Senile Texas Aggie - comic relief for the rest of you

[Bruce]

So my attempts at scaring the pig may or may not have worked.

They scared me! At least for the safety of you and your Beautiful Gal!!!

And, um, there may be a reason they are called BOTTLE rockets my friend

Good luck with the pig tomorrow.

 

[Baymule]

The Most Impressive Grand Pooh-Bah of Voo-Doo Bottle Rocket Wild Hog Scare'ems went to WAR on a pig that obviously had not heard of the FEARSOME reputation of our dear friend. Yea, though she walked through the Lawn of the Valley of Voo-Doo Bottle Rockets, she was not afraid. For she was not impressed by the failed flinging of cigarette lighters, bottles and escaping off target bottle rockets.

 

[Mike CHS]

As I read that post I was thinking he was saying all of that to make us smile and I still believe that.

 

[AmberLops]

Thanks for all of your advice. If the pig shows up tomorrow, I will take care of it.

Meanwhile, early this morning, the pig showed up again. I had the bottle rockets ready. We heard the pig snort at the south end of the porch (we normally sit at the north end), so I grabbed the flashlight, a cigarette lighter, and a handful of bottle rockets and went toward the south end of the porch. I turned on the flashlight and saw the pig about 20 feet away. I lit the bottle rocket, switched it to my right hand, which was also holding the lighter, and threw the bottle rocket at the pig. The cigarette lighter went flying out of my hand into the yard. The bottle rocket hit the eave of the porch, went down to the lawn, and when the rocket ignited, it shot back up to the porch, ricocheted off the porch ceiling, ricocheted off the wall of the house and went north along the wall to my Beautiful Gal. It hit a chair just south of her and then exploded! We were in more danger than the pig!

For the second attempt, I went and found the lighter in the yard, went back to the porch to try again. By this time, the pig had moved off a ways. I lit the second one and threw it, and again the cigarette lighter went flying into the yard, and the second bottle rocket curved up but the motor didn't ignite until it was headed back down, so the rocket simply plowed into the ground and spewed, then finally going off.

This time the pig was well away from the porch, but still in the yard. For the third attempt I knew to throw down the cigarette lighter on the porch before throwing the bottle rocket. This time the bottle rocket went at an angle in the direction of the pig, but still well short. The fourth one went out a little farther, but by this time the pig was out in the pasture.

So my attempts at scaring the pig may or may not have worked. But if it did not, then I will take y'all's advice and deal with it permanently.

Senile Texas Aggie

You're crazy!
That would scare me...I don't think i'd ever come back
A couple years ago when I lived in PA, I had neighbors who did fireworks all year round and threw M-80s on my roof in the middle of the night

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

Well, the bottle rockets must have made the pig laugh instead of be afraid, as she was back this morning. She wasn't as close as before. This time she was out in the pasture, I guess 50-75 yard away. It was barely light enough to see. I got the 22, leaned up against the porch post to steady myself, and fired. The pig moved but didn't run. I aimed and fired again. Again the pig moved but didn't run. I aimed and fired a third time, a fourth time, and a fifth time. At the fifth time I am guessing she was 150 yards away. Here is an approximate view of the firing area and shots:

So the only thing I accomplished was to prove I need a good bit more practice with my 22!

About 30 minutes later, after I had tried to shoot her, we heard 3 gunshots east of us in the Arkansas Game anf Fish area. There was about 5 seconds between the first shot and the second, then about 30 seconds between the second and third. I am guessing the first or second shot wounded the pig, and the third shot was when someone walked to where the pig was for the finishing shot.

Just in case the shots we heard were not at the pig, once we finished breakfast, we rode around in the Gator looking for the pig but did not see it. If it shows up tomorrow, I will try again to shoot it, and this time I will try to aim even more carefully.

Later today, I took the tractor to Alma to have the curl function hydraulic pistons repaired, as they have been leaking internally ever since I tried to pull up a cedar tree stump with the grapple. The stump won, although I did cut it down to the ground with the reciprocating saw!

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[farmerjan]

You need something with more "knockdown" power than a .22 unless you are a crack shot; you would have to hit her exactly right for it to put her down quickly. I realize that a .22 can kill, but there is alot of fat and tissue that could wound but not kill. Hopefully someone got her. But realize that this may not be the end of it. You said that there were 3 that were originally seen. Feral hogs breed faster than rabbits and they run near as fast. Spend a little time on the internet and look up feral hogs in Texas, and see to what lengths they go with traps and such to kill them. They are a menace and very destructive. Your lawn is a good example.

 

[Mike CHS]

That was also a fairly extreme range for that gun. You can set up some boxes at various distances to even see if you are hitting anything. There is a lot of drop at 150 yards, from 19-25" and depending on the quality of the cartridge, it could be as much as 55".

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

I plan on seeing just how much drop soon. I need to set up a shooting range and get better with the gun.

The pig was back this morning, so whoever shot at her didn't kill her. This time she was quite a bit closer. But she was headed away from me, so all I could see was her rear end. My first shot definitely hit her, as I heard the bullet impact. She took off running. I fired 3 more shots, don't know if I hit her. It was quite dark. I wanted to go get the Gator and look for her, but my Beautiful Gal advised to wait until it got lighter. I agreed.

After it got light, we both noticed a tan colored object next to the burn pile. It looked like the pig was lying down. I was hoping that she was dead. We decided to eat breakfast and then go down in the Gator and finish her off.

By the time we finished breakfast and started driving down in the Gator, we saw that she was standing up again, so she definitely wasn't dead. She had blood running down her right leg. We got close enough to only about 10 yards away and stopped. I then aimed and hit her in the left side. She took off running again. I was driving, so I handed the gun to my Beautiful Gal and we chased after her. The pig stopped. My Beautiful Gal shot and missed. The pig took off running again and ran into the woods. So the pig is wounded but still alive. If I ever get another chance to shoot at her, this time I will aim for her head.

Senile Texas Aggie

 

[rachels.haven]

You almost got her!

 

[Bruce]

I plan on seeing just how much drop soon. I need to set up a shooting range and get better with the gun.

Another fun project! Hopefully you can finish the job soon.

Almost sounds like you need the .22 for small varmints and something bigger for the larger varmints like that hog.