Minimum Caliber for Feral Pigs

[satx78247]

And you would bet your LIFE on that, against a 600+ pound Russian?

yours, satx

 

[Okie Hog]

i'm a dedicated hog hunter. Killed scores of wild hogs using the other type of muzzleloader. Then started hunting hogs with a conventional gun and patched round ball.

i've killed about 30 wild hogs with my .50 and .54 New Englander rifles using patched round ball. Five or six of those boar hogs weighed over 300 pounds. Few of the hogs i've shot with patched round ball have gone over 40 yards after being shot. Some bang flopped. A few needed a coup de grace.

Wild hogs ain't rhinos and they are not hard to kill when hit right. The shield on a boar hog is not a big deal. A .50 or .54 patched round ball penetrates the shield of a 300 pound boar with no problem.

In the past 30 days i've killed 11 hogs. One boar weighed at least 300 pounds: He bang flopped when the .54 ball hit him. Only two hogs needed a second shot.

On a broadside hog put the ball behind the crook in the front leg.

Good luck with your hog hunting.
http://boarmasters.com/hog-anatomy-and-physiology/

 

[satx78247]

I fully understand about being a "dedicated hog hunter", as I started hunting wild boar in BRD over 4 decades ago.
(ADDICTING, isn't it?)

I congratulate you on your take of 11 head in a month..

Nonetheless, have you ever run into and/or killed a truly BIG Russian/feral cross, like the one that the game warden killed with 8 rounds of 30.06 165grain JSP? ====> Those really big boars "take considerable killing".
(I've seen one that likely weighed at least 700-750# in the Sulphur River swamp & wouldn't have wanted to try taking him from a ground blind with my .58 caliber Zouave, absent a convenient tree to climb nearby. - Once I find myself a 12-bore SxS combination gun, I hope to get him in my sights, as I have a "vacant spot" on my den wall.)

just my OPINION, satx

 

[Okie Hog]

Nonetheless, have you ever run into and/or killed a truly BIG Russian/feral cross, like the one that the game warden killed with 8 rounds of 30.06 165grain JSP? ====> Those really big boars "take considerable killing".

Yep, i've heard vivid stories about folks botching shots on hogs. Been chased by big wounded boar hogs twice. Most of the hogs in this area are Eurasian boar crosses. A car dealer in OK City ordered 100 pairs of hogs from Germany and turned them loose all over SW OK, including the wildlife refuge.

This old boar had a tag in his ear from a game farm in Bavaria. Killed him with a .22 LR on Quanah Parker Range, Ft. Sill. Range was about 20 yards.
http://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll268/alsaqr/CopyofBoar25Sep07001.jpg

Outside of deer season hunters on Ft. Sill are limited to shotguns and small shot or rimfire rifles. i often hunt hogs there with a .22 magnum and CCI FMJ ammo.

Good luck with your hog hunting.

 

[satx78247]

"A car dealer from OK City ------"

That's just what we farmers needed, as they do tens of millions of dollars of damage to property each year here in TX!
(SARCASM)

As NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine said, "If you don't have hogs, you will."

yours, satx

 

[Supercracker]

A buddy of mine killed a great big pig (2 people couldn't move it) with a .410 and bird shot up real close.

I once shot a big pig in the shoulder with a .50 PRB and had it stand up, shake it off and walk away.

Shot placement trumps everything.

Do this and you're fine whether you're shooting a .22 or a 12 Bore double rifle.

 

[satx78247]

NICE "Porky Pig", imVho!

Btw, I long ago lost count of the "wee piggies" that I've taken for the BBQ after taking them with my Zouave. = Especially, as I've also given many away to "meatless friends".
(Usually, a couple of dressed-out/BBQed hogs gets you permission to hunt/fish/camp on at most any farm/ranch.)

yours, satx

 

[Bob J]

Having shot a number of hogs with a .54 loaded with 90 grains 2f and prb, I have noticed that 100 to 200 pounders tend to run 50 - 100 yards unless hit in the spine (neck or back). Have previously related the episode with 175 - 200 pound boar that dropped like a rock when head shot, only to get up and tear around in circles trying to find my friend and I (this was at night), absorbing a second .54 hit in the mid-section and several 44 mag hits before putting us up a tree. Obviously the head shot wasn't thru the ear! So I decided to upsize to a .62 loaded with 110 gr 2f.
Have not been out hog hunting since the jeager was built, but hope to correct this soon :grin: Those of you fortunate enough to own Kodiak .72 doubles should be in good shape for the big boars, provided you have developed loads and are practiced up

 

[FishDFly]

We bred the cape buffalo strain from our feral hogs, you will be safe, the 500 hundred hogs are not in the woods. Only in the writings of folks minds, unless you feed them in an enclosure.

