To be sure, I am not an expert on rifle and pistol cartridge ballistics, nor do I regularly hunt with my 9mm carbine. I did however have a recent hunting experience that I would like to tell you about that has proven to me that the 9mm cartridge is indeed a capable hunting cartridge.
I was invited to go wild boar hunting just outside of Rockdale, Texas with my buddy Shawn S. This was an «at the last minute» invite as Shawn was in route when I got the call. Avid hunting that I am, I could not to pass up the chance to get some hunting in, so I dropped what I was doing and headed to Rockdale. I knew that my chances would be slim since all I had with me at the time was my Hi-Point Arms 9mm Carbine. It didn’t matter. It was a nice day and it would be fun.
Shawn has a ranch that has been in his family for quite some time and being the avid hunter that he is, has it set up for deer hunting in a way that would make any hunter proud. His deer blind sits about 16 feet in the air and overlooks his deer feeder that is about 150 yards out. There are two large office type chairs inside that recline and have nice arm rests. Very comfortable accommodations to say the least. The only problem is that his place is being over run by wild hogs. Just in case you didn’t know, Texas has a feral hog population that is in excess of 3 million. So there we were trying to do our part in reducing those numbers. So we waited, and waited but there were no pigs in sight.
It was just by chance that as I was grabbing my gear before heading out of the house that I had grabbed one of my predator calls and stuffed it into my front pocket. So, after waiting and watching and enjoying good conversation with Shawn for about an hour, I suggested that we give my call a try. I pulled the call out and after blowing off a little pocket lint, gave it my best. To our amazement after only a couple of minutes, two coyotes broke through the concealment of a mesquite thicket and stood at the edge of the pasture with ears perked up, look right in our direction. They stood to our right about 70 yards out. They never saw us in the blind but instead were scanning the area below and all around us in the attempt to locate and easy meal.
I love to shoot and target practice and do so often at my little farm just outside of Taylor, Texas and could easily obtain good groupings out to 100 yards or so with iron sights but, there I was, not really prepared to shoot a wild boar at 150 yards with a 9mm but would certainly try to take a coyote at 70. While still blowing on my call to keep their attention, I swiveled around in my chair with my Hi-Point in hand and drew a bead. Bang…A clean kill. After this hunting trip, my Hi-Point has earned a higher place on the gun rack and has made a believer out of me in the capabilities of the 9mm as a hunting cartridge. As for the wild boar, with 3 million of them running around, our day will come.
Happy hunting.