Hogs Down

[whbonney26]

Went to Texas for a Duck Hunt/Hog Hunt/Rabbit Hunt on a Redfish farm. We caught lots of redfish, shot lots of ducks and rabbits. My favorite part of the hunt was the night time hog hunts we did.

It was in a marshy bottom land with mostly chest tall grass and different bushes. We went in after seeing some hogs head in. We could not see them at times and could only hear them in the darkness. They surrounded us and would charge us at times. In the end I harvested two hogs with my Ruger Flattop 44special as they charged. Such an exciting hunt.

 

[N4sir]

Nice!!!

 

[whbonney26]

Nice!!!

Thanks.

 

[Bigchillin83]

Guided club? Any info?

 

[whbonney26]

Guided club? Any info?

Someone my father knows owns a redfish farm in Texas who let us come do all that on his land. Was pretty lucky. He also gave us an inside view to the redfish farm and how it runs. Very cool. Being there for a few days definitely gave me a new appreciation for what it takes for a redfish to get to a person’s plate when ordered at a restaurant.

 

[BlueShamu]

I knew a guy whose family had a redfish farm in South TX area…Austwell, to be exact. They had a ton of land that bordered the Aransas NWR. It was like going to a zoo…you never knew what you were going to see. We killed a lot of hogs down there at night.

 

[themcfarland]

thanks for sharing, I guess I had not considered redfish as one they farmed. I always thought it was commercial and bicatch.. very cool

 

[AdvancedLaser]

"I took them..." "as they charged"

Damm dude. Wild.

 

[SMR412]

Chest tall grass, can only hear them, at night, AS THEY CHARGED!
LOL
Sign me up

Thank for posting man

 

[mforsta]

Had this one charge me after being shot. I’ll pass on the tall grass at night.

 

[whbonney26]

thanks for sharing, I guess I had not considered redfish as one they farmed. I always thought it was commercial and bicatch.. very cool

This farm is responsible for about 98% of the redfish ate in resturants in New Orleans.

 

[whbonney26]

"I took them..." "as they charged"

Damm dude. Wild.

It was pretty awesome.

 

[whbonney26]

Chest tall grass, can only hear them, at night, AS THEY CHARGED!
LOL
Sign me up

Thank for posting man

Yeah, it was as fun as it sounds.

 

[whbonney26]

Had this one charge me after being shot. I’ll pass on the tall grass at night.

Thats a fat one for sure.

 

[Bigchillin83]

Chest tall grass, can only hear them, at night, AS THEY CHARGED!
LOL
Sign me up

Thank for posting man

Reminds me of hog hunting in Venice in the rozos, scary but fun!!!

 

[Abby Normal]

Nicely done. Like that Ruger, but that hat.

 

[whbonney26]

Reminds me of hog hunting in Venice in the rozos, scary but fun!!!

Yeah, its scary at times but so much fun.

I dont have videos of the actual shooting cause there is to much going on but here is the immediate aftermath and you can tell how pumped up we were.

 

[whbonney26]

Nicely done. Like that Ruger, but that hat.

HAHA. Ruger Blackhawk Flattop 44 special with 5.5" barrel.
And yes, Roll Tide. Born and raised in Alabama but have now lived longer in Louisiana. My daughter and money went to LSU if that helps. lol

 

[Labeeman]

Way to go !!! Life is too short without some excitement to keep you interested. LSU at one time and still may have a couple of ponds that were dedicated to redfish at the aquaponics research station on Ben Hur in Baton Rouge. Once redfish reach a certain age they can be raised in freshwater ponds like your friend has. I’d like to know a little more of how they do it. You have anything you can share on that ??

 

[whbonney26]

Way to go !!! Life is too short without some excitement to keep you interested. LSU at one time and still may have a couple of ponds that were dedicated to redfish at the aquaponics research station on Ben Hur in Baton Rouge. Once redfish reach a certain age they can be raised in freshwater ponds like your friend has. I’d like to know a little more of how they do it. You have anything you can share on that ??

He showed us a little of how they do it. They have a hatchery that houses two big tanks. They have their broods on there. One of them is a large 56 pound Redfish that they put females in there with. He picks the females he likes and then does his thing. Once the eggs are ready they skim them out of the tank and take them to incubaters whre they are hatched. Then they move them outside to their first pond. There they grow to whatever size they need them to move to their next pond where they gro to (I believe) 3-4 pounds and are harvested.
We watched them pull 15,000 pounds of redfish out of one pond while we were there. Pretty amazing to see.

They put them straight from the pond to the shipping containers and then they drain some water and put ice on top of them where it cools down their body temp and freezes them/kills them while in route to the buyer. That ensures that they are as fresh as can be.

There are two crews of Mexicans who work around the clock.

Now, there are lots of little things that have to happen in between all of that and it gave me a whole new appreciation for what it takes to get a redfish from start to resturant plate.