first time hog hunt

[Magwa45]

I am thinking about hunting hogs sometime next year. The big 5-0 birthday is coming up and I want to celebrate in style. I am planning on getting a .270 Winchester hunting rifle, but also have a nice slug gun and compound bow as options. This could be for European boar or just the common feral hog. I would like to keep costs down as much as possible and hunting in the Carolinas or Tennessee may be preferable to somewhere like Texas. The reason for that is I live in Maryland and could have a short drive to Tenn or NC and SC. If you can give me some good ideas it would be most appreciated. Thank you.

 

[dfaugh]

Your'e gonna get LOTS of opinions on this one.

Many people hunt hogs with various large handguns, and some with small caliber rifles. The guys I know that have hunted them (Russian Boar) have told me, in no uncertain terms, "Bring enough gun", when (hopefully) I get to go with them in the spring. Mostly expect to see <200 lbs. but some go up to 400. I'll be taking a custom built Mauser in 8mm-06 AI, with a .35 Remington as backup.

I think the .270 is probably sufficent, as is the slug gun. And for archery--welll all the usual rules apply---one of the guys I'll be going with took a nice 250 lb. Boar last year.

Words of wisdom: Remember that, besides grizzly bears, Boar are the most dangerous game you'll likely encounter in NA.

 

[Blackfork]

Hog guns

I've shot a lot of them with everything from 9mm to 7mm Mauser. I made a herd move about 20 years ago by hunting it. There still aren't any hogs in that area. The more I hunted them the more canny they got. At first I could walk into the herd with a revolver. After a few encounters I had to go to a rifle, shotgun, hunt at night or evening. It took six months to kill 37 of them and the rest left. Most were killed with a Ruger #1 in 7X57. I would shoot any part of a hog I could see and frequently caught cripples in the next ambush.

I certainly learned to slice open the dead hogs. If I did there would be a large greasy spot in the sand three days later. If I didn't they would swell up the size of a sofa and stink for weeks.

Hunting hogs now with deer rifles as they expose themselves at a ranch where we are shooting doe tags for management purposes. Some folks I was guiding shot a couple of large ones off a stand with a Thompson Contender rifle in 7mm08. We tracked the blood trail into the woods and brush and I killed a large sow with an Argentine 1909 Mauser carbine in 7X65 with a light 125 gr Sierra Gameking. She dropped on the spot with a broken spine.

I'm going to stalk this same herd, which has some pretty rough looking sizeable hogs in it with a Garand in the same area. I want open sights, because it's going to be close and semi-auto because I might need quick follow-up shots. Going to use military M2 Ball ammo. My better choice would be a M1A, but I don't have one, or a semi auto shotgun with buckshot. I'm sure the Garand will do. I've shot it a lot and killed a couple deer with it recently. If I was hunting them from the stand I would go back to my scoped Ruger #1 in 7X57.

Hogs can be killed with any reasonable deer rifle. Just shoot the shoulder out of them and don't hit too far back.

Peter Hathaway Capstick recommended the 7X57 Mauser on warthogs, and advocated shooting directly at the shoulder socket to drive bone splinters into the heart-lung area. He said it worked like a charm.

 

[fugi]

anything will do to kill them with, it's just a matter of shot placement, I saw some mook pretty much just mame one with a 5.45x39 to the legs, but I put one down with one round of 10mm auto. these were ugly black feral hogs down here in texas.

I was watching a show quite a while back with two guys going after hogs with bows, one had a compound and another had a longbow, as I remember it, the guy with the longbow shot the hog, it charged him with an arrow sticking out of its ribcage, and he screamed like a little sissy girl.

 

[mete]

The real european boar can have shields ,that cover their shoulders, as thick as 2" !! This also tends to seal up around a bullet hole .For those many consider the 30 cal a minimum and in any case use a very well constructed bullet.

 

[MCgunner]

Hogs can be killed with any reasonable deer rifle. Just shoot the shoulder out of them and don't hit too far back.

+1 The .270 is a very capable caliber, just chose a good bullet/load for the big bruisers. I'd go with something like a Barnes X or a Nosler Partition for shoulder shots on 400 lbs hogs. Much as with the .45 vs 9mm debates, a "bigger bore" .30 caliber ain't gonna make a difference, it's penetration and shot placement. There's nothing behind the shoulder but guts, so don't make a deer shot, break the shoulder. I learned this the hard way, but managed to track the animal and finish it. :banghead: When I'm on foot hunting hog, I like to take a sidearm just in case I have to blood trail one in heavy cover. It has come in handy. Nothin' like a hot .45 Colt to put one down quick at close range, my choice anyway, though you may prefer a 10mm or some sort of DA revolver. I like my blackhawks, though, rugged, accurate, and powerful.

BTW, don't have to be a "real European boar" to have that shield. Several generations in the wild and a feral hog will develop that gristle shield.

 

[Rottweiler]

I just killed a 200 pound boar last night with a .270. a 130 grain Nosler ballistic tip did very well on him from about 40 yards. He dropped when I shot. I gave him the "poacher's shot" aka neck shot. When skinning him I found his plates were about 3/4" thick. I quit skinning when I got to the neck where the bullet went through mainly because the weight of the head and hide was enough to rip everything from the carcass. The ballistic tip did THAT MUCH damage. I doubt he would have gone far if I'd have punched him in the heart/lungs even with the plates. Needless to say I'm a big fan of the ballistic tip

 

[Magwa45]

Garand for hogs

Oh yeah, I also have a DCM M1 which I got from the Guvamint about 20 years ago. I heard 30-06 might be good hog medicine with plenty of back-up shots available. Where to go hog hunting? That is the question. I've heard Texas is great, but that is a long way to go from my crib in Maryland.

 

[MCgunner]

Nice hog! The ballistic tip is known for expansion. I shoot it out of a .30-30 contender, 12" barrel, and it expands. I'd always worried, though, about penetrating a big hog's armor with it out of my .308 and load a 140 Barnes for hog hunting. But, I shot a deer in the bum with a ballistic tip, the bullet penetrated the entire length of the 120 lb 8 point and exited his neck! I don't worry a lot about that bullet penetrating anymore.

I've seen shows on TV about Tennessee hog hunting. Pretty country and the hunting is supposed to be good and there are outfitters there to fix you up. I don't know why you'd wanna drive all the way down here for hogs, personally.