I just found out that our lease will permit year round hog hunting, basically, throughout the summer in Florida. Though it is hot and buggy, its an excuse to be in the woods. Rather than carry my good deer hunting rifle, which is a browning stainless stalker, I'm interested in getting a knock around gun that I don't need to be especially careful with. I also want something that is lite enough to carry around and economical to shoot. The first thing that came to mind is the 22 mag, though I realize it may be too lite of a caliber. I see myself getting within 50-70 yrds and will hunt with my bow at times, but for an all around gun that i can use that is not very expensive to buy or shoot, what would you suggest? I'll probably try to find a used gun to hold the cost down. thx

I guess you can ask yourself this...
Would I rather be shot and probably wounded / mammed / suffer by a .22 mag
OR
Be shot and hopefully be killed quickly by real cartridge?
I'm sure you will do the right thing, even if it costs you an extra $10 / box of shells!

Yeah, I dont think I would use a 22mag for hogs, squirrel's and rabbits yes but a hog NO.......I would go with at least a 223.....

Edcyclo, thx for the insightful comments, that was very helpful

I'd say get a good used Marlin 30-30, and a box of Remington Core Lokts for about $9/20. Be alot more useful for shooting hogs, and fairly inexpensive as well.

I have a few 22mags, and I wouldn't want to piss off a hog or make a marginal shot on one. Coyotes are tough to bring down with the 22 mag, so I'm assuming a hog would be alot tougher.

I think I will buy a youth 243 based on the obvious under-gun situation with a 22 mag. The reason I considered it was b/c a guy told me he used them for hogs, but the more I thought about it, I think he was bragging about his marksmanship and not the gun with a very targeted location for killing them. I need a 243 anyway, though the 30/30 idea is good. I'll still await other recommendations, but the 243 may accomplish a few things for me. The 22 mag idea also offered less noise and more varmit practicality, so that was part of it too. I'm not likely to blast a coon with a 243 or larger caliber gun, though no reason you can't.

Nice youth .243 for sale at Predator Masters.

http://www.predatormastersforums.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php?Cat=0&Number=52825826&an=0&am p;page=0#52825826

Have you considered a good 12 gauge shotgun with slugs for the shorter distances? You could pick up a police shotgun at a reasonable price or maybe invest in a shotgun with different barrels so you could use it for turkeys, ducks, etc. A shotgun is fairly economical to shoot, can be easily reloaded for and is extremely versatile. You may even already have a shotgun ideal for this purpose.

I've shot 2 hogs with a 270 and both times needed more than 1 shot with good shot placement. I've seen hogs shot with 30-30's that went right down and one hog shot with a 450 Marlin that ran for about 100 yards. Larger hogs (200+ lbs) can be hard to put down.