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Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
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Have basically used just about every caliber on the lists above...but I love me some 17 HMR. With a neck or head shot it drops them instantly and you watch them fall in the scope. It's possible I've gotten more, faster, with a 17 HMR bolt gun than with any AR platform. Or maybe not. But it's close. With the 17 you never lose them in the scope.
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Joined: Feb 2010
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Campfire Regular
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Campfire Regular
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(One thing I learned from Bill during our hunt was that while head-shots work great on pigs, shooting them in the middle of the neck just in front of the shoulders is equally effective, but allows considerably more room for a little aiming area.) Yes! I discovered this as well. Always results in a DRT. In the past, I always toted my 257 Wby on pig hunts, but after discovering(by accident) that a 55 NBT started at 3800 fps from my 220 Swift was just as effective when using Bills method, the Swift typically gets the nod.
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Joined: Oct 2008
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
Joined: Oct 2008
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I'm busy coming up with my version of the "Swine-inator" for a future hogfest. Its based on an improved 50 cal case necked up to .729 . The mold arrived the other day, its set up for a medium hard alloy and should produce bullets that will be powder coated and come in weighing 1275 grains +/- . My intention is to fire it as parallel to the ground as possible and achieve some serious over penetration resulting in multiple birds with one stone, as the action is a single shot McMillan Denali.
.... like tears in the rain
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 78,300 Likes: 1
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 78,300 Likes: 1 |
(One thing I learned from Bill during our hunt was that while head-shots work great on pigs, shooting them in the middle of the neck just in front of the shoulders is equally effective, but allows considerably more room for a little aiming area.) Yes! I discovered this as well. Always results in a DRT. In the past, I always toted my 257 Wby on pig hunts, but after discovering(by accident) that a 55 NBT started at 3800 fps from my 220 Swift was just as effective when using Bills method. Ive only shot one with that placement, and used a 6.8...DRT I might have to try it with the .223AI !
"...the left considers you vermin, and they'll kill you given the chance..." Bristoe
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Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 839
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Campfire Regular
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Keep your shots a little more forward than a Deer. Pigs are not that tough but they don't bleed. Especially the big Boars. The Grissle plate seals up like tire rubber. The biggest problem is you don't know how big of a Pig you will run into. 60lbs or 300lbs? If you are close over feeders head shots. My go to is AR-10 .308 165gr GameKings. The Largest Boar I shot was 354lbs with a 6.8 SPC. 110gr Pro Hunter. He was quartering away. Bullet was lodged in his offside armpit. He went about 50yrds. Didn't bleed at all. Luckily I was able to track him in the mud. .
Last edited by NEBHUNTER; 02/28/21.
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Campfire Regular
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I am having much more fun with Hogs in South Texas since the switch from .308 to 450 Bushmaster.
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 60,149 Likes: 11
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 60,149 Likes: 11 |
Tom,
The reason the center-neck shot works so well on pigs that everything vital in the next--spine, large blood vessels--runs right through that area, unlike on many longer-necked animals.
Bill Wilson said he learned it from an old-time pig hunter in northeast Texas, near Bill's ranch. It's a pretty neat area--a lot more water and big trees than South Texas--but also LOTS of pigs, many big ones, because there's more natural food.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 4,925
Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
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I think the so called "plate" on their shoulder is grossly overestimated. Yeah, you might not shove a knife through it, but like Bugger, I found a .30-06, even with a lightly loaded 150 grainer, goes right through! What rifle is that? Okie John
If Montana had a standing army, a 270 Win with Federal Blue Box 130's would be the standard issue.
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Tracker
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iI and several other hunters just returned from Texas where we hunted "hogs" We killed enough to take home about two hundred pounds of boned out meat for sausage making......that said a lot pf them got away from us and yes.....some poor shooting may have been the cause. But a great discussion then broke out about the ideal hog gun.....
The range was under 150 yards most of the time and the pigs ran about 150-200 pounds......a few smaller but none larger.
We hunted west of Mountain Home , Texas on the Priour Ranch..,.,.a high fence antelope size game farm with over 30 species of game from Africa and Asia and Europe. The risk of an errant shot killing one of the trophy antelope was not great as they stayed their distance most of the time so that wasn't a consideration.
