or so into hogs.

The 165gr in .308 is a beast on deer though.

Will post another shitty video tomorrow afternoon probably.
 
After watching Todd Huey explain it, I was convinced that I was never going to get more than one or two since I wasn't shooting suppressed either...

...Turns out that from what I've personally experienced/seen (and documented on video) there is no real advantage to shooting suppressed. Hogs that have been shot at before take off like lightning whether suppressed or not. Hogs that haven't been shot at (like last night) still have a few that look around to see what's going on. If you see the last killed hog in the most recent video, you'll see that he came within 20 yards of me and stood there for at least a few seconds when I was unloading on his litter mates. The two big boars about two weeks ago had the second one stick his head up at the sound of the first being shot. Three videos ago I had a boar come quartering towards me at less than 50 yards after I'd shot three times already.

Suppressed may help drive hogs in one direction or another with a selective shot, but I think 75 percent of the time or better they run in the direction they came from regardless...it was their last safe haven. The other 25 percent would be directly away from the noise, or in any direction out of confusion regardless of where the noise is coming from.

I buy into the benefits of suppressed videos a whole lot less now than I used to. Maybe I'm ignorant and doing it wrong, but I have literally cut every sounder I've came across in half over the last four months or so on the initial engagement...*(maybe I failed to do that once in August now that I think about it). You could be right, and I might be doing better if I were suppressed.

However...I definitely think that the decibel reduction of suppressed shooting is definitely much more 'polite' when hunting an area near where homeowners are sleeping.
I will say in my experience the hunting suppressed the biggest advantage is not causing trauma to the whole area you were hunting at least the whole place you’re hunting doesn’t get rattled and educated
 
Also here are a couple of pics from tonight’s hunt and a throwback to last year with the five hogs pictured. Taken in ok with thermal.
 

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I will say in my experience the hunting suppressed the biggest advantage is not causing trauma to the whole area you were hunting at least the whole place you’re hunting doesn’t get rattled and educated
I agree with that, especially when you have multiple shooters blasting away at one time.
In some of my recorded hunt's, you can see deer in the background not giving a shit after the shot.
Some just bolt a few yards, look around and then start grazing again, but I don't normally take more than one shot.
Of course, this is before deer rifle season has opened, So I'm sure they'll be a little more skittish after it opens and bullets start flying.
 
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I agree with that, especially when you have multiple shooters blasting away at one time.
In some of my recorded hunt's, you can see deer in the background not giving a shit after the shot.
Some just bolt a few yards, look around and then start grazing again, but I don't normally take more than one shot.
Of course, this is before deer rifle season has opened, So I'm sure they'll be a little more skittish after it opens and bullets start flying.
Ditto! Shot a coyote the other night circling a deer at a feeder. Deer and feeder were about 110 yards away, coyote about 95. Shot went off and deer’s head shot up, then after a bit went back to eating. I have noticed the piggie sounders tend to run confused a bit more with the suppressors too giving an opportunity for follow up shots.

And yes with multiple shots out of the buggy it really helps keep your head from feeling rattled afterwards. And in a shooting house during deer season with one shot I do not notice the concussion so much, especially since I wear ear pro always, but without the suppressor and multiple shots at hogs it is quite noticeable.....especially if your buddy’s rifle has a brake🤬😁
 
I agree with that, especially when you have multiple shooters blasting away at one time.
In some of my recorded hunt's, you can see deer in the background not giving a shit after the shot.
Some just bolt a few yards, look around and then start grazing again, but I don't normally take more than one shot.
Of course, this is before deer rifle season has opened, So I'm sure they'll be a little more skittish after it opens and bullets start flying.
I just had that exact experience I was setting out calling coyotes and there happen to be about six deer in the background I shot the coyote the deer ran about 20 yards stopped and started eating again it’s just nice that it didn’t ruin the whole evening I think there’s definitely an advantage also your friends ears lol
 
Deer don't seem to mind when you're running nothing but a brake either. Maybe I'm just lucky in this AO.

Have to put another shitty video together. Popped a decent boar, but he was in tall grass and I thought he was quartering towards me...tuns out he was quartering away.

