I'd Heard Hogs Were Tough........Now I've Seen It!
I've been sneaking around the swamp in my canoe the past couple of weeks trying to get the drop on some hogs (my first attempt at this sort of thing. Not wanting to be under-guned or to risk dropping one of my better rifles in the swamp, I took along the H&R Handi-rifle in .45-70. Figured that would fit the bill nicely. Anyhow, I finally snuck up on several hogs feeding down by on off-shoot creek. It was perfect, as I was moving silently and also concealed by the palm fronds. Picked out a nice chocolate-colored pig and let him have it at 10 yards. Looked like a good hit. However, the pig took off along with the rest. After 2 hours of searching in the waist deep muck and coming seriously close to being stuck, I finally gave up. What a disappointment on my first shot at a hog -- always makes you feel like such a failure when you can't find an animal you've shot. Oh well, maybe next week I'll get another chance. But if a .45-70 won't drop 'em I don't know what to do -- perhaps mount a harpoon gun on the bow of the canoe? Bazooka maybe? Or maybe that gun Arnold had in Terminator 2? That would probably do it. [:D]
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What load were you shooting? With the correct load and bullet placement nothing gets up and runs away from a 45/70. Dave 0 -
People tend to aim too far back on hogs. Their vitals are located a quite a bit forward of where you'd expect. 
Here's a link that also shows some good pics:
http://www.texasboars.com/anatomy.html0 -
quote:Originally posted by Txs
People tend to aim too far back on hogs. Their vitals are located a quite a bit forward of where you'd expect.
Here's a link that also shows some good pics:
http://www.texasboars.com/anatomy.html
That's good information, right there.0 -
Good, to the point info. Now all I need to do is find a feral hog! 0 -
I've seen big feral pigs take a .300 Weatherby and seem to shake it off like nothing. Said pig then took three more .357s before it finally went down. I sent the .300 at it (and looking at that picture I probably hit more lung than anything else). Them pigs are tough, but for my money, one of the most exciting animals to hunt. 0 -
Oh, you got the pig good. Fair and square. He's lost in the swamp dead under the water. Joe 0 -
I don't know if the H&R Handi-Rifle can handle it or if it's built for it but you may want to try some Buffalo Bore loads for them hogs. They're expensive so you'll want to zero with cheaper rounds to get close and then fine-tune your zero with a couple of the Buffalo Bore rounds. Have you tried one of those Sims Limbsaver recoil pads? I have a Marlin Guide Gun in .45-70. I slipped on one of them Limbsavers and it reduced the recoil in a HUGE way! I was thinking about your shoulder when I heard you were using an H&R Handi Rifle. I had a 12-gauge shotgun in one of those configurations that left my shoulder pretty sore after shooting a box of pheasant loads. I don't want to know what a .45-70 feels after shooting one of those things. 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Txs
People tend to aim too far back on hogs. Their vitals are located a quite a bit forward of where you'd expect.
Here's a link that also shows some good pics:
http://www.texasboars.com/anatomy.html
Yep, chances are it was gut shot.0 -
What Use Enough Gun said, 350 gr SJFP Sierra over 59grs H4895, a GOOD recoil pad and shot placement.
W.D.0 -
wth? how big are them pigs? y'all are talking about guns big enough to hunt buffalo with! good Lord! how 'bout using something that would be right for the job, something you can shoot properly and comfortably, something that will not BLOW RIGHT THROUGH WASTING MEAT AND WOUNDING ANIMALS! like a 243, 6mm, 308 with good bullets ie. nosler partition, sierra game king etc. 0 -
hey...use one of them bow and arrow deals for catching carp...with the line and reel....I guarantee that will be interesting 0 -
Hogs can be tuff animals to drop with body shots.
About this time last month i went to our hunting ranch in south Texas specifically to eradicate hogs.
Using my Rem 700 LV in .308 i killed three in two days with head or neck shots.
Unfortunately on day three i hit a huge unseen hole and that impact caused my scope to crash up against the dash of the jeep completely knocking the scope off paper(10 inch paper plate) even at 25 yards!!
So as a learned hunter i always carry a back up rifle which in this case was my Rem 600 in 243.
The next two days i killed two other hogs between 55 and 90 yards away using mothing more than factory Federal 100 gr. Power Shocks.
However since it was almost completely dark on both of those evenings when i came across these hogs i just shot to the thick of the body and too my surprise both dropped at the shot.
Go figure.
Usually what i have found is they take off like scalded cats when hit in the body and that's using such cannons as my 270,308,30-06.
Head shots or neck shots are truely best.0 -
Rosie O'Dumbass ain't that tough. Suck it up. 0 -
Hunt 'em like the good ol' boys down in the S. Florida swamps... with dogs, duct tape, and a good knife.
Get the dogs to bay 'em up, wade in there, wrassle it down, tape it up, take it home, pen it, and feed it up on corn, etc. for a while0 -
You are hunting with plenty of gun to kill a hog. You just didn't hit him right, or else you are not a good tracker. Did you get down on your hands and knees to look for tiny spots of blood? If not, then you did a poor job of blood trailing the hog.
I have killed 5 hogs with a .50 round ball from a TC Hawken. A pig will get about 40 yards when lung shot with a patched round ball.
I killed a 140 pound boar with a .45 acp. One shot through the spine to drop him then two to the lungs to kill.
As to the diagram txs posted that supposedly shows the hogs anatomy, I disagree with that. The dozens of hogs that I have helped gut and quarter had much bigger lungs than that diagram displays. Just like on a deer, the ribs are there to protect the lungs, and the lung area is pretty much defined by where the ribs are, just like a deer.
You shoot a hog right behind the shoulder with a .45-70, and he won't go far.
