Hunting in April, Off To A Good Start

[Ranch Dog]

Kind of an odd time of the year to talk about hunting in North America but the month started pretty good here. My friend Joe and I knocked the hogs back a bit in just a couple of days! Joe killed four big hogs and I one. Joe delivered a shoot through on two big ones, two for one shot. I shot a 200+ hog with my R92 scout chambered in 44 Mag at 4:30 am on Thursday morning. Dark as sin but two hogs were moving through a field of light colored grass and stood out like a sore thumb. Put the Weaver's crosshairs right on the heart and my 300-grain bullet blew right through it.

This year has been off to a very slow start and this brings the count to 13 YTD. My Wildlife Management Plan calls for an average of one a week so we are only 1 behind.

[357cyrus]

I thought you were either takin some time away from the hogs, or out on a wild tear. I was getting ready to post about how I've been popping English sparrows and European starlings since this part of the forum has been a bit slow lately LOL. Glad to hear you're still on track.

[Ranch Dog]

I've been popping English sparrows and European starlings since this part of the forum has been a bit...

I've been knocking them out as well. My Rossi 62SA has been hulling turtles out in my pond too. I floated a dead tree trunk out and they crawl up on it to make the popping easier!

[Ranch Dog]

Killed our #14 this morning at 4:30. Thought I would slip back to the same spot that I shot the last hog from and see if his partner would show up. He was there waiting for me and the 44 Mag knocked him out right where he was standing.

[357cyrus]

The sparrows and starlings in my back yard get zapped with an old Mossberg Chuckster in 22mag I picked up last fall. With hornady v-max ammo it really sends the feathers flyin! No turtle problems in my pond yet, just muskrats. What kind of turtles do you have down there? P.S. it sounds like you have worse sleep habbits than us controllers.

[Ranch Dog]

The target is the Snapping Turtle. They move into a closed body of water and play heck with the minnows which the game fish depend on. They clean you out in short order. The good thing is that if you stress them, they leave.

Yeah, I have pretty good control regulating my sleep. I can fall asleep on command and wake up at the appointed time without an alarm. Also, I blessed with nothing to do outside of my flying schedule so if I get up at four I can make up the interruption when I want. My wife thinks that I have become one with the hogs.

[357cyrus]

Oh weve got snappers. Saw one last year that looked about as big as a trash can lid, that's when i stopped swimming in my pond lol. I caught a smaller one (ten inches or so) a few years back in a 220 connibear right in the middle of his neck. Didn't even phase him, just kept lunging and snapping. I didn't know theyre that hard on baitfish. Ill have to see how well they take hits from a 22mag.

[akuser47]

Snappers are good eating use to love to catch them and cook them up. Been a long while though living in a city now takes away from my good ol days.