9mm for feral pigs and coyotes

[1942bull]

The last time I hunted it was with a .303 bolt action Enfield carbine. That was 50 years ago. I was 29.
I live in PA where the feral pig problem I’d growing and the coy wolves are starting to reproduce like hares. The State has made hunting both mostly unrestricted. The few limits are based upon timing of certain big-game seasons.

I do a lot of hiking in our State Parks and Forests. I meet my share of snakes and bears. I gave no problem dealing with them. Bear spray and a long walking staff work great. Now I am beginning to see feral pigs and coyotes in some areas. Since it is basically open season on them, and they are a growing problem, I have been thinking about depriving them of “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

I always carry my 9mm with 15 + 1 rounds of Underwood Extreme Penetrator. I have seen a video of a pig shot through the shoulder with that round. On autopsy it’s shoulder was destroyed, the nearest lung was turned into pulp. The farther lung was blown apart and the bullet lodged in the opposite shoulder. I am thinking I can take out a hog with my handgun, but I have no personal experience to rely upon. So I am asking for opinions and advice. All comments will be appreciated. One thing though. I have both bad rotator cuffs tat are inoperable. I cannot use a rifle. Hand gun is my only option. Hepl!

 

[JeeperCreeper]

Greetings from a former Pennsylvanian! I spent significant time in the woods near Rt80, from West to Central PA. Beautiful country! Black Moshannon and Venango County we're my favorites.

One thing, before I give my opinion, would be double checking the regs. I know PA just allowed semi auto rifles for small have, and I think semi auto is still banned for big game. I believe that also counts for handguns as well.

So even if bag limits and seasons are open for coys and hogs, you still might be limited in firearm options.

For what it's worth, when I "hiked hunted", I carried a 45colt Ruger revolver to be in regs if I used it for hunting as opposed to defense

 

[jmorris]

I have killed a lot of hogs with the 9mm, 100% of them were in traps. I have killed one “in the wild” from about 80 yards with a .22lr though. The area to turn them off is pretty small so accuracy is pretty important. I wouldn’t pick the round to go hunting with but it can work.

I have shot more coyotes with a 9mm than anything else. It’s a suppressed rifle and all the shots were 65 yards or less (distance to the chicken coop from my house).

 

[1942bull]

Greetings from a former Pennsylvanian! I spent significant time in the woods near Rt80, from West to Central PA. Beautiful country! Black Moshannon and Venango County we're my favorites.

One thing, before I give my opinion, would be double checking the regs. I know PA just allowed semi auto rifles for small have, and I think semi auto is still banned for big game. I believe that also counts for handguns as well.

So even if bag limits and seasons are open for coys and hogs, you still might be limited in firearm options.

For what it's worth, when I "hiked hunted", I carried a 45colt Ruger revolver to be in regs if I used it for hunting as opposed to defense

Thanks for the heads up. I just checked the PA rega and found this:

Unlawful Firearms & Devices: 1) Automatic and semi-automatic (autoloading) rifles and handguns; 2) air or gas operated rifles and handguns.

The are other rags about caliber. I will check them later. So based on the above I would need to use a revolver. I’m going to check out w57 long barrel options.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

If the auto is allowed please be sure to test a fair amount of that specific ammo to make sure it runs well in your pistol.

Are you hunting or hiking with a pistol for defense? One may be fine but seems the other is not.

Whole different hole to go into if you have to switch to a revolver.

 

[Atavar]

Feral hogs are not game animals so. There is a difference between feral hogs (non game vermin) and wild boar (game with a season). Know the difference before you take any.
Yotes are probably another story.
Edit: I got curious and looked and while feral hogs are unregulated in Pennsylvania they not only impose firearms restrictions but also require reporting of harvest and samples for testing.
Things get so complicated.

 

[1942bull]

If the auto is allowed please be sure to test a fair amount of that specific ammo to make sure it runs well in your pistol.

