What gun for feral hogs?

bullbarrel

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http://www.khou.com/news/texas-news/Hunting-feral-hogs-encouraged-in-Texas-town-78097772.html

Hunting feral hogs encouraged in Texas town

Hunting feral hogs may not be as popular as hunting deer or ducks during the holiday season, but with an estimated three million wild hogs in the state, the sport is helping to control the nuisance.

There’s no mistaking the damage done by feral hogs. Only one hog probably was responsible for a lot of rooting at Marshall Creek near Grapevine Lake.
Neighboring homeowners in Southlake have spent thousands of dollars repairing the wild hog damage in their front yards.
“The wild hogs are using the lake to travel,” said Matt Falkner, a park ranger with the Army Corps of Engineers. “They’ll get on a creek bed, and they’ll follow that creek bed plum to downtown Dallas if they could find a path to go.”
That’s one reason the Corps allows hog hunting on their property. The Grapevine Lake Wildlife Management Area is 2,500 hundred acres of free range.
“We basically allow people to hunt them year round on our property,” Falkner said. “And there’s no bag limit.”
The program is only a year old, but there are already plans to expand.
“Feral hogs, we’re going come up with some creative ways to probably open that up a little bit more to folks in the future,” Falkner said. “Possibly some trapping, permitting. We’d like to do some youth hunts.”
But in the short term, park rangers are preparing for the weekend holiday hunting rush.
“We’re right down the road from two million people, and it’s a quick hunt,” Falkner said. “You can get a quick hunt Thursday morning before Thanksgiving.”
So hunt as many hogs as you want.
 
Dang, and here I am on the wrong end of the state!

Edit: Double Dang- Sorry, I plumb forgot to answer your question. I've seen folks drop them with VERY good aim and a .223Rem. However, you can get a surplus Mauser inexpesively, or Mossberg 464 lever action in .30-30 Winchester. I wouldn't get anything too big- nothing with the word "magnum" in the name. I'm guessing that that you don't have just a whole lot of shooting/hunting background? No offense- but you did ask what to shoot a hog with. So, yeah, you might keep an eye out for a .30-30. They are mild shooting, been killin critters for over 130 years, and can be found at many pawn/gun shops, and likely won't break the bank.
 
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My favorite feral hog gun is a S&W M629 Classic pistol (.44 Mag) with 2X EER (extended eye relief) Leupold scope.
 
Under 100 yards - Marlin 1894 in 44mag or 45LC and a Ruger on your hip.
Over 100 yards - Your favorite deer rifle in 25-06 up.
 
For me? A short carbine rifle or short pump shotgun. I have the Marlin 336 .30-30 and Mossberg 500 20 gauge. I use 170 grain in the Marlin and 3/4 ounce slugs in the Mossberg... But to be very honest... I rarely see hogs out and about when gunning. I use dogs and twine/mule tape and no gun most of the time:D
Brent
 
Any deer rifle is capable of cleanly taking a hog. 243, 308, 30-06, 30-30, etc. And don't forget the 12 ga with slugd, it'll work too. So, whadaya got?
 
I happen to know that this particular USACE property is restricted to shotgun using no larger than #3 steel bird shot. So go dust off your bow or go buy you a new crossbow if you want to harvest these hogs. :D
 
Bolt/Semi-auto Rifle
.260 - 7mm-08 - .308 - .25/06 - .270 - .280 - .30/06

Lever Rifle
.30/30 - .444 - .45/70 - .308M - .338M

Shotgun
12ga - 20ga

Carbine/Handgun
.357 - .41 - .44 - .45c - 10mm

Take your pick...
 
Just about any semi-auto center-fire carbine as long as you can keep your shots on a piece of paper at 100 yards standing, off hand.

Piggies don't always allow you to get prone or find a nice sitting position to shoot from. If you can keep you shots on a piece of loose leaf paper at 100 yards on your hind two feet, you should be good to.

Feral hogs are not game, they are an invasive species. Eradicate them with extreme prejudice with pretty much whatever you have.
 
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