Originally Posted By: daddyfleaOriginally Posted By: hm1996
And I thought it was just due to my .223 being too light + angle of bone @ POI. I saw the splash of red when I hit a big boar between the eyes at about 35-40 yds which then got up and ran off and figured the light bullet just blew up. Know daddyflea shoots a 308, not sure of your caliber, SkyPup. Know both of you have a lot more experience than I shooting hogs; do you guys have this issue even w/the heavier calibers, as well?
Regards,
hm
I have actually had this happen to me twice now using a 308. Once with a 128gr Bullet and once with a 168gr. The 125 was at a range of about 20yds. The 168 was about 150yds. Both Hogs went down instantly and did not even wiggle. In both cases I started looking for other Hogs to shoot, In about 30 seconds they both started thrashing around then got up and run off never to be seen again.
I shot one from about 130 yds that had crossed a road from thick cover then entered about 10 yds of thick cover before getting to a Feeder. I shot him and hit him hard in the shoulder. Took him off his feet. His Sanctuary was back across the road. I watched the road thinking I could shoot him as he crossed the road. He scooted into the thick 10yds of cover and never came out. I gave him time and walked to where he should be and no Hog. I found him three days later. He had went into the thick brush then turned to avoid crossing the road. He followed the thick brush until the road made a bend then crossed into his Sanctuary where he died. By the way this is very Private Property and the Road is just a Two Track.
I also shot one behind the Ear that lived long enough to crawl into a 4 ft deep hole before he died.
223 is great for the Army. It is light and a lot of rounds can be carried by Infantryman. It takes three Soldiers out of the fight because it takes two to carry one. It is a terrible hunting round though. It is just way too light. I would rethink 223 as a Hog Rifle.
Most of my hog experience was while doing ADC on three ranches. The rancher developed a hog problem and asked me to continue the coyote program but shoot every hog that crossed our path. My partner and I hunted hogs 16 days on the ranch with hog problem and killed 36 hogs between us. Due to the severe drought, the rancher was feeding his cattle a lot more than usual & the hogs were jumping up in the feed troughs to eat, but deficating in the troughs, thus cattle would not use them.
We were primarily hunting coyotes, but shooting hogs as targets of opportunity, so, for the most part, I carried my favorite M4 coyote rig, supplemented by 243 WSSM AR when chances were good for hogs, my partner used a 243 Win. bolt gun. Didn't keep score, but believe most of the hogs I shot happened to be with the .223 (I'd guess probably 10-15 of the hogs). Having said that, I never take shoulder shots on hogs.
I lost two, both head-on shots; the one previously mentioned where I saw the .22 cal bullet splash between his eyes at short range, and the other shot was a 200 yd. shot with the 243, trying a head on shot. Knocked the big boar down, but he got up and ran 100 yards to heavy brush. I figured I must have made a bad shot on that one, but have since wondered if the bullet may have ricocheted off his skull between the eyes??
I know the .223 is marginal, especially on body shots, but have not lost one hog with carefully placed shots between eye/ear on broadside shots. Maybe just been lucky.
This target was not so carefully chosen under the circumstances, and provided quite an adrenaline rush, but ended w/the hog DRT. I generally hold out for a broadside head shot, especially the with lighter calibers.
We were driving back to camp right about dark one evening and saw this big boar in a feed trough in a small corral adjacent to a trap pasture. I had to get to the fence in order to stick my rifle muzzle through the wire and prevent the bullet from hitting the wire. I had just barely enough light to see my scope but I managed to slip up to the hog wire fence surrounding the corral within 30 ft. or so of the hog. I was feeling pretty secure with the hog wire fence between us when I poked my rifle through the fence. Just as I got him in my scope, he bolted towards the fence. I had been concentrating on the hog as I stalked toward the fence in the dark and had not noticed an open gate in that fence 15 ft. to my left. As I struggled to withdraw my rifle in order to turn and face the hog, he came through the gate at full speed. Now we're both on the same side of the fence no more than 15' apart!
Thinking back, I don't believe that he knew I was there, he just spooked and was merely getting out of Dodge, but I wasn't really convinced of that in the heat of the moment! Any rate, I swung on him as he passed by me and cranked a round off, fortunately connecting with that sweet spot and rolling him up.
Regards,
hm