Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Hog hunting - what to expect ?

That's great!

great info in all these posts---but if you get the chance don't pass on piglets.I got 6 one day,all with my 22mag,they were incredible after 2 hours in the smoker.Here in central Florida where I hunt,pigs are everywhere,someplaces they've torn up the woods so badly it's hard to drive my buggy thru those areas.I prefer piggies under 100lbs.There are hog hunts in Naples Florida on craigslist if you're interested.

Hey Bob, I thought only women and kids could kill with the smaller gun!

You can't hunt hogs unless you can holler.......SUEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Great stuff kaywoodie!

"... The wild game processor down the road from me will tell you the same. ..."

The wild game processor in town won't allow you to unload one at his business. He WILL NOT touch one!

They carry a variety of diseases that will boggle the mind, the worst of which are "pseudo rabies" and "brucellosis".

What everyone else has said. I have shot them with multiple calibers. Really aren’t hard to kill. It’s easier to shoot them a little too far back than you think. I would suggest you use the easiest rifle you have to shoot accurately and stay with head shots. Tracking hogs is not fun nor is dragging them. A head shot allows you to drop them where it is most convenient for you.

GreggH

Aiming point is key. Proper shot placement is right in front of the hind legs. So they run to the neighbors and die so you don’t have to drag them off.

with the 223 I just use bulk ammo with FMJ bullets, not going to use expensive bullets on a tick trap

[quote=Aggiehunter03]Aiming point is key. Proper shot placement is right in front of the hind legs. So they run to the neighbors and die so you don’t have to drag them off. [/quote

in the guts work too they run farther away

Think this one had a heart attack ? can't find a bullet hole.
Rio7

A small girl pig that has not reproduced is called a gilt. One that has reproduced is called a sow.
A shoat (shote) is any young hog that has been weaned and a pig is a hog that has not been weaned.

Took awhile to read 4 pages of "hogwash"! LOL!

Majority of what I read was pretty good.
Required weapon/caliber depends alot on hunting method. I've cleaned out more than one hog trap with a .22LR.
Everything from a .22 Hornet to a .30-30 and .270.

Bullet placement is key.

I've cooked all sizes of pigs, from the 250 pounders down to one that field dressed 3 pounds!
Anymore, I refrain from dressing out anything over about 30 pounds. It's nothing to do with size and everything to do with age. Feral hogs can get to about 30 pounds in +/- 90 days.
Swine don't have a lymphatic system. ANY toxins (poisoned seed? herbicides? pesticides?) are stored in the muscle, not the lymph nodes. Feral pigs, 30 pounds or less have less chance (less time?) of retaining toxic levels of ingested toxins. Therefore, "safer" (ahem!?) to eat.

Calibers/guns

Just about any deer class cartridge will work hunting from a blind or stand.

If I'm still hunting or brush busting, I prefer a semi auto or lever in a .30ish caliber. I use an AR in 6.8mm Rem SPC. Great pig round.

Start shooting at a big sounder and they scatter like a covey of 100 pound quail! Your chances of being run over by an escaping piggy are much greater than an attack by an angered swine. Your chances of needing quick follow up shots are high.
Get between a sow and her young and you best batten down the hatches! A storm is brewing! LOL!

Above all! SHOT PLACEMENT!

So far; knock on wood; I've never had but one "bad" tasting feral pig.
Personally, it all comes down to how you handle the animal after the shot.
The one "bad" one I experienced had been gut shot. (not by me!)
Just like a deer, you aren't doing heart surgery, but you can't just cut and slash.
No perforated intestine, lower colon or bladder.
Skin (if you wish), quarter and refrigerate ASAP.
I don't wash out a carcass after gutting, but that's just my "thang". Wash it out if you wish.

Cook to well done.

Enjoy!

My philosophy on pigs ( as pics attest), is if I can tote it with one hand, it’s shootin’/eatin’ size.

We were hunting in Baldwin County, south of Milledgeville. Loved hunting in those swamps. Lots of deer there also. Hogs were easy to hunt, just walk through the woods, within an hour you would come across some piggies. They weren't wary like deer, it was easy to get a shot at a hog.

I killed 5 a couple hours ago. They all needed just one shot each with the 223, no headshots either. I’d love for someone to post a pic of the “gristle shield”, because I’ve never been able to find it. Shoot them from the armpit forward and take a pic before you roll them off in a hole.

The only time I’ve ever had one stop a bullet before it penetrated enough to reach the vitals was a big boar I shot in the shoulder with a 180 Silvertip from a 30/06. It broke up and expanded all the way to the base without breaking the shoulder. Fluke deal for sure.

The big boars have that shield on the shoulders, and it is immense. Little pigs don't have a shield.

Me neither, hit em 200 yards with a 62 grain Bear Claw in the shoulders, busted them both

"... I’d love for someone to post a pic of the “gristle
shield”, ..."

After having skinned multiple pigs, I can assure you, the "shield" isn't "gristle". The skin from just behind the ears to the last rib can be as much as one inch thick.
Yeppers, that "shield" is tougher than a $2 steak, but it AIN'T bullet proof!
I have seen a shield pretty much stop an arrow, but a well placed rifle round "will" do the job. Just use a good bullet.

One of the few animals I've shot through the shoulders with 165gr soft point .308 that didn't exit. Killed the hog, but was surprised it didn't go through.

He had a layer of dried mud on him too.