This year, GA hunting regulations stipulate that Dec 1-25 is buck only with a firearm and either sex days will resume Dec 26-Jan 15. With my wife and I moving into our first house in two weeks and the fact that she’s 7.5 months pregnant with our first child, there’s a good chance my season may come to a close before the last stint of doe days rolls around. That being said, I really needed to harvest two more does to fill the freezer for the year. I spent this past weekend working at the farm and fortunately, was able to pull the trigger on the Gradous .260 a few times. All shots were with the 130gr HVLD.
Friday evening, I had a tiny button buck come limping into the food plot around 120 yards. He had apparently been shot a while ago, high in the left shoulder, and the wound looked pretty infected. This was the first button head I’ve ever intentionally shot, but I just couldn’t let him walk.
Saturday night I went to sit on a different plot but when I got there, I realized the stand was no longer on the tree. I ended up just setting up prone to the rear of the cluster of trees where the stand used to hang, but about 30 minutes into the set two dogs started barking non-stop in the vicinity of a plot that was about 300 yards away as the crow flies. I laid there listening to them for about 30 more minutes before I’d had enough and decided to go check it out. As I was throwing my gear in my bag, I noticed the barking started to get closer... and closer... and it was heading straight toward me. I pulled out my Glock 22, racked the slide, and got ready to confront whatever was about to happen. Just then, about 60 yards down the plot, a giant black boar came running across 20 yard wide strip. I only had a second to react, so I dropped the pistol, shouldered the rifle in my left hand, and pulled the trigger as he was entering the brush on the side of the plot. I knew it wasn’t going to be a good shot when I pulled the trigger considering half his body had already disappeared, but with the problems we’re having with them right now, any lead in a pig is good as far as I’m concerned. The shot went through both of his hams, taking out his hips and dropping him on the spot. He instantly started raising hell and I ran down the plot until I could see him and put one behind his ear. The exit of the first shot isn’t pictured but it was a golf ball sized hole from about midway through, all the way out. This was the largest pig I’ve ever killed. There was no way I could have loaded him in my truck so I didn’t have him weighed, but he made the two 230-lb’ers I’ve drug feel light and look small, so I’m guessing 300+. As awesome as it was, ultimately it was still just another divergence from my main goal for the weekend... filling the freezer with two more does.
Sunday morning, my dad came out there with me and with the strong winds coming out of the north, there were really only two stand options. I had seen 7-8 deer when I was driving out the night before, so I decided to sit in the closest stand we had to that spot. The wind was blowing my scent directly into the bedding area just to the south of the plot, but I hoped with any luck, they’d still be on their feet from the night before and would stop through the plot for a bite before bed. I was a little late getting into the stand but within 15 minutes there was a yearling fork horn hanging out at the mineral lick 40 yards in front of me. As the sun started to rise, I heard two bucks fighting about 200 yards to the North West. A few minutes later a trail of 5 does and a button buck started filing across the plot at 140-ish yards. The last one was a large nanny so I bleated to stop her before she stepped off the plot and put the crosshairs under her ear.
The stand it located at the junction of two lines, oriented like a capitol “T”. About 20 minutes after I shot the first doe, I caught some movement about 60 yards down the lane to the east as they began crossing the strip to enter the bedding area. As one of the bigger does was staging up, I stopped her and put one under her ear. Both shots were taken at almost the same angle, in the same location. The one at 140 yards had a small entrance, severed the top of the spine at the base of the skull, and made a tangerine-sized exit. The 60 yard shot exploded on impact with the top of the spine, completely severing it and left no exit.
Friday evening, I had a tiny button buck come limping into the food plot around 120 yards. He had apparently been shot a while ago, high in the left shoulder, and the wound looked pretty infected. This was the first button head I’ve ever intentionally shot, but I just couldn’t let him walk.
Saturday night I went to sit on a different plot but when I got there, I realized the stand was no longer on the tree. I ended up just setting up prone to the rear of the cluster of trees where the stand used to hang, but about 30 minutes into the set two dogs started barking non-stop in the vicinity of a plot that was about 300 yards away as the crow flies. I laid there listening to them for about 30 more minutes before I’d had enough and decided to go check it out. As I was throwing my gear in my bag, I noticed the barking started to get closer... and closer... and it was heading straight toward me. I pulled out my Glock 22, racked the slide, and got ready to confront whatever was about to happen. Just then, about 60 yards down the plot, a giant black boar came running across 20 yard wide strip. I only had a second to react, so I dropped the pistol, shouldered the rifle in my left hand, and pulled the trigger as he was entering the brush on the side of the plot. I knew it wasn’t going to be a good shot when I pulled the trigger considering half his body had already disappeared, but with the problems we’re having with them right now, any lead in a pig is good as far as I’m concerned. The shot went through both of his hams, taking out his hips and dropping him on the spot. He instantly started raising hell and I ran down the plot until I could see him and put one behind his ear. The exit of the first shot isn’t pictured but it was a golf ball sized hole from about midway through, all the way out. This was the largest pig I’ve ever killed. There was no way I could have loaded him in my truck so I didn’t have him weighed, but he made the two 230-lb’ers I’ve drug feel light and look small, so I’m guessing 300+. As awesome as it was, ultimately it was still just another divergence from my main goal for the weekend... filling the freezer with two more does.
Sunday morning, my dad came out there with me and with the strong winds coming out of the north, there were really only two stand options. I had seen 7-8 deer when I was driving out the night before, so I decided to sit in the closest stand we had to that spot. The wind was blowing my scent directly into the bedding area just to the south of the plot, but I hoped with any luck, they’d still be on their feet from the night before and would stop through the plot for a bite before bed. I was a little late getting into the stand but within 15 minutes there was a yearling fork horn hanging out at the mineral lick 40 yards in front of me. As the sun started to rise, I heard two bucks fighting about 200 yards to the North West. A few minutes later a trail of 5 does and a button buck started filing across the plot at 140-ish yards. The last one was a large nanny so I bleated to stop her before she stepped off the plot and put the crosshairs under her ear.
The stand it located at the junction of two lines, oriented like a capitol “T”. About 20 minutes after I shot the first doe, I caught some movement about 60 yards down the lane to the east as they began crossing the strip to enter the bedding area. As one of the bigger does was staging up, I stopped her and put one under her ear. Both shots were taken at almost the same angle, in the same location. The one at 140 yards had a small entrance, severed the top of the spine at the base of the skull, and made a tangerine-sized exit. The 60 yard shot exploded on impact with the top of the spine, completely severing it and left no exit.
