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.

AR15 with a good low power illuminated scope. Bullets from 55 to 77 grains and try to shoot them in the front half.

Any rifle you would use to hunt deer. Second shots are difficult as they scatter instantly. Your better off focusing on one good killing shot. A second shot at a second pig is a bonus. With a round that will penetrat line up two for the first shot.

Hogs don't take much to kill. Like anything else it is shot placement.

The ideal rifle depends to some degree on how you are hunting them and what sort of cover they're in. For pigs the size you are describing a .223 would do, with the right bullet. I've killed pigs that size with smaller, but shot placement is at a real premium. With a bigger calibre than .224" you don't want a bullet that expands slowly IMHO - a plain cup and core opens fast and drops them where a tough bullet may not open well and therefore not kill nearly as well unless you spine or brain them.

Walking up on pigs I like a light rifle that fits me well so I can get the shots away fast. If you bounce a mob of pigs you'll often be able to drop several of them if you get your shots away quickly, provided of course that you make them count. I have dropped as many as eight out of a single mob with a bolt action, maybe taking the odd step or two to keep them in view. You may do better with a self-loader, if you are disciplined enough to make each shot count.

The same rifle also does the job if you are spotlighting them.

Some of the shots can be close, if there's cover - sometimes pigs get a bit confused and run at you, or want to have a go at you - so for the shooting I do I like a scope with a low enough magnification to allow for this. Shooting them out in open paddocks though you might want to be able to reach out a bit, and may want a bit more magnification.

The perfect pig rifle is a Savage 99. This one is a 358. It doesn’t take much to kill a pig. Shot placement is the key, just like any other animal. I’ve killed truck loads with a .223. This was one weekend in Weirgate Texas. I think this was the coolest time I’ve ever had hunting, damn pigs kept coming back, ran out of bullets, could have gotten a couple more if I’d put more in my pocket.

308 Winchester
300 WSM
280 Remington
7mm Weatherby


......are my choices & all of them work.

I use a 6.8 SPC in a Ruger Mini 30 (re-barreled from 7.62-39) and it is very effective. Hogs don't like it at all. Heaviest bullets I have used are 120 Sierra Pro Hunters but mostly I use the VMAX bullet. At 6.8 speeds, it behaves like a hunting bullet when it expands.

A whole lot of "Big Gun" pig rifles have been built for that dream hunt to get a knock down. But it seems that in the end the first shot is the best shot and most guys firing from field positions shoot a lot better with a whole lot less recoil.
Action type and cartridge choice are variable among pig hunters but keeping it low recoil sure improves the, dead on the first shot, from what Ive seen. Esp if your talking night vision and low light shooting.
Bullets well placed are what help in the DRT department.

Hanco, that classic rifle should be called the Harvestor.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

THIS...exactly

Here is probably my favorite hog gun .223A! Burris 3x9 with illum reticle for night shooting. Aim for the brain, one and done. These pigs were killed with a 60 gr NBT

Great pics, Hanco! I’ve only shot hogs in Central CA where I grew up on a cattle ranch.

At the time (80’s & 90’s) we only had a .243, 270 & 30-06’s. We never changed our deer loads which were 130 or 150 grain Speers or Hornady. We killed them with .243 as well (85gr any C&C) but that was when we bumped into them while coyote or ground squirrel hunting. Killed them easy - no fuss. They get a reputation for being tough because some folks shoot them too far back in fear of that ‘grissle plate’ which isn’t really something to shoot around IMO and get some long runners that just go off & die elsewhere which sucks but happens.

Wish we had populations like what you in Texas do back in the day - I really miss hog hunting.

Sounds like the gun and caliber were not the main problem...

The below the ear shot just works. Next week...

PIG GUN ?? What ever I have handy. Rio7.

An AR in 6.8 SPC would fir the bill nicely

I shot some with a 6.8 in a bolt gun. It worked GOOD!

My first 99, a 308 I bought from Roy. My boy has claimed it. A 308 is the perfect pig-deer caliber for piney woods hunting.

bmo harris branch

My first 99, a 308 I bought from Roy. My boy has claimed it. A 308 is the perfect pig-deer caliber for piney woods hunting. These were caught in a round pen.

bmo harris branch

For pure fun, I like a .41, .44 or .45 caliber handgun. AR-15s work pretty well. I generally run 64-grain Nosler bonded solid base bullets in my .223 for big game and they do a lot of damage and penetrate like crazy. Something short and quick handling of roughly .308 power works well. This year I've primarily been using a .25-06 because I have a .25-06 Kimber Montana and a bunch of factory ammo and am too lazy to reload. The Kimber looks pretty beat because I've mistreated it and hunted it hard. It probably has around 100 rounds through it but almost all of those have been on game that has varied in size from coyote to elk. It is for me for some reason one of those guns that doesn't miss. Running or stationery, 40 yards or 400 yards, it gets the job done. Now that's a hog gun.

