Gentlemen:

There is an over abundance of hogs on my ranch. I want to whack them in mass quantity. If I do so with a CF rifle, I won't get many before they become nocturnal. My idea is to shoot them with a 22 with subsonic rounds. I am going to set up fairly close in a pop up blind and shoot with the barrel totally inside the blind. I doubt they will hear much of anything.

Has anyone done this? Do you have any bullet recommendations?

My only supressor would work but it is too heavy for a 22. It is estimated to take 6 months to get approved for a new one. This is my best idea until I can get a new suppressor.

My personal opinion is that it won't work. Hogs have incredibly acute senses, minus eyesight, and I am certain the "pftt" of the .22 will run them off.
That said, shoot between the eyes or in or very slightly below ear hole.

If you really want to reduce numbers, build one of the large traps with cell phone controlled gates.

The biggest problem is the noise when the bullet hits hide. Until you shoot subsonic suppressed you don't realize how loud it can be. The hogs on my ranches are pretty much nocturnal. Which led me to buy night vision and thermal. There's more than one way to skin a cat......I mean hog.

I agree completely about the senses. I am trying to do this without scaring all of the deer off.

Other alternatives are difficult for a variety of reasons including the fact that I am 150 miles away. I have one group that must have 50 in it.

If I start letting some of the local crackers in to trap, with me gone, they may start whacking other things.

quote:

Originally posted by M16:
The biggest problem is the noise when the bullet hits hide. Until you shoot subsonic suppressed you don't realize how loud it can be. The hogs on my ranches are pretty much nocturnal. Which led me to buy night vision and thermal. There's more than one way to skin a cat......I mean hog.

I shot 9 last weekend with a suppressed 300 Win Mag. Even with that, I could really hear the bullet hit more than normal.

quote:

If I start letting some of the local crackers in to trap, with me gone, they may start whacking other things.

That is a chance you will have to take, but it is the only one that will produce the desired results.

A subsonic 22 would likely not kill a hog at point blank range. If you have a larger suppressor, you could try a subsonic 30 caliber load. I have loaded .308 subsonic with trail boss and subsonic Lapua bullets.
They are as quiet as a subsonic 22. As was mentioned,they still make quite a noise when they hit. Good luck!

Sub sonics do kill pigs with head shots---I've killed probablpy 30 in traps this year, all with sub-sonic rounds

Larry:

Cast bullets in a .30 cal with Red Dot about 10gr charge is pretty quiet and very accurate to about 60yds.
Sounds like your suppressor would fit other 30's. Figure you have some.

I'm about to cast up some 115gr RN pills, if you want to try some, let me know and i'll mail you a handful. These will be HARD Cast and won't lead a bore with a light load. I've shot hundreds thru my '06 without a problem or leading any.

Good luck and have fun,
George

A subsonic 22 will definitely kill them. I have done it before when killing domestic stock many years ago.

It may well startle them a bit with he sound of the bullet ripping into the hide. However, it will be a whole hell of a lot less than it would be with the sound of a center fire rifle going off. I have been surprised with my suppressed 300 Win Mag at how little they run.

At this point, I think this is my best alternative. I am going to try it. I am really looking for any advice on bullets.

I think I might get away with whacking a few before they take off if I am careful. I hope so.

Gato, I have a couple of traps. When I am going to be up there a few days, I am going to trap some. I am going to give some to the less fortunate and feed some to the gators.

get yourself a 9mm or 45 rifle and suppress it

Suppressors are taking 6 months to get approved these days.

I found some 300 Win Mag ammo that is sub sonic. I may buy some.

I would suggest that you trap them..My relitives who ranch in Texas, trap them, and haul them to the Saturday sale, along with keeping a gun in the pickup and shooting every hog they see.

I live 150 miles away. I can only do a limited amount of trapping.

I have experience shooting hogs here in Florida with sub 22's and a suppressor. In my experience perfect placement from 15 yards has been lethal the majority of the time, and I've had better luck with the heavier solid (60gr) bullets than with the frangible loads. I haven't tried it on any of the bigger pigs, the 50lb and under variety have been my choice to shot in this manner. I would think you could kill the bigger guys also, but that is 100% speculation with no personal experience.

As far as then hanging around after shot and kill it had been mixed results. It always unsettles the group and sometimes they leave, sometimes they mill off a little ways and come back. Seems to depend on how much they want to eat your bait and the reaction of the hog you popped.

I like shooting them with the 300blk or 308 Win suppressed better than the 22, but I haven't been in a situation where I was trying to keep the group around as long. I have a Ruger Hawkeye with the barren cut to 16" and threaded that spits out 180gr psp's subsonic so quietly isn't much louder than the 22. That rifle is my go-to for ultra quite with the punch to anchor larger hogs at closer ranges. Sometimes the bullet hitting the head is louder than the gun going off. Inside a pop-up it would be really quiet and effective. However, the 300blk shooting 220gr subs, with it's ability to quickly get off more rounds for maximum hogs on the ground, may be exactly what you need. I've got a night vision scope on one with a 9" barrel that I feel is a setup you could replicate and use inside your blind with the results you are looking for. If you're going to get a class 3 stamp you might as well get 2 and register an AR lower as a NFA weapon and create a short barrel rifle out of it.

