4th of July Hogs.....With Night Vision and FLIR!!

[Bob in TX]

My hunting partner, SHOOTER, headed to the lake with his family to try and blind folks with his white legs for the 4th weekend. I decided to head up to Bedias (that's "bee-dice" for all you non-Texan'sl) and hunt hogs with Jed, aka redlegg, and his partner Clark at Tacitical Hog Control. They have taken hog hunting to a new level, both technically and in excitement. They use state of the art night vision goggles and FLIR thermal and night vision scopes.

"The goggles we use are helmet-mounted Gen-III ANVIS-9's (Aviator's Night Vision Imaging System). These are the same goggles that are currently being used by many of our jet fighter and attack helicopter pilots. There are no finer night vision goggles available in the world today. Most of our weapons are fitted with Gen-III, 6x Raptor night Vision weapon sights. These night scopes are the same models that are currently being used by our advanced ground troops and snipers.

In addition to the latest in night vision equipment, the professionals at Tactical Hog Control, LLC., also use thermal imaging equipment. More commonly known as Forward Looking InfraRed (FLIR), these devices detect heat. No matter how dark the night is, whether it's foggy or not, the hogs can't hide from the FLIR ! We primarily use a handheld thermal unit to locate hogs, but we also have rifles fitted with thermal weapon sights (TWS).

The weapons we use are AR-15's and AR-10's in.223, .243 WSSM and .308. All of the rifles are fitted with either Gen-III Night vision scopes or thermal weapon sights. Most rifles are also equipped with infra-red illuminators and targeting lasers."

To say that my expectations for this hunt were high is an understatemet. To say that the hunt far exceeded my expectations is just a fact!!

I arrived at Jed's ranch about 5:00 P.M. on Thursday. Jed showed me the rifles, the helmets and goggles, and the hand-held FLIR. I decided to use the suppressed .223 AR-15 with the Gen-III, 6x Raptor Night Vision Sight shooting 60 gr. Partitions. We headed out behind Jed's "Man Cave/Shed" to the range to let me get familiar with the equipment and make sure everything was sighted in OK. It takes a few rounds to get used to the extra weight the night visions adds but you adapt quickly. Jed also let me send a few rounds downrange with the .243 WSSM AR-10 equipped with the FLIR sight. I couldn't wait for the sun to go down!!

Here is a shot of Jed's ranch in Grimes County, Texas, USA.

This is his 100 yard range with the .243 WSSM AR-10 and the suppressed .223 AR-15 .

Tactitical Hog Control
THC Link-Click Here

 

[Bob in TX]

Here are a couple of shots of the equipment we used.

Jed and Clark have the vehicles to go with the rifles, helmets, and hand-held FLIR too!! They have tricked out a four-seater Polaris Ranger and have a Land Rover RSOV (Ranger Special Operations Vehicle). If you look close, the RSOV is covered with thick, irregularly shaped plastic sheets. This makes it harder to detect with enemy thermal vision. Now, civilians aren't supposed to have these, much less have one that is street legal. I didn't ask Clark how he ended up with one!?!

Here are a couple of close-ups of the RSOV I took in Clark's shop. If you look inside the headlights, you will see the integrated forward looking FLIR!

 

[Bob in TX]

We loaded up the Ranger at dark and headed out to see if we could find some hogs!

Here is Jed getting ready to head out.

Here are Jed, Clark, and Tony. Tony is a good friend of Clark and Jed's who joined us to get some video footage of the hunt. Tony was been a professional camerman for 18 years with NBC and FOX. You have probably seen some of his work on "COPS". He now has his own production studio and does free-lance broadcast videos.


Did I mention yet that is was still 100 degrees out!!

 

[Bob in TX]

We headed out to the first ranch we were going to hunt. Once we got on the sendero, we pulled our night vision goggles down and Clark started scanning for heat signatures with the hand-held FLIR. Now I had played with some Gen I & II goggles before, but I was not prepared for how far advanced the Gen III night vision is. It is truly remarkable! Night suddenly becomes day.

We were cruising along on top of a levee when we picked up some black dots "way out there", about 600 yards to be exact. Clark confirmed that they were "hot". We continued up the levee until we were parallel to them. We got out of the Ranger, grabbed our rifles, climed over the fence and commenced a 400 yard stalk. We were downwind from the group of hogs and were able to get within about 50 yards of them. It looked like high noon through the googles and the hogs had no idea we were threre. At first I felt "exposed" and had to keep reminding myself that I had night vision goggles on but the hogs didn't!

Three of us shot, with me getting to squeeze of the first round with the suppressed .223 AR-15. When the smoke cleared we had five hogs on the ground. I had managed to get two of them including this 200 lb. sow.

