Motion Detector
Posted: 28 Nov 2016 14:27
One particularly cold night last winter, while shivering in an open stand waiting for the hogs to arrive, it occurred to me that it would be much warmer sitting in the truck with the heater on. But from the truck, the view of the path used by the hogs would be obscured. Also, the noise from the engine and the sound of the truck door opening could spook the hogs.
The route traveled by the hogs was fairly predictible. However, the timing of their arrival varied by as much as four hours.
So the next night I set up a cheap motion detector sensor on the path 600 feet away, with the receiver on the dashboard inside the warm cab of the truck. The truck was hidden from the path, behind a building.
After about an hour, I was startled by the beeping of the motion detector's receiver. The truck was about 50 yards from the elevated shooting stand. By the time I was set up in the stand, the hogs had wandered to within 125 yards.
Juggling a Q-beam type floodlight and finding a hog in a scope at 125 yards at night was no easy task. Luckily, the floodlight had a red lens, and the red light did not seem to bother the hogs at that distance. After what seemed like an eternity, the red light and the scope's crosshairs centered on the closest hog at the same time. BOOM.
In the still night, the 22 Hornet sounded like a howitzer. One down.
The two other hogs started quartering away. It was hard to find them in the scope as the distance lessened the effect of the flood light. Finally, they stopped about 140 yards away. BOOM.
Neither hog gave any indication that it was aware they were targeted. Only three shots left in the magazine.
The hogs were now just dark blobs. My friend had warned me to be careful not to shoot a cow at night by mistake. He said that's why he brings a shovel when he hunts, just in case. (I'm not sure he's kidding).
Both hogs resumed feeding. Using one hand to hold the red flood light on the hogs 140 yards away, while using the other hand to manuever the crosshairs onto a hog, took a few moments. It could only work because the forend of the rifle was on a stable rest. Both bullet caliber and lighting limitations dictated that a shot over 150 yards was neither possible nor a good idea. It was now or never. BOOM.
One hog moved away at a fast pace. The second slowly moved back closer. It was strange that they moved in different directions. After about twenty yards, the second hog went down for good. The third hog made it safely back into the treeline.
After hog hunting at night (legally), hunting during daylight hours feels like cheating.
Here's a link to the type of motion detector I used.
The route traveled by the hogs was fairly predictible. However, the timing of their arrival varied by as much as four hours.
So the next night I set up a cheap motion detector sensor on the path 600 feet away, with the receiver on the dashboard inside the warm cab of the truck. The truck was hidden from the path, behind a building.
After about an hour, I was startled by the beeping of the motion detector's receiver. The truck was about 50 yards from the elevated shooting stand. By the time I was set up in the stand, the hogs had wandered to within 125 yards.
Juggling a Q-beam type floodlight and finding a hog in a scope at 125 yards at night was no easy task. Luckily, the floodlight had a red lens, and the red light did not seem to bother the hogs at that distance. After what seemed like an eternity, the red light and the scope's crosshairs centered on the closest hog at the same time. BOOM.
In the still night, the 22 Hornet sounded like a howitzer. One down.
The two other hogs started quartering away. It was hard to find them in the scope as the distance lessened the effect of the flood light. Finally, they stopped about 140 yards away. BOOM.
Neither hog gave any indication that it was aware they were targeted. Only three shots left in the magazine.
The hogs were now just dark blobs. My friend had warned me to be careful not to shoot a cow at night by mistake. He said that's why he brings a shovel when he hunts, just in case. (I'm not sure he's kidding).
Both hogs resumed feeding. Using one hand to hold the red flood light on the hogs 140 yards away, while using the other hand to manuever the crosshairs onto a hog, took a few moments. It could only work because the forend of the rifle was on a stable rest. Both bullet caliber and lighting limitations dictated that a shot over 150 yards was neither possible nor a good idea. It was now or never. BOOM.
One hog moved away at a fast pace. The second slowly moved back closer. It was strange that they moved in different directions. After about twenty yards, the second hog went down for good. The third hog made it safely back into the treeline.
After hog hunting at night (legally), hunting during daylight hours feels like cheating.
Here's a link to the type of motion detector I used.
