Going to give the Wizard a try

Value priced adult & youth top break handguns, rifles, & shotguns chambered for centerfire & rimfire cartridges as well as shotshells. These arms are offered as single chamberings as well as a Matched Pair, Pick Four combinations, Trifecta, & the Wizard.
User avatar
Ranch Dog
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 9398
Joined: 23 Jan 2012 07:44
Location: Inez, TX
Has thanked: 1837 times
Been thanked: 2281 times

Re: Going to give the Wizard a try

Post by Ranch Dog »

Well, well, the Skinner Peep Sight did not work with the high comb on the Wizard stock. My plan was too use the peep on the 44 Mag barrel. Still like how the Wizard shoots so for now that barrel is going to have the same scope as the 45-70 barrel put on it, the Bushnell Banner 1.5-4.5X32. That doesn't get under my skin as the utility of the rifle as a hog gun is severely limited with the peep in that these critters are a night time animal.

As a side note, I just shot a hogzilla at 5:00 am with my R92 chambered in 45 Colt. That rifle has the Weaver K4 Scout mounted on it. I woke up and went out to the kitchen to start the coffee pot and WOW! To big old boys where out in my ranch yard rooting through some pecan tree clippings that I stacked just for that purpose. I'm guessing they both were pushing 275 to 300#. I chose the meanest looking of the two and put my 290-grain bullet through his lungs. After working with my two peep sighted rifles yesterday, the action this morning has caused me to reflect a bit about them. It is very rare to see a hog after sunrise and before sunset. I suspect that may be 2% of the 150+ hogs we have killed this year were killed in those daylight hours so the question of dedicating a rifle to hog hunting with a peep is questionable to begin with.

This has left me pondering the fate of the 44 Mag barrel. I still think the 23" barrel is too long and would lop the barrel off this rifle as the 44 Mag gains next to nothing over 16". With the barrel sight issue I would not bother with any front sight installation, dovetail or screw. It would kind of make a goofy looking rifle look even goofier if that is possible.

Image

I've wrapped a sheet of paper around the barrel at the 16" mark in the photo above. May be I ought to just get rid of the barrel as I already have two 44 Mag leverguns that are hard to beat.
Michael
Image
User avatar
Ranch Dog
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 9398
Joined: 23 Jan 2012 07:44
Location: Inez, TX
Has thanked: 1837 times
Been thanked: 2281 times

Re: Going to give the Wizard a try

Post by Ranch Dog »

Ranch Dog wrote:I suspect that may be 2% of the 150+ hogs we have killed this year were killed in those daylight hours so the question of dedicating a rifle to hog hunting with a peep is questionable to begin with.
As part of my wildlife management plan I have to keep track of how many hogs are killed each year, the hog this morning was number 131! I've killed 47 of those. For as long as I can remember I seem to average one a week throughout the year. That is a stack of hogs! One of my hunters is medically retired and he hunts every other day throughout the year, he has killed most of the rest with the other hunters accounting for very few.
Michael
Image
dpe.ahoy
Founding Member
Founding Member
Posts: 153
Joined: 15 Mar 2012 00:26
Location: Billings, MT.
Has thanked: 251 times
Been thanked: 11 times

Re: Going to give the Wizard a try

Post by dpe.ahoy »

Good going on the Hog, Michael! Some day I hope to get to go Hog hunting, that's something we don't have in Montana to hunt. That's good for the ranchers, not so good for those of us who want to hunt hogs. Did you get a complete pass thru with the 45? DP
User avatar
pricedo
2000 Shots
2000 Shots
Posts: 2509
Joined: 31 Jan 2012 10:36
Location: Dual Citizen (United States & Canada)
Has thanked: 56 times
Been thanked: 234 times

Re: Going to give the Wizard a try

Post by pricedo »

I'm surprised some states don't put a bounty on hogs with the "bounty hunter" getting a hundred bucks or so and the privilege of keeping the meat.

