Hogs

[USMA65]

My neighbor told me the other day that his property down by a small creek is covered up with wild hogs. In fact, they are tearing the land up badly. So I have a question. I've never hunted hogs before, but
have heard stories of hunters being charged by the critters. Would you hunt hogs with a ML'er? And if so, what would be your backup if the first shot wasn't fatal, or you were charged? And while we're at it, what loads would you use, particularly if using a 45 cal?

 

[Stumpkiller]

Sure would. But I'd use a 16 bore round ball up close or a .54 round ball rifle further off.

A .44 Mag pistol is always a good backup, but if you don't trust your primary maybe it should be reconsidered. I know guys who bowhunt hogs on foot with no back-up. Or at least none they admit to.

 

[VEARL]

I have a 54 Cal T.C. that I would use. RB of course.
If that didn't bring one down, then I would whip out my trusty iron skillet and beat it to death. Carve 'er upnd use the same skillet to make bacon !!! :thumbsup:

 

[Supercracker]

people do get charged but it is nearly always by a wounded pig that they went after too soon after the shot. I've only ever heard of one or two people getting actually charged (as opposed to just being on the trail the pig is trying to escape down). I got into a scrape with one that turned out to have been injured by some other hunter and I know people that have accidentally walked right up on a sow and piglets asleep.

I've killed a bunch of pigs with a bow. Don't worry about them too much. If you use some common sense there's nothing to worry about. Get closer than you think you need to, punch a hole in the boiler room and if it doesn't drop on the spot, then wipe the bore, reload, take a drink of water, eat a snack, THEN go find it.

For some reason it's taken me forever to connect on a pig with the flintlock. (See makin bacon thread)But don't worry about getting jumped on, go get them.

What part of the country are you hunting in?

 

[blackpowderscout]

Don't believe the silly shows on TV with the "experts". If they were as viscious and the terrible man-killers those twits make them to be, the human race would have been gone long ago..

Hunted them my whole life, killed them with guns and knives, caught them with dogs, and the only time I was ever charged and bitten was by a little striped piglet that was pissed!!! The little booger actually latched onto my pants leg and shook it like a dog would a play toy!! LOL. One good kick sent him head over heels over the palmettos...HAHA!!

 

[Sperit de bois]

Underestimate them and let me know how it worked out for you.Their tough and can/will get way ahead,not even.
You will read,hear ,'Well I did this and I did that,,hairy chest,oorraahhh,ever hear from the pig,they will hand you your ass,head and shoulders,shreaded.Their quick,tough and looking for the source of their pain wanting to give it all back, ten fold.I've seen one kill five pit bulls chewing and hanging on every part of their body,after a pack of Plots/Blue tick/Walkers run them to ground.
Close enough to shoot them,,,,to close for a second shot,,their coming like a freight train with an attitude and they don't care,pain isn't in their mix.,except too give it.
Hunted them in Brunswick Ga,Id rather shoot a bear in the ear with a blow gun,in a phone booth with my hands tied, than shoot a pig with a 44 magnum point blank in the lungs,heart,head,,they don't die easy.
You listen to the fools and you will be in the news paper.
But hey!!! give it a try most that can happen is your family grows up without you,or your a cripple.
OH,, tell your wife I'am interested in all of your rifles.
First one I killed in Ga was with a 22,,old fells from Ga said it best,,"Boy your to stupid to breath on your own"Did some research, he was correct,God looks out for idiots,fools and real dumb people,,He was hunting with me that day.

 

[USMA65]

What part of the country are you hunting in?

I am in E TN right next to the Smoky Mountain NP. There are some huge hogs around here, and a lot of them. The surprising thing is that the TN Dept of Wildlife Resources has decided that hog hunting is no longer legal in TN, except in certain areas of the Cherokee NF and on private land with owner approval. Their theory is that hunters are causing the spread of the hogs...you read that correctly. They believe hunters are responsible for the hog numbers skyrocketing due to release of domestic swine. I intend to give it a try. How does the taste compare to domestic hog?

 

[sb 54 cal.]

Would rather eat wild then domestic

 

[blackpowderscout]

Whatever man....

How many guys have been documented killed by a hog that you know of? Now tell me how many folks get tore up by bears?

They aren't frigging Cape Buffalo!

If folks use common sense they'll be fine but there's no need to hype them up to be beastly creatures with supernatural powers of invincibility.

I got this one with birdshot from a .410 at about 10 feet.

This one was a bow kill with a couple dogs baying it up. She was DRT. Nice and easy.

Proper shot placement is everything. Hit 'em where it counts and they'll die, quick.

 

[lonehunter]

Supercracker hit the nail on the head!
Common sense goes a long way with any wild animal, Heck grab hold of a squirrel and see who lets go first.

When I was younger we hunted hogs quite a bit, As BPScout was saying, Dogs, pistols, knives, or catch them alive, depending on where we were hunting. We killed quite a few by slipping up on them and putting a .22 short in the ear hole.
Any ML .50 or bigger would be more than enough for hogs, Get close and make a good shot. :thumbsup:

 

[Sperit de bois]

That was one,,ever have any turn out different,Knew a guy in Ga,use to run them with dogs,pits/walkers.red bone /plots/grab them by the hind legs and throw them on their back,tie them up and bring them out alive.
Do not underestimate their speed or will to hurt you,it's all on you.

