pigs

[HAWKEN]

I lived in central Florida for 26 years, before moving to "The Greenest State In The Land Of The Free",  and I have killed a lot of hogs.  I never thought they were particularly difficult to kill.  Every game animal in North America is built exactly the same, just different sizes.  The front shoulder of all of them is not connected to any other bone, only muscle and connecting tissue.  The older and heavier the animal gets, the wider and thicker the shoulder plate gets, to support the animals added weight.  Along with this, the connecting tissue, gristle, gets thicker.  To compound the problem, a hogs skin is tough and twice as thick as a deer's, and their fur is thick and tough.  How do you deal with this?  You wait for a quartering shot, either away or towards you.  I would  not be concerned unless they were  150 pounds, or so, and the best eating hogs are 60 to 100 pounds.  Keep yer powder dry.......Robin   

[stuart cee dub]

 Hawgs come in all sizes .I once used my .50 backed by 80 grs of 3f .
Also used a minie rifle. Now I use either a .62 rifle with a hardened ball or a 54.

 I refused a shot at a 400 lbs monster sow one night .Not that I didn't think it wouldn't die, but that I might ,in the interval between the shot and by the time the shot had it's fatal effect because I was only ,maybe 20 yds away .The nineteen eleven I had as a back up wasn't going to cut it either.I had a ''revelation'' then and there carefully backing out of the pencil cactus .In retrospect ,Brave Sir Robin must have known his limits as well . 

I ''up armed'' and later that night I did get her from about 60 yds away ,big trees between us . The gristle shield was three inches thick. Most hogs aren't that big or that tough . But you just don't know what you are going to come across.

Just use a little common sense based on where you find yourself .A stoutly loaded hogleg in meaningful caliber is helpful as well .

Regards Stuart

[dagner]

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

  we got quite   a surpise  shot 450 lb hog at 25 yards just nicked edge of heart with model 29 .bullet was like pimple on other side of hogs skin  darn thing went over 50 yards.tried to climb in the ground blind with us. they  take a lot of killing on body shots.the guide was cussing about  muzzle loaders  and wounded hogs.watched the guide go to a wounded one .it came up *#)*^~ . he climbed a fence into tree.the hog ate the heel off his cowboy boot .the wild ones are mean. they are not your barn yard pig .owner of lodge  liked his short 58 cal musket with mini ball.said that really knocked them down

 dag

[Dr. Tim-Boone]

Hunt em with a tomahawk or a short sword!! Get close to your work............. not me!! but I have seen them done that way. My host shot one yesterday abot350# with a 25/06 and dropped it in its tracks. A second one wandered off with a fair blood trail...

The big heavy/old ones have to be buried or left for vulture food, but I was amazed at how much crop damage they do.

[Daryl]

I know a fellow in Australia who used a Mastif/Dane cross and a Bull Mastif for hunting hogs. The dogs, wearing Kevlar vests, grab and hold the hog by the ears - one fore and one aft. He then walks up a sticks them with a LONG knife. A bullet might hit a dog, thus he uses a short sword or long knife - your choice.  By April last spring, he told us his new dog had caught his 325 or 315th hog this year.  Some areas of Ausiland are overrun, as in Texas. They are classified as vermin.