Hog hunting

[doubleset]

Yeah. That's what I thought, but wasn't sure. Thanks for the clarification. You're right: it's pretty hard to do that in the hunting situations that pretty much everyone here is talking about. And of course when you're doing commercial killing at the slaughter houses, you don't even use a gun (well, not one that shoots a projectile anyway). But people seem anxious to make pretty broad generalizations from their own particular experiences while not being very specific about them.

 

[Rifleman1776]

refuse to put a scope on my muzzle loading rifles.

 

[Stykbow]

The one I killed was a 200lb. sow. Stalked her and the shot was from about 60 yards. She ran about 40 yards and dropped. I won’t go into deep detail on the gun because we don’t discuss them here. It was 50 cal., shooting a 44 cal. bullet, 100 grains of pyrodex. Most wild hogs are not in the 400lb. or greater range. From what I’ve seen here in Tennessee most are considerably less than 300lbs. I’m not advocating one caliber over another. Just stating the facts as I’ve seen it.

 

[doubleset]

Most wild hogs are not in the 400lb. or greater range. From what I’ve seen here in Tennessee most are considerably less than 300lbs.

Here are some interesting examples and statistics. I think the take-away from this is that not only do you need to decide from the outset what you're hunting, but when a target presents itself you might want to think about whether you want to pull the trigger on that particular rifle with that particular load for that particular target -- like if you stumbled into a Moose while you were out hunting deer with your favorite deer gun. Or -- if you're intent on a "trophy" size pig from the start -- then in the immortal words of Robert Ruark, "Use enough gun."

https://guide.sportsmansguide.com/10-huge-hogs-you-have-to-see-to-believe/

Additional stats for Texas which seem to match other areas in the Southeast:

https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/uploadedFil...ldlife_Management/Non-Game/Feral_hogs_TCE.pdf

 

[Stykbow]

@doubleset I had that thought while reading this thread.If I’m hunting small antelope in Africa with a 30.06 and a Cape buffalo wonders by I ain’t shooting! The hogs in your links are impressive, but still the exceptions rather than the rule. For the majority of circumstances I think a 45 cal. will reliably kill hogs, but some restraint needs to be used if a truly huge one appears.

 

[doubleset]

@doublesetThe hogs in your links are impressive, but still the exceptions rather than the rule. For the majority of circumstances I think a 45 cal. will reliably kill hogs, but some restraint needs to be used if a truly huge one appears.

Right. You'll notice, in the material at those link,s that the average over the SE appears to be fairly constant (including Texas) and is in the overall range of around 120-225 (or roughly something like that).

 

[Cotton52]

Ok, seeing the topic is "hog hunting" and what to use, please allow this video from Texas. It's all about shot placement for sure ! 18 min long but interersting !

Thermal imaging scopes and “harpoon guns, not one Hell of a lot of “sport” that I can see. Claymore mines work too lets use a few of them.

 

[Eutycus]

It doesn't take much to kill a hog as long as you shoot it in the right place. When I lived in the home place in the country killing hogs took place every year as soon as it turned cold. Cold weather kept the flies away. We used a .22 Cal. rifle. Some of the hogs were over 300 pounds and they dropped like an anchor. I realise that hunting is different and if I were to use a M.L. rifle I would use a Cal..54 or more. It would help if you made a marginal shot.

If a 50 caliber will drop a buffalo in it's tracks,it ought to have a similar effect on a hog.

 

[French Colonial]

This thread and others like it such as the one regarding a .45 being enough for deer are as useless as useless can be.

A .72 caliber through a non-vital area will allow a boar to run or become aggressive and a .22 to the brain pan will mean instant death.

A better question would be can you hit a paper pie plate at your self imposed maximum yardage on demand with your chosen lead launcher, and second do you know where the vitals are located on your quarry.

A ball from Brown Bess isn't worth much if you miss the target.

 

[Okie Hog]

A ball from Brown Bess isn't worth much if you miss the target

Yep, a .22 LR bullet in the brain trumps a .45-70 bullet in the guts. For many years Fort Sill had firearms restrictions. Only rimfire rifles and shotguns with small shot were allowed outside deer and elk seasons: Muzzleloading rifles were not allowed. For a few years i hunted wild hogs there using a .22 LR. Then i graduated to a .22 magnum. Killed several wild hogs with the .22 LR and a bunch with the .22 magnum.

My shots were limited to an absolute maximum of 75 yards with the .22 magnum. Most hogs were killed at ponds at ranges of <50 yards.