 

[blackpowderscout]

One?

LOL.

I'm not going to argue with you. I bow to your superior knowledge of the fine art of downing the FEARFUL Feral Swine.

I guess you must travel a lot to learn all that you know about them since I've never heard of much hog hunting up there in MAINE. Maybe it's a well kept secret like all the moose hunting we do down here in FLORIDA.

Like a great man once said...

Doesn't mean that much to me
To mean that much to you.

 

[Matt85]

One?

LOL.

I'm not going to argue with you. I bow to your superior knowledge of the fine art of downing the FEARFUL Feral Swine.

I guess you must travel a lot to learn all that you know about them since I've never heard of much hog hunting up there in MAINE. Maybe it's a well kept secret like all the moose hunting we do down here in FLORIDA.

Like a great man once said...

Doesn't mean that much to me
To mean that much to you.

am sitting in a recert class at the moment and every one is staring at me cause i just started laughing.

this post made my day! :rotf:

 

[Supercracker]

 

[Supercracker]

I've hunted hogs as long as I've hunted. I'll take them over some goofy deer any day. BPS has hunted them longer than that. Little kids hunt them down here. They're everywhere here.

I've seen MONSTERS in the woods here. 99.9999% of the time they run away. I LITERALLY stepped on about a 150lber asleep in the tall grass one time. He/she ran away. Like he said. They're not cape buffalo. I wish they were. I sincerely do. If they were a tenth as dangerous as they are made out to be hunting them would be orders of magnitude more awesome. OF COURSE, if they're wounded or cornered or surprised they can be dangerous. So can all animals. Under the right circumstances a deer can MESS YOU UP. You'd just have to be an idiot to get into that situation. Hell, I got viciously pecked by a duck once. Doesn't mean I carry a nitro express double rifle with me around the barn. but he did draw blood.

Bottom line, don't be an idiot and you'll be fine.

Give'em a few minutes before you start blood trailing

Be sure you have a good shot

don't ever.........and I mean NEVER, catch a piglet and just stand there with it squealing.

don't ever, and I REALLY mean NEVER buy sow in heat urine and use it on your body.

WHATEVER YOU DO, DO NOT spill Sow in Heat in your house. It's AWFUL. That and Vietnamese fish sauce are the two things that if you spill them in doors you'll have to move. Seriously, just move. The smell never goes away for either one.

Always shoot the smallest pig in a sounder. They are deceptively heavy to pack out.

If you are going to hunt them at night, PRACTICE SHOOTING AT NIGHT. it's totally different than during the day.



I'm way more worried about running into a tweaking hobo or a feral pit bull in the woods than I am an aggressive pig.

 

[Supercracker]

I am in E TN right next to the Smoky Mountain NP. There are some huge hogs around here, and a lot of them. The surprising thing is that the TN Dept of Wildlife Resources has decided that hog hunting is no longer legal in TN, except in certain areas of the Cherokee NF and on private land with owner approval. Their theory is that hunters are causing the spread of the hogs...you read that correctly. They believe hunters are responsible for the hog numbers skyrocketing due to release of domestic swine. I intend to give it a try. How does the taste compare to domestic hog?

Ohhhhh that'll be really good if you can find them. From what I've seen, up there, in the more mountainous areas, you'll have less hogs and they'll be harder to hunt, but it gets cold enough to kill off the ones with more domestic traits. So you have better ;looking, thicker coated, more muscular, shorter and stockier pigs.

I'm very jealous. I've been trying to get up to the mountain WMAs in Ga for a hog hunt for a while but can never get away.

 

[Supercracker]

The surprising thing is that the TN Dept of Wildlife Resources has decided that hog hunting is no longer legal in TN, except in certain areas of the Cherokee NF and on private land with owner approval. Their theory is that hunters are causing the spread of the hogs...

Sadly your F&G guys are right. It probably was hunters turning them loose. However you have them now, that ship has sailed, Pandoras box is open and the ferrets are afoot. Unhunted, with good food supply (farms) and enough population density they can double their population every 6 months. If you guys don't work it out to start hunting them now and hard you're going to have a problem that will never go away.

 

[George]

I am in E TN right next to the Smoky Mountain NP. There are some huge hogs around here, and a lot of them

I can agree with that.

Spence

 

[Stumpkiller]

Don't believe the silly shows on TV with the "experts". If they were as viscious and the terrible man-killers those twits make them to be, the human race would have been gone long ago..

Years ago there used to be a bowhunting target event in Pennsylvania (far enough back to be pre-compound) that had a final meleè event where a pig was released in a large ring and bowhunters shot it and the kill arrow(s) split the pork. One year the event coordinator arranged a Russian Boar. Several participants were hospitalized and many needed stitching up in the Emergency Ward.

They never had that event again.

 

[Supercracker]

LOL

Sounds like something to convince your drunk friends to do at a party.