Have shot them with everything from a 22LR to a 458WinMag. They all died with correct shot placement. Lost one after I shot it with a 9mm, lost the blood trail in a rainstorm, poor shot placement on my part.

The first pig shoot I went to the other hunters told me that it would take a 338 Win Mag or better due to the hard plate on their side.

I took a 30-06 with 180 grain Nosler Partition - shot a large pig just in front of the shoulder and high. The pig didn't take a step. I've since learned that it didn't take that much of a cartridge/load.

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!

I whacked one once with my 338-06, 225 Accubond, 2700+fps. Too much gun in my opinion for the porkers. Blew a baseball size hole on the off side. Still, the pig was deader than last year's romance.

Killed a lot of "woods hogs" as a kid around East Texas with a .22 LR - also used 20 gauge shotgun slugs. Later used .30-06, once a .300 W. Mag. A Savage 99 .300 Savage also did a great job for hogs. My "favorite" woods pig caliber is probably .44 mag. Shot a bunch with a T/C with a 14" barrel and a suppressor using subsonic loads pushing 300 - 330 gr hardcast bullets. My wife's Ruger semi-auto .44 mag is also very good.

Mike Holmes

Anyone using the 6x45 or the "new" 6 ARC on an AR platform for this?

Pig rifle...






GR

One of my favorites

My current "favorite" is a .260 Rem MRC X2, suppressed. It actually holds one in the chamber and 5 down. I do a lot of spot and stalk and prefer either a bolt gun or a Marlin 1894 .44 mag lever.

Biggest pig I ever killed was with a 222mag shooting 55gr PowerLokt HPs. Granted I shot it twice but I’m not sure the second was warranted. I have no idea what it weighed but it was big.

The 7TCU pushing 110s to 2625 or 120s to 2575 out of my 20” 700 kills the heck out of them with minimal blast and recoil. At these speeds the softer bullets work great. I’ve had good luck with Speer TNTs, Sierra ProHunters, and Nosler Ballistic Tips. If it would fit in an AR mag it might be perfection.

I don’t think the 223 shooting decent bullets out of an AR can be beat for the combo of speed, shootability, and killing power. 77TMKs will reach the vitals on pretty dang big pigs from just about any angle. They don’t do so well with broken wheels which makes it much easier to get a follow up in too, I’ve no qualms shooting a runner right up the ass to slow him down. After all they aren’t deer and are regarded at about the same level of existence as cockroaches around here. Don’t discount the lowly 55gr Hornady spire point, they penetrate and kill very well for a plain old cheap bullet.

Strangely the only one I can say the “shield” gave me trouble on was a big boar I shot with a 30/06. He went down and got up and took off. My cousins caught him with their dogs and knifed him a while later. He had a 30 caliber bullet expanded all the way to the base resting against his shoulder blade and seemed to be doing fine until they stuck him. I think he weighed 280 something.

Really, really hard to beat an AR15 with a suppressor. Regular old 55gr SP kill pigs just fine, all the way up to the big ones. With a suppressed semi auto, its not hard to kill a dozen or so in one sitting.

Why in the crap would you trail one?

338 Win mag will do the trick also.

TC Encore in 405 win.

Y'all using the big, slow guns are missing out...shooting pigs is flat fun, and stacking them is most of it.

LOL. I started to trail a big one once. All alone on the lease, right at dusk. Took about three steps into the mesquite thicket, then thought to myself "WTF are you doing?" The reason I started to trail him: to make sure he was dead. The reason I stopped myself: to make sure I didn't get dead.

Hell...best case scenario is they run off and ide somewhere else...at least that way I don't have to drag them off the field.

‘‘Twas in my younger days, many years ago. Now, I shoot ‘em and leave them where they lay, or let them run off.

