Would you use a 9mm to hunt hogs?

If need be, I'll use whatever's available. I can accurately dump 18 rounds from my P226 in around 6-7 seconds at 20 yards. However, if a handgun was the only option I would prefer my S&W 1006 stoked with 200gr FMJ. Two holes=more blood loss.
 
I see 9mm as being less than ideal for most adult hogs, but great for piglets. As noted, it won't be great for the job unless it is going to be a short distance shot and very accurate, at least if you want a reasonable humane kill.

I have never hunted hogs... We call 'em wild boars around here...

Is that like using the word "cow" to refer to cattle regardless of whether they are a cow or bull?
 
Sure, do it. Have a blast. You sneak up on them and gently place the muzzle against his ear. Be sure to direct your line of fire down the ear canal. It absolutely MUST direct the slug down his ear canal. You may not get too many shots, but your hunting skills will benefit greatly.

Many guys get hogs with a knife. I have been hog hunting a few times and we never killed any. Just caught them, cut the boars, and trimmed the tail. My hosts played 'give the Yankee a shoat and have him carry it out'. Fun game. Be sure to keep a hand clamped on the little guys snout.
 
I personally carry a G17 in 9mm as my backup and sometimes as primary, if the misses is with me. I hunt in middel georgia and have had plenty of experiances with hogs and hunting them.
I love the 9mm for hog hunting or just backup. about a month ago me and my gf were sitting on the ground watching a plot. She had my 7mag and all i had was my glock. A pack of 15-18 walked out into the plot, we waited till they got a lil ways into the feild befor i leet her shoot. BANG!!! she missed!! I picked the biggest one out of the bunch as they were running at about 40-45 yards back in the woods. droped him in his tracks. when he squiled the rest of them stoped. pick the biggest and shoot, he ran off. picked another and shot, it droped right there. Then i just picked the spot where they was running inthe woods at and let them have it. I ended up with 5 dead hogs and shot nine times. the biggest would probally tip the scales at close to 300, smallest maybe 100 lbs. none of them went furthere than 100 yards. i was shooting a federal hollow point in +P. Maybe that was just my day to be shooting them, but it damn sure made me belive in the 9 for hogs.
 
Not a 9mm pistol, though that would be a good sidearm for hogs i guess. I'd use the carbine because its easier to aim with. Gotta get good hits on those hogs no matter what caliber. I'd rather use a 10/22 than any pistol, for good hits.
 
Here we go again. Because of the fabled capability of wild/feral hogs they can only be killed with a silver bullet fired from a .50 cal or larger crew served weapon. Not true. Hogs are, at best, just slightly harder to kill than deer. They're not bullet proof, bullets don't bounce off regardless of the caliber. Like most other wild animals they would rather flee than attack, unless wounded and /or cornered, or protecting shoats. Even when a wild/feral sow has little ones she’s more likely to run than fight.

As an addendum here, a domestic sow in a pen with shoats may try to eat you up if you mess with her brood, but then she’s lost her fear of humans. Plus, has nowhere to run.

Will a 9MM kill a hog? Yeah, deader than a rock, providing that the hog is hit in a vital spot at a reasonable distance. Not only will a 9MM kill a hog, anything from a .22 to a 12 gauge will too. How do I know? In 70 odd years I’ve killed more than a few wild/feral hogs. You just have to shoot ‘em in the right spot.

Here's a picture of one taken last year with a 9MM pistol. Head shot.
 
HB, Feral hogs with no interaction with humans will try to run you down and muck up your day! TEE-RUST MEEE!!! Been there done that far too many times to give them any leeway.

No piglets need be involved... I have had hogs come back that were run off by the dogs approach... Soon as they heard the one bayed up squealing when the catch dog got to it... BAM!!! They come back to help their buddy out of a jam... Far too many dogs with layed open hamstrings to convince me they are so fearful.

As for vitals... the area that a 9mm could penetrate on a fully sheilded boar is very small. Shoulder? NOPE!!! The bullet will penetrate maybe 1/2 inch of the 2-3 inch thick shoulder shield.
Found too many bullets and buck pellets as well as a few broadheads that failed to enter the torso to buy into the "easy as deer" game.

Head shots are easy to understand as tuff to make once you skin a few skulls and realize how small the brain pocket is compared to overall skull size.
Brent
 
robhof

The Warthogs; A-10 tank killers used to kill wild hogs with their 30mm out at the Clayborne range near Alex, La. in the early 80's. The pigs liked to feed near the target sails. We figured they were going for the pigs, because their hit scores dropped when pigs were present. Never saw any hits run away, all bang flops or bang bang poof. Was a popular place for buzzards too.
 
Hogdogs

I don't doubt you, but I don't hunt with dogs and think that may add to the confusion of hog hunting. In the tumble of dogs and hogs you could just as easily be dog bit as hog bit.

I haven't experienced any attacks over the years. My shots are almost always head or spine shots. That doesn't leave much room for wounding them and have them thrashing around and squealing before they die. There's no doubt that a squealing hog will attract other hogs, but after seeing that a human was around they have always headed for the hills in my case.

I've found a few with birdshot or buckshot in 'em, but there's no telling the distance they were shot at. With some of the nimrods that are in the woods today God only knows what you might find stuck in game.

Shot placement is the key. If you shoot one in the ass you've created a problem. Hence the statement about hitting them in the right spot. Most times I still hunt them with my deer rifles, but have killed my share with various pistols. Including a couple of quick lung shots with a 9MM on occasion. They took off and bled out, but the 9MM did them in.

Still hogs are not rhinos and I find killing them just about as easy as deer.

As an after thought: Last fall I got 37, this fall only 22, maybe I'm making a dent?
 
Well if you want to see the dogs on hogs, I have at least 2 productive doggers in the southern half of La. might could show you a run.

Bite wounds from dogs compared to wounds from hogs are easy to discern. i have been chomped a time or several by the hogs but I always watched the sumbuck latch on.:eek:

Brent
 
I saw a tv show where iirc the hosts were shooting hogs with a beretta CX4 Storm. I would think that coming from a 16.6 inch barrel a 9mm would have plenty of accuracy and velocity to take down a hog within reasonable ranges. Granted I don't have any specific numbers to back that up, but doesn't longer barrel generally=higher velocity and better accuracy?
 
Like HogDogs said, a 9mm will not even penetrate the shield of a heavy boar.

The cartilage that grows there has the consistency of tire rubber and can be over 3"s thick.
 
Here we go again. Because of the fabled capability of wild/feral hogs they can only be killed with a silver bullet fired from a .50 cal or larger crew served weapon. Not true. Hogs are, at best, just slightly harder to kill than deer.

Ok, I can agree with that to some extent.

But to reinforce what I said before, I wouldn't use a 9mm for hunting deer, either.

The question was, "Would I use a 9mm to hunt hogs?"

No, I would not. I have far better options for the task.

But that doesn't mean that others shouldn't try it for themselves. By all means, if someone feels froggy...

Daryl
 
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