Jr Javelina hunt pig taken with The Gun Claw

[Tommygun]

I took my nephews out for Jr Javelina hunt in 37B for the past few days. Opening day we found sign the javelina were in the area, but did not see any. The next day (Saturday 11/20/10) we tried a new area. We saw even less sign in this area, but continued to sweep up and down many different washes. Around 11am one of the boys jumped up a cow in a big wash and then heard what he thought was another cow since it was making a lot of noise. To his surprise out jumped a pig. I was glassing the area and saw 2 pigs running down the bank to the wash in which he jumped them. We followed them over the ridge and located them on a decent sized hill about 600 yards away.

 

Over the next hour we closed the distance wash by wash using the trees and shrub as cover. It was a great chance to teach the boys about minding the wind, using cover, and staying quiet during the whole process. They did great.

 

We closed the gap to 113 yards and I had enough time to get each of the boys set up so we could count down and (in theory) everyone shoot at the same time. Has that ever worked? Right when it looked perfect and the pigs were nicely centered in their scopes, the pigs began to move. I think they might have heard us because they came out of there beds and started moving down the hill. I told the boys "shoot when you are ready" and the first shot rang out. The second pig in the line did a huge donkey kick. A wave of pride over took me as I knew it was a solid hit. The other pigs took off running. I started blowing the J-13 and one of the pigs stopped immediately and looked around. That's when a different hunter took a shot, but it appears the pig will live another day.

 

The hunter that nailed the pig used a .243 Stevens 200 attached to the Gun Claw shooting system designed by Dr. Kade Smith. I bought the tripod from him and borrowed an earlier version of the claw since his new shipment was delayed. We hoped to use the Claw on the Jr. Deer hunt, but unfortunately we did not get the chance to. We got royally skunked on that hunt and my wife's October deer hunt.

 

While practicing for her hunt, my wife shot the same .243 Stevens 200 rifle from the Gun Claw system. Her shots were in a 2 inch group at 300 yards with 2 of the shots darn near in the same hole. That's sub MOA. She loves it since it takes all the recoil out of the shot. Plus the was 5 months pregnant and found it to hold the rifle without a rest.

 

My nephew said he really liked it when he shot the pig, it was easy to track while it was moving and he felt like there was no recoil at all. The carbon fiber tripod is amazing and light weight. I can easily switch out my binos to the claw in a matter of seconds.

 

The best part of the hunt was my father and 13 year old brother watched the whole thing happen from a hill about 700 yards away. My dad said he had "buck fever" during the entire time it took to stock the pigs. Man, I love buck fever!

 

I am so glad to have another great hunting memory of my nephews, brother, and dad tucked away to think about when I close my eyes at night while I wait for sleep to come. Am I the only one that does that?