hog hunting... calibers you'd use first???

[ELMOUSMC]

My 2 cents!

I have been down to Texas 3 times as a friend of mine moved from Iowa and started a dariy Operation.From the get go he had hog problems
I have shot and 9 hogs all were sows except 1 which was a 270lb boar all were shot at less than 50 yds and all but 3 were 1 shot kills,the boar took 3.Every one was taken with a Rossi lever gun in .357 using using Hornady 140gr FTX over 8.2 grs 231
The locals I was hunting with had a mixture of calibers 35 rems,
30-30s .44mag lever guns they said in the area we were hunting in there was no need for any thing other than basic brush guns because rarely were there any shots over 75yds
I am not saying anything about other areas or other calibers Iam saying that the area I was hunting large caliber heavy weight bullets are what was recommeded

 

[sigshepardo]

308 Win

I agree with you on the sound of .223 and hog hunter not quite going together. Having never gone hog hunting I cannot say what works and what does not. Friends of mine have taken hogs with .458 SOCOM, and .30-06. The .458 SOCOM is plenty mean and sits itself deep and hard in whatever it finds. Ive shot it and love it. But hogs arent always up close. If it was me choosing an optimum caliber, .308 Win. You really can't go wrong with it. You can put lead in a hog and drop it with any other caliber. I would just prefer a .308 bolt gun. Not too much money, not too hard to find, not too much recoil. Plenty stopping power, distance, and load options.

 

[jmr40]

Most hogs that hunters shoot are around 100 lbs or less. A 223 with the right bullets will handle hogs up to or a little over 200 lbs. That should do for at least 90% of hog hunting. If you're in an area where they will be 300 lbs+ then a bigger gun is probably a good idea.

 

[rickyrick]

I killed hogs on cattle ranches.

I got these opportunities because I was trusted.

There is a difference between hunting them for fun and for work.

Problem hogs are often near domestic livestock, that's where all the goodies are.
If you are killing hogs on farms, you can't miss. You can't take a chance of missing. You get in real close so that you have a good shot. You make sure that the area behind the pig is clear, even in the dark. Extra insurance would be a bullet that expends all of it's energy inside of your target and can also incapacitate the animal quickly. A good way to do that is to shoot the hog into the neck with a .223 even the biggest hog will fall.

I also trapped uncountable amount of pigs. Those pigs must also die... Those trapped pigs are a good test medium for different rifle calibers.
.223 always had good results. Bigger bullers will work, many exit. Some pass through with the animal still alert for a bit.

.223 to the neck works fastest at close range. It is an easy shot.

 

[979Texas]

Yep there are so many variances of opinions on topics such as this. And just because you don't hunt hogs with a certain caliber doesn't mean that you don't think it will work. Like me, I have never used a 223 for hogs or anything else. Do I think that it will work, yes, have I seen it work, yes my pops uses one and a lot of my buddies use the 223 also for hogs all the time with night gear and suppressors, but do I use a 223 for hogs, no, do I prefer other calibers for hogs, yes, and I do think that a 223 is ideal for hogs and will work fine I just think there are better options out there too though. As for the savage hog hunter it should also be a good hog rifle. Like I said personally I would go with something else over a 223 for hogs, but it will work fine and that is just my opinion. Everyone has different opinions, if we all had the same opinions then the world would be one boring place. It's not a bad thing, it's just a human nature thing. I have been hunting hogs since I was 9 years old which was a good while ago and I have hunted in all different methods. Spotlighting, night vision, suppressors, dogs and guns, dogs and knives, spot and stalk, baiting, blinds, hog drives, or just something as simple as sitting on the back porch enjoying a good cigar late in the evenings and seeing a group come out 320 yards away on the edge of my back pasture and me running in the house and grabbing my 270 with the 6x18 scope and picking off a few of em. They are not hard to kill and are very very very rarely ever aggressive at all. I've killed literally countless numbers of them on nothing but local and regional cattle ranches strictly for fun and helping fellow Texans out.

 

[Rangerrich99]

Twenty-five years ago when I still lived in the Mid-West, we hunted hogs with .30 cals (.30-30, .30-06, .308). As a group, my friends and I just decided that since pigs were tough little bugers, a .30 cal was probably the right choice for the job. And a couple years ago when I went to TX for a little pig hunting I brought my .30-06, which worked just fine.

