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Airgun Hobbyist
Way back in 1786, the phrase “The best laid schemes
of mice and men” was first penned by Robert Burns. Again, in
1937 with John Steinbeck’s famous novel, “Of mice and men”,
the quote was brought to the forefront. I’m guessing both
these wordsmiths must have had at least a passing interest in
hunting. The phrase they coined certainly depicts many hunts
that I’ve been on!
Take a recent sultry hot summer evening down
in Trinity County Texas for instance. For many years, I’ve
enjoyed hunting everything from turkey to antelope with my
friend Mark Balette, owner of B & C Outfitters. Mark earns
his living outfitting hunts on his sprawling southeast Texas
ranch. Mark is new to big bore airgun hunting but he quickly
learned how much fun shooting and hunting with air is and
he’s opened the gates to his operation to those of us that hunt
with air.
Hog numbers are high and when Mark invited Ken
and Robert Blackstock and me down for a night hog hunt,
their first time to hunt with a big bore air rifle, I felt positive
we would have multiple porcine encounters. The brothers
Blackstock were packing the 45 caliber/20 gauge shotgun
combo by Professional Big Bore Airguns and they had the rifle
shooting very good groups out to 75 yards, our self imposed
limit on this night hunt.
Porkers can sometimes be tricky to hunt during mid
day but it’s a fact that they are always up feeding during the
evening hours, especially during the warm weather months,
right? Well, as this little tale divulges, not always!
Our well laid plans for this night hunt did not factor
in a low pressure system that moved through the area about
the time we were well back into the woods! Ken Blackstock
owns Plano Golf Carts in Plano, Texas. He converts basic golf
carts into very rugged off road vehicles by adding stronger
motors, controllers, lift kits, heavy springs, etc. I’ve used
these ‘hunting buggies’ as we call them, for several years from
ranches in Texas to Colorado’s high country. I’ve also been
using the Nite Site infra-red night hunting system with great
success on hogs and predators.
When Ken discovered Nite Site at a hunting show this
past spring, his innovative mind began to think of ways to
adapt the units to his hunting buggies. His finished product
resulted in mounting a Nite Site on top of his hunting buggy
with a hand operated remote control. A large marine quality
screen mounted in front of the driver makes driving the unit
in total darkness possible. After my first time to experience
using Ken’s new system, I quickly planned a night hog hunt!
With a totally quiet electric vehicle and the Nite Site to spot
the animals and illuminate the way, those porkers were going
to be in trouble plenty!
Before we headed out on the evening hunt, Blackstock
mounted the Nite Site on the rifle, the plan was to take two of
the electric vehicles
and slowly cruise
the ranch roads
and scan for hogs.
Balette and I lead
the way and when
we approached
areas likely to hold
hogs, the Blackstock
brothers were
directed to take the
lead in hopes of a
getting in position
for a shot before the
hogs spooked. The
plan was that once
hogs were spotted,
Ken would use the
Nite Site mounted on
his rifle to illuminate
the night and make
the shot.
Just a few
minutes into the
hunt, the wind began
blowing and with
the breeze came a
drop in temperature
of at least ten
degrees. Sultry
heat was almost
instantly replaced
with a much cooler
refreshing breeze!
The deer and exotic animals we had seen earlier disappeared
and the ranch seemed barren of game. I knew better. I’d
hunted Mark’s place on many occasions and knew the pine
and hardwood forest was home to scores of wild hogs; there
were plenty of fresh rooting along the ranch road and wallows
along the pond to evidence the great number of porkers on
by Luke Clayton
Mark Balette, owner of B & C Outfitters, takes aim with a 45 caliber Professional Big
Bore air rifle. Mark welcomes air gun hunters on his place.
The marine screen attached to the Nite Site. This in
mounted inside the vehicle and allows the driver to view
in clarity what’s in front of the vehicle.
The Nite Site mounted on top of the vehicle. This unit
transfers the image to the marine screen used by the
driver.
