Well guys... don't know what you did today but after spending a full day at the reloading bench I decided to head to the woods about 6 pm. Saw a bunch of doe deer, one tom turkey and along about 8 pm here comes three nice boar hogs walking along the Guadalupe River Bottom.

I shot one as he was quartering away with my 444P and the home cast Lee TLC432-285-RF I've been working on. I hit just inside the last rib on one side and the bullet went out ahead of the shoulder on the other. All three hogs split but mine left a blood trail that a city dog could follow. The heart and lungs where gone but he still travel about 45 yards. I just finished cutting him up.

http://cuero.nodial.net/~lindareamy/hunting/hog0530 C.jpg

http://cuero.nodial.net/~lindareamy/hunting/hog0530 A.jpg

The Ranch Dog still has her hackles up!

Guess that answers any questions you had about your cast bullet, Mike! :D

Sure hate dressing game out after dark - no artificial light works as well as daylight.

You should be the sausage king of south Texas about now! :p

Guess that answers any questions you had about your cast bullet, Mike! :D

Sure hate dressing game out after dark - no artificial light works as well as daylight.

You should be the sausage king of south Texas about now! :p

You're right kdub... it sure doesn't leave any more questions about cast bullet performance or the 444 Marlin and 44 Mag as big game rifles.

I brought this hog home and careful dissected him because I wanted to examine the wound channel. Basically, I cut the body in half and removed it without disturbing the innards. There was a 2" hole in and a 3” hole out with everything destroyed foward of the diaphragm.

I was most pleased with the shot. I was actually sitting up on ladder stand overlooking a slough (false river) and a feeder I setup Wednesday. I have the feeder set to go off a little after 6 and then again at 8. The two feedings are to get the deer and other critters in there to let me know when the beast is coming. The grass and weeds are darn near over my head (6’3”) and without the feed you are pretty much wasting your effort at this time of year, as the critters don't have to move. Moving in the woods will result in zip.

Anyway after the 6 o'clock feeding I had 7 doe deer that came in, all heavy in udder, one awesome tom turkey with a beard that literally touched the ground, and various small critters. The feeder going off at 8 spooked the game. The turkey flew to a roost nearby and the deer scattered but came back. After about 15 minutes the deer spooked again... only two things coming... man or hogs! I saw the three hogs pass through some lower grass about 100 yards out so I put some ear plugs in and got my breathing under control. They passed the feeder eating a couple of bites but continued towards the slough. They may have just wanted water first but I didn't want to take the chance of loosing them because you just never know how they will feed this time of year. This fellow passed another low spot in the weeds at about 70 yards and I shot. No way to support or rest my rifle, just an offhand shot. The bullet impacted the exact spot I wanted to hit! It might just be luck but that was the 88th shot I fired out of this rifle this week!

Oh, that H335 did belch an incredible tongue of fire out the barrel. It was quite impressive in that dark bottom! Even through the roar of the rifle, I could hear that large flat nose on the bullet strike the hog! Eventhough I had a geat blood trail, it was very reassuring to have that 444P in my hands as the visiblity on the ground was about 3 feet. The blood trail stopped, so I looked 90 degrees left and then 90 degrees right and he was laying there about 3 feet from me and I could barely see him!

The great lady I'm married to said that I might as well get a game poll installed at the house... hoist, lights, everything. The new place is only 2.5 miles from my house! If my wife was outside, I bet she could have heard that 444 go off! The only problem now is choosing which of the three places I should hunt.

We keep a list of folks that want meat; the folks that work with my wife, the firehouse, two other landowners, four ranchhands and friends will make short work of any cooler load of pork. The hams from this one are for a cookout on my place in couple of days. Those hams will be slow cooked over mesquite and we will just pull from them to load up a tortilla! You can’t beat that!

Michael

Way to go Michael! Have a tortilla for me.

Phil

Way to go.... I'm envious that you can carry on this way year 'round down there! Good stuff.

It's truly amazing how a wide nosed cast bullet can create such havoc with a game animal isn't it! Sure makes it easy to find them when they leak profusely from both sides.

Thanks for the updates! Keep them coming.

God Bless,

Great shooting Mike! After growing up in San Antonio, I miss a slow float down the Guadalupe this time of year.

I hear you Diver. In my neck of the woods you've got to a bit careful for gators and snakes. Heck, if a cotton-mouth got you and you got to the bank to avoid being eaten by a gator a hog would probably eat you while you waited for help!

I did some more scouting this morning and found a bunch a poles the hogs have been rubbing back in the woods. Notice the ground wire is broken. I bet a big tooth cut it!

Michael

Golly, RD!
Got me salivating over your description of the hams!
ENJOY!

091

Great story ranchdog. I really liked the photos. Keep them coming.

Hey Mike,
I agree with kdub, that question I have about your .444 Marlin is answered with AUTHORITY!!! I liked your stories! Keep it up!

Ranuel

Thanks fellows!

Michael

Sure, go ahead RD and make us jealous 'cause we can't hunt big game until the fall and then top it off by getting us all hungry for some of that barbecued pork. Two vicious strikes in one!!

However, nice shooting and congratulations on success with your new bullet.

Think I'll have a donut to satisfy these cravings.

Best regards,