Hog hunting calibers?

[grasshopperglock]

It's extreme for people that don't know what they're doing.

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I can see that. There's not a single person within 500yards of my house. I'd trust to make a good head shot.

Heart through the shoulder. It'll jack up meat but it's the biggest area to hit. Big cal too. 30-06 or something like it. There's a 30% chance it'll hit the deer. 70% chance it hits the dirt between their legs.

Seen it....more then I'd care to say.

 

[Savage20]

Yep. Then they blame it on the rifle or the caliber. That's why .243 gets a bad rap imo. It's popular for novice shooters and when they run out of talent they blame it on the cartridge and say it is underpowered....

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[Younggun]

.243 is bad ass for deer. Doesn't damage the meat much either.

80gr cor-lokt.


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[ElevenBravo]

Better shot placement fixes that. If you put it in the ear they don't move a step. With a heavy well constructed like you used a on shoulder shot is best but not as immediate at times.

The big guy I shot with the Scout, I used 150gr Hornady Interlocks and I think they underperformed badly but it was the only load I had for that rifle at the time. Not that I needed a special load for a 5 yard shot, but I didn't know I was going to be getting that close to one. Since then I've done up loads using Barnes bullets but haven't gone out to see how well they work on hogs yet. When I was prepping for my first bear hunt, everyone kept saying how heavy and tough bears are and that I'm going to be spending a lot of time tracking unless I put a gigantic hole in one. Seems like the opposite. Texas hogs are a lot tougher at half the weight.

I try to avoid making a head shot, it's just personal preference. I've seen hogs where other people have tried the head shot and obviously overestimated their marksmanship skill. I teach Hunter's Education up here, and we tell the kids to go for the boiler room. I know some of their dads teach them the head shot, I just hope they do it ethically.

 

[Savage20]

.243 is bad ass for deer. Doesn't damage the meat much either.

80gr cor-lokt.


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Works fine on hogs too. It's my favorite quarter caliber. Especially since mine likes Core-Lokts. I won't keep any rifle that doesn't shoot Core-Lokts

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[ElevenBravo]

You're aware that hog vitals are much lower and more forward than most other common game, notably whitetail. Anyway, I go for neck shots typically, or straight through the shoulder. Neck shot will drop 'em DRT and is a much larger target than the ear canal. Shoulder shot will blow out their vitals and if they still have fight, they ain't running anywhere because you took out their front legs.

Also, what is your definition of dead? If you shot that 212lb hog at 5yds, then it was either dead or you're a terrible shot. Ya they'll kick and squeal sometimes but they also do that when I've shot them through their spine. Muscle spasms and reflexes and all...

Like I mentioned before, I shot one in the heart and it ran off for a while. I know hog anatomy. I have a great picture of what a 220gr Partition from a 300 WSM does to a hog heart. I've killed over a dozen hogs in Texas. Small count for a Texan, but I'm just a Yankee that gets to visit once a year. The big guy was the first hog that has taken more than one shot to kill, but was also the first hog I shot with the Scout using Interlocks.

The big guy I shot at 5 yards, the first shot went in one lung and stopped. The hog just looked at me like "oh no you didn't" and walked off 20 yards and stopped. Shot him again. That one broke 2 ribs, went through the same lung as the first one and into the other. He turned left and started strolling across my field of fire, and going up a hill, so I zapped him again. This time he dropped and started doing the twitchy thing. After we hooked himup and skinned him, we could see all 3 bullet paths. The heart/lung area pretty much soup. Recovered 2 bullets. The weight retention wasn't that great, but they weren't the kind of bullets I usually use for hunting. I only use Interlocks for punching paper now.

I went bowhunting in Texas last year and shot a hog at about 20 yards. The arrow partially exited, but the hog just kind of stood there for about a minute, swaying a little bit until it fell over sideways like an AT-AT, so I guess that's DRT.

So to me dead is "not walking around like I just bopped it on the nose with a newspaper".

