First hog hunt- need a rifle.

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doubletap1

Inactive
We've finally got our $h!t together, and a few buddies and I are going on our first hog hunt in N. California in February. I have read some about hog rifles, but thought it wise to pose the question here to the gurus at TFL. Anyone here hunt hogs in this part of the world? Do they get up to the 300+lbs I hear they weigh in The South? What is a good rifle for the terrain? Iron sights or scope? My budget is $450 bucks, and I'm open to buying used. I think that about covers it- thank you all in advance.

***Edited to capitalize 'The South'***
 
Sort of depends...

Where 'zactly are you hunting? What are your plans after the hunt?

Reason I ask is that there are no "bad" rifles if there over .27 caliber and have decent sights. Well, maybe .30 Carbine or something of that nature. But you get my drift.

If your hunting in Western NC, weight becomes a factor. Eastern, flexibility is a concern - engagement range tends to be inches or bean fields.

After hunt plans are important as nothing sucks like getting a specific rifle for a specific task and having to sell it as you'll never see those circumstances again. My personal example was my .222 CZ rifle I used for Rae deer in Germany. Too light for here, not quite accurate enough for varmits, too short an action for rechambering for .223. Finally sold it to a bud for a song. He punches paper with it...
 
I do quite a bit of hog hunting, And I keep coming back to this configuration.
A short easy to carry rifle of adequate power I recomend the .308 as a minimum (the hogs in Northen CA get well over 300 lbs) I perfer a low power variable scope and keep it turned all the way down while walking around. Something like a Savage scout in .308 would fit the bill nicely.

If I am hunting really tight cover such as swamps I'll so with an iron sighted lever gun like a Marlin 45-70. But for general all around use I find my .308 or .375 with a scope on it is the way to go. Just make sure its a low power variable such as a 1.5-5 or 1.75-6.

Just my $.02
 
Do they let you use dogs in California? If so anything, even a .22 will work. Most of the hogs I've personally seen killed were caught first then done in with a .22. Many of the hog hunters I know on the gulf coast use catch dogs and then tie the hogs, bringing them back alive.

Why just catch them and not shoot them? Well, pork from a wild hog has less fat unless there is a good acorn crop and it is more gamey than a farm raised pig. It really benefits from a month or two of corn feeding in a pen. The boars do better if they are castrated during that time as it takes the gamey flavor out.

Without dogs a person needs a dependable center fire rifle. Mrs. M&M thinks dog hunting is barbaric (I don't know why the thought of a dog grabbing a hog's ear bothers her but eating pork doesn't) so if I go again it will probably be with my old Marlin 336 in .35 Rem with shoot-through rings.

I'm just an intermittant hog hunter so can't really give advice. If I gave advice it would be to take along a couple of big, strong, quiet friends in case you run into a sow with half grown pigs. :eek:
 
Heavy jacketed bullets and stout calibers are called for, Boars can hunt you too!

12 Gauge Slug Guns, .270 Winchester + rifles with bullets in excess of 150 grains. Pistols .44 Magnum with 300 grains slugs or better.

Remember Wild pigs are man-eaters.

See these:
http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=122650&highlight=boar

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=113812&highlight=boar

http://www.thefiringline.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=97835&highlight=boar
 
I shot this boar at about 15 feet with a single 180 gr Nosler Partition through the shoulders. He ran about 250 yards where I found him dead. Both shoulders heart and lungs were trashed.
 

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I killed this pig last summer with my .375H&H he took 5 rounds through the body before giving up the ghost. Once they get adrenalised they are hard to kill.

These things can really get big. We estimated this one at near 400lbs.
 

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I hunt hogs for meat, which means 120 lbs. or less. Any larger and the meat is pretty rank. I've killed all of mine with either .243 or .25-06 and good placement. I have seen them killed at that size with .22-250.

I'll tell you now that on one occasion I hit one with the .25-06 a little too far back and low from where I wanted. The shot rolled him but he got to his feet with no trouble and took off running with the rest of his buddies into mesquite-cholla-prickly pear scrub, leaving no blood trail. Hogs are surprisingly quick and I already had my gun off my shoulder (I learned something that day)- he didn't give me any time for a followup. Call me a slob or unethical but I did not follow him into that alone with no dogs and armed with a scoped long-barreled rifle. If I'd have had dogs, a short barreled shotgun with slugs or a heavy hunting handgun I might have tried it.

The largest hogs I have seen taken were between 250 and 300 lbs, one with a 7mm mag and the other with a .444 Marlin. They were taken with less than perfect shot placement, but still one shot kills.

If I were going after the larger ones and I didn't have a couple of 8mm Mausers around like I do I'd combine the advice of Gizmo99 and H&H,hunter. As a matter of fact, my next non-milsurp bolt gun will be either .308 or .30-06.
 
H&H,hunter

I am by no means armchair quarterbacking you, and I have very limited experience in hunting...

But, the .375 H&H is one hell of a serious cartridge and is capable of dropping just about anything that walks the earth. 5 shots to drop a 400 pound animal? Could shot placement have been a factor? Surely one properly placed shot from a .375 will drop a 400 pound hog. If not, there are some seriously undergunned African safari hunters out there.
 