Are you hunting or hiking with a pistol for defense? One may be fine but seems the other is not.

Whole different hole to go into if you have to switch to a revolver.

I carry my 9mm semi when hiking as protection against two and four legged creatures, birth black bears being the concern. I have over 2 decades had to use bear spray. It worked. If it does not deter a charge it slows it down providing time to get off a shot. I know it slows because I sprayed an aggressive charge by a male black bear. He slowed but did not stop. Fortunate l had time to spray him again. That burst drove him off.

As for my outdoorsman ammo it is Underwood Extreme Defender +P. It is designed for such use. I shot it at the range before I go hiking just to get used to it again.

 

[1942bull]

Feral hogs are not game animals so. There is a difference between feral hogs (non game vermin) and wild boar (game with a season). Know the difference before you take any.
Yotes are probably another story.
Edit: I got curious and looked and while feral hogs are unregulated in Pennsylvania they not only impose firearms restrictions but also require reporting of harvest and samples for testing.
Things get so complicated.

Good point. I am going to call the proper PA agency to ask for clarifications on the rags, which are a bit ambiguous.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Feral hogs are not game animals so. There is a difference between feral hogs (non game vermin) and wild boar (game with a season). Know the difference before you take any.

I am sure you are making a point, but I am not sure if it is on the verbiage or the law.

Wild boar (true wild boar, not just the generic phrase referring to swine on the loose) do not appear to be a game animal with a season in PA. https://www.pgc.pa.gov/HuntTrap/Law...ng Digest/2021-22 Hunting Trapping Digest.pdf https://www.media.pa.gov/pages/game-commission-details.aspx?newsid=460 (no boar season listed '21-22 ). Pennsylvania has seemingly instituted a "kill all the swine" policy with some notable exceptions of certain locations and times.

Wild Boar protections look like they were removed in 2013 https://www.pgc.pa.gov/InformationResources/MediaReportsSurveys/Documents/2013 June Agenda.pdf 1942bull isn't apt to randomly encounter any actual wild boar in PA. At best, he may encounter some hybrid crosses as there are no reported free range populations of actual wild boar. On game preserves may be another matter.

I always carry my 9mm with 15 + 1 rounds of Underwood Extreme Penetrator. I have seen a video of a pig shot through the shoulder with that round. On autopsy it’s shoulder was destroyed, the nearest lung was turned into pulp. The farther lung was blown apart and the bullet lodged in the opposite shoulder. I am thinking I can take out a hog with my handgun, but I have no personal experience to rely upon. So I am asking for opinions and advice. All comments will be appreciated. One thing though. I have both bad rotator cuffs tat are inoperable. I cannot use a rifle. Hand gun is my only option. Hepl!

Just curious, do you have a link to the video? I shoot a log of hogs and necropsy a bunch of them. Ballistic damage can vary depending on a lot of factors, most notably being the velocity of the bullet, the size of the hog, and what is being hit as the bullet transits the body. I am not doubting the results you report, but figure what you may have seen could be the result of ideal circumstances and not necessarily a typical result. You most certainly can take out hogs with 9mm, but how effective you are will undoubtedly reply on how well you deal with shot placement and trajectory through the body as the bullet penetrates. As for penetration potential, you appear to have made a really good choice.

 

[buck460XVR]

I always carry my 9mm with 15 + 1 rounds of Underwood Extreme Penetrator. I have seen a video of a pig shot through the shoulder with that round. On autopsy it’s shoulder was destroyed, the nearest lung was turned into pulp. The farther lung was blown apart and the bullet lodged in the opposite shoulder.

The hunting of an animal and SD against a charge from that same animal are two different animals. If you concern is only the hunting of the feral hogs, than IMHO, you can use the 9mm with stated ammo, but as others have said, I would think there are better options, especially if the Regs force you to use a revolver. If your concern is SD against them and Black Bear, again, IMHO, there are better options out there, even tho the advertising for the stated 9mm ammo states it is for use against dangerous game. If, due to injury, illness or just plain worn out body parts, you cannot use anything else, than you probably have the best combination for you.

