MerlinMc
AH senior member
I took a number of warthogs on a hunt with Tally Ho. We hunted two very specific hogs we had seen and then took a number of meat hogs.
Rifle & Ammo. I used a Blaser R8 equipped with a 26 Nosler barrel. Ammo was factory-loaded Nosler with 142 ABLR (accubond, long range). Both rifle and ammo performed well as described below.
Sticks. My personal sticks consist of a camera tripod, ballhead and "Hog Saddle" rest. It's heavier than most sticks, but allows for very precise shots. The tripod shown here is a Manfrotto aluminum. The setup could be made lighter with a carbon fiber tripod, but it would cost substantially more. Owner of Hog Saddle is a US veteran. Expensive but highly recommended. I have an earlier model and it's held up across lots of hunts. The camera tripod and ballhead also gets used for my camera as well. See: http://www.hogsaddle.com/
Wart Hog Male. Shot in the shoulder at about 125 yards as night fell. Slightly quartering, the boar wheeled around and ran about 50 to 60 yards before expiring. Bullet expanded nicely though a substantial amount of the inner lead core was not recovered.
Wart Hog Female. Pass through shot to the shoulder at about 50 years. Dropped on the spot, some kicking for a few seconds. This hog was nicked "Sally" because of the multiple separate efforts needed to finally get her.
Meat Hogs. Took 3 small hogs and one medium hog for meat. Shots ranged from 90 to 200 yards. All pass through shots. All 4 hogs dropped on the spot. The first small hog was shot broadside in the neck and almost decapitated. Second small hog was shot in the chest front-facing with the bullet blowing open the bottom of the animal. Third hog as shot in the center of the head. Fourth hog was shot in the ear at 200 yards. The only hog that even moved at all after the shot was the one shot in the forehead. That hot kicked for a few seconds.
Dinner. One of the small hogs was roasted with mushrooms by Tally Ho's chef for dinner one night. Absolutely delicious.
PH and owner of Tally Ho, Stuart Williams, organized some excellent hunts for me on his property and others. One of Stuart's PHs, Rudi Nel, also assisted. In the last image you can see the lengths that the lithe (he's tall and thin) PH Nel would go to when we were searching for Sally and searching for a mobile signal.
My experience with Tally Ho was excellent. I was happy with the rifle, even though it's more of a hunting rifle than a precision piece. Ammo worked as expected. Hog Saddle has performed exceptionally well everywhere I have used it; so no surprises on these hunt.
Rifle & Ammo. I used a Blaser R8 equipped with a 26 Nosler barrel. Ammo was factory-loaded Nosler with 142 ABLR (accubond, long range). Both rifle and ammo performed well as described below.
Sticks. My personal sticks consist of a camera tripod, ballhead and "Hog Saddle" rest. It's heavier than most sticks, but allows for very precise shots. The tripod shown here is a Manfrotto aluminum. The setup could be made lighter with a carbon fiber tripod, but it would cost substantially more. Owner of Hog Saddle is a US veteran. Expensive but highly recommended. I have an earlier model and it's held up across lots of hunts. The camera tripod and ballhead also gets used for my camera as well. See: http://www.hogsaddle.com/
Wart Hog Male. Shot in the shoulder at about 125 yards as night fell. Slightly quartering, the boar wheeled around and ran about 50 to 60 yards before expiring. Bullet expanded nicely though a substantial amount of the inner lead core was not recovered.
Wart Hog Female. Pass through shot to the shoulder at about 50 years. Dropped on the spot, some kicking for a few seconds. This hog was nicked "Sally" because of the multiple separate efforts needed to finally get her.
Meat Hogs. Took 3 small hogs and one medium hog for meat. Shots ranged from 90 to 200 yards. All pass through shots. All 4 hogs dropped on the spot. The first small hog was shot broadside in the neck and almost decapitated. Second small hog was shot in the chest front-facing with the bullet blowing open the bottom of the animal. Third hog as shot in the center of the head. Fourth hog was shot in the ear at 200 yards. The only hog that even moved at all after the shot was the one shot in the forehead. That hot kicked for a few seconds.
Dinner. One of the small hogs was roasted with mushrooms by Tally Ho's chef for dinner one night. Absolutely delicious.
PH and owner of Tally Ho, Stuart Williams, organized some excellent hunts for me on his property and others. One of Stuart's PHs, Rudi Nel, also assisted. In the last image you can see the lengths that the lithe (he's tall and thin) PH Nel would go to when we were searching for Sally and searching for a mobile signal.
My experience with Tally Ho was excellent. I was happy with the rifle, even though it's more of a hunting rifle than a precision piece. Ammo worked as expected. Hog Saddle has performed exceptionally well everywhere I have used it; so no surprises on these hunt.
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