Have killed a few pigs here and there in the past 30+ years, mostly feral pigs in at least three states of the U.S.A., plus central Europe and warthogs in Africa (where in some places they're considered as much of a pest as our feral pigs). Have done so with over a dozen cartridges from the .223 Remington on up, and more than one load in some of those rounds.

This one was taken in Texas with a head-shot from one of Bill Wilson's excellent AR-15's in 6.8 SPC around a decade ago, and half an hour later took a coyote at around 200 yards. Bill is a pig-hunting fool, and in fact bought this Texas ranch primarily for pig hunting, though it also has some fine whitetails. Dunno how many pigs he (and his guests) kill each year, but it's quite a few, and at the time he thought the 6.8 with various Barnes TSXs was tops. More recently he developed the .300 HAM'R, which basically duplicates .30-30 ballistics in an AR-15, and feels it's a little better on big boars. Have shot one of his .300 HAM'Rs some, but not on pigs. (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.)

Have shot pigs from up close running to pretty long range, especially in coastal Texas where the sand-dune country can be very wide-open. That was with a 7mm SAUM, which crumpled them well. Also have killed them with traditional European boar cartridges (especially 9.3s) and in Africa with the .375 H&H, because was hunting other stuff considerably larger. It's all great, and so far haven't found a round that doesn't work well with the right bullet, shooter and conditions.

My favorite pig shot was on a now deceased friends ranch outside of Camp Wood Texas. This was 2000 or so. I was in a ground blind hunting deer with my 9 year old middle son. I had my Ugartechea 12 gauge Jabali SxS slug gun with the well regulated 1 oz Brenneke MP slug. A hog came from the right side of the blind, put his nose in the air then just rocketed towards us then turning away giving me an azz shot at about fifty yards. Two inches right of his hole was mine and he tumbled.

300 HAM’R

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.

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.

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.

Ive only shot one with that placement, and used a 6.8...DRT

I might have to try it with the .223AI !

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.
.

I am having much more fun with Hogs in South Texas since the switch from .308 to 450 Bushmaster.

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.

What rifle is that?


Okie John

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

My favorite is my Contender rifle fitted with a 20 1/8th" 7mm Bullberry barrel. It drives a 120 grain Ballistic Tip to 2651 fps and has accounted for close to 1/4th of the 500+ hogs I have killed. Most of those have been taken with Contenders and variants of the 30-30 case. Given proper bullets, they provide all the power I need. I rarely take head or neck shots, use bullets specifically matched to the task at hand and have never lost an animal.

My 7mm Bullberry currently wears a Docter 8x56 with illuminated 4LP reticle. The fixed 8x is not an issue for me as I am mobility-limited and rarely have an opportunity closer than 150 yards. I can't get out and hunt anymore but do have a couple shooting rests in the yard. And once in a great while, hogs or coyotes afford me an opportunity to snipe a live target.

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.

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!

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.

They are fun to shoot with a 45 in a round pen.

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!

Thats a Rem 700 fitted into a Mountain Rifle stock, Red pad added.

I will agree for damn sure that pigs DO NOT have long necks!

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.

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.

I like the neck shot on porkers. Very effective.

Nice looking gun, never even heard of it

Thanks. Nice looking rifle.

Okie John

Castle Rock,

It's the model 303. In that particular rifle the Hornady ammo shot WELL under an inch at 100 yards off the bench.

Sauer is getting better at promoting their excellent rifles in the U.S., but apparently there isn't a big market here for non-AR semiautos--especially those with nice walnut stocks.

So do I. It is especially good when they are on the run, if there's enough angle for it, bowls them over in fine style. Gives you a bit of room if you slightly misjudge lead too - a bit in front and you brain them, a bit far back and it is in the chest.

The running- boar target looks like fun. Is it running on a rail? I wonder if you could build one to run on a cable between two trees, pull it along with a rope? It wouldn’t cost much too make a set up like that. If it hangs three feet or so below the cable, the cable might not get shot.

The hunters on Wild Boar Fever, on Sportsman Channel, try to shoot the running boar in the neck, and they usually do. Looks like 270 and 308 are popular calibers.

This a European driven boar hunt. Sponsored by Sauer, Aimpoint, Hornady, Swazi etc.

Amazing shooting, especially by the German that has both names hyphenated. He is incredible, but I get the impression that he comes from a wealthy family and his avocation is shooting boar.

