Benjamin NP2 .22 Hog Hunt, .....Story, Video & Pics.

[Nomadic Pirate]

I have killed quite a few depredation hogs with 22 Cal centerfires. Bullet weights from 43 to 55 grains and have not had any survive. This being said shot placement is critical. Most were 125 yrds and less with standing shots only taken. But again these were taken with high fps center fire varmit cals. My biggest was with a REM 222 at about 90 yrds with a high shoulder shot that vapor locked him,50 grain softpoint. This hog was well over 250 lbs in a large open flat. No experience with air on hogs due to the fact we can,t take here in my great state with air guns. Manny by far has the most knowledge and experience at this game, he's a bad !!!s.Pretty good boyer also, is kind of a legend with his craftsman ship and native wood self bows.  Wolfer

Thanks Brother,....Don't know about the Legend part, but..... I can held my own

[Methuselah]

I have killed quite a few depredation hogs with 22 Cal centerfires. Bullet weights from 43 to 55 grains and have not had any survive. This being said shot placement is critical. Most were 125 yrds and less with standing shots only taken. But again these were taken with high fps center fire varmit cals. My biggest was with a REM 222 at about 90 yrds with a high shoulder shot that vapor locked him,50 grain softpoint. This hog was well over 250 lbs in a large open flat. No experience with air on hogs due to the fact we can,t take here in my great state with air guns. Manny by far has the most knowledge and experience at this game, he's a bad !!!s.Pretty good boyer also, is kind of a legend with his craftsman ship and native wood self bows.  Wolfer

Thanks Brother,....Don't know about the Legend part, but..... I can held my own

Legend!

 

[Buschmaster]

ill ask just to keep the thread alive  wouldnt  a 51 grain boat tail bullet at 900 fps in the vital organ area within lets say 50 yards slow the pig down that much that a quick deadly follow up shot is possible ?

If not fine,but sometimes its hard to just let game walk if you see them !

[Sfttailrdr46]

Not entirely sure but from all I have seen from the really successful Pellet rifle hunters especially for larger game seem to prefer the fuse box for quick humane kill shots since the pellet rifles do not deliver 900 fps down range that speed is 1 to 3 feet from the muzzle. The pellet relies on penetration and there is little  hydro-static shock delivered to the target so fuse box kills seem to be best and if you plan to eat the meat no searching for the pellet required

[Nomadic Pirate]

ill ask just to keep the thread alive  wouldnt  a 51 grain boat tail bullet at 900 fps in the vital organ area within lets say 50 yards slow the pig down that much that a quick deadly follow up shot is possible ?

If not fine,but sometimes its hard to just let game walk if you see them !

You might get a double lung penetration but might not and either way I think a long tracking session will follow,

You might be successful with a direct heart shot, but at that point you might as well go for the brain shot, they are about the same size,
 but the Heart is protected by shield and ribs, also the brain shot drops it there a heart shot even if successful will still require tracking.

[squirrel_hunter]

  I had a long track to follow,hog i shot had huge bone over his shoulder.pellet removal coming(sawsall)up,didnt fine the pellet that got to the lung.

[Buschmaster]

alright so patience and selfcontrol then here.

[Sfttailrdr46]

Any time you force the shot you run the risk of injuring the prey vs a clean and humane kill

[wll2506]

ill ask just to keep the thread alive  wouldnt  a 51 grain boat tail bullet at 900 fps in the vital organ area within lets say 50 yards slow the pig down that much that a quick deadly follow up shot is possible ?

If not fine,but sometimes its hard to just let game walk if you see them !

You might get a double lung penetration but might not and either way I think a long tracking session will follow,

You might be successful with a direct heart shot, but at that point you might as well go for the brain shot, they are about the same size,
 but the Heart is protected by shield and ribs, also the brain shot drops it there a heart shot even if successful will still require tracking.

Manny,

Great shot and a question ? With your Crosman, what velocity were you getting with Kodiaks, just curious ?

wll2506

[Nomadic Pirate]

Thanks Will,

650 fps with the Baracuda 21gr

[wll2506]

Thanks Will,

650 fps with the Baracuda 21gr

Great, thank you for the info. I can't get that fpe out of my most of my springers but with my my Hatsan 95 and 125's I can. (No problem with the PCP's)

My Hatsan EDGE gives me 665fps with 18.1 gr Exact Heavies, but that is not quite enough and the pellet does not have the penetration of a Kodiak. My B19 clone is medium power 655fps with Exacts, and that is a good gun, but not a 20fpe gun by a long shot.

Your video and explanation of what you did to harvest this animal is great and reiterates the importance of pellet placement and "ENERGY On TARGET"

wll2506

[Gertrude]

another great hunt, story, and video Manny.
 Well done, and thanks for sharing.

[Nomadic Pirate]

another great hunt, story, and video Manny.
 Well done, and thanks for sharing.

Thanks Brother,

You guys might not realise how much I appreciate all this kind of comments.

Since the beginning I've tried as much as I possibly can not to just post kill pictures but also bring everybody along in the preparation for different hunts, .....explain the hunting methods,
where, how and when to shoot, the constant necessity to study anatomy and quarry natural interaction with the enviroment,
extreme testing of the intended weapon and ammo chosen, and even the end result after the hunt with the meal on the table

In the end the Kill is the smallest part of the hunt, there's much revolving around it to make it happen,


OK, just came back from surfing and had a couple of drinks and got keyboard happy

[Tater]

another great hunt, story, and video Manny.
 Well done, and thanks for sharing.

Thanks Brother,

You guys might not realise how much I appreciate all this kind of comments.

