| Florida Hog Hunting at its Best | |
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I will use different bullets in my 40 from now on. The Winchester factory-loaded hollowpoint bullets that I used on that hog have very narrow noses and at least one of them (and likely more) failed to expand.
While cleaning the big hog, we recovered one 40-caliber jacket that had expanded and separated from its lead core, and another mostly-whole, unexpanded 40-caliber bullet. Portions of the jacket had peeled back and broken off this bullet's nose, while the lead core actually got smaller at the nose. The 40 should have done more damage faster, and I believe it would have if the bullets had been of a better design.
Above are the .40-caliber jacket and bullet we recovered from the big hog. The jacket weighs in at 29.0 grains, and the bullet weighs 174.4 grains... which is excellent weight retention, but I would be much happier if the bullet had actually expanded.
Photo Copyright Russ Chastain, all rights reserved.
What a way to wind up an already exhilarating day! After a hearty round of back-slapping, picture-taking and hand-shaking, we loaded up and headed back to the skinning shed to shuck out the five porkers we'd gotten during that very exciting afternoon.
As you can imagine, the skinning and quartering took a while, and in between and during the work there was plenty of laughter and reminiscing about our most excellent hunt. I got to try out the new cable blade knife from David Mercer, and it worked like a dream. I also used it quite a bit later on, butchering the meat.
Dad and me with the superswine (the swine is the one in the middle). Dad's got it by the ear, pretending he's a catch dog.
Photo by John Lance, used by permission. Copyright 2003, all rights reserved.
We finally reluctantly took our leave around 8:30 p.m. and headed for home. What a day! To spend time with such a great crowd of people, many of whom I had communicated with only online, and to come home with a couple of coolers full of meat, to boot... well, that makes for a very fine day. My first day hunting hogs with dogs, my first knife kill, my first handgun-killed hog (and a monster at that), and a whole lot of fun with a crew of really good folks. Who could ask for more?
Kenny Banaciski runs a great hog hunting operation and knows his job extremely well. He provided an excellent day of hunting and camaraderie, which none of us will soon forget. It wasn't my first hunt with Kenny, and I can tell you now that it won't be my last. In fact, now I'm looking forward to the forum hog hunt more than ever... I'm just not sure that I can wait that long!
Note: Unfortunately, Kenny is now out of the hog-hunting business.
Happy hunting,
- Russ Chastain