I think last time we talked you were not too far from me, but hunted up north in the state a little more. If we could find a time to get together you could try it out the 22 and 30's. I've got a 22 rimfire can, 22 centerfire can and a 30cal can. Loaning nfa stuff is a no no, but if we were able to get together you could try it all and decide which direction you would like to go for your own setup. Shoot me a pm if your interested.

On another note....I hunted a big tomato farm that we were instructed to 'get rid of the damn hogs" on. We found that running 2 suppressed AR platforms out of my Polaris ranger at night was an incredibly effective means for reducing numbers. I don't know if your property is open enough for this... but if it is... a good time can be had, and many hogs can be put on the ground.

AB

Thanks Alex.

I go to Sarasota on business often. I might pay you a visit.

aguilla SSS are effective with VERY well placed shots - many firearms keyhole these -- which might make them hit harder ..

tactical innovations used to sell a 10/22 barrel for this, but then you have to also change to bylon/delrin buffer

i rebarreled a revolver for a shilen fast twist -- it works really well, but not without downside, but nothing intrinsic to the concept

I have declared war on them on my farm.
Just bought a Jager Pro hog trap with remote cellphone actuator. Also been shooting them with .223 and suppressor. Just acquired night vision and thermal and bought some sub sonic stuff for a suppressed .308, that ought to work.
11 months for my last suppressors to get approved. Also building 30'diamater pen around deer feeders, keeps hogs out and deer can get in, using 6 swine panels (16') from tractor supply-per Texas A&M video. They work too. Tried two and now going to build 7 more.
Next is the raccoons. Bought 8 leg hold traps, they eat a ton of corn, caught 2 last weekend. I don't have any problem getting rid of dead coons, there is a segment of the population in Louisiana that will eat that. LOL.

quote:

there is a segment of the population in Louisiana that will eat that. LOL.

If they'll eat crawfish, a raccoon would be a feast! :-)

AR group Hog hunts at Butch's and Larry's ranches????

We use .22 LR for hogs in traps. They work well with precision shooting (250 so far this year). Don't have experience with subsonic velocities, but many of the LR loads are not much faster than subsonic anyway.

I have noticed that if the hogs don't know you are there, and your victims drop without a squeal, the others are not alarmed by the sound of the gun. I actually killed 4 hogs with my .375 H&H on one occasion with head shots, and they never showed any inclination to run. I have shot 2's and 3's on several other occasions with the same behavior. Once they detect you, or hear a squeal - the jig is up.

FWIW, I picked up my suppressor about a month ago with a 12 month wait. A year seems to be standard anymore. Hope that gets better!

The situation you describe sounds fun, but I don't think you'll make a dent in your population with sporadic control. Shoot all you want - they'll make more!

Good hunting!

Larry. Have you considered a group hunt like Biebs suggested? A springtime hunt should allow the deer time to return to their daily habits before fall season kicks in again. No?

quote:

Originally posted by Acer:
We use .22 LR for hogs in traps. They work well with precision shooting (250 so far this year). Don't have experience with subsonic velocities, but many of the LR loads are not much faster than subsonic anyway.

I have noticed that if the hogs don't know you are there, and your victims drop without a squeal, the others are not alarmed by the sound of the gun. I actually killed 4 hogs with my .375 H&H on one occasion with head shots, and they never showed any inclination to run. I have shot 2's and 3's on several other occasions with the same behavior. Once they detect you, or hear a squeal - the jig is up.

FWIW, I picked up my suppressor about a month ago with a 12 month wait. A year seems to be standard anymore. Hope that gets better!

The situation you describe sounds fun, but I don't think you'll make a dent in your population with sporadic control. Shoot all you want - they'll make more!

Good hunting!

I hear you. Movement scares them. One can often get away with gun noise, especially around here. If they don't know you are there, I think they sometimes think it is thunder which we often have.

I have often shot multiple hogs at distance if I was careful.



They changed the laws for the suppressors. After a certain date, everyone had to be finger printed. They was a mass rush to beat that requirement. I waited about a year myself.

quote:

Originally posted by custombolt:
Larry. Have you considered a group hunt like Biebs suggested? A springtime hunt should allow the deer time to return to their daily habits before fall season kicks in again. No?

Spring gobbler is pretty big around here not to mention my life become insane until 6/30.

I take quite a few guests . Jon was invited to a rather large hog hunt a few summers back.

quote:

Next is the raccoons. Bought 8 leg hold traps, they eat a ton of corn, caught 2 last weekend. I don't have any problem getting rid of dead coons, there is a segment of the population in Louisiana that will eat that. LOL.

BUTCH

Not that I have anything against leg hold traps, but the wire live traps will catch any coon or possom that comes to your bait site, and all you have to do is throw some loose bait into it. Coons constantly tear up our bait feeders. Destructive bastards.

