.243Heartshot

Would you be getting these hogs over bait?

North Texan

Can you kill a hog with a .22lr? Yes, under ideal conditions.

Would I hunt hogs with one? Not a chance. If you are very close and get a very good shot at the side of the head, it will get the job done. If a large hog is facing you, a .22lr will not reliably penetrate the front of the skull, even at close range. I've run onto unhappy hogs twice checking traps, where all I had was the .22lr I was dispatching the coons with. The .22lr shots did not penetrate the skull, even at less than 15 yards. These were sows, but not large. The bullets hit the skull and deflected harmlessly upward along the skull. One I climbed a tree and killed shooting down behind the skull into the neck, the other turned and ran before she got to me. Otherwise, I would have been in a mess.

Snook384

I use the 40 grain hollow point. I have never not had a hog just drop when you hit them in the head. I have also never had the round deflect. Maybe I have been lucky but my go to hog gun in the summer is a 22 mag. I have shot a few that twitched on the ground for a second or two.

falcon

Good post.

Shot a big sowin the head with a .22 LR solid point at about 10 yards.She was bleeding badly and went over one-half mile before she died. Will never take a head on shot at a hog with anykind or rimfire again.

i often hog hunt on a huge place where we are restricted to the use of rimfires during small game season. A .22 is nota proper hog gun.It canwork in a pinch, at very short ranges only. Use only 40 grain or heavier solid point ammo. A .22 magnum works much better.

Do not shoot hogs with rimfires atranges over about 40 yards,much closer for the .22 LR.Shoot the hog in the ear, just behind the earor on a line betweenthe ear and eye. Continue to shoot until the wiggling stops. Bought a.22 magnum last year and won't look back, it does a much better jobthan the .22 LR.I use the CCI .22 magnum full metal jacket ammo.

I would not shoot a big hogfrom the ground with any kind of rimfire. Well, maybe a .41 Swiss.

Given my druthers my rimfires wouldstay at home all the time while hog hunting.Do nothunt hogs with arimfire unless that is the only rifle that you own.

North Texan

There's a lot of difference even between a .22lr and a .22 WMR. But neither would be my go-to gun given a choice. Just moving up in caliber to a small .22 centerfire with the right bullet can make a huge, huge difference.

There are two times that I do use a .22lr on hogs. If I see sows with piglets, I try to kill all the sows as quickly as possible, trying to keep their corpses in one general area. My dog I've got now makes it a little easier, because he'll grab and hold a piglet for me. The other sows hear it squealing and will often come running to its aid, making themselves easy targets. I'll leave and come back to the area later with my .22lr and clean up any of the piglets that remain or returned. Some of them aren't bad eating, and I don't ruin as much meat that way. And I can stay far enough away the noise doesn't spook them and make them run. The other is when I've got small ones in traps that are too small to sell.

Bugflipper

When I was a little guy they would shoot the hogs in the eye or ear with a 22 to butcher them. We always used a small sledge hammer with a spike welded on the face. I remeber going to other farms to help butcher hogs where they used the 22. Sometimes they would go right down, sometimes they had to shoot them many times in the head to put them down. I wouldn't do it just because the animal could suffer a good deal of pain if it didn't put him down.
One thing you may want to considder is the little guys can still rip your calf muscle to the bone. I would personally be kind of soar with a fellar that knocked a plug out of my head. Bear in mind a wild animal has a flight or fight instinct. I would much rather face a very tough man than a little pig with 2" teeth that are designed to rip flesh. Just a thought.
Blessings

.2shorty3

when i was a kid my father had a deerlease in south texas with several hog traps set up & everytime we caught some my father would use a .22lr to kill them, he would shoot them behind the ear or inbetween the eyes fom about 5 to 10 yards,they would drop like a sack of tatters

der Teufel

I agree!

It may seem 'sporting' to hunt hogs with a .22 rimfire, but the odds of merely wounding an animal seem too great. It's possible to kill deer with a rimfire, but most states outlaw that practice for good reason.

Maybe it's somewhat like fishing with ultra light tackle. When you land one you really feel like you've accomplished something. On the other hand, when you shoot a hog with a .22 and it gets away, you may have killed a hog, but it wasn't a quick, effective kill and you don't have any meat to show for your efforts.

Me, I carry a .308 'cuz I don't like to go to the effort and expense of making a hunting trip, finding and stalking a hog, and taking a shot only to see it run off and not be found. But then, maybe that's just me.

Perhaps just a little off-topic -- when I was in the Army a sergeant gave me some advice. He said "If you see a fight shaping up, whether it's on a combat patrol or in a bar, evaluate the situation and see if it's going to be a fair fight. If it looks like a fair fight, get the (heck) outta there! You have no business getting into a fight unless you have an overwhelming superiority!"

I look at hog hunting the same way. I try to keep all the advantages to myself, and not give the hog a fair chance.

IndyHunter83

I've seen video of this "professional hunter" on versus kill them with a pellet rifle. That was with in ten yards and he had hounds and a back up guy with a 30-30.

Would I personally hunt them with a 22lr. NOPE. It can be done. Personally I would not try it because I have other options and have no experience yet in hunting hogs. I'm hoping my first trip to be in the next three to five years and to do it with my bow or my 44mag rifle. If you have previous experience with them, and I assume you do. Then you very well may have the experience needed. I wish ya the best of luck either way.

podunk kennels

I was a butcher for sometime right after high school, the .22 lr is capable of killing hogs cleanly with a solid point but the .22 mag is much better suited for them. If all you have is .22 lr wait for a broadside presentation and shoot them right at the base of the ear and you should be fine. Solid points are the way to go definitely no hp's. Good Luck