Boar and Ram hunting in Oklahoma! Graphic pictures added! Mount Pictures added!

Great time was had to be sure!

Thanks Smith Crazy. Looking forward to hearing how your hunt went.

wls,
I wanted to wait until I got our hunts out of the way to tell you where we were going.

The name of the place is "No Mercy Hunting Services" ( We offer fully guided trophy hunts for Boar, Whitetail and Exotic deer, turkey and more hunting species )and they are located in Gracemont, Oklahoma.

I have to say this first and foremost, the guide, Les, was superb. This guy has hunted everything on the North American continent and really knows his stuff. I called him the "Hog Ninja" he was so good in the woods!

The reason I chose this No Mercy was because I thought that it would be one of those "easy" places to take an animal. You know, sit in the blind/stand, shoot the trained animals as they came in, kind of place. Well, nothing could be further from the truth when it came time to hunt the hogs! I mean, I got absolutely worn out walking/stalking but had one of the best times of my life! In fact, if someone would like to start a collection to send me back, I'd be glad to go! ;)

They have a guaranteed shot policy. That is not the same as a guaranteed kill policy. It simply means that they guarantee an animal to present a shot to you, it is up to you to do the rest! The rams were no problem although, they weren't push overs either. We were coming out of a stand getting ready to hog hunt and ran into a group of rams feeding. I wanted to give the wife "first shot" on one, so I backed off. She was a little jittery and unsure. The shot was 100 yards and unfortunately, she missed. It didn't dampen her spirit, which I was glad for and we ended up taking her ram later that afternoon only with my 44Mag. I can tell you this, a 44Mag is plenty for a ram of this size (100 lbs or so).
Here are some pictures:
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(Entrance hole)
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(The off side is pretty graphic and I don't want to gross anyone out. I need to say this, the bullet came out and it must have expanded to about .800" or so. Never found the bullet from any of the animals on this hunt.)
While the shot is just a tad high for a perfect shot, I thought it was pretty good. Their spine is just a tad lower when comparing them to a Whitetail. This shot hit the spine and it dropped like a sack of potatoes!
Pretty cool!
The next morning while sitting in the stand, the rams came in just after daybreak and I took mine. That shot too was just a bit high but with the angle of the shot that provided itself, I think it was the only one available to me. They came in as a group and made their way around the feeders pretty bunched together. I didn't want to get 2 for the price of 2 ( ;) ) so I held off on shooting. Then, this one ram started walking away. Almost straight away and all I could think of was, "there goes your chance for today." Then it stopped and I took aim. The bullet took the animal in about the same spot going in as my wife only the exit wound was much different. Because it was going away I should have shot well behind the "boiler room" to guarantee a kill. My shot hit the lungs and liver, nicking the spine and exiting under the "beard" of this animal. It too took no more steps after being shot. Oh, I kicked just a tad but it was pretty much a done deal.
The horns on my ram are a bit tighter than the wife's, then again, you don't eat them!
Here is a picture of mine:
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Another:
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I'll post more later. I have to get busy and clean rifles and such.

The hog stories are better! ;)
 
Sounds like both of you had an excellent time out there. Thanks for sharing for sure. :)
 
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Getting exited! One week to go! How in the world am I supposed to concentrate at work?

Like a school boy waiting on summer vacation!

My wife made a new hunting outfit. Here is a picture of part of it. It took two pairs of USMC digital camo trousers to make it. I bet there isn't another one like it in the whole USA! Cargo pockets, reinforced rump and knees. It even has the little Eagle, Globe and Anchor and "USMC" in the print! Cool!

For her I hope , since you didn't say.
It looks like you had good luck on the hunt.
 
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I have only one question........."Where's the pork, and when is the BBQ!"
 
Thank you so much for the info. Glad to hear and see you and your wife had a good time.
I have my son start planning on an outing and make contact with the outfitter.
wls
 
Busy, I'll get more added later.

Thank you so much for the info. Glad to hear and see you and your wife had a good time.
I have my son start planning on an outing and make contact with the outfitter.
wls

wls,
Here is another place to check out. It is a bunch closer and is just as good a time. We, the wife, son #2 and I went 2 years ago and had a great time too.