 

[Bob in TX]

After we gathered up all the hogs we piled back into the Ranger and headed back up to the levee. All of a sudden Clark told Jed to hold up. He had picked up a single roaming boar with the FLIR. He was moving along quartering toward the levee in front of us. We drove the Ranger up to the point he was headed for and waited. Even 300+ yards away from us, we could tell he was a monster hog. We got out of the Ranger and headed to the other side of the levee away from the boar and stalked up another 50 yards below the top of the levee out of sight the hog. He crossed some standing water about 75 yards out headed for the levee. We were all set up on top of the levee waiting for him to pop out on top. I had my rifle ready and Tony had camera ready to roll. He reached the bottom of the levee and we waited, and waited, and waited................... Then Clark signaled us. The big boar had decided to start rooting half-way up the levee. Tony and I moved over the the other side of the sendero and set up again. I could just make out part to the top of his body. Then...he raised his head. I immediately took the shot. As the shot connected, he stood straight up in the air on his hind feet like he was giving a "high five"!! Now this would have been spectacular enough, but was even more so because of the size of this hog. He ended up being the largest hog I have ever taken. He was 275 lbs.!! Tony got the "high five" on video. I can't wait to see the footage!!

 

[Bob in TX]

We ended up with 7 hogs between the three of us in a matter of hours. This is one of the most fun hunts I have ever been on!

It is a hunt that I would recommend that everyone do at least once!! I plan on doing many more.................

Jed and Clark have done everything right. They have not compromised on any part of the hunt. They currently have over 50,000 acres of "hog rich" land to hunt and that number is growing rapidly.

Bob


Oh, and did I mention that Jed and Clark needed to go over and look at 2 new pair of night vision goggles and another thermal vision scope they wanted to buy to expand their equipment locker? Did I also forget to mention that the ranch they were at was setting up for their annual "Machine Gun Shoot"?

Yep, we got to shoot some fun full-auto toys and watch Keith fire his Mini-Gun!!

That will be another thread!!!

 

[DrMike]

Outstanding. Sounds like a fun time was had by all. Thanks for the report.

 

[JD338]

Bob in TX

What a hunt and an adventure! Man, that looks like it would be a blast.
Congratulations on your hint and sharing the pictures and story with us.

JD338

 

[Desert Fox]

Fantastic Bob! How much that hunt cost?

 

[Bob in TX]

They do the hunt for $400, which considering the equipment provided, is a steal.

Bob

 

[FOTIS]

Looks like a prairie dog hunt, but with expensive equipment! Thanx for sharing Bob.

 

[6 K]

Now that is cool 8)
Are there any restrictions on Non-resident hunters or could anyone with $400 show up and give it a go?
Did you get to keep the meat? What is it like?
If I am ever down there I be into that BIG TIME.
6 K

 

[6 K]

Now that is cool 8)
Are there any restrictions on Non-resident hunters or could anyone with $400 show up and give it a go?
Did you get to keep the meat? What is it like?
If I am ever down there I be into that BIG TIME.
6 K

Oh ya,
How loud is a surpessed ar-15?
I used to hunt black tails with mine before they became a restricted weapon here. Of course it was not surpressed either but I did love it.

 

[hardpan]

Anyone guide that type of hunt? Non-resident licenses are pretty cheap if whitetails are not included.

Hardpan

 

[russ808]

WOW, That would be so cool to do.

 

[DrMike]

THC Link-Click Here

Bob,

The web site sells the hunts. The company has done a very fine job of describing all the that is entailed. It certainly looks like a great hunt. I'm keeping it in mind as a great diversion the next time I'm in the States.

I like POPs description--"a prairie dog hunt, but with expensive equipment."

 

[Bob in TX]

The 5-day non-resident license is just $45.

You can keep all the meat you want to. Generally, the hogs are pulled out of the field to the sendero and left in a pile. Remember, this is primarily animal damage control.

The suppressed AR .223 is quiet but not "silent" as with most suppressed weapons. I think it does allow you to get off that second shot much easier though. I talked to Jed yesterday, and he said that Clark called him and told him he didn't shoot at all on that first stalk we made. That means that Jed and I got 5 hogs down at once. I am sure I got two and Jed must have nailed the other three.

This really is a lot of fun! Jed and Clark go out of their way to make it a night you will remember the rest of your life..........

Bob

 

[6 K]

DAMB!
I just gotta come up with a good excuse to go to Texas :lol:

 

[owenv]

And here is the video. That looks like some fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HzNuuJVTRk

 

[6 K]

Yep Looks like a pile of fun. I'd like to do it some day.