I couldn't figure out how he had the exit wound on the same side as the entry until I watched the footage.
 
Deer don't seem to mind when you're running nothing but a brake either. Maybe I'm just lucky in this AO.

Have to put another shitty video together. Popped a decent boar, but he was in tall grass and I thought he was quartering towards me...tuns out he was quartering away.

I couldn't figure out how he had the exit wound on the same side as the entry until I watched the footage.
Deer are stupid lol.
 
View attachment 7471137First night out and got this one with my new “violence of action” AR10 22 Creed. The audible smack of a 75gr ELD at 3,500 was enough for a belly laugh.


Nice!! I'm not going quite as fast, my loads are running just under 3k at 2980 fps. Ya those 75 eld give a solid report on contact, I can only imagine the thud effect at 3500.
Schwaackem!!!
 
Back to the swamp and the 6.8 for the season finale. Decent sow and a small boar down. Had to high tail it through the water to get a clear shot to finish off the boar and along the way discovered my water proof snake boots are not so waterproof.

How are you liking the nomad? I've got two TBAC suppressors which I'd like to keep dedicated to my bolt guns because of weight and length but thinking the nomad isn't too expensive and don't think I'd mind the extra diameter on a 6.8 SBR. Swapping out my suppressors takes all of 2 seconds but would be nice to just leave them on all my rifles.
 
How are you liking the nomad? I've got two TBAC suppressors which I'd like to keep dedicated to my bolt guns because of weight and length but thinking the nomad isn't too expensive and don't think I'd mind the extra diameter on a 6.8 SBR. Swapping out my suppressors takes all of 2 seconds but would be nice to just leave them on all my rifles.
So far, so good. Weight and balance are great. My 6.8 is a DDM4V7 with an 18” barrel so I like that it is a little shorter than some models. When I shot the other night my hunting buddy was about 50 yards behind me without his ear pro on and he commented on it really being quiet fwiw. I’d definitely buy again, and would not hesitate to slap one on a .308 to help reduce weight. I have a Q Thunder Chicken on my POF Revolution right now but always seeking smaller and lighter. And since mine pretty much stay dedicated I am not so worried over moving them around and a QD system as I once was.
 
I just started running a super hogster on one of my rifles. It’s been a great unit so far. Only thing I dislike is the aux power jack is on the bolt side of the rifle.
Understand. You can run a 90 degree USB C adapter and run it over scope. This can help some if you are not doing this for a right-handed bolt configuration.

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View attachment 7478857View attachment 747885822 creed is 2/2. I’m beginning to think I have a knack for the handicap coyotes because both of my early kills have had messed up legs. This one is missing a back leg and my other one had a shorter front leg with no joint movement.
The coyotes will and ability to live at all cost is like non other. They sure are a different animal
 
does anyone go between a bolt and an ar for thermal hog hunting? I have my thermal on my 6.8 SBR and it's awesome but think it'd be kinda fun to put it on a bolt every once in awhile. I know if I do make the switch, I'll run into 8 groups of 50 hogs in the open and will wish I had my AR.

If you do, do you find you slow down with the bolt and make better shots and end up getting the same amount of hogs down?
 
My first thermal was on a bolt gun for a while. I have only ever hunted in thick forest and brush, so it was a 1 shot and done every single time. I still get a lot of singles out of large sounders, but I get a good number of double + kills with an AR. My engagements usually last about 2 seconds, so there’s a good bit of luck involved when I get more than 1. Even if I hunted in the open I would stick to an AR for the magazine capacity alone. Traipsing through the forest in the dark with a full 20 round mag just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.
 
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My first thermal was on a bolt gun for a while. I have only ever hunted in thick forest and brush, so it was a 1 shot and done every single time. I still get a lot of singles out of large sounders, but I get a good number of double + kills with an AR. My engagements usually last about 2 seconds, so there’s a good bit of luck involved when I get more than 1. Even if I hunted in the open I would stick to an AR for the magazine capacity alone. Traipsing through the forest in the dark with a full 20 round mag just gives me a warm fuzzy feeling.

Imagine going Winchester after 20 rounds and forgetting your backup mag 🤣😂. It’s rare but awesome.