Phoenix Weaponry - Hog Hunt 2021

Wild boars are not native to the United States; they were brought here by early explorers and settlers. It is estimated that wild boars cause over 1.5 billion dollars in damage to crops each year in the United States. One state that gets particularly hit hard in Texas. Living and working in a state that does not have issues with wild boars yet is Colorado, where Phoenix Weaponry is located so it’s hard to imagine the destructive scale these creatures cause until you witness it.

One family farm and ranch in Texas has been having to deal with crop and land destruction for decades. To help eradicate this invasive species Lone Star Hunts in Henrietta, Texas was started on their family’s farm. To help offset the damage these invasive hogs do, they created a night hunting program. Wild hogs are somewhat easier to hunt at night since they are more active in the search for food or moving from one field to the next. Luckily in the great state of Texas, hunting wild boars at night with thermal optics is permitted.

Phoenix Weaponry is known for making extremely accurate, long-range, bolt action rifles along with highly accurate, heavy-hitting AR platform rifles and suppressors to keep each one very quiet. When the guys at Phoenix heard that Lone Start Hunts were putting together a night hunting package, we knew we needed to get our friends at Pulsar thermal optics involved and book a trip.

Friday, April 9th, 5 a.m. MST the Phoenix Weaponry RV is loaded with everyone’s gear and all the hardware. Joining us on this hunt we took Kelly, Robyn, Christine, and Sarah along with an MP5 build and a custom precision bolt gun built by Phoenix Weaponry. Eastbound and down, we made the 12 plus hour trip from Berthoud, Colorado to Henrietta, Texas. We arrive with just enough time to get the RV unloaded, thermal optics installed, sighted in, and hit the field just after dark.

Within 30 minutes of being out in the field, a group of hogs was spotted using thermal monoculars and the hunt was on. The first group is led by our Lone Star Hunts guide setup position within 100 yards of the hogs. A nice 200+ pound hog was no match for the first hunter using a Sarah chambered in .308 and breathing quietly through a .338 Phoenix Weaponry Delta MonoCore suppressor. Not bad for our first trip out there and after being up for almost 24 hours, we decided to head back to the ranch house to get some rest.

We wanted to maximize our hunting opportunity so we also brought some dedicated day hunting rifles with us. Thermal optics can also be used during the day since they show the variance in temperatures if you have a hog out in the field, you will be able to spot it. Some of the hunters chose to use their same set up during the entire hunt while others switched up to their day hunting rifles. First thing in the morning, before breakfast and coffee, we all headed back out into the field. This time we had hunters using a Robyn which, is an integrally suppressed Ruger American rifle chambered in .300 Blackout and a custom-made integrally suppressed .22-250. As someone who was shooting with Robyn for the first time, it is truly an amazing experience to be shooting with an integrally suppressed rifle. It is very well balanced, the contour of the barrel/suppressor combination is concentric so you don’t have a large object at the end of your barrel like a direct thread suppressor to impede your sight. Not to mention standard height scope rings and a normal optic work perfectly. Even the 100-pound wild hog on the move was no match for the accuracy of Robyn.

Throughout the rest of the weekend, both day and night the Phoenix Weaponry crew and friends continued to quell the sounders or groups of feral hogs on the farmlands of Lone Star Hunts. Confirmed kills at five hundred yards and a thousand plus yards were taken during the day, and even some in very close proximity as they were flushed out of the creek bottom. All in all, everyone had an incredible time, the harvest was plentiful for everyone on the trip, and everyone’s hearing was protected by the suppressed firearms made by Phoenix Weaponry.