Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Pork!

I'm afraid I am not going to shoot a deer this season. The damned hogs keep running them off and eating all the corn. On Sunday, the corn bill came due for these two stinky boars.



The 25-06 is kicking hog butt this year. Head shots with the 100 gr. Ballistic Tips are awesome. Bang-Whack-Flop, every time.

In spite of the sunshine, it was cold as hell. It was 15 degrees when I rolled out to go to the blind and the high that day was 26 degrees.

Can you eat those pigs or are they just too nasty to contemplate on the plate?

depends on if their breeding. when their breeding their pretty rank but you can make saugage or tamales out of them

Yes, they are good eating. I prefer a sow or young pig for the table. We have plenty of them so I drag off the big stinking boars.

They are so numerous it is tempting to shoot and leave the stinky things but lately I have been using a poacher's technique that does the job quickly and the meat's great.

Just cut up the backbone from the tail and using an extremely sharp knife peel the hide down to expose the loin (backstrap in a deer). You'll need to cut down from the front and back legs too. After removing the loins, cut loose the front and back legs leaving the hide on and work on them back at camp. The hind quarters are a bit more work--you'll need to cut carefully near the intestines and you need to find the ball joint and cut through it but the extremely sharp knife helps--I like the Diamond blade or the Outdoor Edge swing blade is a must have--you should be headed to camp in 10 minutes and you can finish the job with more light and a roaring fire--all you've left behind are the tenderloins.

Question for the pig shooters. I'm going to texas in march for hogs. I'm taking a 257 roberts, my gun shoots the factory 117gr interlock hornady load as good as anything. Do I need to take head or neck shots with this load, or will the 257 penetrate their armor near the vitals?

ben

Your Roberts will work just fine. I have shot more than a few using a 243 with what ever 100 grain cup and core shot good..

Head shot with a .257 and 110 AB. Would have no qualms about putting one in the shoulder.

Head shots are all we attempt....the shoulders are excellent for pulled pork sandwiches!! And you never have to look for your piggy when you stick one between eye and ear.

257 Roberts with 100gr Interlocks work well.


Nice pig, Pugs!!!

I love the factory Hornady 117 gr in the .257 Rbts, I have used it on many a deer without a problem. On pigs, either the head or the lungs would be just fine. The last few pigs I have shot with my .257 was with the 100 gr. Hornady SP in handloads, and I did use head shots, which put them down real quick. Not that I didn't trust them for lung shots, but it was getting real dark and I didn't want to mess with the tracking job that might result, even for 100 yards.

I can only remember one hog I didn't shoot in the head and that was shot with a 270 and 130 Hornaday. I don't know what your results might be with lung shots but if you put a bullet in the center of the head your hog won't go anywhere. My boy head shoots them with a .222 Rem and that works just fine.

Thanks for the info. Fresh pork chops and BBq is always a good thing

I like hitting them in the neck or head near the ear, I hunt at night so I just like having them drop.

I've killed quite a few with rifles from 243 to 300 Winnie - mostly 243 to 270 & a boat load with a 7-08. Anything from earholing them to smacking them in the shoulders works great.

A boy I was guiding slipped one just behind a 200 lb sow's shoulders at about 250 yards with an 85gr Sierra BTHP and it exited - it just hit ribs in and out, and she ran, but she left a blood trail blowing sign all the way to the fence posts on the road she ran down - a blind candy peddler could have tracked her.

Sizes are often overestimated on wild hogs - there aren't that many over 200 lbs, and while there are some twice that, they are few and far between.

Come to think of it, I've even shoulder shot some with a 223 - no exit, but they don't go far. I have a buddy who has probably killed 50+ this year alone with his AR 223 and 55g soft points.

Lots of options work - I like the 25-06, 7-08, 270 ball park for them just in case a monster shows up and I want to bust his shoulders.

DJ

Head shots, of course, work very well. I like to shoot them just below and behind the ear. However, if the porker is more than about 75 yards or so away, I feel more comfortable shooting for the shoulder. The head doesn't offer much of a target and most pigs scoot around a lot as you're trying to shoot them.

Also, I wouldn't recommend shooting a pig behind the shoulder. Their vitals are farther forward than a deer's and shooting them there can result in a lost animal.

Best of luck!