BIG pig from texas

[Quicksilver]

Hello all, i couldn't really find an intro thread so i'll use this as my first post...seeing as i finally have something worth putting up. my name is kyle and i live in lynden, wa. last week me and my brother went down to texas to try out a little hunting. this was our first time to texas and were hunting on a rented piece of property that my co worker had. we had high hopes flying down there but to our luck a heat wave was upon the mcallen area of texas...mid 80's every day which in turn made all the animals hide in shade during the day and become nocturnal. after 2 days of not seeing anything but a coyote we caught wind of a ranch down the road from us who guaranteed a pig/hog kill. so thursday morning we drove out and got setup in the blind. upon daybreak we had 2 owls land on top of the blind, followed by a massive pig walking along the treeline. after watching it pass 4 smaller pigs came out to the feeder and i was debating taking one when they took off. after seeing nothing more we decided to take a walk to the other feeders and see if the pigs were there waiting for them to go off. first one yielded 4 doe...moved on to the next one and there were the 4 small pigs and the big one bedded down about 80 yds away. i snuck up to a tree limb and steadied my rifle on it, the pig cocked it's head probably noticing i was coming up on it...before it had a chance to move i squeezed off a round. the pig jump up and started bucking around and once it came settled it stopped, turned broadside to me and BOOM put a bullet through it's neck and onto it's side it goes! i didn't realize how big this pig was until i walked up next to it! first round grazed the top of the neck leaving a trail as deep as the bullet.

me not thinking and figuring this is average for texas, i never measured and weighed it, and now im kicking myself for it. locals say this could have been a record pig for the valley in starr county with a trophy and potential $3,000 check. my rifle is a tikka t3 in .300wm, specs say 44.5" long and i'll tack on an extra inch for the muzzle brake. so 45.5" is my rifle so it puts into perspective for length. i'm 6' and 210lbs and we estimated the pig to be 550lbs. and i'm not standing back behind the pig at all for an "enhanced" photo, i'm actually propping up the head with my knee.

so what do you all think? know of anybody who can look at photos and make an accurate scoring on something like this?

[carpsniperg2]

Big hog right there!!! Welcome to the site. Looks like you have lots of sausage now

[Greenhorn]

Cool, is the brush full of cactus down there?

[Quicksilver]

thanks! yup that variety of cactus is all that's down there along with those mesquite trees. it's too thick to hunt so every piece of property has blinds and feeders setup watching roads all day long. different then i'm used to up here in the NW but i loved every minute of it.

[Forrestrover.02]

Nice! That's a lot of pork!

[sirmissalot]

It kinda just looks like a regular old pink pig. A big one though! Nice shooting I bet you're glad you were quick on that second shot.

[Quicksilver]

It kinda just looks like a regular old pink pig. A big one though! Nice shooting I bet you're glad you were quick on that second shot.

it's a domestic breed, but wild. the ranch owner said she stumbled in about 4 years ago and has never left. the property has a lot of ponds so during the summer months it's perfect for the animals. he wouldn't let anybody shoot it until recently when they found out she wasn't producing anymore offspring.

[skywalker253]

Hopefully you did not spend too much cash to hunt a pig, unless you really wanted one out of Texas. You can hunt them year round at Bufford Springs Ranch. It is located 50 miles east of Pendleton, OR. The rates are $360 per person. It is $330 per person, if you have a larger group. This includes a cabin. My buddy went there last year with one other guy. They got 1 pig at 550 lbs and a second pig a little under 400 lbs. The rancher there started raising them several years ago and turning them loose. The property is not fenced. They are true wild pigs. The property has ponds and fields all over it in the low lands. The higher elevations are made up of timber. You do not need to apply, nor does the state of Oregon require a tag etc. Just pay him and go shoot one!

I am organizing a trip out there this Spring if anyone would like to go? Send me a PM

[blacktailer]

Congrats Kyle from another L-Town guy.  Great looking Hog and looks like a good time.

[h20hunter]

That is one massive piggy....I would say at least 300 lbs...they are like bears...dense like bears....that one looks less "feral" than some I've seen. Big cutters? Sow or boar. Either way, nice job and good post. Welcome.

[KNOPHISH]

MMMMM Bacon

[Quicksilver]

thanks guys! it was a sow, had some decent size teeth on it, nothing too special though. skywalker i paid $300 for this hunt and it's $125 for any other pig/hog. it was more for the experience of hunting in texas is why i paid for it...didn't want to fly down there and not shoot anything! i didn't know about that farm in oregon, i'll talk to my brother and if we're up for it i'll send you a PM for more details! thanks for the info though!

[h20hunter]

You wanna kill pigs check in with.....

Www.nighthogs.com

[Quicksilver]

You wanna kill pigs check in with.....

Www.nighthogs.com

i wanted to do some night hunting when i was down there, but the properties i was hunting on didn't allow hunting at night....if this becomes  a habit for me i'm definitely going to upgrade to some night hunting equipment though.

[h20hunter]

Upgrade is spendy.....i hunted one night with them.....it was awesome.

[jackmaster]

oh boy that is alot of belly bacon right there now boy damn, i would bet that pig is easily 450 but man that is some serious porkchops and did i say belly bacon 

[skywalker253]

thanks guys! it was a sow, had some decent size teeth on it, nothing too special though. skywalker i paid $300 for this hunt and it's $125 for any other pig/hog. it was more for the experience of hunting in texas is why i paid for it...didn't want to fly down there and not shoot anything! i didn't know about that farm in oregon, i'll talk to my brother and if we're up for it i'll send you a PM for more details! thanks for the info though!

That is what I figured. I would have done the same thing you did. Better to shoot something then nothing. And for $300 bucks; why not. congrats! and send me a PM if you want to get together and go. I live in the Tacoma area.

[steen]

Looks like u brought home alot of bacon.  From a fellow Lyndenite!