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

I've seen some incredible misses by folks with .270, 308, 30-06 at surprisingly close range. There's many accounts of hunters butchering animals and finding previous gunshot wounds.

I see hunting shows where the "pros" are tracking wounded animals through the woods. Sporting goods stores sell gadgets to help people locate animals.

I only had one pig I couldn't find, I thought he was wounded and ran off.
The next morning I found him 10yds from where I shot him. I've killed more than I can count, almost all with .223. It has always done the job.
 
I've seen some incredible misses by folks with .270, 308, 30-06 at surprisingly close range. There's many accounts of hunters butchering animals and finding previous gunshot wounds.
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If they are going to miss with a ".270, 308, 30-06", then they would miss the same or more with a .223/5.56. Their bad shot and missing has nothing to do with the original question if the .223/5.56 is the best caliber for hogs.

Perhaps their previous wounds were from .223? :eek: BTW, I don't know any forensic butcher that can verify that information.

I see hunting shows where the "pros" are tracking wounded animals through the woods. Sporting goods stores sell gadgets to help people locate animals.
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Maybe if we all used a .223, we would not need all those gadgets.
 
Exactly, people make bad shots with anything.

But to the original question.... .223 is quite capable of taking any feral pig.... By a safe margin. In fact, it's not even marginal. I have the experience to back up that claim.
I will go far enough to say that says that it won't effectively put down a feral pig, probably hasn't done it.

I've tried several calibers, .223 works.
Having said that, I'm not going to take a 300yd shot at a feral pig with a .223. There's no need for distance, I can get close to them easily.
 
AR's

The rise of the AR as the new general purpose rifle, MSR, or whatever monicker you want to hang on it, has lent the .223 legitimacy as a general purpose cartridge. The wide array of projectiles available has indeed widened its scope of use. But prior the AR explosion, I'd suggest that the .223, indeed any .22 centerfire, was NOT thought of as a medium game cartridge. It was a varminter, and a combat cartridge, valued for its ease of carry w/ more ammo per weight. Not to long ago, anybody using same as a medium game cartridge was pulling off a stunt. In some states, it wasn't even legal.

Now, most of us, maybe all of us, were likely overgunned for deer in those days. You really don't need an .30'06/180 to kill deer. And the various magnums still have their advocates, the 7mm Mag still wildly popular here as an example. I'd suggest that you don't need those big guns for hogs either, but the .223, as a universal, best choice hog/deer/b. bear cartridge is still a bit light.

I am aware of at least one hog outfitter that will not allow .223 for hogs on their lease, stating that results with cartridge have not given good results. (on line, and no I cannot give a source). I will allow that I have seen the .223 work well on deer, well handled and with good slugs, at reasonable ranges. But I do not view the .223 as a recommended deer cartridge, and would not choose one myself if given a heavier option, and I would not choose one for hogs either.
 
Excellent post Bamaranger, any cartridge must be used within its limitation.

The hunter must hunt within his own abilities and not outside of his limitations.

The conditions of the hunt also dictate equipment and techniques.

The animal hunted plays into the equation.

Now a guy hunts varmints and small game, a large caliber might not be practical.

I'll concede that someone out for a trophy boar weekend hunt, should have something more appropriate for that activity. I've taken weekend hunters out; their shots are marginal sometimes.

I do have confidence that an experience pig hunter can be extremely effective putting down pigs with any centerfire rifle cartridge he chooses. I don't think I would consider him less of a person because he can get the job done with a smaller cartridge.

While I've used .223 for large amounts of pigs, I've never hunted with an AR.

If someone were to ask if any accepted game cartridge(.24 cal and above) would be appropriate for feral pig (AKA hog), my answer would be yes.
 
It depends upon how and where I am hunting. If I am hunting from a blind or hide, I will likely be holding my .270 Winchester, loaded with 150 grain TSX bullets. If I am easing through the marsh or edge of a swamp, I will probably be holding my model 100 Winchester .308, loaded with 150 grain SP's or my model 1894 Marlin .44 magnum loaded with 300 grain SP's. The Winchester wears a 3 x 9 Simmons scope and the Marlin wears a Pro-point red dot scope. Keep yer powder dry..........Robin ;)
 
I rigged my father's '06 Garande for hogging with a scout scope and pressure regulator. Haven't used it yet... No hogs on the family ranch anymore.
 
