I've only hunted pigs twice (in US); once in California, once in Georgia. In CA i used a 308, Hornaday bullets, no problem. In Georgia I used a 7 x 57 with 140 gr Barnes X. I took a raking shot from behind and the bullet creased the hide before entering behind the shoulder.
Found the pig the next morning. I've shot warthog in RSA with a 243, no problem. What is your favorite hog medicine? I may be going to TX this year to do my part on the pig overpopulation. All comments appreciated. I'm not hung up on calibers, have several rifles. I have a Browning BLR in 325 WSM that I think might be fun, though certainly more than needed. Has a quarter rib with 2.5x scout scope and handles nicely.

I have only shot 3...all in Florida ...used a 9.3x72R, a 30-06 and a 45-70. The slowest to die was with the 30-06.

Hogs are great fun to hunt,but extremely distructive.Here in Texas Hunting and trapping them can actually be a business.I have a friend who started a company that hunts and traps nusiance hogs in williamson co.He now has bought a silenced AR so he can eradicate more.
Two or three years ago,in Granger,Texas a farmer hired a Chopper with a sharpshooter on board to kill as many as possible.they have a film on Youtube.Popped about 25 hogs in a five minute video in cornfields. I heard the other day the population of hogs in the area is bigger than ever!!! if they are distructive,then leaving them is fine with me,although other hogs will eat them,and then your meat hogs won't taste very good!
Jim

This morning while pulling the backstraps and hams off yet another pig, I realized that I am in a love hate relationship with the buggers.

GOOD NEWS;
When having my transmission serviced today, I was talking to the mechanic. He told me about a new processing place that had just opened. I went by and talked to them. They said they would take EVERY HOG I shot up untill 10 PM & keep me in tenderloin & sausage. I wouldn't even have to field dress them. Although the place is about 1 hr from me. I will now feel much better about "controling" the population since the meat will not go to waste.

Now I can justify buying an LWRC & LR scope for night hunting. A bolt action just ain't gonna get it done.

Good for you OTTO! At some point maybe you can find a buyer for them.

I knew they made soap down South, but I bet the plant has some odor during the summer.

Excellent!!

quote:

Originally posted by OTTOMATIC:
GOOD NEWS...

...They said they would take EVERY HOG I shot...

Kill the hell out of them.
If you're going to get a night vision setup, seriously look at the two-piece systems, where the whole gig mounts on a rail, with the NV 'eyeball' in front of the scope.

That kind of system can allow you to run a scope you (likely) already have, and it'll allow you to use the NV component off the rifle as a monocular viewer.
Great stuff if you can afford it.



Cheers
Tinker

Yesterday @ dusk while sitting in my stand deer hunting. A 500+ lb boar walked across about 200 yrds away. After the posts here and finding a processing place I had to let him walk.
I had him in my cross hairs. But there was no way I could have loaded him or dragged him off the grass air strip. In fact I actually felt under-gunned with the .270.
Now I know to be better prepared.
I need to bring the keys to the front end loader.
The pigs I have been seeing have been 50-300 lbs. & skitterish.
That boar was just sauntering with a f-u attitude.
So I guess this would have fallen under the Depends in the poll
Also I now know I need an AR10. A .223 just isn't gonna do it

Ottomatic,
you are not undergunned with a 270 win.
If you draw and imaginary line between his ear and shoulder and put your bullet about two inches below the ear, on that line, you will sever his spinal cord and he will drop and paddle. Then you can do like any large animal. Cut out the back straps, take the quarters.
Remember the immortal words of the Outlaw Josey Wales, "the buzzards gotta eat, same as the worms".
Best
GWB

Done it many a time. We have so many hogs, that most of us on our lease, 2063 acres in the Old River/Trinity River area of Texas, shoot the old boars and leave them for the yotes' or wild dogs. I have done this a bunch of times. I only keep the 1's between 50-150lbs. Great eating and easy to clean. I shot a boar 4 yrs ago so big that I had to have my son pull him up in a tree using my 4-wheeler and had to use my axe to cut his head off! Put him on my 4-wheeler and he fell of 4 times before I got to my truck. Fuinniest thing was when I stopped at a conv. store to get some ice. Dude freaked out when he saw the headless hog dripping blood of of my 4-wheeler and onto my truck bed. lmao. Oh used .44mag 300gr/ 19.5 grns H110, castcore WFNGC in the head to drop him at 50yds. DRT.

GW,

When you line them up, what bullet do you use? Seems like blowing through 4 hogs with one shot is a pretty stout test for any bullet.

Shooting over feeders, it happened to me twice (5 with one shot, not 4) with a 270 and Speer Grand Slam 130 gr bullets. In my case both times two of the hogs were piglets I didn't know were there because it was dark. The first time it happened, I was able to recover the bullet under the skin of the last hog. never found the second bullet.

I envy you guys who can hunt something that tastes so good all year round. I don't see anything wrong with leaving them lay though being you are so over run with them.

We have been asked by the landowner and the Texas Parks & Wildlife (ranch is on a state deer management plan) to shoot hogs on site. TPWD term them the fire ants of the game world.

This is not an issue of managing a food resource, it is war. We didn't eat germans in the world wars and we don't have to eat hogs now. I kill so many hogs, me and my family could not eat them if that was all we ate morning, noon, and night.

You guys are just making all this up to make me jealous!

Here in New England we have none of these hogs (I suppose lucky for the farmers) but I sure would like to shoot a few and be close enough to home to be able to drive back with a cooler full! It gets to be too much effort and expense to fly.

quote:

Originally posted by Oxon:
You guys are just making all this up to make me jealous!

How I wish we were making it up!!



I have sniped them with suppressed weapons and
night optics,

machine-gunned them when possible,

hired guys with dogs and horses to track/drive/trap or shoot them---

You name it--

if it's legal in Texas I've tried it--

We ARE losing this battle-

They ARE worse than fireants-

EVERY landowner needs to get involved and pursue this problem.

Anyone that has too many Hogs send me a PM as I would be happy to tow my Samuari down and hunt them for a week or more?

Larry, I'd be happy to "help" as well.
Jeff

Problem now belongs to my X

Frankly,
she may be harder for you to deal with than the hogs