WILD BOAR CALIBER
I may have an opportunity to go to TX. in the near future, and would like to shoot a hog with a handgun, such as the T/C Encore. I'm thinking of a 375 JDJ, or a 460 S & W. Do any of you have any experience with hogs, or these cartridges. Any help, or ideas are appreciated. THX HAWKSHAW
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I carry a S&W .44 mag with a 10 inch barrel with me. I'm sure both of the calibers you mentioned would be plenty if not over kill. Most of the hogs I've shot have been in the 100-125 lb range. I do have some game cam pics of some boars that look like they would go 300+. For that size hog, the bigger the better if you ask me. 0 -
Either of those calibers will work for you, but - especially considering that you won't have a quick follow-up shot - bullet placement will be very important.
I'd suggest familiarizing yourself with hog anatomy. The layout of things is quite a bit different from a deer.
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Either of the cartridges you suggest will do the job. I've seen the 460 perform on deer although not on hogs yet. Given the results on the deer I'm sure there will be no problem anchoring a hog with it. For that matter, a 44 mag with 300 grain XTPs does a fine job on hogs too. 0 -
I certainly wouldn't say that .460 is too much gun (particularly not for bigger hogs), but for years the standard was .44 magnum for handgun hunting wild pigs.
Not incidentally, boars are TOUGH.
They have alternating layers of muscle and fat that act as a sort of natural armor, a fast coagulation system so they don't bleed out easily, and (as the excellent picture above shows), their heart is protected by the shoulder bone.0 -
I killed a 140 pound wild boar with a 1911 Colt .45
I was using military hardball ammo.
I took a lung shot at 30 yards. I hit high, and clipped the spine.
The pig went down. He was spinning around in circles on his front legs, his hind legs were out.
I ran up and shot him twice in the lungs, lights out.
I have found shooting hogs to be just about like shooting deer. Hit him right behind the shoulder, you will make the lung shot and the pig will die.
In Georgia the pig anatomy is about the same as a deer, I didn't find our Georgia hogs to have tiny lungs.
I made that lung shot on 6 different hogs with a .50 patched round ball and none of those hogs made 50 yards. All were complete pass throughs. None of these hogs were bigger than 160 pounds.0 -
I have bagged a fair numer of feral pigs from 60lbs to 350lbs. If you are hunting for food purposes, I suggest taking the smaller hogs. I use a .22 magnum rifle to pick these off from tree stand sitting about 20 yards from the feeder. I find the .22 magnum in a hollow point is devastating on neck shots. And I have used a 30 caliber US carbine. Larger hogs (damage hunts) I use an older Savage model 99 in 300 savage or my BAR in 30-06. With the right ammo these all work really good. 0 -
Load down the JDJ to more sedate levels and you'll be happy as a pig in $#!& when you pull the trigger.... Both calibers will easily put one down if you do your part. Have fun! 0
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