I shot one hog on a Florida night hunt, using an AR15 in 300BlkOut loaded with the 110gr Barnes tipped bullet. Rifle had a large night scope. I was told to shoot tight behind the shoulder, i did so, but maybe a little lower than I thought, but still hitting the heart. Dam thing ran. They don't bleed much. Took a while to find it.

My favorite would be a good autoloader in something a bit stouter than a 223, be it a 6.8 or .308. Honestly, any decent deer rifle will work fine in most situations during the daylight hours and I've killed more with bolt guns than anything else.. I've occasionally run across groups where I was able to connect with multiples in one "volley", and the semi-auto was handy then. I've also lined up a few to try to make the most of shot #1, and you can do that with whatever type of rifle you have in your hands. If I'm reaching for a sure 'nuff PIG GUN, it'll be an AR10 in .308win.








Sometimes they are just stupid and keep popping out of the woods to get shot. You can use whatever you like when you are one-at-a-time'n them. I've shot 4 before in one spot with a single-shot rifle in the same evening.

This is my favorite pig picture, also why pigs can never be defeated. I killed momma bear outside the pen, 13 in the litter, 8 females.The 8 females would have pups on the ground within a year. They can raise two litters per year. There is no way to eliminate pigs. You only see a small percentage of the pigs unless you have game cameras out. The smart ones are nocturnal. You only shoot the dumb ones during the day. My son in law is a police officer. He says you only catch the dumb criminals, never the smart ones. It’s the same with pig shooting, unless you have night vision or trap them.

Hanco one time I shot a large sow with new piglets no bigger than your fist. They had to only a few days old. I thought well good I killed the whole batch by killing mama. Nope, kept seeing the little ones for sometime. They’re incredible survivors.

I see all these dead porkers on the ground. Does anyone ever eat them? I'd think the little ones would be great on a grill or a smoker.

we eat a great amount... they are great and have a lot less fat than domestic ones. I give away 30-60 a year to different people and charities...

I eat just about all that I kill. Free range organic pork !!!!!
I haven't bought store sold meat in probably 10 yrs because of hogs.

I never eat them, 30% carry brucellosis.

I have eaten a bunch of them but lately I just Hanco them and leave em for the buzzards. If I cleaned every one I shot I’d need a walk-in freezer and a butcher on staff. I don’t skin coyotes either.

Same as me.

Everything gets eaten though.

They carry a variety of diseases that can pass to humans. I’ve cleaned and dined on a few, but most are left where they fall.

Is that in your particular area? The info I can find indicates a 10% rate across Texas.

The reality is that a LOT of wild game--not just pigs but deer, elk, etc.--can transmit various stuff to human, including not just brucellosis, but tularemia, trichinosis, etc. There various ways to prevent this, from using extreme care (including rubber gloves) when field-dressing and butchering, and cooking techniques. But our meat diet has been 99% wild during out marriage, which will hit 39 years this coming October, and so far we haven't contracted any of those diseases.

We've hunted pigs in Texas every few years since the 1990s, and always bring home some of the meat, mostly smaller pigs or bigger sows, but do eat some medium-sized boars.

I’m like Hanco, I don’t eat them. And if I had a Savage 99 I’d love to use it on hogs. It may not be the best but I use a 336 30-30 and 150 grain Corelokts. I’ve killed them with my AR-15 in .223, with bolt guns in .243, 6.5x55, .270 and 30-06 but enjoy using my Marlin the most.

Kill them all. Granddaughter killed these with a 223

alcohol with fewest calories

They are vermin, no different than rats...which is why I have such a hard time figuring out why folks care to trail them, worry about blood trails, etc. Killing 8, 10, or a dozen in one sitting is not uncommon, and if they don't run off into the woods, that's a lot of dragging to get them off the field.

I can have a fat, domestic pig in the freezer for $300, no way in hell I am wasting my time on these nasty things.

I feel the same way!!!

Coming from someone who used to raise them, the wild ones are no more dirty than the domestic ones... we had the largest hog operation in the Southeast a few years ago, so I have seen both sides of it.

I will say this about the wild pigs: it gets me deep in the woods at least once a week with a gun in my hands. And yes, we eat them as well, but we're pretty selective in what we'll take. As for a "pig gun," there's a lot of mythology floating around. Hit right and they'll drop from just about anything. I actually killed one a zillion years ago with one ounce of No. 7 1/2 from a 20-gauge. We were bird hunting and he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. On the other hand, hit wrong I've seen them run off with half of their intestines hanging out. That said, just use what you like to use and try to put the bullet either in the CNS or take out the heart/lungs through the shoulders. He'll drop and paddle.

