Pig Hunting and the possible dangers of it.

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

Well so far Double I have seen 3 perfect examples of what I am talking about from TimC shown here

Bullet construction also plays a big part in success or disappointment here is an exampl: I was coyote hunting; I had some pigs come out at about 150 yards. I was hunting with my Reminton 700 VLS in 22-250 using 60 grain V-Max bullets. I popped the lead pig in the forehead at about 125 yards; he rolled about 3 times then got up and ran off so this will tell you bullets construction matters a lot.
I have had similar issues with .44 mag and half jacketed ammo on head shots at close range with pigs in traps.
My hunting tools of choice for hogs are an AR-10 using 150 grain Hornady SST's running at 2820 fps. In a handgun I like my Kimber warrior 1911 stoked with fmj ammo. I have found 185, 200, and 230 grain all work equally as well. Hollow point ammo does not do as well for penetration

Seems from his pictures he has vast experience in hog hunting and is in agreement with me as far as the tough nature of a hog. Also seems to be in agreement with me as far as the use of hollow point ammo while hog hunting.

All your "book reciting" and "knowledge" of what bones make up a hogs skull matters not to PRACTICAL application in REAL WORLD hunting. TimC was not the only poster to say that hollow point ammo is not a very good choice, there were several. It seems YOU are the only advocate for it and are simply looking to be in a "key fight". In the real world, head shots are not the choice of most hunters simply because it is a harder shot than a vitals shot. Granted when it is made properly it is a DRT and that is great. But this thread was began as a questioning thread to gain information from the experienced hunters for the newer hunters that may not be the greatest of marksmen yet and have not learned how to read body language of the hog. And I for one could not in good conscience recommend to a beginning hunter to attempt a head shot, ESPECIALLY with a handgun at RANGE, when a vitals shot would be much more of a ethical shot. It is really that simple. Now if you wish to continue being a key board warrior it is all well and fine. But your little miniature dobie fight is over. You have been shown by more than one that it is not a PRACTICAL round or shot choice so let it go.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

Oh and By the way, TimC, NICE HOGS buddy! That last one has some BLADES! Very nice cutters sir.

 

[nmlongbow]

FFIL,

Enough already.

You started this thread to attack someone else because they disagreed with you.

You then posted a bunch of BS to try and support your argument because it was your opinion.

Your opinion is just your opinion and it's obvious that other people have different results.
There's no need to try and educate people based on your opinion.

You then started insulting people because they disagreed with you.

I've never hunted hogs with a gun but my recurve with heavy arrows and COC broadheads work just fine with hogs, deer, coyotes, turkey, elk and bear.
All weapons mentioned in this thread will work just fine with the right shot placement.

 

[FLAvalanche]

I have never hunted hogs, I have heard they smell, and honestly I dont really like the idea of eating such a disgusting wild animal.

They do stink, but they eat very, very well. They are tougher than normal pork and need to be cooked properly (usually low and slow) to break up the connective tissue in the muscle.

I cooked this leg up yesterday. Coated it in olive oil and various spices, seared it well, then placed it on the grill and cooked it betwen 250 and 300 for about 4 hours turning it every hour and coating with BBQ sauce.

 

[FLAvalanche]

The largest hog I have killed was with my AR. It was about a 120 yard shot, in the eye (facing me). his ass end dropped instantly and he locked up for at least 10 seconds before falling over...weirdest thing I've seen.

They do that. I've had them do that before they fall over. Just stand there...dead as a doornail. Even had one stand back up. That's one thing I'll give hogs. Their bodies don't know their brains were turned to mush 5 minutes ago.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

FLA, what time is dinner!!

They do that. I've had them do that before they fall over. Just stand there...dead as a doornail. Even had one stand back up.

Don't you hate it when they go "zombie" on you!

 

[FLAvalanche]

That's what we called it. Zombie Hog.

It was a clean through and through head shot. Half it's skull was gone and half it's brains were splattered in the field around it. It's legs folded up underneath it and down it went. It laid like that for about half an hour and then when we drove the truck up to it, got out and started getting ready to field dress it and it stood right back up. It stood there for a second swaying back and forth, then made a stiff legged circle and fell over on it's side.

Creepiest damn thing I've ever seen...

My buddy was either too scared or too amazed to move and I was found on top of the tonneau cover of my Avalanche.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

You would have found my big white rear in the next county! I've had them get back up from heart and lung shots laying there for a bit but never from something like that. That is BEYOND creepy there.

 

[PT1911]

That's what we called it. Zombie Hog.

It was a clean through and through head shot. Half it's skull was gone and half it's brains were splattered in the field around it. It's legs folded up underneath it and down it went. It laid like that for about half an hour and then when we drove the truck up to it, got out and started getting ready to field dress it and it stood right back up. It stood there for a second swaying back and forth, then made a stiff legged circle

Insert long drawn-out gawdy girly scream here!!!!!

 

[FLAvalanche]

Insert long drawn-out gawdy girly scream here!!!!!

It wasn't far off.

The only time I really fagged out like that down here was the first time I went fishing from a kayak here in Charlotte Harbor. I was turned around in my kayak getting something out of my milk crate and I had a 4 lb. mullet jump out of the water and hit me in the back of the head.

Of course, I didn't see the mullet, all I heard was a splash then something hit me in the head and start thrashing around my legs and the first thing my mind registered was 100 foot alligator.