That said, last year I read an article in a hunting mag (can't remember which one) where the journalist and his wife went pig hunting; he with a .308 and her with an AR-15 chambered in .223. In the story he credits her with not only more pigs dropped, but he noted that the pigs shot with her AR seemed to go down quicker than the ones he hit with his.308.

He does of course note that there was nothing scientific about his observations, but he did say that he would take some time to further evaluate the .223 as a hog-killing round.

For myself, I find it hard to believe that the .223 can be a reliable pig killer, but I have to admit more than a little curiosity, and on my next hog hunt, I might just take the AR along.

 

[mapsjanhere]

Merkel SR-1 in 9.3 x 62. Even hogzilla wouldn't argue back.

 

[Mike / Tx]

My close friend had an uncle who patrolled their property for quite a few years with a Rem .17 that dropped them unbelievably fast. I couldn't really believe it when I saw it with my own eyes let alone when I did it myself. These were mid sized to large 150 - 175'ish pound hogs out of the river bottom not piglets.

I personally have used mostly handguns in calibers from .357 up through my 454 but have also used my BH in 30 Carbine. My mainstay however is usually my .308 in the form of a Ruger Compact. Mainly it is light weight, easy to bring up on close shots and has plenty of punch for ranges out to 400yds if I do my part.

As mentioned for the most part they aren't the bullet proof non dieing beast that are broadly portrayed, however if you shoot them like a deer your usually in for a tracking job as their vitals are tucked up behind the front leg rather than behind the shoulder like a deer or similar. If you hit them there you usually hit stomach. Combine that with the fat just under the skin and you end up with a plugged up hole and a mess when you DO find them.

 

[bumnote]

The first time I went hunting feral hogs, I used my .223. I handload and used Hornady 55gr V-Max bullets. Dropped them in their tracks.
I was hunting in the Texas Hill Country, close distances and most of the hogs are around 100lbs...some more, some less.
For Texas feral hogs, I've used 223, 308, 30-06, 204, 30 carbine, and a 22LR (maybe 30lbs and under 50 yards). Aim for the ear and those calibers dropped them all. If I had to aim for the shoulder area...I'd probably use something more than a 223. But if your a good shot and it's not a behemoth, the 223 is fine.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

The reason I am not a big fan of .223 for hogs (though I have used it with some success) is that there seems to be a lack of optimal shots. Sure, if you put it in the base of the ear, the hog will go down. You can do that with a pellet gun as well. That doesn't make .223 a great hog round.

I do know of a couple of professional hog hunters who use .223. They are very good hunters who are out multiple times per week and shooting many hogs a week. They know their gear, performance limitations, and are excellent shooters. They get good results. However, they aren't your average hunter.

The reality for most average hunters is that they don't get out to hunt very often, regardless of the trophies on their walls. They don't deal with the stresses of hunting very well. They don't have the ability (sometimes) or patience to wait for the optimal shot and given time, expense, and limited opportunities, are going to take less than perfect shots in order to try to get their quarry. The conditions under which they are hunting are not always optimal. We see this all the time. I am guilty of it as well. I don't know a hunter who isn't. Bigger, better performing calibers will help make a marginal shot viable. No caliber change will make a bad shot into a good shot.

If we were all perfect shot hunters, nobody would need much over a .17 hmr, except maybe a .223 for long range hunting, right?

While some folks do hunt at longer ranges, I would be willing to guess that >98% of hog hunting is at distances less than 200 yards and >75% less than 100 yards. There is a lot of reasons for these numbers including hunter skill, but also preferred hog habitats and hunter access to hunting areas.

For me, what has turned out to be a rather optimal caliber is 6.5 Grendel. At 123 gr. (Hornady SST), the bullet has the sectional density and penetration potential of a 150 gr. .308 without the recoil of a .308.

Here is a hog that two of us shot, me with a Grendel and my buddy with a .308 and as it turned out, we got very similarly penetration performance.
https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=0UCUaCnCryI

My second choice, based on performance, would be 6.8. The ballistics are very similar, recoil is similar, but 6.8 makes a slightly bigger hole at the expense of slightly worse ballistics and less penetration potential. Ammo is more readily available and choices are much more numerous, however, than for the Grendel.

If recoil and followup shots not so much of an issue (such as with bolt or lever guns), then you can't go wrong with .308 for hogs and my all time favorite is .45-70.