Just my $.02

RM

We had a few bad experiences with nasty meat from medium-sized boars, so we quit eating boars altogether. Any sow over 50-60lbs generally get eaten somehow, even if it is given away. A game processor right down the road from me is known for his smoked link pork sausage, so I generally wind up having him do about 40lbs a year. If I get a sow in the off-season, when the game processor is closed, I'll debone it and smoke it all for pulled pork. There actually isn't that much meat on a feral hog, compared to the overall weight of the animal. I prefer to deal with them at 100lbs or more, to make it worth my trouble.

Gave this old girl to a fella a couple seasons back and he got a fair bit of meat off her. 271lbs and no piglets in that big belly. The average adult pig I shoot is probably 120-130lbs, but there have been a few 250+ here and there.



Several of the local guys are now using the Hogg Boss phone-operated mechanized trap gates (where the signal is strong enough) and they are putting a real dent in their numbers. I'm not seeing quite as many as I did 2-3 years ago.

Having eaten plenty of both, I will take the domestic pig every time. We live in show pig country, and show pig culls are damn near free and, once fed out, a whole lot better than any nasty old timber pig.

That’d be my first choice if I had one. We don’t have feral swine up where I’m at but I’ve been waiting to take my 99 in .308 down to my pal’s property in Franklin TX. Those .358 99’s aren’t easy to come by. Nor are they cheap if you do. But man is that a sweeeeeet gun for piggin’!

My boy with a couple of bunches we shot up. He was on leave from the navy. He was a Corpsman.

I have killed a bunch of pigs with a lot of different rifles.

My favorite gun for pigs is a 16" AR15 in 6.5 Grendel. Performance-wise 6.8 is pretty much same thing. 556 can do a good job if you pay attention to bullets and shot placement. The 65 SGK is a good bullet in 556, or the Hornady 75 BTHP. I have also done pretty well with the Hornady 62 BTHP. 7.62x39 is a good cartridge for pig shooting. IMO 300 BO takes a back seat to all the above.

Normally pigs just really aren't that hard to kill. Sometimes you get one that wants to prove that theory wrong. But the same can be said for coyotes, deer, or a host of other animals as well.

My pig hunting is usually not sport shooting, though sometimes I take my daughter out after a good boar. Normally it is all about numbers and damage control. Kill as many as possible as often as possible. The vast majority of mine are shot at night with thermal, often large groups in open fields, and multiple shooters. If I was shooting pigs over a feeder in daytime my opinions on weapons and methods might change. That said my daughter shoots the Grendel no matter what, day/night, normally with a 120 Gold Dot (targeting big boars) or a 90 TNT (mixed bag, coyotes/pigs).

Numbers game. One stalk last night. Stopped shooting when the mag went dry. Started with the sows with litters and worked down. Picked up the big boar out on the fringe after the sows went down and before I started in on footballs.

Excellent, keep up the crusade

The crusade never ends. Peanut planting time coming up here in a few months. Time to really start putting the smackdown on them again. In this spot alone I have killed 29 within a 1/2 mile circle in the last 10 months, with 16-18 of them being mature hogs. 6-8 of them over 180 lbs.

I don't really hunt deer or much anything else anymore except doves. Just pigs and coyotes, I hammer them as hard as I can.

^ ^ ^ THIS ^ ^ ^

^ ^ ^ That's what it takes- Many thanks ^ ^ ^

I bet pigs would be hell on a peanut patch. They work over a milo field pretty good too.

Planting time last spring. This corner of the field was about 90% gone, and parts of it had to be replanted 3 times. About $3000-$3500 worth of replanting. This is about 3/4 mile from where I shot last night. Doesn't take long to pay for a thermal at that rate. Once the peanuts get up it isn't bad. But getting them through that first 10 days can be tough.

Edit: To explain an little better for some who might be reading this thread who don't have experience with peanuts, peanut seed is actual peanuts. And pigs love peanuts. They will put their snout down in a fresh planted row and just follow it, scooping up all the seed. Peanut seed isn't cheap. And ground that should be growing something but isn't, because the seed is gone, is not cheap either. Because you already put down the chemical and fertilizer but don't have the yield to cover it. So you replant.

yep

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/13430275/300-hamr

LWRC REPR 7.62 firing 150gr e-tips guided by a NF 2.5-10x24 with lit NP-1 reticle, 25 round p-mags run fine if you get into a herd skirmish ; ]

I must be one of the odd fellows. I just sold an AR because it rarely left the safe and would like to have a Browning BAR. I checked out the 303, but the $4000 +/- price tag will keep me from getting one. Nice looking rifle though.

