Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only 500 Jeffery Goes Hog Hunting

My youngest son and I went hog hunting today. Eric took our vintage Rem 700 270 shooting 150g Partitions, I took the 500 Jeffery shooting 570g TSX's. Of course my son got the biggest boar at about 12 feet coming for him in deep thickets. His first shot put him down, right through the eye but he was squealing tryin to get up. It took two more shots from the 270 to quiet him down. I got mine at 8 feet, he looked at me, I looked at him and then a second later I fired. My 500 Jeffery, hit him like a tank was dropped on him, went through the skull between the eyes, ripped out a foot of his spine and exited after about 6 feet of penetration. We hunted with dogs, it was a blast!

Some pics of me and my son, his great big boar the guide estimated at 550 lbs undressed, mine was about 100 lbs lighter.

Little Creek Ranch, Collbran Colorado



Eric's Hog





My little piggie





A great time!

That's OK--you done it the right way! That is one hell of a boar!

Those are some big pigs! Fenced operation or free range?

I swore I saw the comment looks like domestic pigs.... now I don't see it...

Anyway where did ya think wild ones came from mostly here in the US? I've shot more than a few that looked like a bunch of different domestic breeds...

Nice shape on the hogs though.... they aren't always in good shape when wild....

Still gotta wonder about teh charges like these that I read of.... i've never been charged by a wild pig, save a couple that were already wounded, but I"ve shot more than a handful..... Lost count a long time ago, but lets just say well over 100, at least 50 plus with a bow.... and who really knows how many with firearms.... About like javelina charges.... pretty rare

He wasn't charging cause the dogs were worrying him, he did look my son in the eye and took two steps towards him before he dropped it. This was fenced land, but in the bottom land where the hogs were it was so thick you would never have seen them without dogs. It was a thousand acre fenced ranch.

Why would anyone import pigs. Keep shooting them down there so they don't make up here.

I know they are fenced, but it seems one way or another they will find a way to get out.

Hogs (Sus scrofa) are not native to the Americas. Those hogs are feral animals (domestic animals that have been allowed to run wild).

I keep running across accounts of various people who are supposed to have imported "Russian boars" back before USDA clamped down on the importation of hoofed livestock (why they are always "Russian", I don't know). The fact is that hogs quickly revert to a body shape that works wherever they live in the wild. I recall a trapper in Arkansas that told me that Arkansas Razorbacks were "about one-third head with skinny asses--if you pick them up by the ears, they should just about balance!"

All of these animals are the offspring of domestic hogs that either escaped captivity or (as is the case in areas where I have worked) domestic hogs that were allowed to run free. Settlers figured out pretty quickly that hogs didn't have all that may natural enemies, they breed twice a year and have litters of 10-12. Females are very protective of the young. In the fall, the flush vegetation of summer and the mast crops in the fall result in hogs being, well, "hog fat".

They simply ear-marked the ones that they could catch and trapped them in the fall to make bacon and smoked hams to help tide them through the winter. The high school kids down here used to gang up and bail off the school bus at one ranch or another and rope hogs to ear mark them. It was great fun and continued a more or less hallowed pastime.

There you go, you can't kill a hog in Colorado with a 270.

Looks like a fun hunt. My dad and son and I used to hunt them together a bit, also with dogs and even though they were truly wild in the parts of Calif where we hunted them they looked a lot like yours do i.e. similar in look to the domestic swine from hich they descended not that long ago. I shot one that looked more like a European boar with the big head, small hips, big teeth and all black but most were mixes of colors. Few that we saw or killed got very big, 300lbs was a HUGE pig, but lots around 200 and they always ate good. Looks like a fun hunt.

Is that a CZ550 I see in the picture of you with your hog?

Great that your son will and did hunt with you.

Thanks! Yes, it's a CZ 550 worked over by Harlan at Triple River (rebarreled rechambered it from a 375 H&H), then by Wayne at AHR (3 pos M70 type safety, single stage trigger, straightne and fill bolt handle) and some final but essential feed work done on the magazine follower by Kevin Weaver. It's been a project, but now it functions flawlessly and has always shot sub MOA (though really not necessary for a 500 Jeff). I have about 400 rounds through it, but hunting with it is a lot more fun than going to the range!

Thanks! Yes, it's a CZ 550 worked over by Harlan at Triple River (rebarreled rechambered it from a 375 H&H), then by Wayne at AHR (3 pos M70 type safety, single stage trigger, straightne and fill bolt handle) and some final but essential feed work done on the magazine follower by Kevin Weaver. It's been a project, but now it functions flawlessly and has always shot sub MOA (though really not necessary for a 500 Jeff). I have about 400 rounds through it, but hunting with it is a lot more fun than going to the range!

Sounds a lot like what I had done to mine. Its true, great minds DO think alike!

Holy smokes, that first hog is HUGE! good job to you both!

Agreed, 100%!

Wonder how a 223 or even 22-250 would have done on that particualr hog? Even with my beloved TSX bullets I personally would have felt a tad undergunned with that one. My 257WBY is the smallest I would consider using if a piggie that big could be in the offing. Not being a smartaleck, I really would be curious about that one.

That sounds like a great rig.
Got the AHR safety and trigger for my CZ 550 in .375 as well - perfect choice.
Kind of start dreaming about a .500 right now...

to use for hog hunt Jeffery 500 elephant gun this is something new...are the hogs so huge in States or are they so dangerous ...
anyway good pictures

No, I just wanted to hunt with it. I'm still at least 2 years from a cape buffalo hunt, so I'm using the 500 Jeff to hunt everything local (deer, elk, black bear, jack rabbits lol ...)

Great way to practice up for a future hunt. Familiarity with one's weapon is a huge plus.

good site for info on feral hogs

http://www.texasboars.com/articles/facts.html

this shows how to tell a Russian feral hybrid.I've killed a few that were hybrids.

http://www.texasboars.com/articles/aging.html

Thanks for the info stxhunter, we will be sure to cook all of our pork well done.