Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only Big Wild Boar dilemma

Been clandestinely taking my nephew shooting against his parents' wishes since he was about eight years old. We've shot mainly .22 rifles, but also some .223, and he took a few shots with my .45 ACP pistol once or twice. Now he's 21, and in college on the left coast. Haven't taken him shooting in a few years, but he used to be pretty good, and he knows safe handling. He wanted to go hunting, so I arranged a boar hunt for me and him which is scheduled for next week. I've been trying to talk him into using my .30-30 with 170s, and I intend to use my .30-06 with 220s, but he insists that he want's nothing short of something that would stop a Grizzly in his tracks. He wants to use something which starts with a four. So, the guns I have like that are a .45-70, a .450 Marlin, and then I talked him into considering the .348 Winchester too. I'd still like him to use the .30-30, though. What would you do? I'm frankly not sure he can handle any of those big calibers, since he has never shot anything with more punch than a .223 in an AR. We will have one day at the range the day before we leave for the hunt. Suggestions?

Take him to the range and let him shoot them all. If he can shoot any of them at 100 yards successfully, I would say let him go for it. 21 is plenty old to handle and of the rifles you listed. After he shoots them he may not want anything else. Some guys enjoy shooting big bores. I am one of them. Go for it.

Yeah, that's what I am going to do. Tomorrow I will take those three to the range to make sure they are still sighted in right. Just inspected them tonight, and ran a patch down all their barrels. Good to go.

I guess if, after shooting the big guns, he still wants to use a grizzly killer on boar, I will have to take one too, and leave my 06 home this time. Can't take a punier gun than my 21 year old nephew. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

He really wanted to go to Alaska for grizzlies, but the most I could afford right now is a boar hunt with dogs. Last one of those I was on was pretty exciting, though, so it should be a fun first hunt for him. If he likes it, I might have to start saving up for an Alaskan bear hunt.

Consider going out to the People's Republik of Kalifornia and going boar hunting in the central valley. Rock Springs Ranch is full of them, but lots of the farmers around there have problems with them, too.

Hawkeye

I saw a wild boar show on TV today. He thumped a big Calif boar with a 30-06 and it dropped like a rock. While he was causually recycling his bolt, the guide said, "Hit him again, he's getting up". The boar ran off and they never found him. That pig went down in a cloud of dust. I never dreamed that he would get up, much less run like a deer. FYI. Good luck.

George

Did you see on Ted Barta's show, he was hunting them with a bowie knife!

I'm going in mid Jan to South Carolina for pigs and quail. I'm taking a 30-30 Savage 99 and my 405 single shot. Plan to shoot a pig with each.

I saw that same show. I was hootin' and hollerin' when he shot that old boar! That thing had 4 feet in the air just as quick as it was hit. I thought he must have hit him with a 338 or a 375. Then it jumped up and was GONE! Lee's right, it took off like a deer. You'd never know that thing was hit at all, let alone take a hit that completely rolled it over. The guy doing the hunting said he would never again carry or recommend anything smaller than a 30 cal for hogs again. That whole thing was just crazy.

LRF,
Where are you planning to hunt in SC this January?
Are you chasing pigs with dogs, or just trying to spot and stalk?
Some of the pigs here are feral, some mixed with European wild hog, and some almost pure European wild mix from Germany, France, and Russia.

You used to have to shoot hogs with small game weapons in Georgia. Lots of pigs are killed in the pen with 22 shorts and head shots. Grizz weapons just aint required. Any good deer rifle should do just fine.

A plantation near Savanha.
I don't know for sure, we are going to try stands at first. Maybe with dogs if that doesn't pan out. The pigs are suppose to be European/Russian type hogs. Frankly feral hogs will be just as much a hoot.
We want to get the pigs out of the way so we can shoot Quail.

The swamps down in lower SC have a lot of feral hogs that escaped during hurricane Hugo in 1989, and have mixed with a few Euro pigs that have wandered down the riverbanks from their home in the mountains, at the GA / NC / TN corner.

I bowhunted down along the lower Savannah back in the late 1970s. I wasn't on one trip with some bowhunting club members when one of them stuck a pig in the gristle plate and ended up with about 80 stitches in he legs. They go down quick if you hit them in the heart, though.

I had a heck of a time convincing my nephew that what I was giving him, the .30-30 with 170s, was plenty of gun for wild hogs. He had read some stories of hogs absorbing lots of rounds and still charging the hunter, so he wanted me to give him one of my big boys. He wanted to use my .450 Marlin or my .348 Winchester. So, I told him to try all three with me at the range, and see which he liked the best. I set up a small bull's eye at 25 yards, told him to take a standing off-hand hold and put the mag full in the circle. He insisted, contrary to my suggestion, on starting with the .450, convinced that it would be no problem for him. It was hopeless. Not one in the circle. I took a shot with it the same way, and put one in the center to show him it was not the gun. He tried again and couldn't put one in the circle, all of his shots clustering erratically about eight inches low, even though he is a crack shot with a .22 or a .223. I loaded the mag for him, but left a spent case in the chamber. Gave it to him telling him it was "all ready to go, just thumb-cock the hammer and shoot." Down the muzzle went when he pulled the trigger. He got the point.

