After years of tell me "that's nice dear" every time I harvested an animal my better half decided she wanted to try big game hunting. She wasn't up for shooting anything majestic but thought a wild boar to be ugly enough to pull the trigger on. So that started the process in motion of getting her setup for a hunt. Anyone who knows me knows I shoot DRT guns when hunting so I had to buy her a "shootable" gun. For this I went through John at fine firearms and got her a tika T3 lite in 7-08. I topped the gun with a vortex 4-16 scope and a Holland break (installed by FF). Once put together I worked up some consistently sub MOA rounds and it was off to the range. I told her that for the hunt she would have to be able to pass a skills test (shoot 3.5" groups or better at a 100yards from shooting sticks).Our first couple of trips to the range had her comfortable with the gun but left something to be desired regarding accuracy.
During this process I had been talking with my buddy Neil from Giant Sequoia Guide Service regarding available dates. Neil had an opening in his schedule and we were able to fill it if her shooting improved. We made a evening trip to a local shooting range and her groups improved enough that I felt comfortable that she would be able to put an animal down if it was within her range. After that everything fell into place and we were off.
We arrived at Neil's and spent Saturday hunting but did not find the animal we were after. On Sunday morning we headed out and quickly found a group of pigs. They made us and took off. We worked around to get ahead of them but never saw them again. While looking I spotted two pigs (one a boar) on the hillside 700 yards away from us. We jumped in the truck and started out in that direction. Just before we got to the hillside Neil spotted a large pig working the toe of the slope. After checking it with glasses we decided it was a good shooter and were off. We worked behind some cover and got to 200yards out. Neil asked if she could make the shot and it was decided that they would stalk in closer and Casey and I would remain behind with my cannon to shoot backup if she missed or wounded it. Now I love my wife and me watching that boar working away from us well within my range is a testament to that fact as I joked with Casey about shooting it out from under her. Anyway, a few minutes later they (Robyn and Neil) worked up into the boar and got her set up for a 130yard shot. Robyn pulled the trigger and I got to watch the hit as the 140grn Barnes TTSX blew through the chest cavity and punched dirt behind it. The boar bucked and ran /rolled into a drainage. Robyn and Neil walked up and gave it a follow up shot. This shot center punched both shoulders.
Since we were hanging back Casey and I walked up to my gal still shaking with the biggest smile you could imagine. That smile was well deserve with her shooting an excellent boar with A good cutter. After that my work started and after loading up and saying goodbyes we were headed for home. Robyn decided to name the boar Brad. Brad will be the first addition of hers to my game room.
Now since this was a great boar and hard to beat I'm not sure what her next hunt will be. Only time will tell. Meanwhile Brad is in the salt and will be a charging half lifesize mount in the not to distant future. Luckily Robyn knows a guy who does this stuff.
For the bullet guys the 140grn Barnes held almost 100% weight on the second shot which was retrieved from the gristle plate on the far side.
During this process I had been talking with my buddy Neil from Giant Sequoia Guide Service regarding available dates. Neil had an opening in his schedule and we were able to fill it if her shooting improved. We made a evening trip to a local shooting range and her groups improved enough that I felt comfortable that she would be able to put an animal down if it was within her range. After that everything fell into place and we were off.
We arrived at Neil's and spent Saturday hunting but did not find the animal we were after. On Sunday morning we headed out and quickly found a group of pigs. They made us and took off. We worked around to get ahead of them but never saw them again. While looking I spotted two pigs (one a boar) on the hillside 700 yards away from us. We jumped in the truck and started out in that direction. Just before we got to the hillside Neil spotted a large pig working the toe of the slope. After checking it with glasses we decided it was a good shooter and were off. We worked behind some cover and got to 200yards out. Neil asked if she could make the shot and it was decided that they would stalk in closer and Casey and I would remain behind with my cannon to shoot backup if she missed or wounded it. Now I love my wife and me watching that boar working away from us well within my range is a testament to that fact as I joked with Casey about shooting it out from under her. Anyway, a few minutes later they (Robyn and Neil) worked up into the boar and got her set up for a 130yard shot. Robyn pulled the trigger and I got to watch the hit as the 140grn Barnes TTSX blew through the chest cavity and punched dirt behind it. The boar bucked and ran /rolled into a drainage. Robyn and Neil walked up and gave it a follow up shot. This shot center punched both shoulders.
Since we were hanging back Casey and I walked up to my gal still shaking with the biggest smile you could imagine. That smile was well deserve with her shooting an excellent boar with A good cutter. After that my work started and after loading up and saying goodbyes we were headed for home. Robyn decided to name the boar Brad. Brad will be the first addition of hers to my game room.
Now since this was a great boar and hard to beat I'm not sure what her next hunt will be. Only time will tell. Meanwhile Brad is in the salt and will be a charging half lifesize mount in the not to distant future. Luckily Robyn knows a guy who does this stuff.
For the bullet guys the 140grn Barnes held almost 100% weight on the second shot which was retrieved from the gristle plate on the far side.
