What cartridge/bullet for hog hunting?

[Northkill]

Fortunately { or unfortuatrly, dependeing how you look at it} here in Texas we have lots of opportunity to test different calibers and bullets on feral hogs, here is the combos we used the past two seasons on multiple hogs. 1- 6XC with Hornady 103 ELDX { great combo} 2- 243 Win AI - 90 gr Nosler Accubond- DRT- Hornady 103 ELDX - #3- 260 Rem AI - 129 gr Nosler ASccubond LR- deadly on anything- 142 Nosler Accubond LR - nasty good-#4- 6.5 Grendel Hornady 123 gr factory ammo- #5- 22-250 Rem - 55 gr Nosler BT Combined Technology- 22-250 Rem AI -7 twist- 62 gr Barnes TTSX- 70 Barnes TXS-# 6- 6.5 Creedmore - Hornady factory 120 GMX- bullet placement is the key to it all, neck at the head juncture is really good as are brain shots, behind the shoulder has worked really well with all of these rounds also. I have become very fond of either one of my 22-250's or 22-250 AI on hogs, I think the high velocity gives me a lot of DRT kills. My two 2 cents for what it's worth. Have a great hunt!!!

Throw some Hammers in there and you leverage it up even further.

 

[rm76]

I have to respectfully disagree, whether the dead carcass stinks or not upon a fresh kill, this is a poor indication of boar taint. Cooking or heating up a piece of meat is the only way to tell, but if a boar (about 50 lbs or larger) it will have some degree of off flavor/smell.

 

[Buck1970]

At point blank range, a 22 short off center between the eyes will dispatch a 250 pounder.
Any if yours are fine.
My advice, they are thought and can be really mean, especially if wounded.
Shot placement is crucial.
Head and neck shots usually are best especially if you want to use the meat.
DO NOT ATTEMPT SHOTS THROUGH THE SHOULDERS, especially on larger hogs, unless you like the wounded, trail through the brush type hunt. Remember MEAN!

I know some won't like this, but if your just killing hogs to get rid of hogs, like many of us need to do here, the gut shots will work and you don't have to drag them out of the fields and pastures.
Buzzards and coyotes will take care of em.

Be safe, and kill all you can!

 

[tooth doc]

Got to have shooting sticks. Glad to know there's someone else out the there that uses them. I also use a tight "hasty" sling. Almost as steady as a bench.

Love my sticks

 

[WhiteRiver]

I have only done it once but it was a blast. We used night vision while looking for the hogs (PVS-14 on helmets), and then switched over to thermal weapon sights when we got up close. I used a 6.8 SPC in a AR15 package. I shot factory the Hornady 120gr SST. We killed close to 30 hogs in two nights of hunting. Using tripod style shooting sticks and counting down to first shots on each group generally anchored a few out of each group or killed the lone boars extra dead. Fun.

 

[HunterMann]

Any deer cartridge will do for any pig you are likely to see. You don't really know how or where you will be hunting yet. Pick the middle of the road, and some thing really you like to shoot or shoot well. I would stay away the 22/223/556 stuff unless you know you can make the head shots that will work on all sizes of pigs. We hunted Florida last winter and had a great time. My friend shot a 250+ boar with a 7mm Rem Mag at 120 yards. The bullet blasted a quarter size hole in the near cartilage sheath (mentioned above). The bullet blew up inside and dropped the pig. No exit wound or even damage to the far side cartilage sheath. I don't know what type of bullet was used and I wish I had taken pictures to show you. Also, pigs are most active early and late in the day, so you should have a bright scope that is decent for the twilight times.

 

[cabelasken]

Typically shot opportunities are close, less than 150 yds. Although, we have used everything from a 243 win to a 30-06. I think the next time I go, I'll use my new 6.5 CM with either a Barnes bullet or a Hammer - non lead is required in Calif. Average size at the ranches we hunt is about 200 lbs - the biggest was 340.

 

[Muledeerhuntingfreak]

Go with the rifle you are most confident with as long as it aint the 22 caliber

 

[freddiej]

the smallest I have ever used in California for feral hogs was a 270 win with 130 grain slugs. I have seen 44 Mag, 454 cassull, 300 win mag and 375 H&H. I personally like 444 Marlin.
my best advice to you is this.. if you have the 6.5 Creed in an AR-10/AR-308 pattern, use that. 270 WSM and 300 WSM are good hitters as well. I have never used a 6.5 Grendell but I hear it is good as well. depending on the average size of the hogs will give you the power you will need. I was dealing with hogs from piglets to over 800 pounds; I errored on the side of needing more horse power. if those hogs are under 200 pounds then lots of AR based cartridges will work or a good lever gun cartridge will work. I might use a 6.5 gren (95 grain class) or a 6 mm ARC (85 grain slug) or a 350 Legend (180 to 200 garin slug), or 300 blackout/whisper with a 130 to 175 grain slug.
have a great one.

 

[scheme]

I live in Texas as well, and, although we don't have many pigs in my part of it, I've killed enough to be able to say there has been a lot of good advise given. I have a sentimental spot for .25-06, so that would be my vote of the options you listed, with a good penetrating bullet. 110 Accubond as fast as you can push it would be a great choice, but there are plenty of others.

