Handgun for wild boar

[notbubba]

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008809150394


Wild boar have been reported in 63 Michigan counties, they escaped from game ranches and have done well in the wild.

I like to bunny & pheasant hunt, I'd hate to run into one with only a .22 or birdshot.

I have a .45 & .357, which would be better to carry while hunting just in case and what load?

PS please don't tell me to buy a new gun, no money

 

[.38 Special]

.45 Colt is a great cartridge for wild boar. .45 ACP, not so much. .357 with heavy lead bullets, like those from LBT (or Buffalo Bore, if you don't handload) will be adequate if unspectacular.

And if you are worried about being attacked by a boar, you'd do better worrying about snakes, lightning, or organized squirrel rebellion. Attacks on humans by wild boar in North America are, well, rare.

 

[glockman19]

i like my .44mag

 

[Geno]

I took a Russian boar with my Colt 1911 WWI reproduction. While it did work, I would not do it again. At the time I had some pretty extensive limitations due to neurosurgeries. Will a .45 ACP kill a boar? Yes, eventually. I would at the least carry a .45 Long Colt, etc. JMHO.

Doc2005

 

[againstthagrane]

glock 20 10mm with 200 grain bonded hollowpoints loaded hot. that's what i would use.

i'm crazy though, i've even used .223 to hunt hogs despite everyone telling me that you need at least a .50 bmg to even take down a piglet. seriously though, as long as you use the right ammo a .357 or .45 will do just fine for anything but beastly hog.

 

[Gordon]

I shot a 260 pound pure russian with 2.5" tusks this evening with a .270 Win short mag with 130 grain Barnes triple shocks in a Winchester Ultimate Shadow stainless with a 3-9 Leupold vari x 2 in DeadNutz mounts. I hit it going away under the front shoulder and it transversed the chest and left a 2" exit out the front of the off side shoulder with a blast of blood on the ground. It was still breathing when we drove the 230 yards to the animal which fell over at the shot. I went to cut the throat and my friend yelled STOP and shot the pig in the head with a .357 pistol, telling me the thing could swing it's head up and gore me! It took 3 hours to get back to camp and to to winch it up and out of it's skin using air pressure, boars are a bit@# to process! BTW I was DEER hunting and will go again thursday.

 

[TAB]

Whats legal to use in your state?

Example, if you need a 6" barrel a 5" 1911, no matter what its chambered in, is a very bad choice.

 

[Grumulkin]

I like to bunny & pheasant hunt, I'd hate to run into one with only a .22 or birdshot.

Do you think they're going to attack you?

 

[jmorris]

I've always had to hunt them; however, if you think one might get you and have a shotgun already how about just carrying one or two rounds of buck shot. That will at least keep you from dinging up your shotgun's stock with your pistol.

 

[Zip7]

I wouldn't worry about having to defend yourself from them... they might run over you out of sheer stupidity, maybe.

One of the places I coon hunt is full of them and we are out there stomping around at night with dogs. Hardly ever see one, and if I did I would probably whack it with a stick, since generally all I have on me is a 22 pistol.

If I wanted to kill one, I could probably get 2 or 3 a day with a 357 shooting out the truck window at < 25 yds.

 

[MCgunner]

Between .45ACP and .357, no brainer, .357. However, there's no real need to DEFEND against a hog unless the hog is wounded. Wound one, then you have a problem, perhaps. I had to blood trail one once in heavy cover and a .357 158 grain SWC put him down with one shot. He was a little over 200 lbs. Now, I carry my .45 Colt Blackhawk when I'm working on my place where there's virtually a hog or 10 in every mott of brush, but not for protection, just in case I get a shot at some ham hocks. Hogs are yummy. My loads fire a 300 grain Hornady XTP at 1120 fps from a 4 5/8" barrel. They'll do the job just fine. When I'm actually HUNTING hogs with a handgun, though, I normally have my .30-30 contender. It takes no prisoners.

Just because they're ugly and have big teeth, don't mean they're going to try to eat you. Don't sweat it unless you wanna hunt 'em. They're not going to charge unless you charge them.

 

[Colt46]

They won't attack you if you leave them alone

They are quite formidable when injured, pissed off or think you are some kind of danger to them or their little ones.
The .45 ACP just doesn't have enough horsepower to reliably penetrate deep enough for a kill. The .357 with heavier bullets would be fine for most applications. You definately want penetration and not expansion when dealing with those beasts.

 

[3pairs12]

+1 for the .357 and also a couple of rounds of buckshot for the shotgun.

 

[MCgunner]

They are quite formidable when injured, pissed off or think you are some kind of danger to them or their little ones.

I'm not sure if anyone has more hogs on their place than I do. I've only been attacked once, when tracking a wounded hog. Their instinct is escape, not attack, and they don't view you as food, more as a dangerous predator to be avoided. I'm betting if I had Xray vision and could see through brush, I'd see a hundred or so within 30 acres down there hiding out in the brush. I have had more attacks from rattle snakes than hogs. They're the problem on my place. I wear snake boots and they saved my hide just this past spring. I never worry about hogs. I'm badder than they are. I've always got my CCW on me when I'm down there, though. I'm never unarmed. I figure I might bump into a trespasser or something. I'm never unarmed in public, either. I've shot quite a few hogs in the trap with everything from a .22LR to a .357 magnum. The .38 works pretty danged well, tell ya the truth, with a brain shot.

Hmm, cool weather, time to set the hog trap.

 

[22-rimfire]

If you are concerned, I'd carry which ever handgun you prefer. I wouldn't personally be too concerned. They aren't maneaters.

While small game hunting with shotgun, as was mentioned, just carry a few slugs or buckshot with you.

I can't imagine that a shot across the bow on a boar would not run it off regardless of it being a shotgun or 22. They aren't real comfortable with humans if they know they are present in the wild.

 

[Old Grump]

To answer your question both would work but the 357 would be better, the heavier the bullet the better because the shots will be at close range. You want as much energy transferred into the pig as possible, not a fast light bullet that might blowup on hitting something like a shoulder bone.

 

[Art Eatman]

Another vote for the .357, if your .45 is the ACP.

A buddy of mine has a nice but evil-looking tusker head-mount hanging on his office wall, via his .357. It was somewhere around 200 or better, on the hoof...

 

[Water-Man]

Of your choices the .357 with 180gr. cast bullet.

 

[mio]

DONT carry a couple buckshot with you whatever you do. its not legal to have it in your possesion outside of deer season in michigan.