My question:.....what in your opinion is the best rifle for this style of hunt. Often the pigs were together in groups as large as 50 animals per sighting so follow up shots seemed to be the main concern but that often led to missing the first shot and getting nothing. I like a 308 with 150- or 165-grain bullets and a relatively low-powered scope. But as others have pointed out, almost anything can work, so I’d focus on two other things: How did you hunt? A bunch of guys all opening up at once doesn’t work. Get into an ambush line with a designated first shooter. Everybody picks a hog based on his position in the line. Nobody shoots until the designated shooter does, then everyone opens up. Rehearse this with empty rifles first. Designate one or two guys to hold their fire and wait for runners, which will start popping up a few minutes after the first shot is fired. What zero did you use? In a 308 with 150-grain bullets, the Jack O’Connor Zero (+3” at 100 yards) puts the bullet dead on at 245 yards. The bullet will be more than 2” above line of sight from 70-200 yards and more than 3” above the line of sight from 110-165. That can cause high misses, especially on movers. The same load zeroed +¾” at 100 is dead on at 150 and within +¾” of the line of sight all the way out to about 170. Now that you’ve hunted there, you can review all of the things that didn’t go well and fix them before you go back. Okie John
If Montana had a standing army, a 270 Win with Federal Blue Box 130's would be the standard issue.
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Campfire Tracker
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Campfire Outfitter
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Campfire Outfitter
Joined: Jan 2002
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I've never hunted feral hogs, and not likely to be hunting them in the future, but I have a BLR in 358 Win that I'm keeping around, just in case. Just 'cause.
Sic Semper Tyrannis
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I’d 100% agree. The plate is there like Ingwe mentioned & you might not want to shove a knife thru it (but you can and after running hounds after them for my teenage years I know it’s possible to step in & stick them)
If I were traveling to hunt hogs I’d bring my favorite deer gun and use deer bullets of any caliber. Hogs are pretty easy to kill, especially the first one or two before the scramble and the firefight begins.
I never knew why the neck shot worked so well - thanks MD!
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Campfire Tracker
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While some balk at the idea of its very existence, the "plate" on older boars is reality and can soak up an inappropriate bullet like a sponge. While rare to be much more than a half-inch or so, I've seen them over an inch thick, and they have the consistency of hard rubber. Over the years, I have killed several older hogs with patches of scar tissue near the shoulder area. Digging into them often revealed bullets -- or what remained of them. I've also found imbedded pieces of tusks. No, hogs aren't bullet-proof. But attention to detail when selecting your ammo and then with bullet placement is paramount.
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Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 151,726 Likes: 14
Campfire Savant
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Campfire Savant
Joined: Apr 2011
Posts: 151,726 Likes: 14 |
They are fun to shoot with a 45 in a round pen.
Last edited by hanco; 02/28/21.
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Bobby that’s a great point about inappropriate bullets, I imagine you’re talking about varmint bullets. Other than lots of 85-87gr spritzers back in the 90’s I haven’t personally ever intentionally fired a varmint bullet into the plate but plenty of regular deer bullets have done just fine.
Bobby that is a great camera you have - nice pics!
Last edited by PintsofCraft; 02/28/21.
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 78,300 Likes: 1
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 78,300 Likes: 1 |
I think the so called "plate" on their shoulder is grossly overestimated. Yeah, you might not shove a knife through it, but like Bugger, I found a .30-06, even with a lightly loaded 150 grainer, goes right through! What rifle is that? Okie John Thats a Rem 700 fitted into a Mountain Rifle stock, Red pad added.
"...the left considers you vermin, and they'll kill you given the chance..." Bristoe
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Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 78,300 Likes: 1
Campfire Oracle
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Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 78,300 Likes: 1 |
Tom,
The reason the center-neck shot works so well on pigs that everything vital in the next--spine, large blood vessels--runs right through that area, unlike on many longer-necked animals.
. I will agree for damn sure that pigs DO NOT have long necks!
"...the left considers you vermin, and they'll kill you given the chance..." Bristoe
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Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 60,149 Likes: 11
Campfire Kahuna
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Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 60,149 Likes: 11 |
This was perhaps the most fun I've had on a pig hunt. Took place in Texas a decade ago, where a few gun writers were testing out a Sauer autoloader in .30-06. The Sauer folks brought along a running-boar target, like the ones competed on in Europe, where it's a very serious deal. I'd done a lot of running-game shooting over the years, so did pretty well, as the target shows. (Can't remember the exact yardage but believe it was 100 meters. Had previously shot the same basic running target in Germany, which helped.) We hunted pigs during daylight, and among others (including a pair of sows around 200 pounds, which I boned out and brought home) I took this big boar. The ammo was 165-grain Hornady factory with 165-grain Interbonds, which was VERY accurate in my rifle. The boar was killed at close range, and the bullet went through both gristle plates and shoulders--and exited. The boar's snout dug into the ground, and he flipped end-for-end.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck
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Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 21,694
Campfire Ranger
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Campfire Ranger
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 21,694 |
Fine. That is it. That's all I can take. I think I will head down to Texas this week and test the 308 WCF on Pigs.
"The number one problem with America is, a whole lot of people need shot, and nobody is shooting them." -Master Chief Hershel Davis
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