It seems like these days that one of the most popular fantasy cities is Zombieland. Since much of the origins of our current knowledge and emphasis on zombies seems to have come from the film industry, perhaps Hollywood is the city being referenced. I’ve been there, and while I didn’t have my AR and some Hornady ammo, I think I saw some similarities… What does that have to do with hogs? More than I first thought…
The terminology of “zombie” is actually of Haitian Creole religion origin “used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft”, according to Wikipedia.
For us, the modern vernacular zombie refers to an undead person in horror fiction in both books, games, and films. Perhaps the most famous generation of this reference terminology can from the 1968 George Romeros fim Night of the Living Dead. In his first such film Romeros did not refer to these undead characters as zombies, but as ghouls.
However, in his sequel film Dawn of the Dead he used the term zombie freely. Thus our present day orientation to the wide use of the term has arrived. If you’re not up to speed on this undead zombieness, then tune in Sunday night television on AMC to watch The Walking Dead. This will help fill in the gaps on this phenomenon.
As a SHWAT™ tactical hog hunter, I thought it would just be lighthearted and fun to refer to wild hogs as zombies. Then I saw a zombie hog target. Then I read Bill Wilson’s story that could have titled, “Zombie Boar: The Hog that Wouldn’t Die.” So it fits! Our targets are really just another set of thunder legged, squealing, torso-of-muscle-and-grizzle creatures we have come to know as the wild hog.
The Zombie Marketing Ploy
Have you seen the “zombie-ish” shooting targets depicting the undead creatures? These hit reactive targets are made by Birchwood Casey. Called Darkotic Zombie Reactive Splatter Targets the paper sheets come in a variety of “undeads” including deer, huge rats, dogs, and human forms including a butcher and a pizza delivery man. My personal favorite, of course, is the rabid looking wild hog called Smoke House. All captialize on the zombie theme.
Zombie targets deserve zombie ammo, right? Now we have Hornady’s new Zombie Max ammo in the bright neon green packaging. The box shows the face of one of the undead. The ammo comes in .223, .380, 9mm, 40 S&W, 45 auto, 308, 7.62×39 and 12 gauge. This stuff is the ultimate zombie killing fodder even if the zombie is a rogue feral hog.
These are just a couple examples of the current zombiedom movement. There are others including action packed video games, crawling zombie doorstops, zombie brain gelatin molds, tons of t-shirts, cookie jars, coffee mugs, and zombie mouse pads. You can also find Black Dawn “zombie” AR furniture in gray or green hydroprint, and other AR accessories displaying zombie art or messages.
Breon Custom (www.abreoncustom.com), who makes the SHWAT™ logo Magpul AR magazines, also produces a number of zombie designs as well. Check those out online.
So, what’s with all this zombie merchandising? It’s simple: right now, Zombie sells. Lord knows this economy needs some stimulation, and if the zombie angle works, then so be it. Plus there’s kind of a fun factor, too, especially for us tactical hog hunters when we make the zombie – hog connection.
The Latest Zombie on the Street
We have zombie targets, zombie ammo, zombie magazines to hold the zombie ammo, and some seemingly undead zombie hogs out in the brush. The EOTech XPS2 Zombie Stopper holographic optic almost seems logical at this point. This battery powered red reticle optic is perfect for fast target acquisition needed for tactical hog hunting. In fact, it must have been designed with hog hunting in mind.
The XPS2 is a 1x magnification optic with unlimited eye relief. It weighs a mere 8 ounces plus it mounts quickly and securely on an AR Picatinny rail system. It will operate from -40 to 150 F degrees. That ought to about cover U.S. hog territory. You can also jump into water 10-feet deep with this optic. Its optical surfaces have an anti-glare coating and the rear window material is a shatter resistant laminate while the front window is solid glass.
EOTech’s Zombie Stopper uses a single 123 lithium battery in a side access tube built into the sight’s frame. The battery life is estimated at 600 continuous hours at a normal illumination setting of 12. There are 20 settings in the scrolling brightness feature. There is an auto shut-down of the device at 8 hours, but is programmable to 4 hours.
Though this EOTech holographic optic is entirely utilitarian for the function for which it was designed, perhaps its neatest feature is the awesome biohazard reticle for sighting in on the target. This reticle glows in the usual EOTech bright red, but can be adjusted with the brightness settings adjusting to the shooter’s eyes and the ambient light. The symbol is also embossed on top of the unit.
The biohazard symbol is a unique logo developed by Dow Chemical Company back in 1966 to display on medical waste/trash containment systems. Next time you are in a doctor’s office or hospital just look around the room. Wherever they throw away needles, examination gloves, or whatever, that symbol will be on the container. Biohazards, zombies, and wild feral hogs might just have a lot in common.
Tactical hog hunters ought to take to the symbolism of the EOTech XPS2 Zombie Stopper and other zombie shooting products and accessories like fish to water. But even if the whole zombie genre is a turn off to you personally, this holographic optic is one fine piece of weapon sighting technology. And you can always pick one up without the biohazard symbols, and call it your stealth hog sight.