As for 'yotes, they are thin skinned and easy to kill. They also are a very minimal threat as for an attack on humans. Those bullets will probably blow clean thru without a stitch of expansion.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Those bullets will probably blow clean thru without a stitch of expansion.

The Xtreme penetrator rounds loaded by Underwood are from Lehigh Defense and are a non-expanding monolithic copper solid.

 

[jmorris]

The hunting of an animal and SD against a charge from that same animal are two different animals.

I would add that if that same animal is in a trap where I can safely close distance, take all the time I want for perfect shot placement, would make that 3 different animals.

 

[1942bull]

After some comments here I called the PA Game Commission about hunting hogs with a handgun. The answer was the rags were the same as for deer except for the open season. Whether long gun or handgun only manual ly loaded guns may be used. No semi-autos permitted. So it looks like I am going revolver shopping. It ought to be fun because I have never owned a revolver, and I have rarely shot one. So I’ll renting a few. I am thinking of a 357 with 4 inch barrel or longer. The gun will only be for hunting hogs an coy wolves.

 

[Kevinq6]

That's the great thing about this forum, we all help each other stay successful within the law!

I think a .357 will do great for you. It's always fun to have a new gun and the .357 will push them faster.

 

[tominboise]

It's hard to beat a good 357Mag revolver for all around shooting fun. Ammo available from mild to wild. You can get 7 and 8 shot revolver from S&W (and maybe others) if you want more than 6.

 

[Lo-Profile]

A revolver in 357/38 would make a great gun.
When I lived in Central PA my Ruger SP101 was always with me hunting or hiking in the woods.

 

[C0untZer0]

If you don't want to start purchasing a different caliber you can get one of the S&W 9mm revolvers. The 929 has a 6" barrel and I think it would give the opportunity for a 9mm bullet to really get moving. The 986 is a smaller, lighter revolver, but it still has a 5" barrel.

 

[jmorris]

Whether long gun or handgun only manual ly loaded guns may be used. No semi-autos permitted. So it looks like I am going revolver shopping. It ought to be fun because I have never owned a revolver, and I have rarely shot one. So I’ll renting a few. I am thinking of a 357 with 4 inch barrel or longer. The gun will only be for hunting hogs an coy wolves.

If you are going to buy a handgun just for hunting, I’d suggest an XP-100. I would grab mine 100 times out of 100 over any 9mm I have for daylight hunting. Would actually grab it over a number of centerfire rifles I own. After that I would choose one of my contenders, after that would I choose from one of my scoped revolvers.

 

[Random 8]

I have put down a few coyotes and a small black bear with my carry arm, an FNS 9mm and 124 XTP defensive loads. It is a quite effective combination. For dedicated hunting of said critters, I would greatly prefer the enhanced accuracy and penetration of a 158 gr XTP from a .357 6" revolver, or the 210 gr version from my .41 Blackhawk.

I have a Taurus M66 .357 for woods carry. It lacks the refinement of a Smith or Ruger, but is accurate, serviceable and reliable for the purpose. They are easier to find right now than the Ruger or Smith offerings, and priced significantly lower.

While with practice one can shoot a 9mm auto well to 50 yards, the accuracy potential is not in the same league as a revolver fired single action with a good load and a practiced hand. My .357 and .41 will reach out effectively to the 100M ram IHMSA targets. The .41 to 200m. Can't do that with my 9mm DAO FNS, although my old Hi-Power would come close.

 

[borrowedtime69]

I remember an author that wrote for Shooting Times many years ago, Jamison I think, wrote an article about hunting coyote with a 9mm pistols back in the late 80's or early 90's, that was the first time I thought that would be cool to try that. I never did that but later when I got my 1st decent pistol & tried it for small game.