 

[barnettshale]

.Big one with my brother over 350#. Scale bottomed out so we don't know what it really weighed. Small pig, head shot at 40 yards, Lyman Plains rifle, 530 PRB, 90 grains 3F
Third picture is 200# boar, Lyman Plains rifle, .530 PRB, 100 grains 3F, 50 yards. all from our ranch in Texas hill country, Llano County

 

[Andrewmtnman]

.Big one with my brother over 350#. Scale bottomed out so we don't know what it really weighed. Small pig, head shot at 40 yards, Lyman Plains rifle, 530 PRB, 90 grains 3F
Third picture is 200# boar, Lyman Plains rifle, .530 PRB, 100 grains 3F, 50 yards. all from our ranch in Texas hill country, Llano County

Those are some delicious looking hogs. I’m smoking a roast as we speak. What time of day are you getting them?

 

[barnettshale]

We see them about any time of day. Watched big sow once in midmorning going after ripe prickly pear apples in a big old pile of cactus. One of our friends one cold morning said he had over 30 pigs on a hillside, from house cat to Volks Wagen Bettle size. I watched one in a clearing and thought there were a bunch of rabbits there with her. Turned out to be about 13 piglets. We treat pigs like a deer, skin it, gut it, cut it up, freeze it then make sausage after season is over.

 

[Andrewmtnman]

We see them about any time of day. Watched big sow once in midmorning going after ripe prickly pear apples in a big old pile of cactus. One of our friends one cold morning said he had over 30 pigs on a hillside, from house cat to Volks Wagen Bettle size. I watched one in a clearing and thought there were a bunch of rabbits there with her. Turned out to be about 13 piglets. We treat pigs like a deer, skin it, gut it, cut it up, freeze it then make sausage after season is over. View attachment 134638

No shortage of pork chops or sausage where you are. I have been saving the fatty parts(belly roll, shoulders) to mix in with my venison sausage. Comes out pretty good

 

[Gordoncourtney]

There’s a few hogs in the uk. They are not a problem. Here. A few estates charge to shoot them like £300 on a stand per night whether you see one or not. A few protected in woodland.

shame to shoot intelligent animals my son says

France over run with them but in 4000 miles driving in France never seen them. Take my silent ionX bow too. I wish you well. They claim hogs cause hundreds of motor accidents each year. But probably their terrible driving. A land of empty roabloody great place


I bought me .36 double ml. In case I had the chance of hunting them in France. It’s just dreams at 79. Got to make it happen be dead soon

love from
Nr London warm sunny day again

ps my 2001 Rapido Motorhome in France ( got to get an elusive permit to carry in France for BP guns. No Licence needed for BP guns. Magic. Got a compound bow in Rapido for hogs and robbers classified as a weapon in France. Terrifying thing with razor arrows points. But still no hogs.

 

[Okie Hog]

Folks in the UK are lucky not to be overrun with wild hogs. Here in Oklahoma we ain't so lucky.

A large sounder of traveling wild hogs is like a noisy vacuum cleaner moving over the land: You can smell them before they come into sight and after they leave the area. Wild hogs root up the soil, pollute the ponds, destroy the nests of ground nesting birds and eat any small critters they encounter. Some large boars develop a taste for young deer fawns, i've caught two in the act of killing fawns.

After shooting and trapping wild hogs for years, i decided that in order to make a dent in the hog population at our property drastic action was required. i set up a feeder in the open with a tree stand overlooking from about 30 yards. In the spring young pigs come to the feeder in droves where they are wasted by a shotgun firing #3 or #4 buckshot. Most pigs killed in one shot was nine.

A neighbor who lives near the property does the same thing using a suppressed Ruger 10-.22. After we collectively wasted 100-120 small pigs each year for three years, adult wild hogs are scarce. Dead pigs don't become hogs.

This is one group before three rounds of buckshot:

 

[barnettshale]

I have a picture somewhere (in a safe place I can't find) of one of our fields. One side of the two track running through plowed by tractor and disk, the other side by hogs. Hogs did a better job of plowing.

 

[DixieTexian]

They are a probelm but most land owners down here have figured out that people will pay to hunt them, so the urban legend that they need help thinning them out is no longer .

In my experience, most landowners don't want random folks let loose on their land and guiding hunts is a hassle. Doesn't mean they wouldn't appreciate the help cleaning them out, but the help is often as much a hassle as the hogs.

Thermal imaging scopes and “harpoon guns, not one Hell of a lot of “sport” that I can see. Claymore mines work too lets use a few of them.

In order to just keep the population of wild hogs in check, about 50% of the total population needs to be killed each year. You don't worry about sport when trapping mice in your house. Wild pigs are no different.

 

[barnettshale]

found the pictures

 

[SciAggie]

@DixieTexian You nailed it. We go together with neighbors and fly helicopters a couple times per year for coyotes and hogs. This actually has an effect on the population.