I had been watching the weather all day hoping it would clear up so I could get in another duck farm hunt. It wasn't raining but the sky just looked like it was gonna rain at any moment all day. Finally around 3:30 I checked the local Doppler radar on the pc and saw that even though the skies were really cloudy and dark there wasn't any rain on the scope so I decided to grab a gun and go huntin.. I went down to my shop intending to grab the .20 48 but I wound up carrying my .22 Talon to the car.
When I got to the duck farm I decided to concentrate on the grain feeders first. The farm was nice and quiet, no workers around, so I was hoping the G-hogs would hit the feeders looking for grain. The first group of feeders I wanted to check were located at the far end of one of the large duck barns at the other end of the farm. There are half a dozen feeders located right next to this barn, all in a group, and that much feed in one place usually brings in g-hogs from a long way off.
I stayed close to the outer barn wall as I made my way to the end of the barn. When I reached the end of the barn I peeked around the corner just in time to see 2 large fat g-hogs running away from the feeders at full speed. These 2 g-hogs were huge !! I could see the rolls of fat on their bodies rippling and bouncing as they ran at full tilt. They ran pretty near 100 yards to a patch of waist high grass where I lost sight of them. I don't know how they heard me coming but they did,,, guess that's how they got that old and fat... Anyway, I just stood there looking at the feeders hoping another one might appear, but after a minute or two there was no sign of any more g-hogs so I started to walk off, heading toward the grass where the 2 old fat smart ones disappeared in.
As I walked away I suddenly saw some movement by the feeders out of the corner of my eye followed immediately by a loud banging sound. I stopped at looked at the feeders but didn't see anything. As I stared at them I suddenly saw the hinged door on the bottom of one of the feeders quickly open and then get slammed shut again by the heavy springs on the doors. The workers flip these hinged doors up and open for the ducks during the day and close them at night. All the doors on these feeders were closed but the door on this one feeder was being pushed open from the inside and then the springs would shut it again with a loud "bang". I immediately knew what was going on,,,,,, there was a g-hog in there stuffing his face with grain and as he moved around his fat butt was pushing the door partly open.
I leaned up against the barn wall and waited. Range was 15 yards. I set the AO on the scope and got ready. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the door opened again but this time a furry brown head appeared. I waited until I could see his entire head, put the crosshairs just behind his eye and pulled the trigger. The Talon fired, I heard that beautiful "POP" as the pellet hit home and the door slammed shut on the g-hogs face.
I walked over and fully opened the door then knelt down to find my g-hog. I could see him lying inside the feeder but he was so far in I couldn't reach him. I decided to go to the other side of the feeder and open the other feeding door hoping I could grab him from there. As I flipped up the other door I was face to face with another, very much alive, g-hog that had also taken refuge inside the feeder. I backed up really quick about 10 feet as the 2nd g-hog just stared me down from inside the feeder. He stood his ground just a little to long,,,,,, I already had a CHP loaded in the Talon so I quickly flipped the safety off, took aim and fired. The CHP slammed home and the g-hog slumped and rolled out of the feeder onto the ground. This one was a little bigger and a bit fatter than the 1st one I shot.
Ultimately I had to actually take the cover off the entire feeder,,,, no easy feat,,, and tip the feeder on it's side to retrieve the 1st g-hog but I got my trophy. I stayed at the farm for another hour or so and did see a couple more g-hogs, but never got any shots. I made sure I took a couple of pics for my GTA buddies before I skinned and cleaned the days harvest. On a side note I think the G-hogs are expecting an extremely cold winter this year because I simply couldn't believe the rolls of thick fat under the hide when I skinned them. They certainly have been "bulking up"... Hope ya like the pics.....
Jeff
