Feral Hog Hunting - Minimum caliber?

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I would go with the .243 as a minimum. Hogs aren't hard to kill but I have seen a bunch of them absorb a good shoot and keep moving. They are difficult to track because most don't leave a good blood trail. They will die from the shot but you may not recover the animal. I shot a 250lb boar with a .30-30 at 120 yds. He moved out like I missed him. I found a couple spots of blood but didnt recover the animal. The next day the buzzards were on him in the field about 150 yds away. The shot was just behind the shoulder but failed to fully penetrate. I use my .270 now.
 
Shoot ON the shoulder, not behind it, and use a controlled expansion bullet. There is nothing behind the shoulder, but guts. You might clip the liver, but there's no lung there, it's all under the shoulder. That story sounds like poor shot placement in possible combination with a fragile bullet. A 170 grain standard .30-30 should be more than enough for a 250 lb hog, though. A 150 would perhaps be a little light. I'd shoot the rather excellent Nosler partition in that caliber, myself. One comes my way and I'm armed with my .30-30 Contender, I'll put a Ballistic Tip on him, though. Only thing I've shot with it so far is 5 deer, none of which went far.

I've seen 7 mag with a fragile 150 Sierra Game King fail to fully penetrate a 370 lb hog on a shoulder shot. It went through and stuck in the gristle on the off side. It killed the hog instantly, though. With a Partition, not a problem with that cannon. A lot of it is proper bullet, though. 7 mag is a little overkill, neadless to say, but I'm thinkin' of setting up my 7 just for night hunting hogs after this deer season for two reasons. One, the scope I have on that gun is just awesome in clarity and light gathering. On a moon lit night, I don't even need a spotlight, almost like night vision. :D Second, I ain't using the gun for anything else. LOL I got over my magnumitis years ago and went back to normal calibers for deer and hogs. But, even if I don't shoot full power loads, I can down load the thing to 7x57 or .280 Remington levels. I'll keep it full power, though. It ain't THAT "too much". :D I'll load some 160 partitions for it and live happy. I had an SKS set up with a scope mounted spot and a lighted reticule scope, but I like the scope on my 7 a lot better and that SKS really works better with iron sights as a knock about truck gun. :D
 
My point exactly. Sometimes you dont get optimum conditions and perfect shot placement when hunting hogs, especially when stalking them. So you need a caliber that is more forgiving. I used a 160 grain hornady leverevolution bullet and it was slightly back. I think the same shot with a .243, .270, .30-06 would have killed the hog faster and resulted in a recovered animal. Dont get me wrong I like the .30-30 for deer but when I hunt hog I go for a little more firepower so that its a little more forgiving.
 
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A bigger caliber is not always the answer. If you can't get a good shot, simply pass on the shot. There will always be another day. You really shouldn't leave a wounded hog in the woods for somone else to stumble into.
 
Pigs destroy farmland. I shoot'em when I can. I don't hunt them over a feeder from a box stand with a gun rest and vice so all I have to do is pull the trigger. Thats called killing, not hunting. I'd wager to say all you expert marksmen out there haven't placed every shot in the sweet spot everytime. I have lost very few animals in my years hunting. I would suggest that when you go to hunt pigs you bring a rifle that has the power to do just that. If you can shoot'em in the ear everytime then please bring your .22lr. You'll do just fine.
 
Hey, I've lost a hog before, running shot, I'm sure I hit him too far back. I don't like losing meat, but it ain't like losing a deer would be. There's too danged many hogs, need to be thinned out, a hit is a good thing so long as it leads to death. :D Even when feeder watching, after the first one drops, I'll take every shot I can on a bunch of hogs until there ain't any targets left.

I did put up the .357 carbine and break out my .308 today when I got home. It ain't caliber that I did it for, though, it's the fact that I've been seeing these two decent bucks at my feeder on the game cam right at dusk and dawn and my old eyes were seeing double on the front sight this morning when I tried it in dim light. I can't focus like I once could, so drop back to the tried and true .308 with Weaver KV. Sad when ya get old and things don't work like they used to. I won't go into details on that. :D
 
Towner Mfg claims their .500 S&W pump is ideal for feral hog control
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WOW, now THAT sounds adequate! LOL! A pump, too, man, rack 'em up!

I've been wanting a Rossi 92 in .454 Casull. My .357 version is sweet. But, after the eye thing this morning with the iron sights, I don't know. Maybe I'd better stick to the rifles with glass. There's always the .450 Marlin or .45-70 if ya want a little quicker follow up.
 
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I shot a hog with a 9mm in the head from 30 yards with a 9mm glock 17. :p

I frequently kill multiple hogs at one time with my AR and handgun combination.

I have actually killed a hog on my land with sure shot heavy dove #6 after dove hunting.
 
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A .460 Weatherby in the guts would result in the same lost hog or terrifying blood trail job.
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A terrifying blood trail on a hog? You boys need to get out more often.:eek:

I've killed multiple hundreds and hundreds of feral hogs and I've been excited many times possibly worried once or twice but I can truly never say I've been scared much less terrified.
 
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