3/7/03 - 3/9/03 Hog and Sheep Hunt

 

 

Six hunters had a great time at the 5th Annual Hog and Sheep Hunt held on 3/7/03 - 3/9/03 at the Arrowhead Ranch near Zapata.  All game was harvested on the first day.  Warren Hoke shot a boar and David Chalmers shot a sow.  First time guest and new member Tom Geary shot a nice Mouflon Sheep and I, Randy Rowley, shot a large Catilina Goat.  Tim and Isaac Price both missed difficult shots at hogs.  We hunted a 352 acre pasture.  Most of the hunting was done via blinds that were not very sturdy.  The feeders were not working either and we were not told that we needed to bring corn.  We will not return to the Arrowhead Ranch, despite our success, due to the long distance from Austin to Zapata (280 miles) and they increased their prices (hogs went from $180.00 to $225.00 and sheep went from $225.00 to $325.00).  Two unusual events occurred.  The first was David Chalmers missed a head shot on a hog with his .243.  Prior to this hunt David was shooting handloads.  He recently ran out of the handloads and switched to factory loads.  The change in loads probably resulted in the missed shot.  I switched from Hornady Light Magnum 115 grain Soft Point Boat Tails in my .25-06 a few months ago to Winchester Supreme 115 grain Soft Point Boat Tails.  Same bullet type and weight but the Winchesters were grouping 10 inches off to the right, forcing me to re-sight in my rifle.  The moral of the story - if you switch bullets check the accuracy of your rifle.  The second unusual event was it took me six shots to harvest my Catilina.  Earlier in the day, when I was exiting the guides truck, I bumped the rear of my scope on the tail gait of the guides truck.  That bump caused my Redfield 4X - 12X scope to shoot about a foot off to the right at 40 yards.  The first shot, using the roof of a truck as a rest, resulted in a miss (the goat was facing to the right).  The second shot, aimed at the goats chest hit his back gut (he was facing to the left).  The third shot missed (facing to the right).  The fourth shot, was a repeat of the second shot.  The fifth shot, aimed at the goats neck hit his heart (facing to the left).  The last shot, a neck shot, was from two feet away.  I've bumped my scopes before but never had one get out of alignment as a result.  The next day I shot a target from a bench at 20 yards and hit six inches off to the right.  The miss-aligned scope was six inches off at 20 yards and a foot off at 40 yards.  It probably would have been two feet off at 100 yards!  The moral of the story - If you bump your scope check the accuracy of your rifle.