About 12 years ago, I watched my dad tag a good sized (250+) sow a little bit further than perfectly behind the shoulder with a good Sierra GameKing 165g bullet out of a .30-'06. The shot was off a very quick rest from over 150 yards, and the shot hit a bit too far back. In all likelyhood, had this been a deer, it would have expired shortly, but hogs are resilient. This one dove into the thick brush of a creekbottem and was never seen again, despite heavy tracking and me heading off the rest of the group of pigs in the creekbed with an old trapper .30-30 (got a tasty shoat, too). We never found blood, though that doesn't mean there wasn't through-and-through penetration; it means she didn't bleed where we could find it.
Well, that 80 lb shoat I rolled with a 150g Silvertip to the chest with the Trapper. But that's no big feat at 30 yards. I got to wondering just how much killing that bigger hog would take in the thick brush. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), I never found out, though I lay in ambush for her.
A year later, when a medium (~150) sow took off running from my Dad, he made a nice snapshot with his .257 Rbts, skidding it on its nose at about 80 yards with a 100g spitzer behind the ear. Hmmm. That seemed to be the way to do it.
While at a friendly local gun shop, I asked Larry P. (Lewisville, Texas shooters know him) what his favorite hog gun was, and was shocked when he answered, ".22-250." He went on to add, "Because I ONLY shoot 'em in the earhole."
A couple of years ago, I watched a friend's buddy drop a ~200 lb sow with a 3.5" load of magnum 000 buckshot. Though he got several through-and-through passthroughs of the pellets, the only reason she was anchored was that he had chipped the spine at the midpoint. She squealed and tried to get up until I dispatched her with my .45 (and took a couple of shots there. [It was dark and rainy, and my shot weren't optimal, I admit.]). Again it was reiterated: hogs can take quite a hit without expiring right away.
Last year, I watched a nice chest shot from close range (~20 yds) with a .270 130g load drop a hog after he'd run 50 yards. Amazing thoracic damage, but it had run hell bent for leather before tipping over.
The day after, I found myself (inexplicably) with a .22 Hornet in my hands when I found another 200 lb sow. I shot her behind the ear with a 45 grain SP at 80 yards, with perfect results; she rolled over and died. A post mortem showed that the bullet, which entered about 4" behind the left ear from 7 o'clock, struck the spine and partially exited the right side after breaking a couple of cervical disks.
I've seen BIG hogs that dropped from simple through-and-through chest shots with an '06, and I've known many to hit hogs with solid chest shots with deer calibers and have to go tracking. Although I'm not a proponent of head shots with deer because the head moves too much at the end of the neck, I'm now solidly in the camp that for grown hogs of 100 lbs or better, the only way to go is behind the ear. Now, don't mistake my statement to mean that I mean a dead-on headshot-- those skulls are pretty resistant, if you've ever seen one flayed and dried. But there's an interesting flat wall to the back of 'em; hit the head from the rear through the neck, and the bullet *will* dig in and impact the skull.
Note pic (of domestic pig). My preferred shot is in the rectangle, or just a tad lower.
So what's your preferred aimpoint on a piggy, and what's your reasoning?
Well, that 80 lb shoat I rolled with a 150g Silvertip to the chest with the Trapper. But that's no big feat at 30 yards. I got to wondering just how much killing that bigger hog would take in the thick brush. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it), I never found out, though I lay in ambush for her.
A year later, when a medium (~150) sow took off running from my Dad, he made a nice snapshot with his .257 Rbts, skidding it on its nose at about 80 yards with a 100g spitzer behind the ear. Hmmm. That seemed to be the way to do it.
While at a friendly local gun shop, I asked Larry P. (Lewisville, Texas shooters know him) what his favorite hog gun was, and was shocked when he answered, ".22-250." He went on to add, "Because I ONLY shoot 'em in the earhole."
A couple of years ago, I watched a friend's buddy drop a ~200 lb sow with a 3.5" load of magnum 000 buckshot. Though he got several through-and-through passthroughs of the pellets, the only reason she was anchored was that he had chipped the spine at the midpoint. She squealed and tried to get up until I dispatched her with my .45 (and took a couple of shots there. [It was dark and rainy, and my shot weren't optimal, I admit.]). Again it was reiterated: hogs can take quite a hit without expiring right away.
Last year, I watched a nice chest shot from close range (~20 yds) with a .270 130g load drop a hog after he'd run 50 yards. Amazing thoracic damage, but it had run hell bent for leather before tipping over.
The day after, I found myself (inexplicably) with a .22 Hornet in my hands when I found another 200 lb sow. I shot her behind the ear with a 45 grain SP at 80 yards, with perfect results; she rolled over and died. A post mortem showed that the bullet, which entered about 4" behind the left ear from 7 o'clock, struck the spine and partially exited the right side after breaking a couple of cervical disks.
I've seen BIG hogs that dropped from simple through-and-through chest shots with an '06, and I've known many to hit hogs with solid chest shots with deer calibers and have to go tracking. Although I'm not a proponent of head shots with deer because the head moves too much at the end of the neck, I'm now solidly in the camp that for grown hogs of 100 lbs or better, the only way to go is behind the ear. Now, don't mistake my statement to mean that I mean a dead-on headshot-- those skulls are pretty resistant, if you've ever seen one flayed and dried. But there's an interesting flat wall to the back of 'em; hit the head from the rear through the neck, and the bullet *will* dig in and impact the skull.
Note pic (of domestic pig). My preferred shot is in the rectangle, or just a tad lower.
So what's your preferred aimpoint on a piggy, and what's your reasoning?