Next we tried the .348. Same deal.

Keep in mind, the most powerful rifle round he had shot before this was a .223 out of an AR 15. Now I gave him the .30-30 telling him it was going to feel about like the .223. First shot was low like the others. Second shot, however, was dead center, and from then on he didn't miss the little circle once at 25 yards from a standing off-hand hold. I told him that he was deadly with the .30-30, and that's what he was taking on the hunt. Now he doesn't doubt the effectiveness of the .30-30 with 170 grainers. He loves that gun, and wants to buy one of his own now.

I took my Lyman peep-sighted 1953 vintage Winchester Model 70 in .30-06 with non-premium round nosed 220s, and my nephew was using my open-sighted 1948 vintage Winchester 94 in .30-30 with non-premium round nosed 170s. Dogs sniffed one out and had a nearly 200 pound hairy brown hog surrounded. I got in to within just a few yards and put one 220 grainer through both shoulders. He was dead on his feet instantly, and dropped as fast as gravity could pull him down. Didn't know what hit him.

Next, my nephew got a chance. Dog's eventually sniffed out another one. This one substantially bigger, and he walked within close range and put one just behind the shoulder, exiting the neck on the other side. Again, like a bolt of lightning, the animal was dead on his feet and went right down. I expected that kind of performance from a 220 grain .30-06, but must admit that I was surprised and very impressed with the performance of the standard Remington, non-premium, 170 grain .30-30 round.

I saw that show and there were a few things that stood out to me. The shooter used a Wincehster Featherweight in .30/06 which is my favorite production rifle, secondly I cannot guess the numbers of pigs I have killed with both it and more rifles of other calibers than I could possibly recall.

This is what you need to know, Trophy Bonded bullets as used in that film are not necessary for pigs and that was no monster by any standards, maybe 180-200 pounds tops.

There is more BS surounding the undershield on a pig which is really a gristly plate mother nature has devised to prevent tusks reaching the vitals on combating boars. It is not and never was, any match for a bullet.

If that hunter used a plain old ordinary 150 grain cup and core bullet he would not have lost the animals.

He made 2 mistakes, firstly, he loaded a heavy premium bullet because of all the BS he has heard before the hunt, secondly, legs in the air is not dead. That was the givaway.

An animal that is instantly dead from the shot falls to the ground without movement. When it went down and the legs went up I was saying to myself, shoot again. It was a classic example for the legendary phrase, "admiring the shot".

The other important thing you need to know is that same hunter is going to base his next hunt and every recommendation he makes to both the viewers and everyone else he meets, on that one single animal. That is not the smart thing to do with any species.

If any of you wish to hunt with your .30/06, use it with standard cup and core bullets and you will enjoy success.

Pigs may be a trophy animal to some, but I can assure you they are vermin killed in their thousands every year by other hunters who simply use anything available with no thought to what cartridge bullet or loads are used. The reason they do this is because pigs are easy killed, if you see enough of them shot and average out the results.

AGW

A 45/70 will knock down the biggest boar you could find,I have killed boars, bears, buffalo,and alot of deer with one.JB

I have killed a few wild or feral hogs, one is on my wall. But I did have a big sow take 4 hits from a .338 WinMag using 200gr Ballistic Tips. With each hit she just snorted and kept running. Finally bled to death and keeled over but she took a LOT of bullets! She was quite large, and an anomoly to be sure but I use big guns on them now.

That's a great post Hawkeye!

Thanks. Here are the only two pictures we have from the hunt. Blurry, I guess, because they were taken with my nephew's cell phone camera.

Aussie is right about feral pigs not requiring a tough bullet.
Their bones are light and soft. The 170-gr in the .30-30 is good. So are the CoreLokt RN 180-gr in the .303, .308 and .30-06.

Both the 170 grain 30-30 and the 220 grain '06 were Remington Core-Lokt. Good stuff for close range shooting. Both exited. The '06 round actually penetrated both shoulders and exited. I imagine the heart and lungs were completely wrecked.

[color:"black"] [/color] After reading all the posts about hog hunting I have gotten the impression that what is being talked about is feral hogs. Another consideration is the bigger guys, like Russian Boars. Here in western NH there is a population of the big Russians, escapees from a game arm during the hurrucane of "38". About 18 yrs ago a fellow shot one that dressed 568 lbs. I saw the animal, it was impressive, one inch thick hide on its chest and shoulders. Shooter said he was deer hunting when it and his herd came over a rise in front of him. He said it took 8 shots with a .308 before the hog went down but not out. Not what I want to confront in the woods with a .243 or similar.