I’m thinking I’d be pissed off, they can jack up an oat patch if it doesn’t get rain on it quick.

That's unbelievable. I wonder how there hasn't been a bigger gov't effort to subsidize their elimination. Not only invasive but also a health hazard.

Are you bs me? You would be messing with the r&r of half the Texans on the fire never mind the ones making money off them. The gov't we got imports 2 legged feral swine to cause problems they sure not going to worry about 4 legged ones.

Asnoted earlier, I did some Internet searching and what I found was a 10% rate of brucellosis. In one of my posts on this thread I asked hanco about the 30% rate, and whether it was local, but he didn't respond.

I also noted that a LOT of wild game, not just pigs, can be infected by various diseases potentially harmful to humans, yet with proper handlingf and cooking it ain't a big deal.

Might also point out that while Texas continues to be overrun with feral pigs, more than any other state/region in the U.S., one POSSIBLE reason might be that almost all landowners continue to use corn feeders (sometimes called the Texas state flower)--and higher nutrition tends to result in higher survival and reproduction of pigs. We have hunted feral pigs in several states, and have yet to encounter the population density of Texas.

Might also point out that Montana (where I live) has been worried about brucellosis for decades, because of its presence in Yellowstone Park bison, which in most winters migrate to lower elevations outside the park, where they can mix with cattle, and theoretically infect them. Brucellosis causes cattle to about calves, which is why it's a big deal for Montana cattle to be certified brucellosis free.

Despite all that, there has yet to be a proven instance of YP bison transmitting brucellosis to domestic cattle. And despite quite a few Yellowstone elk carrying brucellosis, there's never been big outcry when they migrate out of the Park, even before wolves reduced the population considerably, perhaps because hunting and outfitting during the annual out-of-the-park elk migration was just as important a local industry as cattle ranching--and maybe more so.

Do know one guy, a Florida outfitter/guide friend, who got brucellosis from a wild pig. He said it was not fun, but he never took any precautions about becoming infected, such as wearing rubber gloves when field-dressing/butchering them. Now he does.

Eileen and I have brought back a lot of wild pork from our hunts, not just from Texas but nine others states. This is partly because Eileen's primary job is writing game cookbooks--and a BUNCH of her fans ask for recipes for wild pork. So we always bring back at least some from our hunts in Texas (and other states), though we mostly keep younger pigs and sows. She always includes feral pig recipes in her big game cookbooks, for everything from piglets on up--because so many people DO eat them.

That's about it for now.

That's pretty interesting, Mule Deer. I had heard about the Bison before but it must have escaped my mind earlier. I guess the handling of such issues is just different in different places. Heh, you show some of my hunting colleagues here a slightly enlarged spleen and you'll see them running for their lives. Game meat hygene is written with a capital G here (even when not needed) and we even have dedicated places to get our boar meat checked for trichinosis. You might have heard of this African Swine Flu thing that's starting to be a problem here and everyone is running rampant about it. But yes, feeding will definetely make populations explode. Over here where the boars mainly occupy oak and beech forests you can really see the correlation between a good year for the trees and a population spike in the boars. In a lot of places in Germany you actually have to take care that your deer feeder is inaccessible to boars. And at least we have had pretty cold winters in the past which also make up a big percentage of boar mortality. Can't imagine how bad it is when they breed twice a year and have mild winters.

Boomer454,

Thanks for your comments. Haven't hunted boar in Germany, but did in the Czech Republic almost 30 years ago, which is another story--that does not involve feeders.

Would appreciate some more info/links on the African swine flu.

John

Sorry, I missed that. I read the 30% someplace, but just googled it, 10% is what I’ve found too, but it can be higher in the eastern part of the state. A hunter best wear gloves, cook it properly. I don’t touch them without gloves. It said they can carry 24 different diseases. That’s enough to make me shy away from eating it.

Hanco,

Thanks for your response.

Am not surprised the rate can be higher in East Texas. Have hunted them there as well, and it's definitely a much moister climate, which can result in a higher rate of infection.

But would also re-mention that far more animals (including not just wild game but domestic animals) can carry far more diseases than we want to hear about!

