Alright...I've been reading on here about hog hunting for a while, and am most likely going to get my first shot at one this week. We're going to the special hog hunt at Lowndes County Wildlife Management Area, AL. I have only 1 question. I'm going to be using a 30-30, it's sighted in for 150 grain. My buddy recommends I use silvertips instead of expanding or other ammo. Is this going to be enough to knock down some pork?
Don't worry - you should be fine with that setup. In general, anything that is good for deer will work for hogs as well - it's all about shot placement!
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"Speak softly and carry a big stick - you will go far."
-Theodore Roosevelt
Don't worry - you should be fine with that setup. In general, anything that is good for deer will work for hogs as well - it's all about shot placement!
between the ear and the eye or through the shoulder?
What about cover scent? I know pigs can't see all that well, but their noses make a deer look like he couldn't smell us if we stuck out fingers his nose....so what sort of cover should we use?
Your hunting situation may be different from mine, but I just always try to be moving against the wind. To me the priorities are
1) Don't get upwind of the hogs.
2) Keep some sort of cover between me and them (brush, trees, tall grass, whatever)
3) Aim for the shoulder -- other folks have different thoughts, I'm not such a great shot that I can be too picky. If the situation were just right, I might try a head shot.
I have what might be a luxury in that I hunt on a friend's property, and I can scout around and try to find places where hogs have recently rooted. I can then pick the spot from which I want to ambush them. Once I select a target area, I spread out a few cups of corn so that if a hog happens to pass by, he'll hopefully stop for a few minutes. Sometimes they show up, and sometimes not. Lately they seem to be feeding a little before midnight, which makes hunting them pretty tough. Worse, even if I were to shoot one it makes tracking them *real* tough.
So, yesterday I put up a solar-charged, battery-operated, motion-sensor light. We'll see how that goes ...
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Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity. Gen. George Patton
In response- a lot of people use head shots with success. However, unless you are 100% sure of your shot, and your rifle's ability (and your ability) to make it, I'd aim just behind the shoulder crease.
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"Speak softly and carry a big stick - you will go far."
-Theodore Roosevelt
I generally prefer smaller caliber head shots, but with distance, I cant be as picky, and usually go with a larger caliber to keep from having to adjust for bullet drop or windage. Two weeks ago I laid out a hog with ashoulder shotusing aBALLISTIC tip and the hog was easily 250lb. People can say what they want, but a hog is not a Cape buffalo. You dont need a solid bullet, bonded bullet, controlled expansion bullet, or the most fancy paints whiz bang latest greatest bullet on the market. Just a regular old ordinary run of the mill bullet, placed in the vitals, will get the job done incredibly well.
As for scent, it all depends on what the pigs are used to. Some of the pigs in our area will ignore you walking through the same fiel they are in, which makes it easy enough to shoot one. On the other hand, the pigs in some places seem to dissapearbefore you can raise a finger to point them out to a buddy. In those cases, downwind for sure, and stay close to a wood line or anything that will break up our outline.
They say pigs can't see real well, but I've been busted slowly walking tree lines from several hundred yards away and had them take off like rockets.
What Shot?
