I will be going on a hunt next month we will be able to take a few larger hogs. I will be bowhunting the smaller 400lbs boars having taken a few a little over 300 lbs I am not that worried about the slightly larger ones here.
I am however worried because my friend wants to take the 650 lbs boar with a Ruger Super War Hawk in 44 Rem Mag.
First do you think it is sufficient.
Second any hand loads you could recommend I would like to try and work them up.
Last I believe bullet selection will be very important so if you could suggest I would appreciate it.

Powder will probable be H110.

I know someone will say hell your hunting with a bow why are you worried about the 44 mag? Well it is simple to push a thin blade through and animal and let his lungs collapse and blood to flow its harder to kill by kenitic shock like the 44 will be doing and last they never hear or see me so its hard as hell to charge but they will sure as hell know where that shot came from.

I appreciate your help.

I will probable back him up with a 12 gauge slug gun.

Swift shot are you hunting on a ranch near Spokane?

Have you considered Garrett (www.garrettcartridges.com) or Buffalo Bore (www.buffalobore.com) ammo for the 44? I think that's about as hot as you can have a 44 to shoot, so hot that this stuff is not recommended for anything but the Ruger.

Opinions will differ on the marketing gimmicks behind these two companies but I'm pretty sure you'll have the boar doing backflips with either of their bullets.

In the Ruger Super Redhawk you can use the Garret 330gr Hammerheads. They come blazing out at 1,300+ ft/sec. Should penetrate anything on the planet.
At a mere $65.00 per box you can stock up and practice alot.

SwiftShot wrote:
"Well it is simple to push a thin blade through and animal and let his lungs collapse and blood to flow its harder to kill by kenitic shock like the 44 will be doing and last they never hear or see me so its hard as hell to charge but they will sure as hell know where that shot came from."

I hate to rain on your parade, but if you are hunting wild hogs with any Russian/Euro strains, getting an arrow through the gristle plate is not a simple task. In fact, the best shot with a bow is slightly quartering away so that the shield is avoided altogether.

I've taken many hogs with a properly-loaded .44 Magnum, and a 320 grain LBT-style hard cast bullet from Cast Performance (loaded to 1400 fps from a 9.5" Ruger SRH) takes them out quite decisively. A 250 grain Partition at the same velocity is deadly as well.

Also, if you guys are after 650 pound hogs, you may want to check the reputation of the outfitter. You may be after pen-raised, freshly-released hogs. They just don't grow that big naturally.

I have taken lots of hogs, and the average mature boar will weigh 180-220. Granted, some go well beyoned this -- even double the weight. But those are the exception. I am adding a link to a photo of the largest hog I have ever taken. I can assure you: this size is truly the exception...

Good luck on your hunt...
http://www.outdoor-search.com/gallery/Free_For_All/aax

650#????? that's one big hawg.

You have got to go hunt East Texas I have taken 4 wild hogs over the 250 lb range and the largest was 330 lbs area (estimated gutted in the field)it all depends on feed. If you hunt pine oak bottoms where you have hundreds of acres of oak flat you get big pigs quick. You need fields to help them when the acorns are not falling but a couple of acres in oats and clover does great dont forget corn feeders. The largest I have taken was in the low 300 lbs and this is on state land. The reason I say this is not that rare is there where 3 that size in the group and also I am in the military and only go home to Texas for about 1 week a year. If you want to know where to go just hunt down by where the space shuttle went down the Lufkin area has some big pigs in those woods.
I killed one last week on my brothers lease in Texas a 120 lb boar and I shot the small one in the group. I ran into the mama and she was way bigger than any thing I have ever shot. I dont know about the strain. They are all black may have some Russian in them but it has to be way back and not that strong I mostly think they are Feral.

I dont know for sure until I get there but from what I am told they have been raised in the open on a 2 square mile ranch that just has feeders everywhere. Its not in Spokane I heard about that place massive pigs some over 1000lbs but they are rare from what I am told. I heard he buys them from people at around 200+ lbs and turns them lose and just feeds the hell out of them.

Here is a web site with some big Florida and Texas hogs. I dont believe most of the weights given but you can guess for yourself.

http://www.baydog.com/photos.htm

Swift Shot-
I took a look at the link you listed and checked out a number of the photos. After growing up raising hogs and now hunting wild hogs for a number of years, I can tell you that some of the weights are fairly represented while others are simply figments of the someone's imagination.