If you want to learn how to blood trail a wounded animal, ask me.0 -
...It's ALL shot placement on a hog, period. Very good diagram but it does not show how THICK and SLOPED their head-bone is!
...243 is too small IMO. 308 and 06 can be deflected off their heads with a not too long frontal head shot. Side head shot below the ear or hit 'em right below (in) their shoulder...I use 180gr 06, but again, it's ALL shot placement on these things....and if I wound one and it gets ANYWHERE I loose track of it, he's on his on, somewhat foolish to follow a several hundred pound wounded hog into a thicket or any under brush; you are asking for trouble dude.
...They can gut a horse...think you have a chance against a pissed off one???
Why(?) would you follow a POS hog into "anywhere" you can't see it?? Are they not plentiful where you are, a season on them?...I'll try to send a couple hundred your way, your more than welcome to 'em.
...They are not "game" animals, no season here. They are more akin to vermin! A pack of 8-10+ 300-500+ pound hogs can and will turn a nice pasture into a moonscape in one night of rooting around.
Kill 'em slow, quick...just get rid of the things...a 100 pound or LESS wild hog does eat VERY well though...[:p]0 -
quote:Originally posted by tacking1
hey...use one of them bow and arrow deals for catching carp...with the line and reel....I guarantee that will be interesting
[:0][:0][:0][:0][:0]
Now that would be something!
Better hold on tight!0 -
Colt Fwiw i have killed far more hogs,dozens honestly with my 243 and 6mm than any of the rifles i own.
And i have never ever had a bullet from any rifle deflect off of a hogs head.
And i have killed some tank sized hogs down in south texas where the grow plenty big.
Most hogs i have shot leave little or no blood trail what so everAllen.
And this is using heavier fire power than the 243/6mm.
But you are right Colt.
Why bother tracking such pests as these feral hogs.
I just drag mine off into the brush and they are coyote and buzzard food.
And if i dont find them it's no big deal cause we know they are going to die and that's exactly what we want.0 -
I agree with Colt & Texashunter. They are vermin & need to be shot -- with whatever you have handy at the time. A friend of mine put a couple of 22 RFs into one yesterday because that was the only gun that the had. It ran off, but will likely die. I have seen many butcher hogs killed by head shots with 22 RF. It does not take a cannon to kill a hog. However, a poorly hit one will run off, even when hit with a cannon --- not unlike many other animals. 0 -
I remember an old fella who was known for tall tales coming back out of the Sulphur River bottoms one day telling a hog story that had people looking sideways. He said that while squirrel hunting he got run up a tree by several pigs and that one was a huge boar with unusually long tusks. He claimed he'd shot this one square between the shoulder blades from straight above with a .240 gr. load from his Super Blackhawk sidearm, but that it seemed to have no effect at all. He claimed the boar stayed under the tree grunting and seemingly just p'ssed off about being shot. After this he decided he didn't have enough gun and decided to just wait them out. He said after awhile they finally just wandered off and he was able to climb down.
A little over a week later a couple my buddies were hunting that same area of bottoms and killed a really big boar with unusually long tusks. This hog also had a good sized pus oozing old wound in the exact spot the guy had described, but otherwise appeared healthy. The old guy later identified this as the same hog from a picture.
I know of them being killed with a .22LR, but sometimes hogs can take a lot of killing.0 -
"Most hogs i have shot leave little or no blood trail what so everAllen."
I have blood trailed lots of 'em, though I must admit, they don't bleed as much as a deer. Plus, they don't run as far as a deer. With a good lung shot, they would do 40 or 50 yards, of course, that can be a long way in the thick Georgia woods.
The longest time I ever spent blood trailing an animal was one night on a hog. My buddy had shot a hog with my Zouave .58 Civil War rifle.
That hog died, and the bullet went right through it, and hit another hog.
He came up to the house and got me. When we got into the swamp it was pitch black dark.
I had the .45 Colt acp. Bud had the flashlight. There was only a little drop of blood about every five feet or so. It is funny, at night a little blood drop shines like it has a light inside it, when you hit it with that flashlight beam.
We tracked that hog for about 150 yards on our hands and knees. Took about 2 hours. When we got there, the hogs hind legs wouldn't work, I killed it with that pistol.
I understand that these hogs are vermin for some of y'all, but if you are going to shoot them you owe it to the animal to try to make a good shot so it will not suffer.
I left the happy hog hunting grounds of central Georgia ten years ago, now I am up here in the NC mountains, not very good hog hunting up here, unfortunately. I do love that wild hog meat. Put a ham or shoulder in that smoker for 8 hours with mesquite wood, mmmmmmgoood.0 -
My first bow kill was a hog. It's all about placement. If you are going to kill anything you owe it to the animal to learn where the kill zone is.
Allen.. I have access to anout 525 acres of private land on HWY 17 at the Glynn County/McIntosh County Line... if you ever want to hunt hogs in Ga again... feel free to buzz me... you know the season 24/7/365 on private land![:D]0 -
Shot many hogs in my back 40 with .44 redhawk,I always try for just below ear shot.You probally shot to far back and gut shot him.Always try to know your game before you shoot for there sake and your good sportsmanship.Better luck next try.Thanks,Paul 0 -
quote:Originally posted by Txs
People tend to aim too far back on hogs. Their vitals are located a quite a bit forward of where you'd expect.
Here's a link that also shows some good pics:
http://www.texasboars.com/anatomy.html
That picture about says it all, but for one important thing (not seen in the image):
Note that the heart is RIGHT BEHIND THE SHOULDER, which in a hog is made of THICK BONE. If you want a heart shot from the side, you have to break through the shoulder bone to get to the heart!0
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