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I started off this hunt by getting busted on my way in to park, passing a gap in the trees about 300 yards from the feeder. I showed up early to check the game camera, but no need as I saw this boar running from the feeder as I drove by. Figuring he was there early to wait for the corn to drop, I set up farther back than my normal observation spot and wait. This reduced my chances of getting busted again, but also greatly reduced my field of view to the feeder. Sure enough after dark, here comes the boar, and then he takes off in a trot. Then I see where the cattle have come in and chased away the hog. SON OF A GUN! (not the actual words I was thinking at the time). Usually, cattle and hogs get along together just fine. Eventually, the cattle left and 10 minutes later, the hog returned.
Live ballistic testing ended up being a head shot due to the reduced FOV. If I shot the hog and he left the feeding pen, I would have no idea where he ran, so it was most important to drop him in place. No surprise, at 60 yards, the 140 gr. Nosler punched through the skull and exited, no problem, taking a goodly amount of brain matter out the exit hole as well. The metal detector revealed no fragments left behind.
I moved the carcass to another part of the property for more ballistic testing at 100 yards. This will probably be the last time I do dead carcass testing. With there not being pumping blood to help find and visualize the wound channels, finding the wounds and seeing the damage is much more difficult. Both shots were spine shots going through the top of the spine. The first shot was through the shoulder blade and associated muscles as well. The bullet again opened after penetrating the shoulder blade, blasting through the neural arch of the thoracic vertebra, clipping/breaking a couple of ribs on the opposite side before part of the bullet was stopped by the muscles and shield. The core managed to exit the shield.
The second shot has less hog to penetrate and yielded very similar results, but by not going through the shoulder blade, I had a devil of a time finding the entry path.
Maximum penetration noted on all the shots fired is simply the amount of hog the bullet traveled through before all or part exited.
Live ballistic testing ended up being a head shot due to the reduced FOV. If I shot the hog and he left the feeding pen, I would have no idea where he ran, so it was most important to drop him in place. No surprise, at 60 yards, the 140 gr. Nosler punched through the skull and exited, no problem, taking a goodly amount of brain matter out the exit hole as well. The metal detector revealed no fragments left behind.
I moved the carcass to another part of the property for more ballistic testing at 100 yards. This will probably be the last time I do dead carcass testing. With there not being pumping blood to help find and visualize the wound channels, finding the wounds and seeing the damage is much more difficult. Both shots were spine shots going through the top of the spine. The first shot was through the shoulder blade and associated muscles as well. The bullet again opened after penetrating the shoulder blade, blasting through the neural arch of the thoracic vertebra, clipping/breaking a couple of ribs on the opposite side before part of the bullet was stopped by the muscles and shield. The core managed to exit the shield.
The second shot has less hog to penetrate and yielded very similar results, but by not going through the shoulder blade, I had a devil of a time finding the entry path.
Maximum penetration noted on all the shots fired is simply the amount of hog the bullet traveled through before all or part exited.
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