Hog Hunting

[EJ]

Hello,

I live in Texas and spend the majority of my "free time" hunting hogs with dogs and a knife ... thought Id post a few pics of pigs we have cought in the past months.







The "fence" you see here is the side of a 2000+ acre grain field, the fence is only on one side of the field

[Lee C.]

EJ welcom to the forum, It look's like you guy's are haveing a good time. With your dog's running down them pig's. Great picture's, Keep them comeing in we all way's like to see picture's of the hunt. We got alot of great guy's here on the forum so stick around and have fun.

[Duckslayr161]

That's really cool. I have always wanted to try and stick a pig. I live in Corpus Christi, and have great hunts in Orange Grove and Freer. I also do a little hunting in Nacogdoches. Keep posting the pics.

[Squatting Wolf]

What's a good caliber for hog hunting? My dad, brother and I are planning on making a trip to Texas next summer for a hunt....guess that means I "have" to get a new rifle!

[WHISTLEPIG]

Squatting Wolf, I shoot a .270. Brother a 7mm. Both work just fine. The ones in CA can die a little hard. We like to knock them right down. I don't know about Texas pigs.

[Rick in Oregon]

Wolf: I have hunted hogs for many years, and can say that any rifle you'd use for deer is also hog medicine.

After a few years of using rifles, the challenge was gone, so we all went to large caliber handguns to put the 'fun' back into it while chasing the dogs. The .44 Mag is my personal favorite, powerful enough to get the job done from any angle, manageable recoil, and not too heavy to pack on the run in a good holster. I recommend hard cast bullets for this, as they will penetrate all the way through Miss Piggy. My favorite for this caliber is the 250gr Lyman No. 429421, which is a duplication of the famous Kieth bullet of fame. It worked for Elmer back then, it still works quite well thank you, now.

As Whistlepig mentioned, the .270 is about perfect for a rifle caliber for this work. It was my rifle caliber of choice when I carried a rifle for hogs. (Still have my M70 .270, it will never leave me!)

[Squatting Wolf]

Whistlepig & Rick as always thanks for the advice. I'm planning on taking my 41 mag but seriously thinking about picking up a larger caliber rifle also. Unfortunetly in Illinois, I can't deer hunt with rifles so I've had no "need" for a larger caliber. I think the hog hunt is as good of an excuse and I need to pick one up!

So far I've been looking at either a .270 or a 7mm Mag in a Sako or possibly T/C new Icon. I'd like something I could use on larger game for when I get a chance to maybe do an elk or black bear hunt. I know some argue that the .270 is a bit underpowered for elk but at closer ranges it performs wonderfully.

[Rick in Oregon]

Wolf: Put a Nosler Partition or a Barnes X-Bullet into a .270, and there's not an elk in North America that won't die, I promise.

Both my dad and my brother in law have many dead elk to their credit, all shot with their .270's.

The Barnes-X will penetrate any big bull from any reasonable range, about every time, and retain amost 100% weight. Seen it, been there.

[WHISTLEPIG]

Jack O’Conner shot almost everything on the planet with a .270. I, like Rick have had my model 70 featherweight for a long time. I would sell my blood before I sold that rifle. I have just shot deer, coyotes, antelope, and pigs with mine. I have a model 70 .338 that I shoot for elk. I like to put a big bullet in them. Carrying them out of a deep dark hole is no fun, believe me. It can ruin more than one day of your life. If I could have only one big game rifle it would be a 7mm.

[Squatting Wolf]

I had a model 70 chambered in .270 briefly........way too briefly and I'm kicking my self for selling it. I figure I'll shoot more hogs and antelope than larger game like elk so I'm sort of leaning towards the .270 but the 7mm has caught my eye. I don't want to highjack this post so I'll make a new post in the centerfire rifles portion of the site. If you guys have any additional info or stories that would be great!

[Duckslayr161]

I agree with whistlepig. The most versitile and flatest shooting large caliber rifle, in my opinion, is the 7mm. I have owned my 7mm rem. mag. for about 8 years. It is my favorite for hogs. Big boom = No run. Also, shoot them right in the ear hole with a balistic tip of your choice. Unless you want to chase them through the roughest cactus and underbrush known to man. Or if you want take a head mount. In that case a well placed shot in the base of the neck will produce similar results. Hope this helps.