What Calibers Do You Use on Feral Hogs?

T

Twenty-two Two Fifty

New member
I have only hunted hogs a few times without any success. I armed myself with a 12 gauge slug weapon one time and a .30-06 Remington 700 another time. Sat on stand with a Marlin 336CC .30-30 the last time.

I think some guys use the 7.62 X 39 Soviet service cartridge, either in AK47 or Mini 30 Ruger. Maybe semi-automatic is the way to go.
 
I've used a bow, a .300 Win Mag, a .454 Cassul, and now generally use my 6.5X55. Hogs really aren't that hard to kill if you hit them solid. Pretty much any standard deer rifle will get the job done.
 
I have never shot one, but I have killed three with a knife. Always carried a vaquero in 357 just in case. Imagine how that went-middle of the night huge dog-hog fight in a half acre thicket, we crawl in there and there is no room to shoot around the dogs so we have to grab them by the legs and slit their throats!
 
I use a 12 gauge with sabots, getting in close is part of the excitment, I really wouldn't recommend anything smaller than a .30 caliber, don't really want to put more than one round in those guys, they come back with a fury :eek:

Scott12
 
A guy I work with runs them with dogs, when the trail hounds tree them a holding dog goes in and grabs them and he comes in from behind and takes them with a knife. Pretty common practice in texas anymore.
 
I've killed them with a 50 cal. muzzle loader, 30-30, 270, 22 mag and 22lr. The 22's were usuall head shots, but I killed more with the 22 mag and 50 cal than anything else. The place where I hunted them the most only allowed muzzleloaders, shotguns, and rimfire rifles. The 50 cal would do the trick, but when you get into a herd of them, one shot wasn't ideal. The 22 mag with CCI solid points would do the trick. The last one I took with it was a 300 pound boar. Good heart/lung shots with the mag worked well too. Do not use the Stingers or HP's on hogs because you do not get enough penetration.

Where legal I would stick to a deer caliber like the .270, .308, 30-06 or one of those.

Anytime you can take a head shot, you are better off, because even a good heart/lung shot often does not produce a good blood trail. The thick hide and fat layer has a way of sealing up and you just don't get good blood.
 
Hey fellas,
I would like to do some feral hog hunting down south, does anyone have any info on where i should start? Is Texas the best state to hunt feral hogs? How about North of Texas? I am in Michigan and would like to travel the shortest distance possible.
Thanks,
Nigel-
 
Tennessee is supposed to have some good hog hunting. It may be expensive though. In Texas you can get some cheaper hunts probably. Texas also offers drawn state hunts with unlimited number of hogs for $75 buck if you get drawn. Also, there are quite a few places on public land that have a lot of hogs. A $48 permit get you yearlong access.
 
i havent ever hunted pigs but they are our most commonly hunted game. people tend to use .30 calibre rifles for our wild pigs but it is not uncommon to use anything from a .222 (or even smaller) up to huge big bear blasters.

can any one give me an ideal load for a .223 for hogs?
 
It really depends on your hunting conditions. Here on the east coast, you tend to hunt hogs in the think brush and close-up shots are the norm. I personally like the 12 gauge slug in thick conditions, but if you really want a thrill of a life time use a bow or better yet a spear. Any caliber will really do. It all depends on shot placement. As long as you do your part, the bullet will do the rest. I even have a video tape of someone harvesting two hogs one with a blow gun and the other with a bowie knife. Good luck!
 
According to my DFG web site it says not to use the Soviet round you mentioned. I have no personal experience with it though.

I use a 25-06 with 120 gr, and a 30-06 with 150 gr. For just about any NA big game.

Steve
 
You can't kill 'em too much. I've done most of mine with a .270, 130 gr bullet, but they almost always ran some before dropping. I'm going this month in So. Tex, and am going to use the .270 in a 150 gr. Nosler Partition. I think that will probably anchor most of them.

A friend of mine hit a big boar 2 years ago with a .308 through both lungs. It still ran 200 yds and took almost half a day to track in heavy cover.

Hogs are big-boned animals, so if you're a good shooter and a head shot presents itself then that's what I'd do. I just purchased a .300 win mag for an Alaska hunt this summer and am considering taking it along on the hog hunt to get some trigger time with it.
 
Whatever I happen to have at the time. Last bunch I killed 4 with a Glock 9mm. If I am hunting them on purpose, I generally use a bow, but the main rifle is 30.06 for body shots, or .243 w/ neck/head shots.
 
i have killed them with 22 mag and my friend has shot one at 25 yds with a 30-30 and we still had to track it and shot it again with #4 buckshot which is what we mostly use
 


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