John

Since this thread actually asked about pig guns/bullets before we got off topic, I suppose I should add those 9 I shot the other night were killed with an AR in 6.5 Grendel, 16" barrel, Silencerco Omega, Pulsar Thermion XQ50, shooting a 95 VMAX at 2620 fps. Sows and piglet were mostly in the 50-100 yard range, boar was out around 150.

There may be folks take issue with the 95 VMAX bullet choice. Yes, the VMAX is designed as a varmint bullet, but generally at speeds 400-600 fps faster than what I am shooting it. We all know that impact velocity is a huge part of terminal ballistics and how a bullet performs. At an impact velocity of 2400-2500 fps it does pretty good on pigs. Yes, it does open fast, but it does not totally explode or splash. On any given night I shoot mixed bag coyotes and pigs. At the lower velocities I am shooting the heavier bullets just don't open fast enough for quick kills on coyotes. I need something that kills both species effectively. The 95 VMAX does that.

Another factor I always have to consider is collateral damage. Stalking and shooting up sounders of pigs at night is very dynamic shooting. Large numbers of running pigs (with consequent numbers of missed shots), constantly changing shooting angles, fields of fire, all that business. Pigs are also where you find them. There is always pivots, farm equipment, cattle, barns, all kinds of things randomly scattered about that you don't want to shoot. Trigger discipline is very important, but some of these things may be concealed behind tree lines, obscured by brush, just over a hill out of sight. I really, really do not like bullets that bounce bad when shooting at night. The 120 Gold Dot is an excellent pig bullet. But a miss with one of them on hard ground often lets you hear the bullet go whizzing off into the unknown. I much prefer a more frangible bullet impacting into plowed ground to minimize any potential stray rounds.

I have tried a lot of bullets in the Grendel. Most work pretty well, they all have their own characteristics. Sometimes different shooting styles call for some out of the box answers though.

I shoot with guys who run AR-10's in 308, AR-15's in 556, 6.5, 6.8, 300 BO, and other who run bolt guns in various chamberings. They all work. Different shooters have different styles and need to work with what is comfortable to them. They need to shoot something they can shoot well, and place bullets in the right spot with. Where you shoot a pig matters too. CNS shooters vs body shooters, one shot static targets vs running shots, general pig shooting vs hunting trophy boar.

I will also say that IMO more pigs run off from bullets that don't open fast enough (like fmj or really thick jacketed bullets) than they do from bullets that open too fast. The exception to that statement would be in 556. In 556 a mid-weight to heavy bullet, with a moderate rate of expansion, is just the ticket. Varmint bullets at 556 speeds can give some spectacular kills with good bullet placement but are not a great choice when shooting running pigs, where shot placement can be iffy.

Sorry for rambling around quite a lot but these are just some of my thoughts on the subject.

JTPinTSX,

Thanks for your thoughts on pig bullets for the 6.5 Grendel. I recently bought one (a bolt gun) and have been collecting info--and bullets--to test it for an upcoming magazine article, and will probably hunt some with it this fall. Probably not pigs--though something might come up between now and then--but probably for whitetails, as we have a bunch of 'em in Montana, and in some areas they need some thinning out.

What powder do you use in your loads?

I have been using Benchmark because I have a lot of it. I shoot it in two Grendel uppers, plus my 556 that I do lots of training with. It works pretty good for me, especially with lighter bullets. There may be other better powders for sure though depending on what you are doing.

8208 XBR seems to be the darling for the Grendel world if you dig around forums and FB groups but I have not used any yet. I have some to try in my sons Grendel but haven't got around to it. TAC is commonly used, W748 gives good speeds, probably CFE 223 and H335 are contenders as well.

Of course preferred powder is predicated on barrel length and bullet weight. I am shooting light bullets in a fairly short barrel, a good candidate for Benchmark. Heavies in a 22"-24" barrel I would go on the slower end. The LR Grendel shooters seem to prefer the 8208 XBR.

If I were shooting deer at 200 yards and less I think the bullets I would look at first would be the 120 Gold Dot, 100 or 120 NBT, or a 120 Sierra. I have also had pretty good luck with the 100 ELDM on pigs, though they are a little hard for coyotes.

