Minimum Caliber for wild boar

[Tilford]

My late muzzleloader season deerstand is in thick wild hog country and I hope to get a chance at a hog this year. I ussualy take a 50 caliber deer hunting with me but I was told recently that hogs have a thick shoulder blade and if I don't hit the hog in a small area behind the shoulder my 50 caliber would proubably not kill it so I need to take like a 65 caliber. I feel like a 50 caliber would bring down a hog fine but I have little experince with hog hunting and am unsure. Has anyone hunted hogs with a 50 caliber or smaller and if so did you have any trouble?

 

[blackpowderscout]

It will, just fine. But the bigger gun isn't always the solution. I've lost them with .62's with bad shoulder shots and killed them dead right there with .50's in the boilerroom.

Don't aim on a hog like a on a deer. The vitals are lower.

The plate thing is sort of like their cutters. Some have them and some don't. I've seen lots of unimpressive ones and a few that definitely would stop of PRB at distance. There isn't really a way to tell while it's still on the ground though.

This one had one of the thickest shields I've run across in a while. It was a tad over 2 inches towards the top of the shoulders. You couldn't cut it with a knife very well, and it made skinning very difficult due to the fact that you can't really bend it all the effectively when trying to peel it all down.

It's not mythical or impervious to damage or anything however. But it does need to influence your shot placement.

 

[Katahdin]

And when/if they turn to charge,head on,the kill zone becomes very small,their heads are very hard.moving and they are mad,,OH and you are scared and have to reload,,on the run or while climbing a tree.

 

[Treestalker]

When I was about 20 years old I found out I could do a 6 foot standing jump to the top of an auction corral fence when a boar I was herding down an aisle turned and charged from about 50 ft. I would carry a pistol backup if hunting boar with ML. I once killed two wild hogs, a shoat and a gilt, with one shot each of 12 ga ooo buckshot to the head, one sideways and one head on at about 50ft in the piney woods. Killed a helluva water moccasin on the same hunt after I stepped over some myrtle bushes and there he was, far from water. Bring enough gun!. George.

 

[Tilford]

Thanks for the help. I had no Idea to aim lower on a hog

 

[FishDFly]

My late muzzleloader season deerstand is in thick wild hog country and I hope to get a chance at a hog this year. I ussualy take a 50 caliber deer hunting with me but I was told recently that hogs have a thick shoulder blade and if I don't hit the hog in a small area behind the shoulder my 50 caliber would proubably not kill it so I need to take like a 65 caliber. I feel like a 50 caliber would bring down a hog fine but I have little experince with hog hunting and am unsure. Has anyone hunted hogs with a 50 caliber or smaller and if so did you have any trouble?

Your source is full of bunk on caliber requirements to kill feral swine.

"Boars" are male hogs, some have shields and some do not, depends on the age of the hog. Female hogs do not have a shield.

A 50 cal. ball will penetrate the shield.

Everyone thinks, prays and hopes to be "CHARGED" after shooting a feral hog. When a hog is shot, if it runs, it will be in the direction that it's nose is pointing. Hogs eye sight is poor and they are hurting from being shot, they are not going to look around for the source of pain to charge it.

For the most part hogs will run when they see you.
Last year I had a boar hog I would see on a regular basis and he would posture and show some aggression. This went on for some time. This is the only hog I have seen to show aggression for no reason. After some time, the wife complained about him, he went into the freezer.

 

[FishDFly]

Aim lower and further back on hogs, internals are different than whitetail deer.

 

[tecum-tha]

Sam, the caliber is not the problem, but of course shot placement and I would also prefer a heavier projectile like a REAL bullet or something like that.
As your twist is 1:48, this will work just fine.
Your current rifle load is just more a deer load on the weaker side than it is a hog load, as we shoot not too much powder.
Bigger is better, especially if the hogs get bigger and the big boars like Jake saw definitely will have a thick shield.

 

[nwtradegun]

use the heaviest load you can shoot accuate to 50 yards. go for a neck shot puts them down. if not dead you can finish it off with aa knife or another shot. min. caliber is 50.

 

[hanshi]

I use to live in Ga. where they were all over the place but never killed one. Still, I'd think a .50 would do just fine.