 

[mxsailor803]

If its no more than a 50-75yd shot, I'll use my Henry .44mag. For 75-125yd I'll use my .300BO or 6.8spc. Beyond 125yds I'll use a .270, 30-06, or .308. Alot of people like using thos smaller rounds but I'm hog hunting from the ground usually. On a mean boar's level, I want bigger calibers. Now I've killed a couple with a .22mag Henry squirrel hunting over the years but it required patience and the perfect shot. In most realistic hunting situations, there is no perfect shot.

 

[Brotherbadger]

Depends on the size of the hogs, but 223 or 300BO are my usual go to calibers. 30-06 for longer range shots.

 

[Old Stony]

Double Naught knows of what he speaks. I am in the woods checking traps daily and often go back out at night for hunting from stands near feeders. I have played with a lot of calibers but come back to the old .223 and .308's. Both work well, if you don't try to take out lungs or gut shoot the hogs. I normally take them directly through the middle of the the shoulder...bang..flop. Either of my preferred calibers works just fine but I don't do long range shooting at them either. I never am presented with a shot over 100 yds. as most are taken at between 70 and 100.
The only reason I grab one rifle over another is sights. I have night vision on one and a Leupold with Firedot on the other. Some of my areas have better lighting than others. During the daytime I can use a variety of rifles as I can use open sights then.

 

[dean1818]

I chose the 6.8

The 120 SST from Hornady is my DRT bullet on pigs (Dead right there)


Many people in Texas use 6.8 and 300blk for pigs,

but.... there seems to be more and more people using the 62-70g 223 bullets with success

 

[Kosh75287]

Use what you know, know what you use.

In the past, I've used an L1-A1 (Franken FAL) loaded with factory 180s. When I do MY part, the pigs fall down, even the big males. The rifle doesn't handle as nicely as a lever-action, and navigating heavy brush with it is sometimes no joy, but I'm familiar with it, and know what to expect from it.

Were I to build a hog-gun from the ground up, I'd be tempted to find a BLR in .358, or one of the old Savage pump-action rifles in .35 Remington. The .35 Remington seems a good round for hogs, and the .358 may seem "a bit much" ballistically, but I like to have "extra stuff" for exceptional (Murphy's Law) situations.

Any of the Marlin large-bore lever guns would work, also. I guess at some point, it'd be a matter of which platform would take the shortest amount of time to truly master.

 

[TimSr]

Whatever you would use for deer at the same distances will work well. If you are just hunting for pest control, and are not harvesting the meat, the bigger the better if you shoot it well.

 

[Husqvarna]

we have calibre restrictions over here, as does most of europe

boar is a "big" game animal so the same rules as for moose, red-deer etc

bullet weight 9g and 2700joule at 100m
or
10g and 2000joule at 100m

so basically 6,5x55 is the minimum, slugs are okey to (but not for moose for some reason)

some other calibres can be loaded hot up to class 1

I have used 6,5/308/30-30/9,3x62, 358win

driven type hunts I do want the 9,3x62, if I am huntign with the dog I use 358 but that is more to do with the type of rifle

the blr in 358 is great pig medicine, but most of my kills have been with a 308 because I had that first and only had one rifle then

 

[Husqvarna]

For myself, I find it hard to believe that the .223 can be a reliable pig killer

does it count if people double or triple tap them?

because I have seen plenty of boar run quite a distance withgood hits from
both 308 and 6,5x55

and I mean good hits hunting over a feeder, good scope, good rest and they tend to run with heart/lung hits

now 9,3x62 on the other hand, THAT is a showstopper, people hunt water buffalo with that you know

 

[rickyrick]

There's no restrictions on feral pig in the US. They are a non-native invasive species.

If shot in a good place, the high velocity of .223 causes a very quick incapacitation. At the very minimum, having both eyes dangling would be a huge inconvenience.

 

[Panfisher]

I guess it would depend on how I was planning on hunting. If I only got to travel to where hogs were once a year to hunt, and wanted to bring the meat home, I would likely be shooting my Rem Md. 7 in 7-08 Rem. If on the other hand I lived around them and was hunting to simply reduce the numbers, probably my AR would get the call for repeated follow up shots with Barnes TSX bullets, especially if I didn't care about recovery of them. Given a midas touch I would probably build an AR in 6x45, why simply everybody has a 6.5 or 6.8, and why not be special, and I have 6mm bullets in my supply.