[tsanford405]

Well... I just got back from a Texas hog hunt. It was not quite what I was expecting, the webpage seemed to misrepresent the place considerably. I still had fun though, it was a great time. We had 4 people hunting with us, and ended up with 6 hogs. I was 6 for 11 shooting, all on the run, except one (it was the big one, but it was already dead, we just wanted to make sure). I took out my Saiga 12 gauge once, and only had one really bad shot, but took it and missed. I took out my new RRA AR-15, and with an Eotech 552 on it, I hit a 250 lb'er from about 175 yards out 3 out of 5 shots on a full run through a lot of trees. I was pretty proud of that, however it STILL didn't go down, so I wasn't proud of that. We ended up finding it about 2 hours later under a tree. I won't take it hog hunting again. Finally, I used my 7mm Rem Mag the last time we went out, and I dropped two pigs with it.

Amazing story, we scared out two and my buddy shot one with a .243, the other was running along our line broad side (only 100lb'er), a guy we were with shot it was a .500 S&W, it rolled, got up and kept running, a guy shot it with a 300 Win Mag, it kept running, and I smoked it with my 7mm Rem Mag and dropped it where it stood. After examination, ALL THREE shots were lung/heart shots, and there was some gaping wounds, I couldn't believe the adrenaline rush that that hog must have been running on.

The second one I shot was a bang flop on a trot from about 30 yds away. It didn't go far. It ended up being real fun, and pretty successful.

Here are some pics, enjoy!

[MCgunner]

Sounds like you found a lot of pigs. I'm not sure why it wasn't quite what you expected, but sounds like a good ol' time in the woods.

Yeah, .22s make good guns for small game. A .223 will take a Texas Jackalope (whitetail deer), but hogs? Not enough gun. Guess you figured that out, LOL. I love hearing about "put it behind the ear". Yeah, right......:D

[homers]

How the 243 do? what bullets?

[Hook686]

Nice hunt.

[tsanford405]

The .243 actually did quite well... he seemed to have needed at least two on each hog though, although he was quick about it and a good shot once the hog stopped. I was pretty impressed, considering it took 3 .223's to bring down a big guy.

[Samuel Adams]

Sounds like you found a lot of pigs.
Sounds like my ex-wife was there. ;)

Seriously, nice trophy tsandford405.

[rnr4me]

I'm thinking of heading down to TX for a pig hunt too. Can you give a hint on where you hunted? And maybe elaborate on why you think it wasn't what you expected? Still staying highroad....

[Geno]

I have taken hogs with .45 ACP, .444 Marlin, .45-70 Gov't, .375 H&H. My friend borrowed my .270 Win, and I have seen .30-30 Win used as well. There is only one consistent theme across these various calibers when hog-hunting: there is no predictability as to how well they will work.

I have seen a .270 Win drop a hog where it stood, as though it slammed it to the ground. Same for the .444 and .45-70. The .375 H&H was the worst for me. I have a video of the hog taking two rounds through the heart/lungs and running over 200 yards and still standing at about 3:40 seconds. The living dead is all I can think. They are exciting.

Glad you had an enjoyable and safe hunt. Edit to add, if you to up the excitment, take a single-shot pistol some day. That is what I used for the .444 and .45-70. Specifically, I took an Encore pistol with 15" barrel.

Doc2005

[Soodonim]

Well Doc2005, don't keep us in suspense, have you posted your hog video? I like huntingfootage.com, but there seems to be all bow hunters.