We trap when it is cool weather, they die in the traps when it is hot, we get one 300 pound hog per year.

 

[BigBoreBLR]

Nation Geographic is right.

I know someone who regulars livestock auctions. I live in a NYC Resort weekender area.

As soon as the legally allowed hog hunting, city folks were buying hogs. OF course they weren't going to release them.......

Let's solve a non-existing problem by allowing people to make problems, so they can have fun fixing them.

 

[robert reed]

Some folks (myself included) have a tendency to get "hog fever" when the big pig gets close and are not able to make a "minute of ear" shot.
I think that an 1842 style .69 musket, with bayonet mounted, would be just right for pigs.
If the shot doesn't do the job, I have the ultimate "pig sticker" in hand. If the pig is of the disposition that allows a .22 short pistol to be stuck in it's ear, I can save my shot for the one I don't see.
It may sound as if I am poking, but I am serious about this choice of armament for pigs. I like muskets, they fit me.

 

[Wolfbane]

I would tend to go for a 45 calibre minimum, but with conicals not round ball. If using round ball I would be more inclined toward a 54.

 

[Bougalee]

I'm with you anything over 300 lbs is a big, big, boar. Just not enough groceries in the woods to make them much bigger. I hunt hogs about twice a week, killed the most with my .41 mag. Hogs are not that difficult to kill, can be a bear to track, as the fat tends to choke off the blood spoor.

A .45 cal. well placed will do the job, would prefer a conical, but a ball will do the job, if you do yours.

 

[Jimbo47]

I'm with you anything over 300 lbs is a big, big, boar. Just not enough groceries in the woods to make them much bigger. I hunt hogs about twice a week, killed the most with my .41 mag. Hogs are not that difficult to kill, can be a bear to track, as the fat tends to choke off the blood spoor.

A .45 cal. well placed will do the job, would prefer a conical, but a ball will do the job, if you do yours.

You are absolutely correct! You won't see many true wild hogs much over 300# in the woods with what they have to root around and find. Anything bigger surely broke out of a pen somewhere and had been eating pretty good at a trough in some farmers pen. :rotf:
A .45 caliber is enough, and It's all about shot placement.

 

[satx78247]

There have been at least 2 well over 500# Russian/feral cross boars killed in my home county within the last year. = Both weighed over 400# field-dressed when they were weighed at the local, USDA certified, cotton scales.

What "outsiders" just don't get is that the hogs are eating farm crops down to the ground, foraging in "sanitary" landfills AND raiding stock feeders all over Texas (and in other States too.) & therefore are NOT primarily "eating in the woods".
(One friend of mine in Northern VA lost his entire field of crops in just ONE night to hogs in July 2013. = They ate the corn, melons, tomatoes, vines & all & ruined the part that they didn't consume. - Tim has "given up" on truck farming & has taken a job as a welder for the county maintenance shop!)

yours, satx

 

[Jacko50]

I have a Hunt coming up this weekend. All I have is a .45 and I'll be Hunting in the same Manor I Hunt with my Selfbow, be patient, get in Close, be even more patient and Shot placement. I think having the disipline not to take a Shot is most important, be prepared to walk away if a great Shot angle does not present. A while back I called up my Mate with his 73# Bow when I felt a Boar was to Big for my Gear to Handle - there will be other Hunts. Every time I have ever been Charged by a Boar was because I got in between it and it's escape Route, pushed it too hard to early or ignored the warnings. They can be tough to Kill but so can a Rabbit, how a Rabbit gets away after a load of No4's from a 12 Gauge astounds me. A Hole in the Aorta or Heart is just that they are Dead on there Feet, be Patient and don't Push them

regards Jacko

 

[satx78247]

Perhaps, my experiences of being treed by wild boar is because of my inability to discern the wounded hog's intended escape route.

You might want to review the experience of the post game warden (mentioned above), who when faced with a large/aggressive boar took 8 shots of 30.06 rifle fire & over 5 minutes to end the hog's life. - Had he not had the relative safety of a pickup truck, things might well have gone badly for the game ranger.

In any case, I want TOO MUCH gun for BIG boars.

yours, satx

 

[wrichi]

Dear sir
A good 12 bore shotgun do the job perfectly.with in close ranges a good load from a twelve, break bones and penetrate the vitals of any animals except buffalo and elephant I think.6 hardened lead balls before a good quality powder load would destroy almost any animals, except elephant and buffalo, in one blow.99% of the times a shot placed below the shoulder never gives chance to the wild boar to attack or run. I am talking about the boars up to 150 kilograms. (I haven't seen bigger one yet) I never think about trees if I got them with in 20 yards and shows their broad side.with in the range of 20 yards very few gauges of rifles can match the stopping power of a well built and loaded shotgun.
Thank you sir