Yep. Screamed like a girl.

Bad part was there was witnesses...

 

[rfwobbly]

They are a very deadly tool that are connected to some pretty stout jaw muscles! They will rip into you like a hot knife through butter.

 

[Freedom_fighter_in_IL]

Now Dems sum Tuskers! VERY nice Wobbley! Don't think his wetters were cutting all that length to sharp though. Damn that thing looks like it has some wart hog in it with them suckers!

 

[FLAvalanche]

They have no problems slicing through the 1" PVC in the orange grove. That's impressive if you think about it for a minute.

 

[AKElroy]

As for the head, their skulls are not particularly thick. As with bears, there is a lot of tissue and hair that hides the actual shape of the skull and both have long sloped skulls. Many head shots that fail to penetrate the skull are likely those that either didn't reach the skull because they were passing through hair or soft tissue, or were glancing shots.

I have shot 150lb sows in a trap w/ .45acp ball ammo directly between the eyes and had those shots bounce off, leaving a white spot of exposed bone & a really angry sow. In disbelief, I tried several more times with the same result. Their frontal lobes are very thickly protected; behind the ear is the lights-off switch.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

I have shot 150lb sows in a trap w/ .45acp ball ammo directly between the eyes and had those shots bounce off, leaving a white spot of exposed bone & a really angry sow. In disbelief, I tried several more times with the same result.

A glancing shot will glance.

Their frontal lobes are very thickly protected; behind the ear is the lights-off switch.

The frontal lobes on a pig aren't that thick, but they are brain and brain is pretty soft. If you mean to say that the frontal bones are thick, you are in error. They are thinner than a human's.

If you did actually shoot between the eyes and hit the frontal bones, depending on the angle of incidence of your shot, the round might not have hit the brain anyway, the sinus cavities being located between the eyes.

Strangely, if you shot behind the ear, you shot close to the junction of the temporal, parietal, and occipital and the bone is thicker there, which is rather ironic.

I posted my boar skull showing how thick the bones aren't. Maybe you have a better example that shows thick bones?

 

[heeler]

Interesting that you should say that AKElroy because I got into a pretty good argument with a couple of guys that wanted to walk up on a group of hogs we had caught in a pig trap and this one guy was hell bent on using his Colt Lawman in 357 mag to dispatch the hogs and since this was in my opinion somewhat dangerous as I was worried about full penetration and a possible ricochet off the heavy duty metal hog wire and then hitting one of these goobers.
I finally pulled rank with the "I am in charge of this lease" and used my brothers old High Standard 20 gauge with high brass #4 and killed five hogs dead that were from 40 pounds to at least 150 pounds.
Nothing bounced off here!!
Oh yea,one shot each.

 

[alsaqr]

i've killed hundreds of hogs: They ain't rhinos. At no place is a hogs skull over one quarter inch thick. In most places the skull is much thinner than one-quarter inch.

There is a problem with shooting hogs that are looking at you head on. Hog skulls are narrow and the heads are wide. There is a very good chance that the bullet will miss the skull and leave a flesh wound.

 

[AKElroy]

While I appreciate the pig anatomy lesson, I can only post my experience. I fired no fewer than 4 rounds point blank, wolf 230 gr ball from a colt series 80 enhanced into the forehead of a 150lb sow, and it did nothing more than piss her off. The land owner was dispatching the other pigs with one shot from his single six, and asked me if I was planning to continue to waist ammo, and when I would actually put a shot behind the ear. (we had two big sows and 3 piglitts in a 6x10 trap) that shot did in fact finally turn out the lights. It is entirely possible that the forehead shots presented a steep angle to the shot.

 

[FLAvalanche]

It is entirely possible that the forehead shots presented a steep angle to the shot.

That's exactly what happened.

But this kind of thing is exactly what makes people buy into the garbage that pigs are nex to indestructable. It brings us right back to poor shot placement being the only reason pigs don't die.

 

[Kachok]

Some of my friends use AR-15s and have killed 500+lbs hogs with them. Not my personal style I like the knockdown of my 6.5x55 with it's long and heavy 140 gr bullets. They have given me massive tissue damage through the vitals and a quarter-golfball sized exit wound every single time, nothing has ever needed a second shot or tracking.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

There is a problem with shooting hogs that are looking at you head on. Hog skulls are narrow and the heads are wide. There is a very good chance that the bullet will miss the skull and leave a flesh wound.

alsaqr is right and this is a problem common to many bear and hog hunting stories. Both have narrow skulls. Both have nice slopes on their skulls (and a lot of animals do). Neither has skulls that are particularly robust when it comes to protecting the brain. However, you can shoot straight on and hit the heads and completely bypass the brain. On a bear, you can actually shoot it through the eye and still have the bullet miss the brain.

It is for situations such as these that anatomy and skeletal mechanics really comes into play.

Where is the real bony mass on the head of a hog? Look to the jaws. The thickness of the bone of the mandible, at least in places, is as thick or thicker than the shafts of the femur, tibia, or humerus.

If you don't actually understand what you are shooting, then it is difficult to understand the real reason why you aren't being successful when you aren't.

 

[TexasPatriot.308]

my little savage .17hmr kills em dead, behind the ear, heart & lung shots with really devastating internal damage with a 20 grain hunting tip.