Most of the pigs that I shoot I am able to get a head/neck shot. The few that I have shot elsewhere, that were not killed "on the spot" ran off leaving very little if any blood trail. Some Ive found and some I've not. BTW, It has been obvious that they were hit. Has this been your experience? Thanks capt david

Captdavid,

I shot two hogs down in Texas last January with my rifle. The 165 grain partitions passed completely through both hogs broad side double lung shots, and I got zero blood trail from either of them. One hog went 30 yards before expiring and the other made it about 40 yards before expiring. It was a b**ch, to say the least, trying to track those piggies through the prickly pears. I was digging needles out of my legs for a week.
I think its the layer of dense fat under their hide that seals most wounds, keeping them from bleeding externally.

Fordfreak

unlike deer, a hogs skin stays basicly in the same position when it moves, and the muscles move underneath. if you do a search in the forum, i explained it, perhaps in greater detail than I am about to.

what happens, say in a back and high shot (far behind the shuolder) is that the hog must "fill up" with blood to make a blood trail.. which is why you see blood 35-50 yards away from the shot, short blood trail, and then nothing for many yards...

i've spent many evenings on my hands and knees in brush and thorns, with a heavy pistol or sxs 12ga, following such "trails"

the easist way to do this is to "spot" where he was hit and where he headed... wait 10 mins... place a marker (twig or toilet paper) in those locations, and follow basic traking skills... you wont have to full circle till you loose the trail again, but you will have to arc..

pigs head INTO cover and downhill... if you are totally stuck, look in the heavy brush....


jeffe

Jeffe's right, and pigs usually carry more fat than most other animals. This tends to seal the wounds. I've tracked alot of pigs shot with bows, rifles, and pistols. If a pig is shot high in the kill zone(not in the head or neck) trailing will almost always be difficult.

The reason that I ask is that my go to gun is a 308 Whitworth using 150gn power points at about 2700fps. It's not hot, but very accurate for the head/neck shots that I take on meat pigs It's my go to gun when shots are 150yds or less. I use it for pigs, still hunting deer, and trailing wounded animals, fortunately none so far. I had considered using 180gn pp's for pigs, but if blood trais are almost non existant, why bother? thanks capt david

Jeffe is right with his statements on tracking!
I had similar problems using medium bores on hogs. Even with premium rounds and good hits sometimes you can`t find a blood trail! Without knowing much of the history of the 45-70, I bought an old Marlin 1895 (straight grip, without safety!) because I wanted a big bore for big game hunting and found out, that for my kind of hunting I don`t need another gun! My beautiful Sauer 30/06 kept moaning in the safe and although there is a inferior optics on the Marlin, I never looked back.

If the pig refuses to die on the spot, someone could do the tracking job (only short distance required!) with closed eyes...

Seriously, if you don`t intend to shoot beyond 150 yds, it is THE dedicated pig gun for every kind of hunting. I use it for still hunts, driven hunts and for tracking with dogs. It kills with authority (with handloads! preferable 400 grs, either Speer or Rem) and leaves blood trails, that convinced already a couple of friends of mine, to go the same way. In Germany it is not quite a common caliber, and people don`t like to see you hunting with "Winchesters of the Wild West" but the big bores seem to get more and more fans.

Switching to the 308 180grs could be an improvement, but there WILL come some pigs, that refuse to die and won`t leave a blood trail. Only a GOOD dog will help you!

Greetings

Wolfgang

My wife and I have even shot pigs with 12 ga. slugs, with exit wounds. Both ran about 80 yards and did not leave a blood trail. I have shot alot of pigs with very few blood trails. However.... I think I just might have an idea on the best pig gun.... I am looking for an old Whale Harpoon Gun. I figure about 75 yards of line should be just about right. Preliminary experiments have shown it is not a good idea to tie the line to the leg of the chair you are setting in.

Have you seen Tremors 4 the Pond gun he uses should do the trick.

Hey Swede,
It's a puntgun..

and if you want play a game with it

http://files.actionflash.com/dirt_dragons.swf

jeffe