The hunt was awesome. Caryonah lodge was great. Excellent hospitality, good food and my guide taught me a lot about hog hunting in a single day. I'll be much more confident going after porkers in the wild now.. glad I did a lodge hunt for the first one though.
It was the first beautiful day of spring and the hogs were running like crazy. They refused to bay up and just kept running. After about two or three hours of watching the dogs chase a herd around the hollows, they finally charged right past where I was hiding. I took the lead boar at a full run from about 15 yards out.
It wasn't a hunt in the classic sense, but it was a lot of fun. The boar was about 275 lbs and has been providing me w/ some excellent barbecue and pork chops.
Oh an thanks to everyone who pointed me to the 45/70... that is an awesome big game cartridge... I made a nice double lung shot and I swear the 45/70 picked him up and threw him down the hill... it was like something out of a movie. He got back up and only made it a few steps before he gave it up. I used the Ruger #1 that I bought off this forum... great gun with a great big game cartridge... definitely enough gun for the job.
Thanks for all of the help everyone! I have a freezer full of meat and am going after more hogs in Florida in a few weeks... this time with a bow.... bring it on!