wineguy

Was reading a hog hunting guide published by the CA Dept. of Fish and Game. They said that broadside shots into the vital zone is good for smaller hogs (under 90lbs) but it is recommended to shoot larger hogs when they are quartering away, in order to slip the arrow behind the ribs and into the vital organs.

Sure this makes sense, but is it really required? Are broadside shots ethical and powerful enough for 200lbhogs from about 15-20 yards?

I only ask this because most of the publications by the CA DFG seem to recommend over kill methods (they don't recommend using a .243 for hogs because they say that is not suffecient firepower, even though I have dropped many 200 lb hogs with my .243).


Thanks for all the help,

Dan Rotlisberger

turtleshell

You may also wish to post this on the hog forum

mexhuntr

COULD BE BUT I THINK THAT IT DEPENDS ON THE PUNCH YOU HAVE ONYOUR BOW AND THE BROADHEADS YOU USE.

txjourneyman

When I have a shot opportunity at 15-20 yds I will usually try a head or neck shot. Put the arrow right behind the ear if you want to drop a hog on the spot. There is a great link about hog anatomy on the hog forum go back and look that up for a great reference.

MidwestJ

Man when I went hog hunting once I drilled both of them broadside @ 10-20 yards tops and they didn't run far.

I was on the ground and hit em square in the vitals broadside. Granted, these were smaller hogs; probably not in the 200lb range but once I stuck em, they ran ~40 yards or so and fell.

Shooting 27" draw length at ~65lb pull. Didn't get a pass through but got the job done. My buddies with longer draws got pass-throughs.

Stick em in the vitals and you'll have no problem.

scmtnhnter

i personally have shot about 40 hogs with a bow i have shot them broadside and quarterin away small meduim and large hogs several over 300 lbs i have never had one problem shootin them either way and as for the 243 i have seen people shoot them 223s .

wineguy

Thanks for the info guys. I was pretty sure that the DFG booklet was a little overkill. I have been able to get within 10 yards of most hogs (you who have hunted them know that they are blind as hell) and I feel that rifle hunting them is just not fair anymore.

Thanks for all the help,

Dan Rotlisberger

deerhunter518

hey dan I would think If your bow is set at enough power you can break that shoulder and drop the pig. Iveshot elk with a 60 lb draw bow and shattered their shoulder so I think a pig would be fine

Hunter06FlKy

you probably don't want to try this, at least not on big hogs. with hogs up to 100 or so pounds it's ok. once you start getting much over this you get really really thick shields around the shoulder. i know it sounds stupid but they can be hard to penetrate with some rifles and even harder to do so with a bow. quartering away shots are prefered but broadside shots work also. one thing you do have to think of is the fact that pigs don't bleed a whole lot. wound channels can be filled up by pig's thick fatty skin. because of this you want big wound channels and big cutting heads.