 

[Younggun]

Something to keep in mind, bullets are made to work in a specific velocity window. Too fast and they break apart, too slow and they don't expand.

It's a good idea to check the manufactures website and make sure the bullet is made to work in the velocity window you will be shooting it.

Lots of bullets for magnum rounds will break up on close range targets because the velocity is still higher than what they were designed for. And sometimes using a bullet outside of the velocity it was designed for will allow it to work well in a different roll than it was intended (110gr V-max subsonic expand well without acting like a varmint bullet).


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[Savage20]

I was about to bring that up with the short mag. Might have just been going too fast. But he said he recovered two bullets

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[Younggun]

I was about to bring that up with the short mag. Might have just been going too fast. But he said he recovered two bullets

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I thought it might be relevant due to the lack of weight retention he mentioned.


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[ElevenBravo]

Something to keep in mind, bullets are made to work in a specific velocity window. Too fast and they break apart, too slow and they don't expand.

It's a good idea to check the manufactures website and make sure the bullet is made to work in the velocity window you will be shooting it.

Lots of bullets for magnum rounds will break up on close range targets because the velocity is still higher than what they were designed for. And sometimes using a bullet outside of the velocity it was designed for will allow it to work well in a different roll than it was intended (110gr V-max subsonic expand well without acting like a varmint bullet).

I don't think it's that big of a thing. Texas hogs are built to take damage. Afterwards, I did consider velocity and all that. My handloads from the Scout are about 2600-2700fps for a 150gr bullet at the muzzle (no chrono, and the Scout has a shortish barrel). That's in the butter zone for an Interlock, which Hornady says 2000-3300fps are recommended muzzle velocities. I avoid ballistic tips as my 300 WSM has too much velocity in realistic hunting ranges for them to work correctly. I try to stay with Partitions or Barnes TSX. This was the one exception.

I really think in this situation, it was a big old heavy hog too stubborn to know it was dead, and a non-premium bullet.

 

[ElevenBravo]

I was about to bring that up with the short mag. Might have just been going too fast. But he said he recovered two bullets

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I shot the big guy with a Ruger Scout. That's a .308 Win.

 

[duckknot]

Does one need to have a hunting license for hog eradication? Not hunting for meat or trophy, simply to lower numbers!

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[Savage20]

Does one need to have a hunting license for hog eradication? Not hunting for meat or trophy, simply to lower numbers!

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Technically, no.

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[jrbfishn]

Heart shot does not mean it's dead. I tracked a dear for a friend years ago that had no right front corner. Heart, lungs and right shoulder were gone. It fell when hit, got up and ran over 200 yards through brush. It was dead, just took the brain a while to realize it.

from an idgit coffeeholic

 

[ElevenBravo]

Heart shot does not mean it's dead. I tracked a dear for a friend years ago that had no right front corner. Heart, lungs and right shoulder were gone. It fell when hit, got up and ran over 200 yards through brush. It was dead, just took the brain a while to realize it.

Yeah, that's what I figured. Like I said before it's not a huge thing, just that I'm amazed the amount of damage a feral hog can take before it realizes it's dead. I've shot bears at twice the weight and size that just drop and die right where they are.

It was nice though, the heart shot pig left a blood trail so big and long that even Stevie Wonder could have followed it.

 

[Savage20]

The farmer was giving him the wrong type of salt. They need deer salt not bath salt.

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[Younggun]

I shot the big guy with a Ruger Scout. That's a .308 Win.

Ok, I thought you were burning them through the win mag.


In .308 I've found the TSX to be pretty awesome.


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[duckknot]

Technically, no.

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I do enjoy technicalities!

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[Savage20]

TSX and TTSX tends to be great in a wide range of velocities in my experience. I love that bullet for its reliable performance. I really want to like the Hornady GMX but my rifles just don't seem to like them.

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[ElevenBravo]

I do enjoy technicalities!