Hog hunting question

[SMK1000plus]

Some guys 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.

I had s similar experience with deer many years ago. We were dog hunting deer in our very large hunting party. There were around forty trucks (around sixty shooters) in our group. One hunter had seen three deer go into a cypress pond about 400 yards out, in an otherwise wide open pasture. He announce it over the CB radio, asking me which way I thought they went. He was sitting on the fence-line bordering one side of the pasture and had not seen them leave. I told him that I thought that the deer had squatted in the cypress pond, and that I would walk out into the pasture, on the backside of the pond from him, and flush them out. By the time I had reached the backside of the cypress pond, our entire hunting party had lined the fence-line! The three deer had indeed squatted in the pond and flushed on the fence side of the pond as I entered the back. They ran nearly parallel to the fence-line angling slighty towards it. It sounded like a war zone as the guys where shooting at the three deer running full speed, broadside. I took cover behind a large tree and just listened. Most of the guys shot their rifle dry. One guy even shot his shotgun dry, after drying out his rifle! In the end, all three deer went down with one rifle slug in each. They dropped between 350 yards and 300 yard from the fence-line. Two of the deer had been killed with a 223 and the other with a 270 Win. Everybody there saw the deer hit with the 270 go down and knew exactly who killed it. The other two hit with the 223, well there was only one guy in our group that shot a 223... We all knew he could shoot, much better than the average bear!

 

[snox801]

I'm perfectly fine not eating pigs when it's for eradicating purposes.
I've argued this before. When you kill a mouse in your house do you eat it? No it's a pest. Same with ants and other bugs.
Farmers can't feed us if they let pigs destroyed everything. That's said I do eat a lot of pig. I would bring back 40-70 every year from Florida and they were great.

 

[SMK1000plus]

What part of FL? I live in NE FL but, have hunted hogs all over the state. The hogs we kill in South Central TX are far better eating!

 

[Sflutes]

I have shot hogs with rifles from 243 to 8mm RemMag, and my favorite for hogs and everything else is my 7X57 with 140 gr Noslers at 2750 fps. Good balance of power, penetration, and low recoil. Really, any round that will down a deer will kill a hog.

 

[snox801]

I hunted just outside fort Meyers. Then the prices got so stupid. $295 per hog. Lol you can drowned In Them for all I can.
Same with Texas. I go and hunt other animals at places that let you take hogs as they come. At some point these hog hunts are gonna price themselfs into a real problem.

 

[Nimrod71]

I hunt hogs in the branches and swamps of lower Georgia. My weapon of choice is the tried an true Marlin Guide Gun in 45-70 loaded with my special hog round, a 350 gr. bullet at 2,000 fps. It will roll the biggest or the smallest over. Remember Hoggzilla.

 

[FIGJAM]

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

There are exceptions to that - there has to be...you would eat a coyote if you shot it? Or I guess you wouldn't shoot one because you wouldn't eat it? Coyotes, hogs, jackrabbits, rats, mice etc are all nuisance critters that don't require eating.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

Even nuisance animals deserve better than the intentional infliction of a painful and lingering death. But that's just my opinion, I understand that others feel differently.

 

[Blackdirt Cowboy]

When those nuisance animals cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, I really couldn't care less what they deserve. They're just out trying to survive, same as me.

 

[LoneTraveler]

Blackdirt I know your feeling. I grew up on a farm and was a wildlife officer for 34 years. Its no fun to see your work or other peoples work destroyed by critters, Be it killing domestic animals or destroying row crops or meadows. You need to act quick and efficient.

 

[338 dude]

you can't kill a hog with a 223

Oh yes you can

 

[J E Custom]

My philosophy may be different than others, But I take every hog I see and eat everyone I can. Some are not very good if at all but they can do lots of damage so they are on my list with the others.

The time of year has a lot to do with their table quality but I still want to drop them where they stand and not wonder is they will make it. There is no question if they drop, they are out of the jean pool.

I have also killed hogs (And deer) that were poorly hit or shot with the wrong projectile that were doing fine before they were permanently downed, so I believe that It takes a minimum cartridge to consistently drop hogs. No doubt that smaller cartridges will/can eventually kill them
But when eradicating them is important, Bigger Is better.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM

 

[just country]

morning, in south Tx. the persons that hunt from
helicopters shoot a lot of hogs. the copters r in contact
with a ground crew to pick up the shot hogs. take to
a meat house for cleaning and given to needy persons.
I raised hogs in my youth. I know how destructive
the animals can b. ME for 1 can not shoot an animal
and waste the meat. i eat alot
of pork. i do not shoot hogs during the summer season.
I despise coyotes. justme gbot tum

 

[just country]

morning, aged just forgot to mention.
i shoot hogs with my rem. 700 sps 223
heavy barrel. barnes 53gr. tsx. 27.5grs
tac, fed 205 primer and if possible
Winchester brass. shot placement in the
neck. i do use my 243AI, 6mmAI, all my wbee's,
250 sav. and my Benelli slug gun. they all kill
hogs very well. justme gbot tum