With the closing of deer and other big game species seasons, it’s time to switch to winter time pursuits. Where I live in Texas that means wild hogs, coyotes, possibly bobcats and hopefully before too very long javelina. Should you live farther north winter hunting likely means taking a serious look at pursuing cougar, lynx, coyotes and possibly wolves. With cougar or mountain lion hunting that might mean using Burnham Brothers’ FREQ electronic call or following a pack of well-trained hounds.
I grew up hunting hounds with my dad, mostly blueticks, black & tans and treeing Walkers. Where we lived just north of Texas’ Coastal Plains in the gravel hills that meant hunting primarily raccoons, and occasionally bobcat and fox, this long before we had feral hogs which now abound throughout the area. Once deer season closed, hunting ‘coons at night became a regular and ongoing endeavor. We also hunted cottontail and swamp rabbits on weekends on Saturday and Sunday afternoons, because of having to go to school, with a pack of beagles we also had.
Growing up to the “music” of hounds I learned early on to appreciate the bark of hounds, and soon learned the differences between a trailing hound and that of one that was “treed” or “bayed”.
Hunting rabbits, I hunted with 22 rimfires and occasionally a single-shot .410 shotgun. I early on learned about leading running game as well a quite a few other things regarding shooting; such as waiting for the proper time to shoot, and how to follow through when shooting at running game, but also when not to shoot!
Hunting ‘coons at night and during daylight when hunting rabbits, this long before GPS, I learned how to pay attention to landmarks and sounds particularly off in the distance to help me navigate my way back home or to where my vehicle was parked. I also learned how to read the stars for the same purpose and how to properly use a compass to get back where I started from.
I truly miss those days of following our hounds. It’s been many years since I have done so.
Today the closure of deer hunting seasons means hunting hogs, and calling primarily coyotes, although occasionally bobcats and gray fox. I have often stated I do not leave my house without a Burnham Brothers C3 mouth blown predator call. With some luck I will be able to use my C3 call on javelina later this winter. Javelina sometimes respond to continually called “squals”. When they do respond, they come at an all-out run, charging in, hair standing on end, squealing and popping their “jaws”. Pretty impressive and always exciting. I’ve called in individual boars, but also entire herds, all aggressively coming at a run, and then circling where I was standing. If ever you should want to hunt javelina which abound in southern and parts of western Texas, do not overlook trying to call them with a predator call! It will be an adventure you will not forget!
When it comes to “the guns of winter”, there are those who switch to lighter calibers and rounds. Me? I’m a bit different. I hunt during the winter for predators and hogs with the same rifles, handguns, shotguns and even now a crossbow I use during the big game hunting seasons. To me, winter is a time to learn more about the guns and crossbow I intend to use come spring black bear seasons, and then later the big game seasons of fall.
I love hunting with firearms; handguns and and rifles. I shoot Taurus Raging Hunter revolvers chambered in .44 Mag, .454 Casull and occasionally a .357 Mag and .460 S&W Mag. I’m hoping to add a .500 S&W Mag in the near future. These I have topped with older T/C and Simmons long-eye relief scopes (to me still the best and toughest), and occasionally with Trijicon SRO red-dot sights. My revolvers love Hornady’s loads with XTP bullets. They shoot them extremely accurately and their terminal performance upon hitting the target is ideal, killing the animal quickly and humanely.
I plan on using my Taurus revolvers on wild hogs. I’ll alternate guns between hunts. Since there are many wild hogs and opportunities this will give me the opportunity to use all my revolvers.
Recently we have seen a resurgence in lever actions. I have owned and hunted with lever actions off and on for a lot of years. My current stable of “lever guns” include my Dad’s and father-in-laws Model 94s in .30 WCF and .30-30 Win, a Winchester Model 95 in .30Govt06, the .300 Savage Model 99 Savage I used to shoot my first mule deer (which is topped with a vintage Weaver K4 scope, Rossi Model R92s in .45 Colt and .44 Mag, and Rossi Model R95 in .30-30 Win. Hopefully soon there be a Rossi R95 .45-70 Govt. All shoot the appropriate Hornady ammo extremely accurately, even with open or “iron sights”. I know my limitations shooting without the aid of scopes or red-dot sights, thus my shots at hogs with my lever-actions will be close, whether hunted over bait or spot and stalk.
With the wild hog population being what it is in Texas I plan on hunting hogs with each of my lever actions sometime during the next couple of months. I know that’s a lot of different hunts, but it is a worthy ambition. I occasionally have wild hogs my own property, but also they exist in abundance of property I hunt in the northeastern part of Texas. Working with Jeff Rice and Luke Clayton on our “A Sportsman’s Life” digital TV show on CarbonTV.com and our YouTube channel of the same title, I have the opportunity to occasionally hunt on Jeff’s Buck and Bass Ranch and a few other places.
My winter schedule is tight due to doing “talks” and working on numerous projects, but I make time to at least occasionally to specifically hunt predators using Burnham Brothers’ FREQ electronic call. With these hunts, I bring my lever action and revolvers, but my primary guns are my usual big game rifles, specifically my Mossberg Patriot and Predators chambered in 7mm PRC (3 of them), 6.5 PRC, .270 Win, .30-06, .400 Legend and .450 Bushmaster. I have a .300 Win Mag ordered. These are topped with Stealth Vision scopes; SVT 3-18x44 and SVL 5-20x50. I can use any of these on hogs, as well as predators. I shoot Hornady, save for the .400 Legend, and I would there if Hornady loaded for it.
By hunting with these my regular hunting rifles and handguns during the off-season, which to me means winter and summer, I become extremely familiar with my Mossberg rifles. I learn their capabilities and my abilities with them. I consider doing so extremely important because of the confidence gained in my rifles. Spring is black bear season and in my opinion is not an “off season”. Not sure quite where yet, but I plan on hunting black bear somewhere this spring. If not, I will make up for it by doing at least two early fall black bear hunts and at this point I’m leaning that way, in Maine and Oklahoma.
Winter time guns? When not hunting I intend to spend time on the range, occasionally “stretching my barrel” to shoot at extremely long range “steel” targets, both with rifles and handguns. On the Cotton ranch where I occasionally get to spend what I consider true quality time with Edgar and David, we have a 500-yard target that gets shot at not only with a rifle, but also with our handguns. Using my Taurus Raging Hunter in .44 Mag and .454 Casull I have hit that 500-yard target numerous times. Does that mean I would consider shooting at a hog or deer at that distance with my revolver? NO WAY! But shooting at that distance with my revolvers is fun and builds confidence in shooting at close range.
When fall hunting seasons come to an end, it it NOT a sign to put away our hunting guns, but should open the door to shooting them even more than we might have during the hunting season!
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