I was out cleaning up stands and feeders this afternoon, as well as doing a little scouting along the creek bed for any signs of water, when I flushed a feral sow, or she flushed me, I'm not sure which.
She was moving pretty fast (I thought) and I got off a snap shot that rolled her. She was dead before she hit the ground. I was congratulating myself on such great shooting until I paced off the distance at about 10 yards. A slingshot would have been sufficient at that range.
Of course, I had to artfully pose a picture or two. Luckily, she hit the ground in a sunny spot, great for photos.
Then I rolled her over to see the exit wound.
The right foreleg was missing, all the way up to the shoulder. I was surprised to say the least. In the heat of the moment, I never noticed that I was shooting at a three legged pig. My wife, the Veterinarian, was plenty impressed, said that it looked as good or better than many amputations that they do at the clinic. There was some scarring, so I know it wasn't a birth defect, but an old wound of some sort.
On a side note, it turns out that our pigs here in Texas aren't the armor plated killing machines you may have been led to believe. This one might have gone 80# on the hoof, and a .223 64 grain Power Point made a clean pass through and dropped it in its tracks. Judging from her looks and her teeth, she was an mature older pig, though I'm no expert.
Just thought you guys would get a kick out of something unusual.
She was moving pretty fast (I thought) and I got off a snap shot that rolled her. She was dead before she hit the ground. I was congratulating myself on such great shooting until I paced off the distance at about 10 yards. A slingshot would have been sufficient at that range.
Of course, I had to artfully pose a picture or two. Luckily, she hit the ground in a sunny spot, great for photos.
Then I rolled her over to see the exit wound.
The right foreleg was missing, all the way up to the shoulder. I was surprised to say the least. In the heat of the moment, I never noticed that I was shooting at a three legged pig. My wife, the Veterinarian, was plenty impressed, said that it looked as good or better than many amputations that they do at the clinic. There was some scarring, so I know it wasn't a birth defect, but an old wound of some sort.
On a side note, it turns out that our pigs here in Texas aren't the armor plated killing machines you may have been led to believe. This one might have gone 80# on the hoof, and a .223 64 grain Power Point made a clean pass through and dropped it in its tracks. Judging from her looks and her teeth, she was an mature older pig, though I'm no expert.
Just thought you guys would get a kick out of something unusual.