Caliber for hogs AND prairie dogs?

[lefteye42]

Appreciate advice on suitable caliber (one gun) for both wild pig AND prairie dogs. As a reloader, I'm hoping there is one good caliber for both; or is that too much of a stretch? I'm talking 250 lb hogs within 120 yds & dogs @ 200 yds. I shoot MOA with my 30-06, so will stay with bolt action.
Thanks, & Merry Christmas to all.

 

[LoonWulf]

Fast twist .223/556 would probably be a solid do all, you get light and fast for pdogs, and can step up to the heavier bullets for makin baccon.
Stepping up to a larger round like the .243 would give you more punch for hogs, and still be comfortable to shoot pdogs with, it WILL cost significantly more than the 556, if thats an issue. It will also cook its barrel faster, tho how fast is debatable. If you shoot alot of pdogs, than this COULD become an issue.

 

[Art Eatman]

55-grain bullets in the .243 work well on prairie poodles, and 100-grain bullets should be good medicine for hogs.

 

[ironworkerwill]

Art stole my thunder.

We ain't got pDogs but most other sorts of vermin: gopher rats(very large rats), whistle pigs, coyotes... ect and big vermin hogs.
Hogs are special, I don't suggest Ballistic tips. All can be slain with authority using .243 probably except the largest of 350+lb hogs. Then monolithic bullets will be better.

Or 257 Bob

 

[horsey300]

I agree with all that have already been mentioned and would add in any of the .308 spawn would do the job, not as cheaply nor (arguably) as fun as the .243 but they would all work fine.

 

[macgrumpy]

.308, use 110gr Vmax (I can push them up to 3000 fps in a 16.25" barrel) and 150gr for pigs.

 

[swampcrawler]

257 Wby.

 

[BigBore44]

25-06. A very underrated cartridge. Or the 25-08 (25 Souper) if you want something different. But the .243 will also do just fine.

 

[CraigC]

Save for brain shots, I wouldn't hunt 250lb hogs with a .243 if there was money in it. Hogs aren't deer, they aren't all created equal. I know some folks like to make brain shots with the .17HMR and FMJ's but there's a big difference between a little 100lb meat hog and a +250lb bruiser with a 1" gristle plate. No problem taking your hog rifle after prairie dogs but I'd never take my varmint rifle hog hunting.

 

[Sav .250]

To much of a stretch? I`d say so. Can be done sure but over kill on one end.

 

[yzguy87]

All that's been said will definitely do the job but one thing that hasn't been said is your own 30-06. It is not a round typically associated with prairie dogs but if you can reliably shoot moa at 200 than you should be able to score some hits with it. If you handload it would even add to the economics of using what you already have too!
Fwiw, if I was looking for a new bolt bolt gun for prairie dogs and hogs I'd be looking at 22-250 or 243!

 

[Varminterror]

Never have had any problem dropping hundreds of hogs with the lowly .223rem, even those legendary armour plated 250-300lb monster hogs with foot thick gristle plates you always hear about online. Most of those to a 50v-max, but a goodly number now with the 60partition.

Of course, the credentials for the .223rem as a prairie dog rifle speak for themselves.

The only hang up I have here is to say a great prairie dog rifle doesn't really look much like a great hog rifle.

 

[Sunray]

100 grain .243" bullets are good medicine for prairie dogs too. There's absolutely no reason to bother with 2 loads. Neither beastie will know or care. And there ain't no better practice for large game hunting than varmint hunting with the ammo you use for said larger game. Even if it's a .30-06.
"I want another rifle." is a different thing. Any chambering from .23 to .27 will do nicely. Only consideration is the length of the action. A .243 uses the same shell holder as your .30-06 though. I wouldn't base any decision on that either.

 

[GunnyUSMC]

I just built an AR in .277 Wolverine for my son to hunt hogs with. I want to try it out on ground hogs too.
The .277 Wolverine is the 5.56 case cut down and necked up to 6.8mm.

 

[CraigC]

Never have had any problem dropping hundreds of hogs with the lowly .223rem, even those legendary armour plated 250-300lb monster hogs with foot thick gristle plates you always hear about online. Most of those to a 50v-max, but a goodly number now with the 60partition.

I'm sure that's fine if every shot goes behind the ear.

 

[1stmarine]

I think it is a wise move staying away from the smaller lighter calibers like 6mm, .25 and 6.5mm.
The 308 and 7mm-08 are the usual suspects in the "do it all, do it pretty well" simple and easy to own calibers.
The 7mm-08 will do everything the 6.5mm cartridges and 308 do and much more in terms of potential roles and ballistics performance, specially at long range.
The only exception would be the 308 with the heaviest 180gr-200gr loads for large game at moderate ranges where the extra momentum and frontal section of
the 30 caliber might provide a slight advantage. But other than those very specific roles the 7mm gives the best balance for everything.
The 308 is the most popular short action cartridge so rifle selection is unparalleled. The good thing is that the popular cases are perfect as 7mm donors.
The 7mm has a smaller rifle selection with many "light deer rifles" but at the same time some are easy to re-barrel to a 1:8 twist and heavier barrel.
I don't get why we don't have at least one model with that twist and varmint/ heavier barrel for each popular rifle maker/model.
Not a huge thing but Remington's poor marketing strategies and lack of vision always screwing up things, I guess.

