.50 cal vs hog

[morehops52]

I am surprised that in S Sam video he's not using quick loaders with potentially dangerous game.

 

[ORBushman]

I am surprised that in S Sam video he's not using quick loaders with potentially dangerous game.

For the record, that's not me! It was just a video I was showing that a quick search could help answer OP's question.

And I'm with you! A quick loader would definitely have been a big help on the follow up shot.

 

[BackDraft]

And I'm with you! A quick loader would definitely have been a big help on the follow up shot.

I plan to use quickloaders, plus have my 50 pistol charged and ready, as well.

 

[BackDraft]

Thanks, all. Much appreciate the answers!

 

[wganz]

It really depends on how big/old/tough that pig is.
The sub 300 pounders that are typical shot for smoked hams, a PRB from a .50" ML regardless of vintage or ethnic heritage will do the trick. A $200 pawn shop Traditions will put the same smack down as the Kibler SMR.

This is a pix of an 853 pound(actual hanging scaled weight) boar killed on the 20 acre spot that my father leased out. Took ten rounds of .308 Win at about 20'.

As a matter of scale, those dogs are just a hair over 100 pounds each. Now I'm enjoying the pleasant age of 67, I'm not quite as spry as I was, say, at 27 and climbing pine saplings is smooth out of the question. I got a Navy Arms 'Buffalo Hunter' which Val J. Forgett of Navy Arms fame took to Africa to kill the African "Big Five" which is elephant, rhino, Cape buffalo, leopard and lion. I'm figuring that a heavy conical pushed by a stout 2Fg load that worked in Africa, should work equally well in the wilds of Louisiana. Along with a .69" 1835/40 US Percussion Conversion Musket from Loyalist Arms with its PRB and stout 2Fg load, Mr. Piggie is in for a very very bad day and I don't have to break a sweat trying to run.

 

[Eterry]

I know a .50 cal will take down a deer, but will it be enough for a feral hog? Noticed we’re starting to get a growing population in South-Central Indiana and wanted to be able to help some landowners I know mitigate some potential property damage.

I have killed more than one feral hog with a 22LR, placed in the ear canal. One time needed more than one shot, but was using match ammo, ie subsonic.

I'd recommend aiming for shoulder or forward on porcine critters, but I hunt near the "Dark and Bloody" and you don't wanna try to recover anything there.

I've been in on the killing of over 20 hogs. Never had one charge us, never been bit, no one ever hurt but the hog. Can they be dangerous? Yes, but so can a can opener.

 

[Okie Hog]

About wild hogs: 300 pound wild hogs are rare, 350 pound wild hogs are very rare, 400 pound are so rare as to be nearly non-existent.

Since 2000 i've killed close to 500 wild hogs. i've killed one wild hog that weighed over 350 pounds.

i've killed most of my hogs using inline rifles. But 15-20 were killed using patched round balls fired from conventional muzzleloaders.

Snuck close and put a round ball in this sows ear:

 

[mkabe]

I shot a large south Texas boar several years ago using my .50 cal. TC Gray Hawk rifle and a Buffalo Bullets “Ball-et,”, a very short conical with a ball shaped nose that weighs just 245 grs. I was using 75 grs of Pyrodex P powder. I know the recommended Pyrodex load for .50 cal. is RS granules but I reduced my load from 90 grs RS to 75 grs of P for a cleaner burn and getting more shots from a pound. Works for me.
I got within range by slowly walking on the far side of our pickup as it moved closer as they are a little less cautious of a familiar farm vehicle than a man. They still spooked early and started running and I had to get a late running shot at one of the trailers from I estimate was 30+ yards. Hit him a too far back, boy I hate that, but hit his spine and his back legs went down like right now. He managed to drag himself up over a pond dike using only his front legs. I quickly reloaded and took off after him but didn’t have to go far as he was lying quite dead a few yards beyond the backside of the dike. My shot went completely through, his hide and guts, taking some out through a large exit hole the far side.
Great German Brats, lots of them and great fun!

 

[GBG]

It really depends on how big/old/tough that pig is.

Totally agree. Not all hogs are created equal. For over 12 years I have been hunting wild hogs on public land in very remote, steep, hilly terrain. Shot several, killed few, recovered even less.

These hogs spend their entire lives running up and down hills and bluffs that I have to crawl on all four to climb. They have virtually Zero fat when butchered: just muscle, bone and sinew on boar or sow.

I watch videos of flatland hogs being dropped under feeders with a body shot using unmentionable small caliber guns. I've seen hillbilly hogs at 12 and 30 yards take 1000 grains of lead at 1100 fps only to run out of sight and hearing. First was shot thru the vitals and second thru the neck (missed the spine). Blood trailed the first one for 1/2 mile, jumped him in cover and watched him disappear running into the night.

I've also seen 3 of these hillbilly hogs poleaxed with an unmentionable .17 caliber rimfire to the brain at 20 to 30 yards. I'm sure a .490 PRB would do the same.