My predator calling buddy has a bunch of farm and ranch land in the central part of the state. I was lucky enough to go on a helicopter depredation hunt with him once. The guys that do it for a living use Benelli shotguns with buckshot, but, keep in mind the shots are probably not averaging much over 30 yards and the angle makes the brain and spine vulnerable, so that combo stacks them up.
I took a 7.62x39 AR with a red dot and 123 SSTs, and it was tons of fun and very effective. Every shot was running, so a few took extra rounds to finish off. One of them was a huge boar that would've went over 300. We killed 21 pigs, 2 coyotes, and a cat in under an hour. They have their property flown 2 times a year (that hour was just a small portion of one place), and they kill just as many every time they fly…

I haven't had a chance to make it, but my dad and uncle have gone up to north Texas and set up on a cousin's hay grazer patch while he was swathing it. Just about every pass through the field flushes out a pig or 10, and it's kind of like busting a pheasant or covey of quail. The old man had a lot of fun with an M1 Garand…

 

[.300 Dakota]

.44 Magnum handgun is fun, too.

Personally, I think one could make a dedicated hog gun out of an old lever action .356 Winchester, or a bolt gun with 20 - 22" pipe in .338 Federal, .358 Win, or .35 Whelen for emphasis. Then it wouldn't matter how big the hog was. I don't think it was coincidence that Savage made the "Hog Hunter" in .338 Fed. (Of course, they made it in .308 and .223, also!)

 

[SSG Graybush]

I recently got an open invite to go hog hunting in Texas. I'm from Washington and don't have a clue. I suspect the guy that invited me doesn't really either, he's a big shot for a multi billion dollar co. and recently transferred down there and out of the blue called me all excited saying he recently went and gave me an open invite. Seriously thinking about it. I've got varmint barrel chassis 22 creedmoor,25-06, 6.5 creedmoor 6.5-300 270 wsm 300wsm and bigger but I'm gathering smaller is better?? I'm leaning towards winter time to get out of the rain. Any suggestions would be appreciated

Energy kills. And a lot of guys say 6.5 Grendel with a thermal for night hunts is a good set up. And so Ive seen on TV. Another says he going to a 450 BM. I have both in a AR's. So I ran the numbers through Applied Ballistics and heres what up. I guesstimated a 22 cm with a 70 gr tsx could get 3450 fps. That 22 cm has 1200 #'s of energy at 200 yards. A little more then the 450 bm and a little less then the 6.5 Grendel. But that smaller diameter bullet going faster with more energy has got to penetrate better then the 450 bm. Dont get me wrong, the 450 is great at close range but sheds energy fast.
I dont see why that 22 cm with a solid wouldnt work to 200 yards. Especially if its an AR platform. But you have a great reason to build yourself a nice 6.5 Grendel or 6 ARC AR. The 6 ARC is really just a 6mm Grendel and will outperform the 6.5 Grendel at long range. And theres probably no better round then a 6 or 6.5 Grendel for a kids/women's/recoil sensitive persons1st deer rifle.

I recently got an open invite to go hog hunting in Texas. I'm from Washington and don't have a clue. I suspect the guy that invited me doesn't really either, he's a big shot for a multi billion dollar co. and recently transferred down there and out of the blue called me all excited saying he recently went and gave me an open invite. Seriously thinking about it. I've got varmint barrel chassis 22 creedmoor,25-06, 6.5 creedmoor 6.5-300 270 wsm 300wsm and bigger but I'm gathering smaller is better?? I'm leaning towards winter time to get out of the rain. Any suggestions would be appreciated

 

[Kodiak Special]

I like the 308 on hogs, works great with a Barnes bullet.

 

[Northkill]

Energy kills. And a lot of guys say 6.5 Grendel with a thermal for night hunts is a good set up. And so Ive seen on TV. Another says he going to a 450 BM. I have both in a AR's. So I ran the numbers through Applied Ballistics and heres what up. I guesstimated a 22 cm with a 70 gr tsx could get 3450 fps. That 22 cm has 1200 #'s of energy at 200 yards. A little more then the 450 bm and a little less then the 6.5 Grendel. But that smaller diameter bullet going faster with more energy has got to penetrate better then the 450 bm. Dont get me wrong, the 450 is great at close range but sheds energy fast.
I dont see why that 22 cm with a solid wouldnt work to 200 yards. Especially if its an AR platform. But you have a great reason to build yourself a nice 6.5 Grendel or 6 ARC AR. The 6 ARC is really just a 6mm Grendel and will outperform the 6.5 Grendel at long range. And theres probably no better round then a 6 or 6.5 Grendel for a kids/women's/recoil sensitive persons1st deer rifle.

All good considerations. I'm not a Hammer salesman (as you may have thought by now), but with the Hammers especially, it's more about impact velocity than it is calculated energy. Keep it above 1,800 fps and it'll do it's thing. The faster the better. With hogs, I'd probably elevate that minimum impact to 2,200 fps or so. You can't compare them to Barnes or GMX, etc. The cards are stacked significantly in your favor when you're running the Hammers. You won't believe it till you've tried it. The 22 Creed running really fast Hammers (likely over 3,500 fps) will easily out-kill some of the honorable mention "bigger" cartridges pushing traditional slugs. Only saying this because of what the OP'er is working with. His 22 CM has his preferred platform and handling characteristics. It'll get the job done handily and he can go in good conscience and confidence. Happy hunting bud.