250gr Gold dot for hogs?
 

Hi all -
Getting excited for hunting this year. I've done well on whitetail with 85gr bh209 and 250gr gold dots/deep curls in the past. They shoot well in my gun and devistating to deer. However, I'm going hog hunting in southern Arkansas next month and wondered if the 250gr bullet will still be appropriate for this quarry? I've never been hog hunting before, so any advice is appreciated!

Yep, they would be fine and dandy. I've put quite a few hogs down with those in years past with them loaded in my .45 Colt. At ML speeds they should be fine as well. May want to avoid direct heavy shoulder at close range like right in the elbow joint area where the bone is heaviest. Not sure if they would stand up at close range velocity on that spot but everywhere else should be just dandy. Tuck one in the pocket and you will see some VERY good results. Since you haven't hunted them before, I have to assume you may be under the impression that the best kill shots are the same as a deer. They are a bit different. Here are a couple pics that show the perfect shot zones:





Note on the first image the lowest white dot, THAT is the shot I am saying to avoid at close range with that particular bullet. It MAY not stand up to high velocity impact on heavy bone.

The 250g Deep Curl.










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Looked around some this morning, and the 240g XTP Magnum appeared to be a good choice for hog hunting.

The complete list of tested bullets may be worth a look.












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Great info - thanks! Yes, I would have thought that would have been a good shot in the boiler room like a whitetail. So that red dot is actually a neck shot, if I'm reading that right?

Hey all - while on the subject - where in the world are all the golddots?? I have searched everywhere online and they're out of stock on every website I've seen.

Ended up not using my ML for hogs because of the thick bush we were hunting in. My buddy lent me his 243 so I could get faster follow up shots. I got laughed at by the guy hunting with his AR in 458 !! Who needed 3 shots to put his hog down - so I used my buddy's gun after that since I was shocked how tough they seemed to be. Got my shot on my hog 1" behind the ear and it was DRT! :s11:

LOL if he needed 3 shots to put a hog down with a .458 SOCOM then that boy needs some shooting lessons. I've NEVER needed more than one shot from mine unless it was a running shot and I missed! If I put it where it belongs it's a dead hog!

And that .243 is just fine for hogs. Used mine many times with excellent results. Some friends of mine and I go on hog eradication hunts every year several times a year and we use a plethora of weapons. From knife and dogs to handgun to many various cartridges of rifles. My favorite lands in between 7mm-08 or my 6.8 SPC as far as my AR's go but in my bolt guns the .243 lands in my hands almost every time.

I used to use them and they worked quite well but I did watch my shot placement, I have switched to Bloodlines made by Lehigh for all my hunting I live in AR a bit north of where you a probably going and hunt hogs here to as well as bear and deer. The Lehigh bullets are by far the most effective bullet I have ever used and I have been muzzleloading since the early 60's.

LOL - yeah, Mr. socom was a bit crazy redneck shooting from a standing position. I went to a kneeling position and shot elbow stabilized off of my knee. I'll check out those bloodlines. I emailed speer and they said they're still making the deep curl / gold dots, but I haven't seen them in stock anywhere.