Hogs and Exotics Gun or bow, you can stretch your season and fill the freezer with wild hogs and an assortment of exotics.

.223 vs. Hogs?

Old 02-24-2017, 01:39 PM
  #11  
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Lots of folks shoot lots of animals for the first time. A friend knocked his first cape buffalo stone dead with one shot. One year ago I hunted with a first time hog hunter. He put a patched round ball through the center of his first hogs heart. i'm sure the OP has studied up on proper bullet placement for hogs.


The excellent 55 grain .223 Barnes Triple Shock bullet will go through both shoulders of a 200 pound hog.


My 250 grain SST muzzleloader bullet went through both shields of this 384 pound hog and was found under the skin on the off side. Hog was 19" through the shoulders and had big thick shields that counted for nothing.



Last edited by falcon; 02-24-2017 at 01:48 PM.
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Old 02-24-2017, 01:53 PM
  #12  
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No sense continuing this conversation because I will never agree that a anemic round is a good round for beginners! I really don't care if a friend of yours killed an elephant with a .22 rim fire. My onion remains the same and it is as valid as yours!
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Old 05-07-2017, 06:48 AM
  #13  
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Its very simple with the 223.
Head shots. Middle of head, directly beneath the ear. Done.

Body shots on anything over 150 starts to get questionable.
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Old 05-07-2017, 06:12 PM
  #14  
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NOT behind the ear. Immediately below it is much better. Behind the ear can result in a bullet that simply passes through neck muscle without hitting anything of consequence.
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Old 05-07-2017, 07:33 PM
  #15  
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Double Naught Spy is correct in that statement for the most part. Right behind the ear can, and usually will be, a good shot but there is a good bit of room there for error. Especially with a .223 caliber bullet. Falcon brought up the yawing effect that is inherent to most .223 caliber bullets. And unless it is a monster hog that bullet won't be into a yaw by the time it is in the spinal area. The yaw is why the .223 can be such an effective round when placed properly. When you start using bullets like the TSX or TTSX Barnes bullets, from all the results I have seen, they don't yaw like the Military ball ammo. So their effectiveness comes from expansion rather than yawing and fragmenting. While I am nowhere near the hog exterminator the old man was, he did take myself and my siblings on many hog hunts and we all have quite a number of hogs under our belts. Like the old man, my preferred rifle is my AR 15 in 6.8spc but I have on many occasions used my little WC AR15 in .223 with hand loaded 60 grain hornady SP. They do a pretty good number on a hog when hit right. But I am in pretty much agreement with Oldtimr on this, the .223 is not a cartridge I would want to start a hog hunter out with. It's just too iffy of a round to trust in the hands of a beginner. I wouldn't want even a hog to suffer needlessly. The .223 is best left to those with plenty of experience in my opinion. Like Falcon, I've killed the things with everything from .22 shorts all the way up to my dads .50 caliber Barrett at 580 yards and boy was that a mess. Had pick up most of that hog with a spatula. The old man didn't think that bullet would even open at that range. He thought wrong.
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Old 05-07-2017, 08:08 PM
  #16  
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IMO a problem with smaller bullets is if you do blow the shot or just get unlucky, a Hogs hide is kind of self sealing. The hole puckers shut and they may not leave any blood trail.

I've seen it many times, no blood trail or a wound that seeps so little, other than having exceptional vision or a dog you have little chance of finding that Hog.
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Old 05-08-2017, 09:57 AM
  #17  
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Originally Posted by Samfowler21
What would you guys say is the best .223 load for headshots on hogs? I know there are obviously better calibers that are more appropriate but there are a lot of people that take them with .223's
I don't know what 223 yaw is and we hunt pigs all year here in Texas. Killed literally 100 or more with 223 over the past decade. Take a head shot, middle of head (shoot in the "cheek") half way between ear and bottom of jaw - directly below ear. Any angle, any bullet. 1 and done.
It's a huge target - easily as big as a softball on pigs over 100 lbs.

A person starts body shooting pigs, well mister, the 223 ain't your "thang". I prefer 30 caliber or believe it or not, 44 magnum out of a lever gun, 240 Soft Points go through pigs, big pigs, like smoke.

So fun.

I have a you tube channel - search Ranch Fairy on you tube. Lot's of pig blasting and tutorials.

Have a great day
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Old 05-09-2017, 09:10 AM
  #18  
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Not sure if the OP is still hanging around or not.... But oh well...

The 60grn Nosler Partition is my go-to bullet for all things bigger than a coyote with the 223/5.56. The Monometals like the Barnes are a good option too, although I prefer the slower expansion of the Partition. The idea is to drive relatively fast expansion for reliable kills, but also retain a lot of weight in the shank to provide deep penetration and pass through.
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Old 05-09-2017, 06:58 PM
  #19  
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Discussions about how deadly the AR-15 is because the bullet 'yaws' date back to the very early days of the M16. Those early rifles had a 1:14 twist rate which did not sufficiently stabilize the bullet. The barrel twist rate was soon changed to 1:12 which improved the accuracy and eliminated the yaw. Modern AR-15s with 1:9 or faster twist rates do not cause appreciable yaw. It'a a myth that's been carried forward from the first rifles issued to the US Military.
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Old 05-11-2017, 03:33 PM
  #20  
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Originally Posted by MudderChuck
IMO a problem with smaller bullets is if you do blow the shot or just get unlucky, a Hogs hide is kind of self sealing. The hole puckers shut and they may not leave any blood trail.

I've seen it many times, no blood trail or a wound that seeps so little, other than having exceptional vision or a dog you have little chance of finding that Hog.
It isn't just small bullets. I have seen hogs seal up after being hit with .308 and .45-70, particularly if hit above the midline of the body, what might be around a good lung shot, for example. They bleed internally and their chest cavity may fill with blood, but the hole seals up with fat, muscle, and shield and the blood never gets high enough and under enough pressure to be forced out. Lower shots are more apt to bleed better, the hole acting as a drain and there is often less soft tissue and on boars, less shield to help seal the wound. Here, gravity works in your favor.

One of my most disappointing lost hog shots was a .308 through the shoulder that put out a spray of blood and bit from ground level up to 2 feet high on the feeder pole and nowhere else was blood seen. Spent 2 hours looking for the hog that night and 2 hours the next day and never found blood sign or the hog. It sealed up nicely.
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