Cary, maybe you should look up. These pigs were shot roosting in a tree.

G55,

I had this eerie feeling that something was watching me from above..........I forgot to check out the big oaks for hog roosts! Darn!

Now for the latest episode........

This morning at daylight, I looked out the back door and saw a big black boar hog standing by about an acre sized patch of thick weeds in the field behind the house. I got my 25-06 and ran to the end of the porch and found that the shot would be straight in line with my nearest neighbor's house about half a half mile to the southeast. I took off running toward the cow pens (about 100 yards away) to get a safer angle on the shot (north to south). It would be about a 350 yard shot. I leaned on the coral fence and pulled the trigger and a blast of fire hit me in the face. I saw the boar roll over, squeal, and get up slowly moving off to the southeast. My vision in my shooting eye was blurred (and burning) as I watched about 20 more hogs run out of the weeds toward the general direction of the wounded boar. I shot two more times, with my blurred vision and missed both times. My eye was burning like crazy. I figured that the brass split and sent burning powder out the breach. I came back to the house to wash my eye with water, and found it to be really red, but with no visible wounds. I walked back down to the cow pens to pick up my brass and found the brass from the first shot to be without a primer. The only thing that I can think of is that a small insect must have crawled down the barrel and created too much back pressure to blow it out. I guess I'm lucky that it wasn't worse. Any other ideas about how something like that could have happened. These were factory loads. I think I'll discard the rest of the box, just in case........

Cary

Have a photo of the case? The bullet did leave the barrel.

Wow, that's just crazy. glad your alright. I've never heard of that happening before. What brand ammo was it?
Oh ya, did you get that damn Pig?

Glad your alright Cary. A pic of the case would help if ya can post one. Thats pretty scary.
Joe

Glad you're alright Cary, damn that's a nasty event.

The bullet left the barrel. The case did not split. This is a Remington cartridge. I'll see if I can take a clear photo of the case when my wife gets back from town, she's got the camera in her purse. It just looks like it the primer just blew out of the case. Other than blackening, the case looks normal.

I was telling my brother about it and he (a gunsmith) wants to check out the barrel for bulging, although it's not evident with the naked eye.

My eye is still burning like crazy. I tried to catch a nap and could hardly close my eyes. This is a similar feeling to the sulfur burns we used to get when we were dusting crops with sulfur as a fungicide. My wife says it looks like I'm going to have a black eye by morning. I kind of doubt that, because I don't bruise easily.

I trailed the drops of blood into a white brush thicket (a couple of hundred acres so thick that you have to go in on your hands and knees). I decided that since I was not going to butcher the old boar anyway, and my vision was blurry, I just went back to the house to treat my eye. He won’t be back. One down, and about a million to go!

Cary

350 yrds...good shot Cary.

You are a lucky man from the sounds of things. You could have easily worn an eyeful of primer pieces instead of just some burnt crap.

Its funny, but I don't think any of us give any sort of thought to wearing safety glasses when shooting unless we are obliged to on the range or when we are reloading...we do wear glasses when reloading, don't we?

If your eye is still giving you trouble after 24 hrs mate, then I would pay the Doc a visit...might just be a bit of crud in there or you may have scratched the eyeball.

Now....get your eye back on net and get out there and slay some more grunters mate.

Cheers, Vince

I've never been to a rifle range (I guess because I've always had lots of room to shoot), so I've never got use to using safty glasses. In fact, I've never owned any. I believe that it is probably a good idea to use them when loading or target shooting. I doubt that I'd ever use them while hunting. I've see hunting films where the hunters were using shaded hunting glasses.

Cary

two weeks till elk season

slots918 wrote:

two weeks till elk season

Yeah...OK Slots...rub it in mate...we don't have any elk in Australia.

Enjoy your hunt when it arrives mate.

Cheers, Vince

Hunted mule deer the last two days in unit 31-nothing. Did not even see one. Well, I did see two skinny ones hanging in another camp, but that doesn't count.

Did see a one each of coyote, jackrabbit and surprisingly a rattlesnake. My wife was very entertained by the coyote as it kept at least a 100 yds from us, but showed great curiosity trying to figure out what we were.

Vince

five days till elk season

went up yesterday to set up camp, saw approximatly 75 elk withen a mile of camp with a dozen bulls and 4 bulls broadside at about 75 yards.

going nuts waiting. sighted my gun 1 inch group at 100 yards.

opps, I am using a Rugar model 77 30-06 with 180 grain core lock

my first buck of 2008..