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:

quote:

there is a segment of the population in Louisiana that will eat that. LOL.

If they'll eat crawfish, a raccoon would be a feast! :-)

My son, who, to say the least, is adventurous in his eating, killed a giant coon, over 35 pounds a couplw od years back, and made my long suffering wife cook it. It was great and Adam now prefers coon to any other locally available wild meat.

Is it legal to night hunt hogs in Florida? If so, the regular application of thermal + a suppressed 6.8 or 6.5 should beat back the numbers to a considerable extent.

That said, I don't think that anything short of running dogs regularly will keep them all out. I know a local outfitter who told me last week that he'd killed over 800 hogs this year. He controls a good chunk of property and he's done a lot of guided thermal hunts; I believe his numbers.

Yes, they can be shot at night. The problem is the land. It is planted pines and hardwood swamps. Other than sitting at the feeders at night, it would be that tough. Running dogs would be damn near impossible.

What might work is feed the roads at night.

BTW,
We currently only feed from Sept. until mid Feb.until we build all our feeder enclosures and the trap, after that we intend to feed year round. In the interim with Corn, Milo and Soybeans on adjacent fields we call the hound guys (19 dogs) and run them several times until the crops are harvested. Been able to keep crop damage to a minimum like that.

Corn the roads, particularly where they are crossed by pig trails, then scan them with thermal. I think that you'll kill a lot of pigs.

Well that all makes sense. Good luck with it.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:

quote:

Originally posted by custombolt:
Larry. Have you considered a group hunt like Biebs suggested? A springtime hunt should allow the deer time to return to their daily habits before fall season kicks in again. No?

Spring gobbler is pretty big around here not to mention my life become insane until 6/30.

I take quite a few guests . Jon was invited to a rather large hog hunt a few summers back.

Piles of corn and tannerite

Again, one of the goals is to not run the deer off.

I have suppressed 300 blackout bolt and ar sbr.

Suppressed 45

Suppressed 9mm

Time to shoot some hogs - o a, very size particular

Mike

I wouldn't worry about the shots running deer off. They may take off at the shots but there not going far especially if there is plenty of feed. I've shot a couple with a 22 I missed the brain on a couple and they just squealed and took off. Had to get dogs too go and catch the pigs to dispatch them. I believe a 22 will work if you're close and can place the shot. Good luck

I have been using Eley Subs on pigs for a while on one particular set up. I have a feeder under a hog light at exactly 50 yards, and i have a hanging still place i use to check zero off to the side.

When I get to the blind I fire one shot to check zero at about 730 and the pigs show up by 9. Shooting the Eley thru a Gemtech Outback is very quiet but impact is load. However, in most cases they come back out at a further distance feeder, and I shoot at my second with a CF rifle at a longer distance.

So far all my shots have been top of head and are bang flops. I don't thing size matters much when shooting at that spot.

quote:

Originally posted by Beretta682E:
I have suppressed 300 blackout bolt and ar sbr.

Suppressed 45

Suppressed 9mm

Time to shoot some hogs - o a, very size particular

Mike

Walter talked me into a 300 Blackout. My suppressor will work fine on that.

We will hammer the hogs when the serious deer hunting is over.

On my ranch, shots don't bother deer at all. I've shot does and had another doe wander over to the DRT doe, sniff her, like "What happened to Aunt Sally?"

Shots, even fairly close shots, don't seem to bother groups of deer at all. Of course, like people, maybe Florida deer are more sensitive?

I think it depends around here on how open it is. It doesn't seem to bother them as much on the big cattle ranches which tend to be more open. My place is much more wooded. They notice it far more.

quote:

Originally posted by larryshores:
Gentlemen:

There is an over abundance of hogs on my ranch. I want to whack them in mass quantity. If I do so with a CF rifle, I won't get many before they become nocturnal. My idea is to shoot them with a 22 with subsonic rounds. I am going to set up fairly close in a pop up blind and shoot with the barrel totally inside the blind. I doubt they will hear much of anything.

Has anyone done this? Do you have any bullet recommendations?

My only supressor would work but it is too heavy for a 22. It is estimated to take 6 months to get approved for a new one. This is my best idea until I can get a new suppressor.

Using a .22 would mean head shots and so I would say go for the most accurate brand of subsonic in your rifle.

Suppressors are legal in the UK and almost every .22 rifle that is used for field shooting is fitted with one over here. There is however a dearth of good, or accurate, ammunition however with CCI and Remington standing out as pparticularly lousy in every rifle i have tired them in.

Eley or RWS subsonic hollowpoints tend to be the most accurate with winchester 42 grain subsonics being only a bit worse.

I do second the comments about deer not being as sensitive to gun shots as some may say, of course specific circumstances may be different but they tend to get pretty comfortable with gas gun bird scarers for example.

I find it's disturbance on the ground, flattening their couching areas, etc that makes them move on more permanently.