RE: 12 gauge too much?
I hope not West...lol
I have hunted squirrel and ducks for the last 10 years and finally decided to get serious about deer and hogs myself. I attempted deer hunting when I was much younger and found I didn't have the patience or support (raised by a single mom so there was no hunting growing up). So I am very inexperienced as well when it comes to this category. Trying to correct that by reading everything in my sight and finding sights like this.
I have been running across hogs everywhere here lately while squirrel hunting so I am gung ho this year (walked up on a 200 lb hog a couple of weeks ago). I went out yesterday and sighted in my "Little Slugger" (Mossberg 835 with riffled barrel and a Bushnell scope) with Hornady SST's. I am dead on at 100 yrds and will be looking for some piggies this weekend.
So to make a long story short you will be fine with the shotgun. I have talked to a lot of guys here in my neck of the woods and all of them agree a shotgun is just fine and dandy when it comes to dropping a hog or deer.
Keep in touch West.... Would be nice to seehow another hog "Green Horn" is doing this year.