# Pig hunting caliber



## RenoHuskerDu (May 26, 2011)

Just took a big sow the other day, probably around 300 lbs, took three men to get it into the UTV.

Ballistic results confirm what many of us see as common sense: Take hogs with a large caliber, not a 223, unless you're real close or run an alternative AR caliber that hits harder. The 300 HAM'R comes to mind but gosh those are expensive to buy and shoot.

First shot was trotting at 200 yards because she heard my son work the bolt at 170, a good lesson for a young man. A 308 180gr SP entered the hips and exited the other side with about a 1" wound channel. Pig was down but could crawl still. Found no fragments inside from that.

Followup shots were 223 at close range to the head. It took 3 to finish the sow off. I grabbed a mag that turned out to be greentips, not the best choice. Last shot severed the spinal column, we found at butcher time, which did the job. All three greentips broke up in there, but expansion was not at all uniform; jacket here, core there etc.

Had it not been a trotting shot, the 308 on upper shoulder / neck would have been one shot one kill. I'm pretty proud of him connecting with a trotting pig. He climbed the scope and got himself a little scope cut, adds character.

The meat is delicious, BTW.


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

Last one I shot was in the head at about 75 yards with a .222 Rem, one shot, no problem.
I've never found them overly tough to kill.


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## RenoHuskerDu (May 26, 2011)

75 yards is pretty close. You're only down about 10% from muzzle energy. At 200, a 308 has lost about 25%. A 6mm or 6.5mm caliber would hold a bit more energy than the .30 calibers.
https://www.chuckhawks.com/rifle_ballistics_table2.htm


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## Chuck R. (Apr 24, 2008)

The green tip sounds like it performed as designed, they don't expand only fragment. 

Never shot a pig, but have shot several boars (Germany & Austria) with a .270. Both stand hunting at night and driven hunts, never had a problem with the .270. 

Congrats on the pig!


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## bobp (Mar 4, 2014)

I've killed many wild hogs, mostly dog caught knife kills, but lots with different calibers too...
from 22lr to 454 casul....any deer rifle will do, for stand hunting or still hunting......
But my all around favorite for 75 yd in to muzzle in the hair is a simple 12 ga slug......tons of kinetic energy, tons of good tile fashioned whollop.......and it expands and loses energy quickly enough to not be a danger to the dogs......


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

I don't have hogs / pigs in my area after searching and thinking and looking for a better in close range brush gun round I certainly couldn't find a less expensive more capable brush gun than a 870 or M500 with smooth bore slug barrel and 15 round value packs of Winchester super X slugs. for that few feet to 50-75 yards

can typically pick up the gun for about 225 used , I have some I got as a combo for 225 used and an 870 police I picked up for 125 after it road around in a cruiser for 25 years. they will take 3 inch but I only use the 2 3/4

I did end up with a 20ga M500 with a rifled slug barrel and after seeing it's performance on deer and target with Win Dual Bond sabots anything inside 125 yards is very doable. down side is 2.50 - 3.00 dollars a round where the value pack of rifled slugs in still under a dollar a round.

and as hard as I try in a rifle I keep coming back to 308 and 30-06 whichever one is more available to you the 30-06 might get the nod for slightly more energy while the 308 is a little length savings with the short action and better availability in semi auto.

nothing is going to know the difference in a 180 gr bullet between the two inside 300 yards.


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## crehberg (Mar 16, 2008)

I still like my 243...course we're normally in the deep woods...and it's rare to get a shot over 75 yards...


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## RenoHuskerDu (May 26, 2011)

I love the whole 308 family. .224, .243, .257, .264, .277, .284, .308, .338 and .358. Weights of those bullets span from 40 grains to 250 grains, making the .308 Win one versatile parent case. Even the 6.5 Creedmore is based on the 308.


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

12 gauge 870 has worked for me 30 years.
270 Savage when I need to make a long distance call.


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## Grafton County Couple (Sep 20, 2018)

NH has no 'official' wild boar/feral swine hunting season. From NH Fish & Game: "In southwestern New Hampshire, where the vast majority of the state's feral boar exist, they are considered the property of Blue Mountain Forest Association, a privately owned preserve located in Croydon, NH Permission is required to hunt free-ranging wild boar that escape from this property. If permission is granted (which it typically is), you will need to have a current regular NH hunting license, and you must hunt within legal hunting hours."
Mostly woods hunting around here. Top 2 local 'woods guns' of choice. . .shotgun, 30/30


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

Grafton County Couple said:


> NH has no 'official' wild boar/feral swine hunting season. From NH Fish & Game: "In southwestern New Hampshire, where the vast majority of the state's feral boar exist, they are considered the property of Blue Mountain Forest Association, a privately owned preserve located in Croydon, NH Permission is required to hunt free-ranging wild boar that escape from this property. If permission is granted (which it typically is), you will need to have a current regular NH hunting license, and you must hunt within legal hunting hours."
> Mostly woods hunting around here. Top 2 local 'woods guns' of choice. . .shotgun, 30/30


having to ask permission sounds like a recipe for a feral hog issue.

Wisconsin adopted a shoot on sight law. you must be the land owner or have a valid small game license technically.
if your not a land owner you must have permission from the land owner or lease holder there is a lot of leased acreage here for crops.

so as long as your on land you should be on hogs and feral pigs are free game year round.

we don't actually have a pig/hog issue there have been small pockets of feral pigs from time to time when pigs get loose from a farm but so far shoot on sight has kept it from becoming an issue.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

The first two times I went wild pig hunting I used an 8 3/8 inch barrelled .44 magnum pistol with hot load and FMJ for penetrability.

On the two days we went pig stalking I got three with that .44 mag revolver my hunt guide let me use.

That pistol impressed me enough that the following year before going to hunt with him , I bought my own
S&W 29 but didn't see a hog of my own and told the guy I hunted with that the next year I was going to borrow his pistol again.

Unfortunately he passed away before our next hunt.


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## oceantoad (May 21, 2009)

Glad you got that pig, one less to be in Lampasas county. Friday evening I used a 20 gauge Mossberg to shoot a 44 inch rattlesnake on my back porch. Pigs tend to cruise Burnett creek and stay away from the property.


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## JeepHammer (May 12, 2015)

RenoHuskerDu said:


> First shot was trotting at 200 yards because she heard my son work the bolt at 170, a good lesson for a young man. A 308 180gr SP entered the hips and exited the other side with about a 1" wound channel.
> Had it not been a trotting shot, the 308 on upper shoulder / neck would have been one shot one kill. I'm pretty proud of him connecting with a trotting pig. He climbed the scope and got himself a little scope cut, adds character.
> 
> The meat is delicious, BTW.


I mostly use an SR25 (.308 Win) with can and soft points, it seems to do the job and fast follow up shots.
.308 will most certainly do the job, and no exotic caliber expense.
While the can doesn't stop the ballistic crack using full power rounds, it does confuse the direction of the shot and hogs run towards me about half the time.

I hunted with a .300WSM which prompted the can. It REALLY rattled the brain when it went off, I just moved it over to the SR when I went back to .308 to keep from tearing them up so much.

We eat pig 3 times a day when we get there, but after about a week you can only eat so much pig!
The food bank gets about everything after the first one... And welcome to it since they come & pick them up.


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