Use this hunting trip as an excuse to buy a cool gun.:D Choose an adequate caliber and buy a gun you've always wanted.

Maybe a tricked out slug gun, military rifle, Marlin Guide Gun in .50 Alaskan, In-line muzzle loader, .454 Cassul, .480 Ruger, Contender, Desert Eagle, compound bow, recurve, long bow. Get my point?

The hunt will be here and gone before you know it, but the gun will be yours forever.
 
Call me a slob or unethical but I did not follow him into that alone with no dogs and armed with a scoped long-barreled rifle.
Click to expand...
Cholla you say? Don't worry, the meat wasn't wasted. the other hogs ate him. :D
 
Sundance,
If the first shot would have been in the right place it would have only taken one shot. ;)

I hit him to far back on the first shot as he was running at about 100yds. And actually hit one lung. I had to push a blood trail on him in thick brush after that. All the rest of the shots were raking shots in rear which penetraited all the way through. And the last was a head shot facing me at about 10 feet.

Like I said once these things get adrenalised they get real bullet proof. Just like a bear.

As far as shot placement goes if you've been hunting long enough you know that the sun doesn't always shine on the same dogs butt.:)

But I will tell you this if your ever chasing a large pissed off wounded adrenalised hog in the thick stuff a .375H&H fells real comfortable in your sweaty little mitts.
 
Biggest hog I have taken weighed in around 280, a fairly big pig in North Florida. He was taken with one 240 grain .44 Mag out of my old Ruger three screw at point blank range. The Hornady JSP took off the top of his head on the way out.

My hog gun now, is a Mannlicher Schoenauer, 8mm Mauser. The 220 grain hand loads over a stout load of 4064 seems to work well. This little carbine is very quick handling, which is a good thing in the deep swamp and woods areas I like.
 
Doubletap,

I think your decision of a hunting rifle should be one that you will continue to use in the future, like others have already mentioned.

If you are hunting for meat, the smaller piggies are gonna be the way to go. 223 will be quite adequate. If you are going after some Russian devilboar with 4 feet razor sharp tusks and weighing more than you and I put together, then something larger should probably be used.

You make the call. But a well placed shot from a 22 will drop a boar dead as a doornail.


Stinger
 
I would like to do a boar hunt with my new Rossi Puma 454 Casull a great knockdown anything gun. this caliber is something else. chews-up the 44 mag and spits it out for over all power. The 454 Casull has all the power you need in the field, a short to midrange rifle. using a 300 gr Hornady XTP using 31 gr of WW296 average 1920 fps not too shabby, this heavy 300 gr bullet don't drop for 150 yards, I have also used 250 gr XTP's as well and those really smoke areage 2200 fps, it has a good kick to boot using 300 gr at max load I believe is 31.4 using WW296,I have also used H110 as well matches close to the WW296, these powders seem to burn clean in the 454 Casull, Kicks like 300 WSM. I have enjoyed this rifle and being the only dog on the corner producing the 454 Casull in a lever action. Marlin stated the pressures of the 454 are too high for the Marlin design to withstand. So for around $430.00 bucks I bought one. rifle weight 6.1 pds nice and light Package,holds 9 rounds,can be loaded through the gate or the tube, cool old style concept, the rifle has very dark wood and metal also, I changed the metal open sights with buckhorn fiber optics works well. You can check out the spec's at www.legacysports.com . Take care and good l luck whatever you decide to use for a firearm. Aim small hit small. RAMbo.
puma_454.jpg
 
A little 8 to10 pound piglet on the grill makes excellent table fare. When it comes to pig hunting for food, the smaller the better. A friend shot "The three little pigs" one evening. We cooked them on the grill and they tasted great!
As for the rifle, a Remington 742 Woodmaster chambered in .308 works great.
Jim
 
I don't see where you said what type of hunting you will be doing.

Close brush hunting, I want a open sight .45-70 lever gun.

Blind hunting, any .30 will work just fine. I like my .30-06 with barnes-x or Swift Scirocco Bonded.
 
Did some feral hog hunting out in Southwest Texas some years ago - took one while in a blind I had just downed a whitetail shortly before. Had a nice little Sako Forester .243 shooting 85 gr Nosler Partitions and at 60 yds broke the hog's back, plus getting a high hit on both lungs. Laid down right where he was hit with his lights out.

A few days later, got another and bigger one as we were sneaking up on each other in the pucker brush. Hit him right behind the eye at about 15 paces with a 240 gr softpoint out of a .44 Mag Ruger carbine. He also, stretched out, quivered a bit and expired on the spot.

Never went after one o' them big n' ugly, hairy Russian things - imagine a LAW would even feel puny against one of them!
 
Nice pig, H&H.

Working with $450, huh? O.K., try a used Ruger .308 M77 carbine with a BSA Dutchy three post.

I like the .308 for piggies. I use that load Uncle Mel recommended for cougars with the 170 gr. FPSP bullet. Good stuff. Good placement and all.

Happy hunting!:)
 
308

You could get a savege99 in 308 faster then a bolt (not as fast as a pump though) and good shooting.Have to get it used though:( .Longer range then a 45-70 to.Or a 30-06 pump. Or a good 12G with slugs.
 
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