 

[okawbow]

I don't think you want to aim father back on a hog. The lungs are small, and sit forward and low in the chest. I've killed several with a longbow, and this one with a 41# recurve,the best shot is broadside straight up the leg, just under halfway up. P3120519 (2) by okawbow, on Flickr

 

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

I used a .50cal with 80gr 2fg goex and a .490" round ball. Shot was around 50-52 yards right behind the shoulder and dropped her on the spot. Est. weight of 175-200lbs. She was a big porky.

 

[FishDFly]

Not all hog hunters will agree with you on shot placement and a hogs internal placement.

 

[Howie1968]

Ill state my experience and opinions, i was a hunting guide for many years free range for hogs. ive had several successful night hunting operations and excellent client recomendations. ive killed hundreds of hogs many trophy dominate 7 year old hogs. ive been on hunting shows in magazines etc. i have more hog hunting pictures then what this forumn would probably allow me to post. i am well known in texas as a guide and hunter so please allow me to state my opinions.
hogs vitals- A hogs vitals are tucked forward of the leg the heart is right at the elbow slightly forward. You almost have to miss low to get the heart. if you go up the leg and no higher then 1/2 way up slightly forward you will be in the lungs, if you go behind the shoulder at a broadside shot you will miss the viatals. however a slightly quartering aiming for the offside leg will give you a good double lung. the key to taking hogs is getting a hole all they way through them and blood on the ground, unless you hit brain or spine and disable them in that manner. In texas its HOT!! hogs wallow in mud, the mud bakes on to there hair and becomes bricklike. so for example you have to get a bullet through the baked on mud through the hair then (shield grissle plate- its really a big callous from rubbing lice and fighting) through the fat into the vitals and hopefully out the otherside. single lunged hogs can live a long time.
Hogs senses- there noses are excellent, hearing is excellent and there eyesight is not poor they see movement very well may not distinguish human or what not but they detect movement incredibly well almost a 7th sense.
hogs are omnivourous- which means they eat plant matter eat animal mater and curioun- which is dead animals.
a 100 lb hog is a different animal then a mature 300 lb animal or bigger. the key to harvesting any hog is shot placement. there is no substitute for hitting a viatal. a .50 with 177 gr rounjdball will take a huge hog given you hit the hog right, however a .62 through the guts is gonna leave a wounded mad hog. shot placement is key. ive guided hundreds of hunters from using longbow to a 500 Ne double rifle with every caliber in between. looking at my notes ive guided 47 hunters with traditional black powder rifles with 90% shot oppurtunity and 75% recovery rate the fails were from using saboted bullets the succeses were from a patched roundball and conical. conicals provided more pass throughs more blood on the ground and higher recovery rate.
my advice would be to take whatever caliber .45 and above that you shoot the most accurate. i personally prefer big heavy conicals, however ive got some .50 cals that shoot patched roundballs excellent. i would not hesitate to shoot one in the heart with a .490 roundball
that being said ive got 2 .54 cals sighted in a white mountain carbine and a lyman deerstalker. ive got some big hogs on my places im gonna put my traditional muzzleloaders to the test as soon as this rain stops, over a month of non stop rain only 3 days break in that time. i hope this has helped ill post as many pictures as allowed to help another learn

 

[Howie1968]

thjese are what i hunt, this is me and a hog i took slightly quartering aimed low and for the offside leg, took its heart out

 

[Howie1968]

this is demonstration purose only this is a 200 lb hog i guided the owner of tinks 69 to he came and hunted with me even a 200 lb hog can have thick callous (shield- grissle plate- its not really a shield but a thick callous from rubbing and fighting, usually the boars have thicker while sows can get thick depending on how much they rub

 

[hanshi]

Big hawg! :hatsoff:

 

[Howie1968]

if you go slightly forward of the elbow heart shot and recovery, sorry to the forumn for the bow pictures this is for education

 

[Howie1968]

this is the last one ill post the shoulder was back when i took the shot slightly quartering, if you notice all my shots are LOW! slightly forward as stated ive got hundreds of pictures i could show of my kills on a hog go low no higher then 1/2 way up and slightly forward of the leg this will give you a minimum of double lung i prefer no higher then 1/3 as soon as the rain quits ill be getting the .54s out and onto some pigs so i can demonstrate further, i will do my best to video.

 

[The Baron]

...as the rain quits ill be getting the .54s out and onto some pigs so i can demonstrate further, i will do my best to video.

Video = yes, please! :thumbsup: