Texas Hog Caliber Qirstion

[ebb]

^^^^^^ Polk County deputy told a guy with a caught hog to release it he argued that it would injure him. Deputy insisted, I heard it was over 100 stiches to close him up. Anything that happens to you when being detained is the LEOs responsibility. Cost Polk County a lot of money. Small hogs are no threat over 60-70 lbs they can be tough to deal with. Ive seen 2 or 3 in the wild as big as the one in the picture with Mike 402. My hog rifle was a 30-06. A Florida Wildlife Com. officer told a few of us, about cleaning a big boar that had numerous 22 RF bullets and buckshot in the gristle shield around the ribs.

 

[Oso]

Just because you said Texas: 44 Magnum in a lever action!

My first hog hunt was almost 40 years ago back before hog hunting was a real thing in Texas. It was a guided hunt by a couple of cowboys using dogs with radio collars on a large ranch west of Kerrville. This hunt was the perfect excuse for my Dad … we all needed a new firearm chambered in .44 Mag. In the weeks leading up to the hunt we attended every gun show within a reasonable distance and religiously scoured the classified section of the Houston Chronicle to find what we wanted/needed. Each of my brothers and I still own our Dan Wesson .44 revolvers from this hunt. My kid brother had to use a .44 lever gun because we didn’t trust him enough with the big revolvers

The internet really saves time BUT eliminates the justification for some fun road trips to exotic places like Conroe, Richmond Rosenberg, Pasadena, and many other legacy regional gun shows!

 

[Jack O'Connor]

Florida has plenty of wild hogs, too. 30-30 is a keeper! Jack

 

[JoeDuke]

I wouldn’t rule out a .223 with 55 grain soft points.

This works fine but if your pigs scatter as quickly as mine do, followup shots don't happen often. Might work better with a good suppressor. they wont be back to the feeder during daylight for a while either.

 

[Clancy]

The lore surrounding hogs is hilarious.

 

[Oso]

It’s the closest thing to bears that we have in the South. Ever gone for a walk and ran into a sounder of hogs…. I mean Pigmy Grizzlies?!

I hear that Big Foot is getting excited about potential new menu item as hogs range keeps stretching further North!

As a married adult there are few things that your wife will green light the expense and being away all night long. Talking up the environmental damage caused by hogs and the safety risk to kids and family pets has been an effective argument with the wife. It doesn’t hurt that they also taste great.

 

[dantiff2]

It’s the closest thing to bears that we have in the South. Ever gone for a walk and ran into a sounder of hogs…. I mean Pigmy Grizzlies?!

I hear that Big Foot is getting excited about potential new menu item as hogs range keeps stretching further North!

As a married adult there are few things that your wife will green light the expense and being away all night long. Talking up the environmental damage caused by hogs and the safety risk to kids and family pets has been an effective argument with the wife. It doesn’t hurt that they also taste great.

I'm very well aware that hogs are a blessing AND a curse but man, I sure do wish we had'em up here in PA! The more night hunt videos I see the more jealous I get : )

 

[Kracken McGraw]

I'm very well aware that hogs are a blessing AND a curse but man, I sure do wish we had'em up here in PA! The more night hunt videos I see the more jealous I get : )

lol, I wouldn’t ever wish for a hog or a prairie dog.

 

[mic2377]

Hogs can be killed with all manner of calibers. Want more shot latitude and the ability to dispatch them with vitals shots more easily? 308, 30-06, 450 BM. Want low recoil and quicker follow up shots? A 223 will kill them too, but it isn't going to drop them with the same authority. Want a balance? Use an intermediate caliber AR.

Pick your poison. That being said if am using 223 I would use some type of bonded bullet able to penetrate. The Speer Gold Dot or Nosler 64 gr bonded are the way to go.

If I wanted to use a small frame AR that really puts them down for ranges <100 yards, the 450 BM has no equal. It kicks a fair amount for quick follow up shots though.

This is coming from a guy who has used a variety of calibers on them. My last hunt I used a 18" AR with Nosler 64's and there were no issues with lethality at ranges out to 150 yards, although there were some runners that needed more than one shot.

 

[426nut]

Alaskan piggies? This bruin was fearless.

 

[dantiff2]

View attachment 1691627View attachment 1691629
Alaskan piggies? This bruin was fearless.

We have one coming in on us right now also. Likes to sniff around where the feeders are and the dog frequents. He did reach up and pull a bird house down and sniff the old nest. We'll watch him and if he starts to get too curious then it might be time for some 12ga bean bag rounds

 

[Adam0321/0306]

I was able to drop two hogs in their tracks with a 300 BO. Suppressed and a 10.5" barrel. Granted, they were only about 50 yards away.

 

[Edd]

I have never been Hog hunting but I plan on going. I am waiting on a stock to be made for my new Hog Slayer. I made my cartridge choice based on comments from a seasoned Hog Hunter. My rifle is a 338 RCM.

 

[Jack O'Connor]

Shots rarely exceed 75 yards where we hunt in Florida. 30-30 is a top choice. This hog was shot at mid-day while it was sleeping. It never knew what hit him. Jack

 

[Tommie]

I'm very well aware that hogs are a blessing AND a curse but man, I sure do wish we had'em up here in PA! The more night hunt videos I see the more jealous I get : )

Curse. Ask anyone who has to deal with them. I got pissed off when I first found sign on pigs on my property.

 

[pokadex_]

I wouldn’t rule out a .223 with 55 grain soft points.

I've had good luck with that setup, soft points and varmint tips are quite effective inside 100 yards

 

[mikecockcroft]

223 in the ear for the win.

 

[Oso]

Other than an ear-hole shot, a frangible varmint bullet, such as VMax, is a poor choice. You want/need penetration.

The only exception is shooting .308 VMax out of 300BO. The VMax was designed to “grenade” on impact at .308 Win velocities (+300fps). However, when fired at 300BO velocities (2,000 - 2,300 fps) the VMax doesn’t explode on contact, but rather stays together and mushrooms like a traditional lead core bullet.

 

[V35]

As of this past Friday, I have killed 63 of them this year, nearly all with 6ARC, the others with 223. Both work well. The 338 ARC does have my interest though.

 

[Oso]

This thread got my brothers talking and contemplating new toys I was contemplating a .338 subsonic … 338ARC vs 8.6BO. Both cartridges are using same bullets at same subsonic velocities, which means the dopes are basically the same. However, there is a major difference in their performance/lethality. From everything I’ve seen there are key points:

1) 8.6BO twist rate of 1:3 is devastating with immediate expansion in gel block. The 338ARC (1:8 and some 1:5) doesn’t really expand and wound channel is similar to 300BO.
- Due to its extreme twist rate, you can only use solid copper bullets in 8.6BO. If use copper jacketed lead core bullets then they get torn apart leading to baffle strikes and misses on target. No economic ammo options, which even means that can’t use SMK bullets.
- Hornady recommends 1:8 twist for 338ARC so you can shoot their ammunition (SubX). This slower twist rate allows use of common lead core bullets but it appears to significantly reduce its lethality with 300BO wound channel possibly being larger (see video #3 below).

2) Hornady rushed their introduction of 338ARC before they had found a solution for reliable feeding the cartridge in an AR magazine. Currently, most reliable solution is to use 400 Legend magazines, which are only produced by manufacturers with 10 round capacity to meet northern state’s deer hunting regulations.

3) Bolt Gun it’s a no brained with 8.6BO the hands down winner. But for an AR platform it is AR15 for 338ARC and an AR10 for 8.6BO.

Check out minute 9:30 in video

I

Check out minute 15:00-19:00

Sorry so long …. Food for Thought. Disappointed by 338ARC. Maybe Q had right to be pissed…