Hog hunting question

[birdiemc]

My old church had a group of guys that would get together and do outdoors stuff, kinda an outreach for men who didnt want to hold hands and sing while some idiot in skinny Jean's played the bongos...well anyway we got invited out to a ranch to follow a helicopter and recover downed hogs they were shooting from in the air. Then we butchered the hogs and donated the meat to orphanages in Mexico, homeless, stuff like that. Well first year we were just there to recover. After watching that all day I got to talking with the guys running things and next year we changed it up, let the helo flush the hogs out to the pasture, 40-50 guys in a firing line wait till the helo clears them open fire. there were folks from 12yrs old-70 out there, folks that hunted all their lives to folks that went to walmart the night before and bought their first rifle (almost) there were tons of .223 AR's out there. Some guy had a 30-30, some 308s, I saw a .338, .300RUM, couple 243s, some 270s, I was carrying a 7mag. Cartridges were pretty much all over the place. Some of the hogs we recovered had little 22cal holes all down the sides. Some had one big massive hole in the head. A few had one single 22cal hole in the head. I was standing by one of those tacticool fellows shooting his brand new AR 223 and a big sow came out about 250-275 yards broadside and we both shot, as the hog is literally rolling feet up he screams yeah I got it. Point is we had lots of inexperienced guys out there shooting .223 and putting thousands of rounds in the air, not so many in the hogs. They were too excited, couldnt calm down, spray and pray. We had experienced guys shooting off hand 200 yard shots with large calibers rolling them. I know of one guy in particular who killed more than all the rest of us put together, he was taking head shots .223. Hes good. If you're good enough you can get by with less desirable cartridges. If all you happen to own at the time is a 7mag, then shoot it. If you want to see how your 300RUM does on pigs have fun. Experience makes the difference. And not just paper, experience shooting living creatures, cuz once you aim in on something that's alive it's a whole different world than sitting at a bench with sandbags perfectly supporting your rifle at known distances.

 

[porkchop401]

I am not advocating taking a 22 rim-fire on a hog hunt unless it is required buy some regulation . That being said i have killed over a hundred on public land while either buy a chance encounter while squirrel hunting in the WMA or while following around a couple of gritty cur dogs until they bay. Either way it is a close range game where a shot between the ear and eye makes quick work of any hog encountered (280lb was the largest)
I have found where my options are unlimited and ranges are longer say out to 200 yds. a 223 is more than sufficient though head shots are still required . When not talking about head shots a high velocity 6.5 or larger seems to be the ticket . Also im talking about hogs that are over 75lb ish in size.
I am currently figuring out a louisiana varmint rifle build and am leaning hard towards a 223 bolt gun.

 

[Blackdirt Cowboy]

what is the smallest calliber you would hunt hog with?

Whatever caliber I have in the truck when I happen upon hogs.

 

[Mustang72]

Whatever caliber I have in the truck when I happen upon hogs.

same here. Have killed a ton of them with a 223 cause that's usually what's in my truck. Have killed plenty with a 22mag. Shoot v-maxes out of both. When I actually go hunting for them I carry a 16 inch barreled lever action 308. I call it my pp gun-because it is pure pig poison! A 223 works great -but is a bit light for anything but head and neck shots of you want them drt.

 

[smithj99]

I'm down in SC at the moment hog hunting. Just for fun I took along a 458 SOCOM. I shot a 200lb boar with a Barnes 300gr TTSX bullet. As expected, Mr Piggy didn't go far (20yds) after taking a hit diagonally through his chest. The bullet got caught in the off-side hide and was perfectly expanded with 6 petals peeled back. Looked like something out of the Barnes catalog.

Personally, I like the 45-70 for shooting pigs broadside, but that's just me.

45-70 lever action - super cool "hog gun"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Deviant]

Where I go you pay buy the hog and if you wound one it counts as a kill even if you don't find it so I want to make sure they are DRT. I use a 458 socom AR or a 308.

 

[Mustang72]

Where I m from most people just throw them in a ditch or shoot them in the guts so they get to the woods before they die. Kind of a waste but you can only fill a freezer so full. It's funny how many people think they aren't fit to eat - as they chow down on my smoked sausage links!

 

[just country]

morning, u eat what u shoot. do not waste.
want not waste not. justme gbto tum

 

[Blackdirt Cowboy]

morning, u eat what u shoot. do not waste.
want not waste not. justme gbto tum

I kill hogs defending my crops and my land. My mission is one of eradication. There's no way in the world I could eat the 300-500 hogs a year that I kill. Buzzards and coyotes have to eat, too.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Intentionally shooting an animal in the guts is something that I find a bit disturbing.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

I kill hogs defending my crops and my land. My mission is one of eradication. There's no way in the world I could eat the 300-500 hogs a year that I kill. Buzzards and coyotes have to eat, too.

BC - I'd sure like to hunt at your place.

 

[Bstick]

I've killed hundreds with a 22lr. It isn't hard. People over think killing a hog.

It's best to shoot them in the gut and let them run off. They are an evasive species here in SC and cost us tens of thousands of dollars a year. I treat them the same way as I do coyotes.

 

[J E Custom]

what is the smallest calliber you would hunt hog with?

In my opinion hogs need to be hunted with something that produces around 2,000 ft/lbs of energy at the muzzle for quick clean kills. There are many choices and I recommend this because head shots are not always available.

If you are serous about eradicating hogs, you must put them down hard. I have shot hundreds of hogs with everything from a 17 HMR to a 338 RUM and there was no comparison between the small fast cartridges and anything from 6.5 up.

Most of the hogs that were shot with small cartridges were eventually found and many had to be finished off. But the ones shot with larger more powerful cartridges 6.5 and up were anchored where they stood.

If I am hunting with a smaller cartridge and a hog presents himself,
I will take the shot only if I have a head shot otherwise, I pass for another day. (Better to pass and harvest another day, than to shoot and loose for ever).

J E CUSTOM

 

[Mustang72]

morning, u eat what u shoot. do not waste.
want not waste not. justme gbto tum

I agree with that for the most part. BUT!!!!
When something is such a nuisance or so destructive it has to be dealt with. The amount of crop damage an overpopulation of pigs ,rabbits,and deer can cause is almost unbelievable to people who have never dealt with it first hand. I don't care much for causing any animal extra suffering,but when you have to drag a 200 lb pig out of a muddy field for a few hundred yards a few times or take a chance on ruining a $1000 dollar tire then you can make exceptions.