Take a look at the link to the photo I listed in an earlier thread. Going by some of the weights listed on the site you listed, my hog would weigh something on the order of 700 pounds -- and in all honesty, that's close to twice his actual weight. THis particular hog was not weighed due to an encroaching thunderstorm but compares favorably to a 386 pounder (which was my largest to this point) I took the previous month. And, the photo was not shot with a wide angle lens which would distort the proportions (many on that site were done with wide angle lenses). This photo was shot with a 50mm lens. ANd for sake of scale, my knee touched the back of the hog, and I am 5"11" and weighed 185 at the time of that photo.

My best "guesstimate" is that this brute weighed right at 400 pounds, about double the size of most mature hogs in my area.

For bears I use a 310gr gas checked hard cast WFN over top 20.5gr of H110. In a revolver you can probably seat longer so maybe more powder space. Out of my Ruger 96/44 I get 1575fps but even at reduced speed these kind of bullets are like snowplows against flurries.

The .44 is adequate for hogs and personally I would favor 300 gr or greater for the task mostly because of better terminal performance across the range of what is possible. I'm not privy to the practices of hunt farms...maybe their pigs are big. The average 'large' in my experience runs about 250# both boars and sows. I've direct knowledge of 3 wild hogs harvested in Florida and Georgia that exceeded 600# each being a boar. One of those was killed with a .22 RF Mag on the Latt Maxey Ranch in central Florida with a brain shot. The same hog had been shot the preceeding day with the same rifle behind the shoulder and did not react to the shot. Subsequent 'surgery' revealed the bullet lodged in the shield with only 1" or so penetration. The shield thickness was approximately 3". All of these hogs were weighed on scales. The Maxey hog defied the efforts of 4 men to load in a pickup and was finally dragged to firm ground and loaded with a fork lift.

[ 02-08-2003, 23:18: Message edited by: DigitalDan ]

a 44 is fine for close work on hogs. Launch the heavist bullets you can stand, at 1100-1200 fps.. I do with with 10mm and 45lc, so it works for your average 150-250pounder... but...

I've actually SEEN 700 lbs in the field.. it was half feral/domestic, and had been pen raised. It was released on a lease, and was as white as snow.. and the size of a steer with short legs. Woudl walk right up to you, which will make you muddy your shorts, as he's STILL frickin quite... friendly guy, hope no one ever shoots that one.

That being said, i've heard of no exit wounds on 450s... which is about tops for big wild hogs in these parts...with 450 alaskans... I always get exits from 416s, but haven't broke out of the 300s yets.

for what it's worth... they don't seem to get as mad as fast when bow shot... but let a yaahoo gut shoot 250#s of pork, and it's double barrel shotgun, slugs right, 00 left, when i go into the heavy cover

jeffe

Swift Shot,

I looked at the site you posted and I do have some misgivings about the truthfulness of the outfitter. The first picture shows a guy holding up a 290 lb. boar by himself. No rope holding the hog, just the guy using his two hands. Neat trick. I have taken a number of hogs in the 275 to 350 lb. range and this one doesn't look to be more than 150 +/- pounds. If I was you I check out the outfitters references before I booked with them.

As for the load I use in my .44 mag. it follows, Nosler 300 gr. JHP ahead of 19.0 H1101,303 fps..

I don’t care for hard cast bullets for hunting as they act more like solids, won’t open up the way I like. I go for the heart/lung shot and the Nosler works every time. Lawdog

Honestly, I prefer not to use .44s, .45s, or .454s with hard cast bullets on large hogs (say 250 lbs. plus). I have shot or have seen others shoot many large boars with the above listed handguns and hard cast LBT bullets, and the results are always the same; the hogs absorb several good hits and run several hundred yards. While the LBTs penetrate well, they don't do enough damage to put the hog down quickly. And a shoulder shot won't always do it either. I once saw a large boar with both shoulders broken from a LBT in a .454 run hard for about 200 yards (draggin his front legs). A rifle such as a 30-06, 300, 338, etc. seems to put the large ones down much quicker.

Below is link to a hog of similar size to those that absorbed several good hits from handguns.
http://www.outdoor-search.com/gallery/Free_For_All/abm
I shot this one in the West Texas sandhills with a 30-06 and 180-grain Core-Lokts. He was hit about 1/2" behind the shoulder, and ran about thirty-five yards. The man at the locker plant estimated live weith at around 350 lbs.

[ 02-09-2003, 03:46: Message edited by: MRMD ]