Hi,
I have always been told that a pig's vitals are fairly forward in the ribcage, and a shot "behind the shoulder" will not be a killing shot....is this true?
Also, how many of you aim for the brain on a regular basis? Is seems strange that people who have never taken a brain shot on a deer take brain shots on pigs....maybe the less mobile head makes it easier?

A low shot right behind the front leg will kill a hog. For a head shot, just place one right behind the ear. The problem that sometimes develops with a shoulder shot on a large boar is not if it will kill them, it will. The problem is, can you find them? They have a very thick "armor" plate over the shoulder. A bullet can pass through the shoulder and the "armor" will close back up over the wound and not give you a blood trail to follow. In the thick bush we hunt here in Texas this can be a real problem. Hogs are not magic creatures, and are not hard to kill.
Here, this may help:


Good Hunting,

Bob

That's a great diagram and explains another point with hogs. The spine is up in line with the eye and many people shoot too low into the jaw or neck. This is OK if you hammer it with something fast enough to shatter bone and cut arteries but pistols and light muzzle loaders can destroy the jaw without killing the beast. Draw a line between the ear hole and the eye and shoot anywhere in between. Dead hog every time.

[ 11-02-2003, 06:38: Message edited by: tigertate ]

Wow, thanx for the diagram I was also under the impression that the spine was more centrally located in the neck...
I think that the subcutaneous fat is just as likely to plug up the bullet hole as is the armour.

Thanks for the diagram. I didn't realize that the heart was down that low. So in your collective opinions, what is the best shot if a head shot is not possible??

Depends upon if you like ribs or roast better. A quartering shot behind one shoulder and in front of the other leaves the most meat. Through both shoulders on a typcal hog ruins them (with a rifle, anyway). Truthfully, if you have enough time to ponder the choice you'll probably get a head shot anyway. Double-ought buck can ruin almost the whole beast for eating. I assumed and maybe wrongly that you also ruled out the neck. Then again, neck meat makes great tamales!

[ 11-03-2003, 22:32: Message edited by: tigertate ]

Boghossian; We had occasional bowhunters and it was always a revelation to see how greasy the arrow was after passing through, especially the sows.

[ 11-04-2003, 00:10: Message edited by: tigertate ]

Shoot 'em behind the shoulder and low or right in the base of the ear.

You don't want to attempt a spine shot on a wild hog, as it runs too near the top of the body, presenting a small target, unlike a deer, etc.

use a larger than 358 bullet, at 50minus yards, and they go down for a neck shot, every time...

I like to shoot them low in the shoulder, breaking the leg at or bellow the ham, and hitting the heart...

a lung shot pig is GONE, unless you circle to find teh blood... they fill up and leak, not leak leak leak like deer.. then fill up again.. and again... and usualy rush at jeffe's shotgun barrel in the heavy brush

jeffe

I have shot a lot of hogs with 22 Hornet, 222, 25-35, 30-30, mostly behind the ear but also in the heart/Lung area...They can make some tracks that is for sure, fortunatly I never lost one but tracking was difficult sometimes. The 25-35 and 30-30 did fine and left enough blood, but the 22s do not and that can be a problem for sure...neither do the 6mm calibers. Fortunatly tracking in So. Texas is fairly easy as it is sandy loam, but the thorn brush is a pure bitch to walk in...

After skinning a bunch of hogs and seeing that the spine was too high up by the neck and the lungs were too high I redid the pic to better show them.



Another view by a lady hunter from the BOwsite

I HAVE TRIED TO HOLD IN FRONT OF THE FRONT SHOULDER FOR A NECK SHOT, AND THE EAR IF IT IS CLOSE. A GOOD FRIEND SHOT ONE WITH HIS 30-30 BEHIND THE SHOULDER, SOLID HIT, 60 YARDS, AND LOST HIM IN THE THICK BRUSH, NO BLOOD TRAIL. SHOT MY LAST ONE WITH A 22 MAGNUM, WINCHESTER SOLIDS, IN THE EAR, ABOUT 20 YARDS. DEAD PIG, ABOUT 125 POUNDS.

GOOD LUCK AND GOOD SHOOTING,
ETERRY

I have shot a lot of hogs in the last 8 years or so. First with the 308, and a 44 Mag pistol, and for the last 5 years with the 450 No2, the 450/400 3 1/4" and the 9,3x74R. My wife and I have both killed them with a 12ga. slug, she uses a 308 or her 30-06 drilling. My niece killed one with a 44 Mag rifle.
I try to hit them behind the shoulder so I will not ruin the shoulder roast. I have had very few run over 50 yards,many of them drop to the shot.
The "secret" is to use a heavy bullet that will expand to a big mushroom, hold together, and give good penetration. I have killed several boars in the 260 to 285 lb range [weighed] with thick gristle plates. With the bullets I have used I have had no problem punching through.
A friend of mine was having problems with pigs running off after being hit with a 7MM Mag. He kept moving up in caliber untill he was using a 416 Mag. He was finely happy.
He wanted to shoot some pigs with his accurate 308 rifle, but was afraid It would not knock them down. I advised him to use the factory Federal 165gr Trophy Bonded Bearclaw loads. He reported back that the 308 was working excellent.
He had "found" the secret, a bullet that mushrooms to a large diameter, holds together and penetrates deep.

i spoke with a friend yesterday and he took his 458 win mag hog hunting in young county. he shot a 165 pounder with it behinds the shoulder and says it was the most dramatic response to being shot he has seen. the hog fell on its back and stretched it legs out, no attempt to get up. he was using 350 gr. hornady's loaded to 2300 fps. so if you use enough gun, they wont run off.
once my 35 whelen is finished i hope to find out.

good luck and good shooting
eterry

I have shot a lot of hogs behind the shoulder with both a 30-30 and a 25-35 and never had one go over 50 yards as I recall, I suggest if your friend lost one it was because he didn't stick it in the right spot or his tracking skills were off that day...If the pig got away how does he know he hit it behind the shoulder?

I see and hear a lot of this, it's always the gun or the bullet, anything but the hunters shooting.......no flame, just probable fact.

No offense taken Ray, I only know that my friend is a better than average shot, and doesnt get shook up. However, it was getting very near dark, the brush was terribly thick, and I only have his word of where he placed the shot. Knowing him and hunting with him for over 20 years, if he said he held behind the shoulder, he would have hit him there. But in the area he was in, the hog could have ran 20 steps and been invisible and unreachable without a chainsaw.

Having said that, I want to say that I know that a larger caliber can never replace shot placement, for we also hunt hogs in the spring mostly with 22 magnum rifles, and try to limit to ear and neck shots at close range. But the area I hunt in is mostly very dense brush, and I have never took a shot longer than 50-60 yards at hogs.

My .02 cents.

Good luck and good shooting,
Eterry