I killed this old nasty bo hog with a .308 at 120yds. 165grn Nosler BT with a MV of 2800fps. The bullet lodged in the far side of the spine on the shoulder. He wouldn't keep his head still. One of the boys in camp wanted him, while cleaning 8 buckshot pellets were pulled out of his hide and 2 .243 slugs. His shields were about 2" thick.

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I'd of shot him with anything I had, period.

This one was killed with a knife, a big pit, catahoula and cur hanging on him. There were 3 more like him in the thicket. Men were climbing trees when it all broke loose.

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Hogs can be tough, hogs can be easy to kill too. Sort of depends on the situation. One rule we have is, if a Booner buck is standing there with a hog, you better be bringing out bacon
 
The old saying is true: "Bring enough gun". I would rather be over gunned than under gunned. You never know what you may run into in the field.
 
The old saying is true: "Bring enough gun". I would rather be over gunned than under gunned.
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I certainly can't argue with the logic and have the same sentiment, but have a related funny story.

A buddy of mine gave me a hard time about hunting with .223 and losing a couple of hogs. The whole "bring enough gun" mantra came out. He goes again into the routine about so and so hunted in Africa and always said "Bring enough gun." This went on for about 6 months when I would see him.

The following season he went deer hunting and took out a feeder leg under the belly of a deer he was trying to shoot (and missed) with a 12 ga slug. I asked what happened to the deer. He said it ran off. I asked what happened to the feeder. He said it was still standing, but the leg has a hole in it. To him I replied, "So you didn't bring enough gun for a deer because it ran off and you didn't even manage to kill the feeder you managed to hit. What would Capstick say about that?" He got all blustery and assured me that a 12 ga was enough gun for a deer. I just smiled and said, "You can't bring enough gun for a miss to kill a deer and you can't eat feeder leg." He hasn't bothered me again.
 
There are small, medium, large, and extra large hogs to hunt. Same as hunting bears. I've had good luck shooting with my Marlin lever gun chambered for 35 Remington. That big 200 grain bullet provides excellent penetration.

Jack

 
tc encore with a 444 marlin(23" MGM barrel) with a 265gr(280gr) ranch dog.
of course, i would use the 444 for black bears and whitetail too!!!:D
 
If you're going to hunt at night, I would recommend a big caliber gun. This fall I went on a guided hunt with my AR in 223 and was disappointed. My hot hand loads with Barnes tipped TSX's did their job with pass throughs and dropping both lungs but the hogs still could run pretty far before dying. We couldn't find 2 of the three I shot because of the dark. We found both carcasses the next day by following the vultures. Last time I went after pigs I used my 450 marlin. No tracking was needed.
 
That is a bit of a mixed interpretation. I have shot plenty of hogs with a .45-70. You can blow out their heart and lungs and have them run the better part of 100 yards. If their CNS is not disrupted significantly, don't count on them dropping in place.

I have watched hogs go over 70 yards with two broken humeri, plus lung involvement.

Just because you use a big caliber does not mean the hog will drop in place more so than using a smaller caliber.

The bottom line here is that if you don't have significant CNS disruption when shooting a hog, then there is a high probability you will have to track/follow the animal. On top of that, hogs often frequently self seal on entry wounds. I have seen it with .223, 6.5 Grendel, .308, and .45-70. Sometimes the exit wounds seal up fairly well also. The net result there is that there may not be much of a blood trail from the wound itself, though if you catch the lungs, you may get a goodly amount of nasal spray.
 
450 Bushmaster

After another disc surgery, I started looking to lessen the recoil of my 45-70. The Bushmaster has been excellent, putting the first 5 250 Hornady FlexTips into a quarter sized hole. With a spitzer profile and 2200fps of velocity, hogs and deer can be touched 200 yards. BTW, recoil is like a 20ga shotgun. Can't wait to get to the field.
 
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