RD might wind up starring on TV in his own series as "The Hog Bounty Hunter".

Needs to grow long hair, get some tattoos & a pair of shades to look the part.
Last edited by pricedo on 09 Nov 2012 20:30, edited 1 time in total.
LIFE MEMBER - NRA & GOA
User avatar
Ranch Dog
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 9398
Joined: 23 Jan 2012 07:44
Location: Inez, TX
Has thanked: 1837 times
Been thanked: 2281 times

Re: Going to give the Wizard a try

Post by Ranch Dog »

dpe.ahoy wrote: Did you get a complete pass thru with the 45?
Oh yeah!
Michael
Image
User avatar
Rooster59
Founding Member
Founding Member
Posts: 366
Joined: 08 Jul 2012 21:51
Location: East Central Missouri
Has thanked: 184 times
Been thanked: 33 times

Re: Going to give the Wizard a try

Post by Rooster59 »

RD,
How do you manage to get rid of all those hogs. Your nilgai photo doesn't look like you're eating them all yourself!

Jeff
"I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me." Willard Duncan Vandiver
User avatar
Ranch Dog
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 9398
Joined: 23 Jan 2012 07:44
Location: Inez, TX
Has thanked: 1837 times
Been thanked: 2281 times

Re: Going to give the Wizard a try

Post by Ranch Dog »

Rooster59 wrote:RD,
How do you manage to get rid of all those hogs. Your nilgai photo doesn't look like you're eating them all yourself!

Jeff
No, the coyotes help me with most of the hogs. We keep two freezers full as do all my family and hunters. All our whitetails go to the "Hunters For The Hungry" program but the hogs cannot be accepted. We do not buy any store bought meat except chicken. The feral hog is different than domestic pork, no fat. More like eating lean beef but it does taste like pork

I shot s very large boar last night with R92, 45 Colt. Only took the backstraps and left the rest to the coyotes. Some of this might be hard to understand until you see the problems hogs are creating.

Nilgai are quite tasty and neighbors are always ready to share something different than hog. We are all in the same boat.

Posted via Tapatalk while hunting!
Michael
Image
User avatar
Ranch Dog
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 9398
Joined: 23 Jan 2012 07:44
Location: Inez, TX
Has thanked: 1837 times
Been thanked: 2281 times

Re: Going to give the Wizard a try

Post by Ranch Dog »

I'm in a tower blind watch two intersecting sendero, while typing a sounder of very large hogs came past the blind, 10' away! It was still dark but against the dried grass in the sendero and with the scout scope they were easy to see. A large boar turned broadside at a 200 yards and U dumped him with the 45 Colt. I think thus is the longest night time shot I've made.

Things got interesting after the shot! They all went back up the hill behind me. If I would have been on me toes I would have killed another about 35 yards from the stand. Wow! I could here a vehicle coming down the highway behind me, about 300 yard. They might have crossed highway as all of a sudden there was squealing brakes and laying on horn!!!

Okay time to hunt whitetails.

Posted via Tapatalk while hunting!
Michael
Image
User avatar
Rooster59
Founding Member
Founding Member
Posts: 366
Joined: 08 Jul 2012 21:51
Location: East Central Missouri
Has thanked: 184 times
Been thanked: 33 times

Re: Going to give the Wizard a try

Post by Rooster59 »

I have in-laws and old friends in Texas. Most in the Houston area. They echo your description of hog population issues. We run across a few patches of infestations here but "dialed in" locals usually snap them up quickly. Otherwise the MDC shoot them from helicopters. They want them to remain rare so we don't get like your area. Unlike Texas, an awful lot of hog friendly territory here is public (fed or state).

Jeff
"I come from a state that raises corn and cotton and cockleburs and Democrats, and frothy eloquence neither convinces nor satisfies me. I am from Missouri. You have got to show me." Willard Duncan Vandiver
Post Reply