The only way guaranteed to DRT mountain hogs is with a brain shot. They can be anchored - but not killed - with one shot if it breaks the spine. A follow up shot is needed to kill them. This has just been me and my hunting partner's experience. YMMV.

 

[Absoroka]

I have hunted both from stands and on the ground - spot and stalk. It can definitely be a rush on foot. That being said, I did read of a hunter in Europe being sliced by a large, wounded boar. Neither one survived.

 

[chorizo]

Some are bigger than others. Abilene, TX hog

Reference: I am 6' 210lbs




Not me, but folks I know. Lucky they didn't shoot each other.

The hog, russian boar blood, was hunting them.

 

[SciAggie]

Some are bigger than others. Abilene, TX hog

Reference: I am 6" 210lbs
View attachment 186309

View attachment 186310

Not me, but folks I know. Lucky they didn't shoot each other.

The hog, russian boar blood, was hunting them.

Abilene? I’m in Coleman just a stone throw away.
To the OP - a 50 PRB will work just fine. Like all animals be careful about bullet placement.

 

[chorizo]

Abilene? I’m in Coleman just a stone throw away.

I had a buddy who won a hunt for two there and invited me down from Idaho. August hunt and hotter than a $2 pistol. Passed through Coleman, coming and going to Austin. Stopped for lunch there.

I grew up on a 60,000 acre sheep ranch on the CA coastal range by an area called Parkfield, ground zero for Russian Boar hunting in CA and we had lots of hogs on it. Killed them with everything from a 17 HMR to a 45-70 Govt cased cartridges in a rifle (I even took a shot at one with a 50 cal bolt gun at just short of 1000 yards but missed), PRB in a 50 cal Hawken that I built, bow/arrows and pistols in my youth. I now lean towards the bigger guns as I don't shimmy up trees quite as fast at 67 yo as I did at 18 yo. I also think my brain got bigger as I grew older (or my testicles shrunk....might be an inverse relationship).

The only two mammals I have killed more than hogs have been coyotes and ground squirrels. Back in the day in CA they were considered feral and a nuisance. They would trash water holes so nothing would drink out of it. You could hunt them 7/24 without tags and I did, often letting the ones in poor shape lay where I dropped them and using them for coyote bait. My folks had the ranch into the 80's and subsequently the hunting rights on the ranch right up until my Dad died about 5 years ago. Always a fun spring/early summer hunt.

I hunted them in Europe on driven hunts when I was stationed in Spain at the Embassy for numerous years. Same tough little animal. Some go right down like the Titanic, others you wish you had a small tank available. All depends on the animal. They aren't afraid to fight you if cornered or wounded.

 

[Okie Hog]

This is the largest hog i've killed. Distance was about 40 yards.

Hog ran about 200 yards after the bullet destroyed both lungs; bullet was under the skin on the off side, 19 inches from point of impact.

 

[chorizo]

A CNS is the best way to go. Right below and behind the ear, if you can. If you can't, right above the leg low on the shoulder, hopefully breaking the shoulder and taking out lungs and heart. Typically if you aren't moving, they won't see you. However wound one and move about or approach it wounded, you best have your tree picked out.

The hanging hog above took one below and behind the ear at 100 yards from a rest.

 

[Christophero]

Some are bigger than others. Abilene, TX hog

Reference: I am 6' 210lbs
View attachment 186309

View attachment 186310

Not me, but folks I know. Lucky they didn't shoot each other.

The hog, russian boar blood, was hunting them.

My, that was close in more ways than one.

 

[chorizo]

My, that was close in more ways than one.

Yeah, I don't know who was more dangerous, them or the hog. They are extremely lucky they didn't shoot someone.

I used to hunt with two of them, but after showing me the video of that hunt, I would pass on any invites. I really don't enjoy intramural firefights.

 

[wganz]

I have killed more than one feral hog with a 22LR, placed in the ear canal.

In full transparency, I got a high school friend not too far from here that hunts pigs with a .17HMR fmj but only from a stand.
He says he's very patient and waits until the vertical scope line is on the ear and the horizontal line is on the eye.
Claims he hasn't lost one yet. Don't doubt it in the least for he's always dragging out an eating size hog.

 

[chorizo]

17 HMR 20 grain FMJ drops them like a rock when you pop them right behind and below the ear.

Ham shoot one with a 45-70 and you may never see it again unless it decides to look you up. Bullet placement is key.

And so it is for ML too.

 

[Eterry]

17 HMR 20 grain FMJ drops them like a rock when you pop them right behind and below the ear.

Ham shoot one with a 45-70 and you may never see it again unless it decides to look you up. Bullet placement is key.

And so it is for ML too.

Read : The Last Ivory Hunter, where Wally Johnson talks about a teenager who dropped a cape buff with a 22 Hornet to the ear by luck. It's ALL ABOUT PLACEMENT. The 50 will be fine if you place your shot wisely.