Since the beginning I've tried as much as I possibly can not to just post kill pictures but also bring everybody along in the preparation for different hunts, .....explain the hunting methods,
where, how and when to shoot, the constant necessity to study anatomy and quarry natural interaction with the enviroment,
extreme testing of the intended weapon and ammo chosen, and even the end result after the hunt with the meal on the table

In the end the Kill is the smallest part of the hunt, there's much revolving around it to make it happen,


OK, just came back from surfing and had a couple of drinks and got keyboard happy

That's the main part of what makes your hunting posts so enjoyable to read.
Ditto for Shadows (Ed's) posts. They read like a detailed, informative story.

[Methuselah]

another great hunt, story, and video Manny.
 Well done, and thanks for sharing.

Thanks Brother,

You guys might not realise how much I appreciate all this kind of comments.

Since the beginning I've tried as much as I possibly can not to just post kill pictures but also bring everybody along in the preparation for different hunts, .....explain the hunting methods,
where, how and when to shoot, the constant necessity to study anatomy and quarry natural interaction with the enviroment,
extreme testing of the intended weapon and ammo chosen, and even the end result after the hunt with the meal on the table

In the end the Kill is the smallest part of the hunt, there's much revolving around it to make it happen,


OK, just came back from surfing and had a couple of drinks and got keyboard happy

The really great thing is you make us all feel like we too can do it and you show us how!

All you have to do is get to know the rifle really well, know which pellet can hit the bull over and over, know that one MUST understand the first cold shot may not go where the warmed-up rifle puts them, so fully investigate how it behaves first shot and at what the expected temperature may be, know the anatomy, FPE at POI, the feeding habits of the game, and like you be patient knowing it may take many hours for the shot to show itself.

Still your skills are exemplary as many will mess up due to the adrenalin of the moment, but we learn so much from your posts --- THANK YOU!!!!

(To those who didn't learn and have to chase their quarry for hours ... study up and see how the master does it    --- Thanks again Manny 

[mpbby]

Besides sharing Manny's adventures, I'm being educated about the chances of different shot placements for - a hog's clean kill - with a 20+ fpe springer .22 and the good penetration of the Baracuda pellet.

I'm assuming the secure distance would be up to 20 yards.

For the younger ones - go for a careful frontal headshot.

For the bigger/older ones..

- a frontal headshot most probably won't penetrate the thicker cranium vault to hit the brain;
- a side headshot is a trickier/riskier way to the brain, and may deviate;
- even with a successful penetration, a perfect shot to the heart won't make a huge wound channel to produce a huge bleeding; so, a lot of suffering and tracking.

At last, and for the bigger ones, could a shot through the eye be a feasible way to a clean kill?  If so, what shooting angle should be considered for the "perfect" eye shot?

[mobilehomer]

OK, just came back from surfing and had a couple of drinks and got keyboard happy

This is the kind of thing that makes it really hard to like you!!! Enjoy, my friend!!

[Mod90]

I'd not recommend a shot to the eye itself Marcos. If at all possible a shot just behind the eye with the pellet travelling towards the opposite side of the head or towards the back of the head will always be the better shot.

The thing to remember when taking shots at larger animals with smaller calibers is that the smaller pellet carries less energy, so we need to make the absolute most of what limited energy it carries to the target. Easiest way to do that is to select the spot with the least amount of mass in front of the vital organ you want to hit. With a shot to the eyeball, the pellet has to pass through the eye, then the cranial cavity to reach the brain then must still have enough energy left to do sufficient damage to the brain for an effective kill. Then you have to consider there may be deflection of the pellet that'd cause you to miss your mark and wind up witu less than the ideal results you would be looking for and result in a badly injured animal running off & suffering for weeks or dying hours later after becoming irretrievable.

Its just simpler to just take the profile shot or the full frontal shot at a range you know the pellet will perform well at.

[Nomadic Pirate]

Besides sharing Manny's adventures, I'm being educated about the chances of different shot placements for - a hog's clean kill - with a 20+ fpe springer .22 and the good penetration of the Baracuda pellet.

I'm assuming the secure distance would be up to 20 yards.

For the younger ones - go for a careful frontal headshot.

For the bigger/older ones..

- a frontal headshot most probably won't penetrate the thicker cranium vault to hit the brain;
- a side headshot is a trickier/riskier way to the brain, and may deviate;
- even with a successful penetration, a perfect shot to the heart won't make a huge wound channel to produce a huge bleeding; so, a lot of suffering and tracking.

At last, and for the bigger ones, could a shot through the eye be a feasible way to a clean kill?  If so, what shooting angle should be considered for the "perfect" eye shot?

Not a fan of the Eye shot with a small bore, not that I have any data to back it up ...since I've never actually tried it.

Anyway, lets look at some skull pictures and try actually figure out the possible dynamic of an Eye shot with a small bore.














Ok now, we have several different pictures from different angles,

what do we see ? .......I see a pretty deep optical cavity with a difficult angle to reach the brain, also you can tell there's no direct route to the brain and you still have to punch a hole on the skull bone.

What do I see happening ?
you have to get that pellet to go past a significant amount of tissue in the eyeball, by the time it reaches the concave bone who knows where it's going to actually hit and unless you hit that concave square it could skip and be redirected in many ways end might not even penetrate and just bounce around.


I consider the Eye shot with a small bore a very low percentage shot and I won't even considerate it on a Porker,.......now if someone comes up with some serious data and proves it to be a conducive shot I'll be happy to change my mind and use it
 as it is now the more used and proven options have showed that they work and work well.

[kbstingwing]

Very nice Manny, Dropped him quick, I've been trying to get a friend of mine to get the Trail NP2, I'll show him the video and the pictures, I think that will convince him, great shooting there and some Piggy for the BBQ..................