pigs

[Daniel]

what is a good caliber for hogs?  smooth or rifle.

[Standing Bear]

Daniel, I've killed feral hogs with everything from a .22 pistol to a 12 ga (7 1/2 shot at 12 yards rib cage  BEHIND the shoulder) including a .50 ML. 

Anything from .40 up with round balls will do it if shot placement is correct and at a reasonable for caliber range.  Smoothbore?  Get close enough for the good shot placement.   

[FrontierMuzzleloading]

Heres a meat shoot hog a friend of mine shot. I built the rifle for him based off a CVA Hawken stock. Its a .58cal using a deer creek barrel & slow twist.

[sqrldog]

Daniel I've killed a bunch of feral hogs up to 300 or so lbs. All of them with a .54 cal. round ball and 90 grains of fffg powder. Shot placement as has already been stated is as important as caliber. All my hogs were killed in unfenced swamps by stalk hunting. Hogs in a pen or caught/bayed by dogs can be killed with about anything including a knife. Feral hogs are a real problem in the wild. Crop and habitat destructing is unbelievable where they're found in numbers. Tim

[Hungry Horse]

 Some of you guys may want to jump on a big old hog with a pea shooter, but I just love life too much to do that. I saw a 250 lb. sow take a 45-70 round in the spine, and run thirty yards. I would go with the biggest caliber you can shoot, and the wife will let you buy, or build. JMO.

                    Hungry Horse

[rsells]

I am a .54 cal guy.  I have a customer in Florida that has been using a .54 for about 10 years to kill hogs.  He did shoot one last year that was down for the count, he thought!!  He got down from his stand and went over to it and it got up and put him up a tree.  I just sent him a .62 cal rifle about a month ago.  He is on the page that the bigger the better.  I still feel that shot placement is the key and a good .54 is more than good for the job, but I can say that I enjoyed shooting the .62 a bunch before shippment.
                                                                          Roger Sells

[d-a]

I am a .54 cal guy.  I have a customer in Florida that has been using a .54 for about 10 years to kill hogs.  He did shoot one last year that was down for the count, he thought!!  He got down from his stand and went over to it and it got up and put him up a tree.  I just sent him a .62 cal rifle about a month ago.  He is on the page that the bigger the better.  I still feel that shot placement is the key and a good .54 is more than good for the job, but I can say that I enjoyed shooting the .62 a bunch before shippment.
                                                                          Roger Sells

I'm making a .62 for my dedicated hog rifle. Killed them with much less but I need them stopped in there tracks.

d-a

[Daryl]

Maybe the big hogs are like Grizzly's - where "a .50 IS OK AS LONG AS YOU SHOOT HIM UP THROUGH THE OPEN MOUTH?

[Daniel]

I'm thinking .58.  my grandpa only used a 22 during butchering time. Right behind the ear.
I have some chances to hunt in Texas. At the place a friend goes they only hunt at night
with night vision in a stand and a .223.

[axelp]

When we killed our pen hawgs we just gave them a can of grain to keep them busy and then shot them between the eyes with a .22 at point blank range. Thats not hunting-- and not a wild or feral hawg...

I have only hunted wild pig once and I carried a 50 cal. I felt undergunned, and always kept a low limbed tree close by. I never even got a shot during that hunt.

I now have a .58 flint short rifle that I would happlily carry when/if I go hog hunting again. I also carry a modern handgun as back up.

K

[alyce-james]

Good morning Sir; Here in south Texas, with muzzleloader, I would (IMO) use only a .50 or a .54 and feel secure. Have a great week. AJ.

[J Henry]

  If you shoot the hog and it goes down and stays,,the gun was big enough,,,however,,,if it doesn't go down and stay you are in for a very bad day.
  The wild hog is totally different from pen raised,,they are armored in the front shoulder area and have a very nasty disposition in general,,when you shoot/hurt one they do their best to get even and more.
 Hunted wild hogs in Georgia,,if you have to ask, is this gun big enough,,there is your clue.
   and with a M?L there is a delay between shots,,,the hog will not wait.....

[Virginiarifleman]

I will have to go with a 54 Caliber up. those hogs are tougher than you can imagine. and a lot of difference in a Wild Hog compared to a domestic. definitely Dangerous game .

[WKevinD]

I've used a .50...but then again I had a S&W 29 on my hip.
Kevin

[PPatch]

Wild hogs are ferocious and quick as greased lighting. I've never hunted them but have been treed by a sow defending, in her mind, shoats. I spent a longggg time up that tree, that sow wanted me dead. Judging by what others who hunt them are saying go with as large a bore as you can manage and carry something as backup. A 58 would be my choice but what do I know, never hunted them and have no intention to.

Good luck.

dp

[C. Cash]

I shot one at 20 yards with a hard cast 35 cal. Hunting bullet doing 2000 fps+......entered at the gristle plate, into the heart and out the off side, pulverizing/breaking the shoulder.  He STILL jumped about 15 feet at the shot, then ran 20 yards to die in the brush.  My son with a 44, about the results but his boar was bigger/older with a thicker plate.  Thats all we've shot but have been told by guides they often just don't die on the spot despite a very lethal hit.  How this relates to a round ball, not sure except I would want it a bit harder to get through on a tough old boar with a thick plate and the heavier the better.   A Renegade 54 with a Maxi style bullet might come in handy at getting through the plate.

[okawbow]

I've shot 3 wild pigs from 100#-200# with a 45# longbow and recurve. All of them were on their feet for 10-20 seconds before going down, with good, double lung hits. That's a long time if a hog wanted to get after you.