Here is a 120 Gold Dot I shot point blank into moist ground. Impact velocity of around 2200 fps. I haven't got around to weighing it yet but you can see it is mostly all there, good expansion, good lead/jacket bonding. It I were shooting something big and tough with a Grendel this would be my bullet. One thing to be aware of though is that the jacket is not a regular cup and core, it is like a very thick plating. The material is a little grabby, I had to coat the inside of the necks with moly for smooth bullet seating. Also pressures top out quite a bit quicker with this bullet than some others (if you dig around on the net you can find multiple references to it, same as I experienced) and my top velocities were 150-200 fps slower out of that short barrel. With a long barrel and powder testing a guy might do better though.

Thanks again.

I've already done a search of about all available data, and found 8208 to be commonly listed as getting good results. Have some of it and Benchmark, and will give them both a try in the 24" barrel.

Have some other powders on a variety of 6.5 bullets from 85 grains on up to try, including Shooter's World TacRifle, which looks like it might be good with heavier bullets.

Yep, Speer makes Gold Dots by electro-plating. It's a pretty effective way to make bullets that hold together, but they can be a little "grabby!

No problem. I weighed that Gold Dot and it was 97 grains. So 81% retained weight into what I generally consider a pretty tough medium. Dirt ain't scientific by any stretch of the imagination, but it is tougher on bullets than wet newsprint or gel.

The 90 TNT has been very accurate in both my Grendel uppers, they are both 8 twist. 90 TNT you have to be careful on seat depth because of the long ogive. Seat too deep and you don't have a good place to crimp. Too far out and not enough bullet in the case (and maybe a mag length restriction in the AR? don't remember for sure on that). Kind of a narrow window. What worked well for me and several others I talked to was an OAL of about 2.200" if I recall correctly. Bolt gun sure may be different though. I had some 123 Sierra HPBT that were very accurate but I never shot any game with them. The 95 VMAX has been an accurate bullet for me as well. The 123 SST were finicky getting to shoot well.

I have looked at that Shooters World TacRifle. If I could find some anywhere I would like to try it.

Am pretty lucky about powder "selection," as many companies send me samples, so get to try a lot of 'em. But if one works really well, thse days it's often hard to find more.

Have been tempted to buy a 6.5 G upper, especially since they show up on the Campfire Classifieds from time to time, but so far haven't.

Shot a hog once around 80 yards distant with a .257 Bobby. Handload 90 gr Sierra BTHP. KInda inflated her a little and she collapsed in a pile of pork. Funny thing is I've had the same experience with CB Shorts on occasion. Is all very confusing, and no, I don't handload CB shorts.

Dan,

As I've mentioned here and there before, the longer I hunt the less difference I see in the "killing power" of various cartridges, as long as the bullet lands in the right place and penetrates sufficiently.

I thought a hunter needed a 7 mag or better until I hunted with grandkids using 223’s or 243’s with good bullets. They were killing the same deer and pigs I was. They didn’t run any farther. They were just as dead as mine. I really think a 223 with a 62 Barnes or a 62 Bear Claw is perfect for pigs. They will punch through both shoulders of a 200 lb pig at 200 yards and keep going. You get fast follow up shots with an AR.


Thank you John for taking the time to chat with all of us!!!!

You're welcome--but it's my pleasure!

We eat’em - young ones mostly.

Lost count this year somewhere in the 50’s - suspect we whacked 100+.

If I remember correctly we’ve used a compound, a crossbow, 12ga #6 turkey loads, 223, 243, 260, 250-3000, 308, 300H&H, 338 Fed, 7mm STW, 45LC, 45ACP, 44 mag and 9mm. They don’t seem to know much difference, stick a bullet in the boiler room and they die.

Biggest boar was killed with a 223 - good old Texas heart shot slowed him down and the neck shot killed him. Most dramatic was 45LC at about 15 paces.....shot the 308 to empty and a big sounder in thick Blackjack oaks was running everywhere. Large sow went running by and I plugged her with the blackhawk. Not quite hollywood action but she plowed some ground with that snout.

Interesting that sometimes they shrug off a big bullet, I’ve had them hit the ground with an arrow behind the shoulder and tracked one that a boy hit solid in the kill zone with a 308. Confounding critters.

I’ve killed a bunch with a bow at 250 FPS, none went any more than 50 yards, many less. It’s where you hit them that counts.

Went two more times this weekend. 7 Saturday night, 8 last night. Makes for 24 confirmed the last 4 days. I'm sure the real number is closer to 30. 6.5 Grendel and 95 VMAX keeps doing work.

You are doing good, fire away!!!