 

[Varminterror]

I'm sure that's fine if every shot goes behind the ear.

Depends on the weight. Not all field shots have perfect placement - slam the big guys behind the ear (a big area), then they go down. On light ones, brain box, neck, and vitals, it all works. If I were paying a lot of money for a guided hog hunt, on the order of what outfitters charge for traditional big game hunts (i.e. not nuisance animals), I probably never would have tried it and would be touting a heavier cartridge for hogs today like so many other folks do, but I started shooting hogs as a kid with a 22-250, swapped to a Mini-14 and an SKS in high school for the extra capacity, they really just don't take THAT much killing.

 

[SoonerMedic]

I've seen hogs taken with a .17 hmr well placed shot around the ear, however, I wouldn't take that as my first option.

 

[CraigC]

Never have had any problem dropping hundreds of hogs with the lowly .223rem, even those legendary armour plated 250-300lb monster hogs with foot thick gristle plates you always hear about online. Most of those to a 50v-max, but a goodly number now with the 60partition.

If I was going to recommend a very light cartridge for "250-300lb monster hogs", I might stipulate that it was strictly for brain shots.

I grew up hunting in Florida and can tell you that gristle plates do not only exist on the internet. If you're NOT shooting for the brain, they can take a lot of killing.

Web pic:

 

[MCgunner]

Ain't sayin' it's the only choice or anything, but the rifle I'll pull out of my safe for this is a .257 Roberts. I shoot a 100 grain Game King over a stout load of H4831 and get 3150 fps. This load has killed something short of a dozen deer out to 200 yards. It's 1/2 MOA accurate in that rifle, so there ain't many varmint guns it'd have to bow to.

I have a .223, a Bushmaster M4. Though I plan to gangster a hog or two with it shooting a 62 grain Barnes TSX, it's not what I'd choose if I absolutely HAD to knock down a hog, especially at any distance. I'll be shooting in the woods probably in my bow hunting stand, probably 25 or 30 yards. I can pick the eye socket from that range. But, the gun only shoots 1.5 MOA so ain't much of a small varmint gun.

I think the perfect choice in cartridge, though, is in the .243, .250-3000, .257 Roberts range. A very accurate .22-250 with head shots on the hogs could work. A lot depends, of course, on the accuracy of the rifle it's fired from.

 

[SlowFuse]

If I were trying to do this with what I have available I would go with the 25-06.

For the varmints you can use something like 87 grain Speer TNTs or HotCors or 85 grain silvertips.

For the pigs I would use 110 grain accubonds, 117/120 grain Gamekings or 115 grain partitions.

 

[Eleanor416Rigby]

Save for brain shots, I wouldn't hunt 250lb hogs with a .243 if there was money in it. Hogs aren't deer, they aren't all created equal. I know some folks like to make brain shots with the .17HMR and FMJ's but there's a big difference between a little 100lb meat hog and a +250lb bruiser with a 1" gristle plate. No problem taking your hog rifle after prairie dogs but I'd never take my varmint rifle hog hunting.

I've killed and seen killed a boxcar load of hogs with .243, right up to 250+ pounds. They were heart/lung area shots with backside shoulder broken, usually. DRT, usually. I've also taken quite a few (but not quite as big) with .22LR, and while some of those were head shots, some were in the heart/lung area. I have seen people unload magazines without stopping hogs, even small ones, but it appeared to me that the reason was bad shooting. When I was a kid, I got a complete pass through shot (right behind the shoulder) from a 40-lb draw compound bow and whatever aluminum arrow and Bear broad head they had at the Walmart. While butchering, I never found any bullet-stopping gristle plates, either. I think that the toughness of hogs against bullets and arrows gets exaggerated a little. At least that's how it looks to me.

 

[CraigC]

Everybody's experience is different. I've had 100gr .243 loads blow up on an 80lb doe's ribcage so I don't care for that cartridge at all. I also don't care for this trend of using the bare minimum cartridge for hunting. Probably the handgun hunter in me but I like to be able to fully penetrate my quarry from any angle. Some folks are satisfied with waiting for a perfect broadside shot and getting only a few inches of penetration and complete fragmentation of the bullet within the vitals. I'm not one of them.

That said, I don't believe in using cannons to kill deer either.

 

[Dog Soldier]

I suppose I would use this question to own 2 rifles? Anyone who shoots "Sod Poodles" will expend hundreds or even thousands of rounds. I suspect an honest "Pork Popper" would only shoot a few rounds.
How far are you shooting dogs? What power scope? In shooting dogs accuracy and very low recoil are top considerations. A dedicated dog shooter will fire 100 rounds or more per day. I would consider a center fire .22 and a proven caliber for hogs in your geography.

 

[Newtosavage]

.17 HMR. I've killed more hogs (300-400 of them) with head shots with rimfires than any other way.