If I was going to use a muzzleloader; I would use my .54 flintlock longrifle, or even my .62 Hawken. The boars sometimes have heavy shields over the vitals. A long, narrow, razor sharp broadhead will penetrate; but a soft lead roundball could be slowed down some.

One point I'd like to make. A pigs vitals are smaller and located more forward than a deers. If you shoot a pig a few inches behind the front leg; you might not hit the lungs at all. Straight up the front leg, puts you on the vitals.

I shot this boar in March, in central Texas, stalking, from about 25 yards. He's about 200#, and the meat was excellent. I'm still having breakfast sausage and loin from him almost every day.

P3120519 (2) by okawbow, on Flickr

[Bob Roller]

I know a man that went on a boar hunt and when he took his rifle out of the case
he was told that .410 would not be allowed and was told to get a real hunting rifle.
He broke the little"410" open and dropped a 450x3.25 into each barrel.It was a double
barreled rifle that belonged to Tom Dawson's brother in law.He got his pig with one shot,
no problem at all.

Bob Roller

[PPatch]

Bob; I'm pretty sure a 450x3.25 would stop a freight train. Good story!

dave

[Bull Shannon]

what is a good caliber for hogs?  smooth or rifle.

A good caliber for hogs is one that you can confidently use to put the ball in the right place time after time.  Hogs are not bullet proof; never have been and never will be.  A poorly placed shot on a hog is just as bad as a poorly placed shot on any other game animal and results in extra time spent tracking/chasing something that is needlessly wounded.  I've found that the best tasting hogs are 125 pounds and under, plus are much easier to clean and butcher than 200# + ones but it is imperative that you gut the downed hog as quickly as possible and get the carcass cooled down.  Skinning them after gutting is real helpful too, especially if you have a freezer where you can hang them overnight but even if you don't, skin it anyway.  You don't have to be careful when doing this because you're not going to tan the hide just get it off so the meat can cool quickly and evenly.

As has been stated, a hog's vitals are smaller and farther forward so you absolutely cannot shoot them in the same area as you would a deer and expect them to go down quickly.  Here's a picture that will help; http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v673/ranchand99/feralhog1.jpg
http://texaspredatorposse.ipbhost.com/index.php?showtopic=174

If you know your limitations and can judge the hogs weight within 20 pounds or so, shooting a hundred pounder in the shoulder with a moderately loaded .45 RB at a reasonably close distance is going to do the job just fine.  You need to know the area in which you'll be hunting as well as the size range of the hogs beforehand so you'll be prepared.  Should you see one of the rarer 300+ pounders, and I have, then pass on the shot.  Even if you have a 120+ hog 30 yards away, if you don't have a clear shot on the shoulder then either wait until you do or pass.  There will be another one come along soon.

Lastly, an 80 pound hog will fall dead after being hit in the right spot using a .36, but that isn't a shoulder shot nor is it "in the ear" as has often been repeated.  You still have to know exactly where to place that lead ball. 
I will definitely recommend that you buy/use a rifle as accuracy can be maintained over a longer distance.

[d-a]

I've shot 3 wild pigs from 100#-200# with a 45# longbow and recurve. All of them were on their feet for 10-20 seconds before going down, with good, double lung hits. That's a long time if a hog wanted to get after you.

If I was going to use a muzzleloader; I would use my .54 flintlock longrifle, or even my .62 Hawken. The boars sometimes have heavy shields over the vitals. A long, narrow, razor sharp broadhead will penetrate; but a soft lead roundball could be slowed down some.

One point I'd like to make. A pigs vitals are smaller and located more forward than a deers. If you shoot a pig a few inches behind the front leg; you might not hit the lungs at all. Straight up the front leg, puts you on the vitals.

I shot this boar in March, in central Texas, stalking, from about 25 yards. He's about 200#, and the meat was excellent. I'm still having breakfast sausage and loin from him almost every day.

P3120519 (2) by okawbow, on Flickr

You are correct about the soft lead having a tough time with the shield. I had been struggling to get full penetration with pure lead balls on my hogs that I had been shooting. I read about Daryl using wheel weights for follow up shots. Well now I'm using hardened lead balls and getting the results I desired. My friend and his two sons plus me killed 56 wild hogs last year by spot and stalk.

d-a

[Don Steele]

I just(last Saturday) took a real nice hog in S.E. GA with my 50 cal T/C  Hawken using a Hornady Great Plains 385 bullet over 90 gns of 3f Goex. From my ladder stand (which gave me enough elevation to be shooting "down" through the back of the hog...) the shot went through the atlas joint (the junction of the neck and skull), clipped the aorta at the top of the heart and internally bruised the inside of the distal (rear) end of the brisket where I recovered it. The distance was short...15 yds or so.
The bullet mushroomed perfectly, retained 90% of it's initial weight.
Needless to say the hog dropped in it's tracks and only twitched a little while I reloaded.

[Daniel]

I didn't think this would turn into some real cool adventures .
Thank you for the stories and hunts. I look forward to a hunt.
I know some abo hunters who hunt with dogs and spears.
Gonads it takes I would say.

[Scota4570]

I made a 1" (4-bore) smoothbore especially for hogs.  I used to have a place to go and kill as many as I wanted.  The year I finished the gun California enacted the lead bullet ban in my area.  I never got to shoot a hog with my "elephant gun". 

[bob in the woods]

I have cast some .715 balls from wheel weights for bear hunting. I thought they would give improved performance if I hit a heavy bone. I must say, that nothing I have ever hit with my smoothbore , even with the soft lead balls, has ever taken more than a few steps.  I wouldn't hesitate to use it on anything in N.A.  A paper cartridge with 140 gr FFg and a round ball is accurate and makes for fast reloads.