Fall 2006

Big Boar Meets Big Boar

By ED NOONAN
When Tony Aeschliman, Marketing Manager for Marlin Firearms, handed me the new Marlin XLR .444 caliber lever action rifle and pointed to the metal pig silhouette downrange at this year's Shot Show in Las Vegas I thought he was kidding. The distance to the target was 309 yards - a bit far for this big bore, or so I thought.

But I soon found out that this new gun, coupled with Hornady's new LeverEvolution ammo was up for the task. And when I set the cross hairs on the white marker 19 inches or so above the pig and squeezed the trigger that bullet meeting metal sound totally changed my opinion.
Since this time I have range tested the full line of Hornady's new bullets, .30-30 Win., .35 Rem., .444 Marlin, .45-70 and the .450 Marlin with equal success. All of these guns and loads showed a much improved grouping accuracy and at significantly longer ranges. And what made it even more impressive is that its new pointed elastomer Flex Tip can now be loaded safely into a tubular magazine. But I wanted to see what it would do to the shoulder of a tough Razorback wild boar?
My choice of rifles was the Marlin XLR .444 topped off with Alpenâs Apex 3-9 x 42 scope and the Hornady LeverEvolution 265 grain bullet. Ballistically the bullet leaves the 24 inch barrel at 2325 feet per second and with energy of 3180 foot pounds. At 100 yards those numbers were 1971 and 2285 respectively. This definitely was the perfect gun for the job. Ironically it was during one of my range tests at the Old Saratoga Muzzleloader Club with the XLR that I met another shooter who told me about the East View Outfitters and gave me one of their brochures. That evening I called Dave Vanderzee, owner of the preserve, to inquire about the possibility of a wild boar hunt and several days later I met with him at the lodge.
The preserve in Easton is 132 acres of rolling hills and wooded terrain that has only been open recently to the public. On the grounds is a very comfortable 4000 square foot lodge with all the amenities. In addition Vanderzee also has the Indian Lake Lodge located on 3000 acres of prime hunting territory in the Adirondacks.
But the more I talked with Dave the more I realized that this was far from your ordinary preserve. What he is offering is a place where hunters can come and experience all that a hunt should be. He wants them to enjoy the before, during and after the hunt experiences. And he is especially proud that he can offer junior hunters and their father or grandfather and opportunity to hunt big game together. The 16 year old rule for hunting big game in NYS does not apply to licensed preserve hunts.

THE HUNT
If was just starting to get light when I arrived at Easton View and Dan Jennings, the preserve manager, was waiting for me. As always I was excited about the upcoming boar hunt and after Dan explained the safety precautions and how the hunt would unfold we entered the preserve. I expected that the hunt shouldn't last much more than 2 or 3 hours, but I was wrong. On other boar hunts that I had been on there were usually several boar on the property making them easier to track, but in this case there was just one Razorback boar out there, and he had 132 acres in which to hide.
There were open and overgrown fields, plenty of brush and brush piles, hilly woodlots of both pine and hardwood trees and a rather large overgrown swamp. And I got to see all of them, more than once. But I also got to see some of the other wildlife that live there. There were a number of trophy class whitetail still in velvet, both cow and bull elk, one of which sported a 7x rack and even a small flock of wild turkeys. But no boar.
Now and then we would pick up his tracks in the wet areas but then we would loose them when we got to hard ground. It was a merry-go-round hunt that I was actually enjoying and really wouldnÕt have wanted it any other way.
By three o'clock however I was beginning to tire and that is when Dan whispered, ''There he is.'' All I could see was the flick of his tail in the tall grass in the field above us, but that was enough for us to begin our stalk. Fortunately the wind was in our face and at about 75 yards I picked an opening in the high grass, centered the cross hairs behind his shoulder and the Marlin XLR and Hornady LeverEvolution did the rest. A great hunt, a great gun and cartridge and the pig roast for my hunting club is scheduled for the opening weekend of the regular deer season.
If you would like more information about Easton View Outfitters log on to their website at, www.eastonviewoutfitters.com