It was the first time we hunted with dogs and really enjoyed it. The only real difference is there is no walking down hill in Tennessee, or so it seemed. We drove downhill to walk uphill!

Great folks and a real blast.

Loshbough Hunting Range
 
FT, I am not going to be handgun-less. It just isn't going to be my primary hunting firearm. Oh, don't worry, the Ruger will be there in a "gunslinger" rig and stoked with some of the 45LC loads we have spoken of before.

Me going to the "field" without a handgun just ain't gonna happen. :)

Those rifles are fine, but they surely do get heavy. But I hope you and wifey have a great time.
Sonny
 
That's what it's all about! ;)

Smith-Crazy,
Thanks again.
wls

Glad to be of help.

Just ducking in to post a layout of the ridge and the last hog hunt. The layout is nowhere near to scale so don't get hung up on that.

With the help of the road keeping the hogs in the woods and the pressure from my wife and the guide, the hogs ended up within range. As with most ground, none of it was perfectly level and the picture can't show that. Suffice it to say that there were rolls and swells that made sighting the hogs challenging but that also made me so to them. They came in from my left and were meandering casually. While alert, they weren't spooked. Spooked hogs can cover a lot of ground in a hurry! Even after the shot, they just went about their business only much farther to my right.

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After shooting the hog on this foray, I got a chance to watch the hogs acting naturally. It was kind of cool. Digging and rooting and working out "position" in the pack or herd. What a fun time!
 
Graphic images below here!

This is the hog I shot. It wasn't too big, about 150lbs, but it looked like a monster in the field!

As outlined above, it was shot just under 50 yards and in the right eye. The exit hole, and I was surprised there was one when shooting it in the skull, is impressive.

The XTP in the 44Mag at 1800+fps seemed to do the trick. I wish I would have been able to harvest one with the 357Mag on this trip, maybe next time.

The pictures below this point are pretty graphic and may upset some forum members. If you are one of those folks, don't go any further! ;)

This is from the actual site of the shot. Notice the blood on the ground. While the animal only kicked about 5 or 6 times, it really didn't move too much.
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This is the exit hole from the 44Mag, 240gr XTP. Now, I'm not sure what anyone should expect from a hunting bullet but, this seems to be what you would want. I could have stuck several more fingers in the hole had I wanted to. I think you get the point!
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Next time I am going to take a drag rope. I usually have one in my pack but had taken it out. I used the wife's sling instead. At any rate, we were successful and had a great time.
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I was reading on the web today where the author says the XTP is a bad choice for a trophy hog. Seems that they expand too soon for reliable penetration. He was speaking from the handgun point of view though, not fired from a levergun. The added velocity, upwards of 1800fps may be the difference.

All I can say is that "I have the bug"! The gotta go hog hunting again bug that is!

I think I may take Paul up on a visit to his area! ;) Next time I want to try public land and do the scouting on my own. Of course I will be taking "Annie" with me too!
 
Skip,

Just remember, just about every inch of Texas is privately owned, so there isn't a whole lot of "public" land available to hunt on.

I went down to the pasture by the creek bottom recently and noticed the little pigs had been visiting again. They're pretty easy to detect, because they don't root very deep. It's deep enough to make a real rough tractor ride, but nothing like what a boar hog can and will do!

This is what a sow and some pigs did to a row of thornless Apache blackberries.

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Two days later I shot this young boar, about the same size as the one you shot, about 50 feet from that same blackberry row.

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They're hard to hunt, unless you use dogs, because they root the place up and many times they don't come back for 6 months. So, it isn't like you can wait for them at a predetermined spot.
 
SC; Good Kill! I hate to bring this up, but that pig bears a striking resemblance to Arnold Zwiffle!!!
I have a buddy that has a big farm outside of Hydro OK. He says the pigs have gotten so bad there that they shoot them like varmint hunters shoot prairie dogs out west, and just leave them dead in the fields! Here in Missouri, we have hogs down south, and they are some good eating for sure, and I hope you enjoy yours!
 
looks like yall had a fine hunt, man those xtps are pretty tuff! i have shot them in the head with a 7mm rem mag and didnt get that kind of wound!
 
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