8 Nov 23
Hog Hunting in FL
Today, it was my honor and privilege to go hog hunting as a guest of the Hall Family at Florida Hunting, Fishing, and Outdoor Adventures at the Oak Island Ranch in Okeechobee, FL
Their Web Page is at floridahuntingadventures.com
I went out this morning with young Hunter Hall and we located two herds of pigs in tall grass, one after the other.
I was hunting from atop a swamp buggy, using my VHS2 (Hellion) in 5.56×45, loaded with 55gr hardball (because that is what I had with me). My VHS2 is equipped with a 1×4 optic (Osprey-Global). Optic was set at 1x for the entire extravaganza. I attempted some magnification, but it was counter-productive, as I tended to get lost in the grass!
Both hogs were running in the tall grass when I shot them. Range was forty meters for both hogs.
Because they were moving in grass, they came in and out of view rapidly.
The first I had to follow in my optic for fifty meters before a got a clear shot. When I fired, he was quartered from me and running away.
My first shot hit him to the right of his hip and ranged forward. It was fatal! He ran another twenty meters before he died, and I got off two more shots while he continued to run, again from the rear quarter.
I’m pretty sure both follow-up shots also hit him, but they were probably unnecessary. Yet, in tall grass it was hard to tell just how animated he still was!
He didn’t get far in any event!
Fifteen minutes later, I shot a second hog.
This one was running laterally, and I waited for him to slow down, but he never did!
One shot through the shoulder stopped him cold, and he keeled-over on the spot. He was in the open this time, so I could see he was going nowhere after I hit him.
No exit wounds on either animal.
It all made for an wonderful and exciting day!
I recommend FHFOA to anyone who like to hunt as much as I do! In addition to hogs, they have all kinds of deer, exotic antelope, even bison! We saw lots of animals.
It’s all private, and you have the whole place to yourself!
I’ve hunted with 5.56 (223) before, and I’ve always used Defiant’s 55gr TCX (all-copper HP), and it has never disappointed.
Today’s hunt was put-together at the last minute, and all I had with me was plain-vanilla 55gr hardball (Supervel).
Yet, it didn’t disappoint either!
There are probably rounds for the 223 that are more lethal than 55gr military hardball, but today’s experience confirms that 55gr hardball still works just fine, just as it did fifty-five years ago in Vietnam!
/John
