How much lead on a running hog?
 

I had a debate with a fellow club member about how much lead would be necessary for taking a shot at a running animal, like a hog. I realize this subject may draw discussion from folks who will talk about this not being ethical, or wounding, etc. Hopefully I can stay away from most of that talk and try to gain a perspective on the leading issue so I can have more support to make my case. Neither of us were shooting at running hogs, they were in the woods before we even had a chance to get out guns out of the truck but it opened up the debate about whether you can realisticly make such a shot on a somewhat predictable basis. I suggested you would not need to lead a hog by much distance b/c the bullet travels at 2500 fps or more, so a hog at 125 yds would not cover that much ground in the small amt of time it would take the bullet to get there.

Where would you place such a shot if you had hogs running full speed at 100-125 yds?

I should have added, my friend said, lead them by 1 foot.

RE: How much lead on a running hog?
 

you have to allow for the human reaction time aswell as the speed of the hawg and bullet travel time. i would say put the cross hairs on his ear and you should be in the vitals or front shoulder (either way with a decent caliber the tracking will be short if any). since hawgs don't have much of a neck, their vitals are fairly even with their head.

RE: How much lead on a running hog?
 

I really can't say just how much lead, but there has to be a little I think. The key is you have to keep swinging through the target. Another key is you have to have your mind made up that you are going to kill that animal. Example, we were running dogs one time and I had a doe tag, but I had plenty of deer meat for the year, a big doe came running out across a meadow and there was indecison in my mind, guess what,I missed.Back in the mid 1980's I killed a lot of deer with running shots. This was back before leasing became so widespread and before so many folks started moving out of towns and dog hunting was done without the problems that plague it today. The weird thing about most of the shots that I made back then, (andI made some pretty unbelievable ones) was that after the successful kill I would think back and try to remember exactly what I did and I really couldn't say. It was more of "feel" thing, but even though it was a "feel" thing I always knew when I pulled the trigger if it was a good shot or not, don't ask me how I knew, but I just knew. As kids we pretty much grew with a gun in our hands and we were always doing some type of shooting, there is something to be said for constant practice and skeet or clay shooting is good practice. Even though you don't have the precision with a shotgun versus a rifle, it teaches and reinforces good form and follow-through. So I would say practice any time you get the chance. I joined a 15,000 acre lease this year that runs dogs, but the rare thing about this lease is they don't have to worry about public roads or peoples houses. I don't know how I'll stack up to what I used to be able to do (I haven't dog hunted in years), but I absolutely will not take a shot thatI don't have confidence in.

RE: How much lead on a running hog?
 

i dunno anything about hogs sionce we dont have any here in amine but 99% of the deer we kill are running. i dont really lead them at all. most shots are under 100yds and more then half of those are 50 or less. i use a 350 rem at around 2700fps and i put the front bead right on the neck or shoulder the best i can and thats usually the point of impact if i hit them at all. i dont change nothin in my tactics whether im using my whelen or an 06 or 32 spec. doesnt matter to me. i hopld right on. alos i generally time my shot when the front legs hit the ground.....seems like theres a hesitation in their step at that time

RE: How much lead on a running hog?
 

We shoot a lot of hogs on the run. My buddy has a large rye grass field that he plants for the cows and the hogs love it. We let them wander into the middle and try to gun down the whole herd as they run back to the woods. Put the x where you normaly would and squeeze the trigger. They will die.

or lets get techie

you are shooting a rifle at 3,000 ft per second.
you are shooting hogs at 150 yards away
a hog has been clocked at 27 miles an hour top speed

150yds x 3= 450 feet
27 mph pig x 5280 feet / 60 minutes /60 seconds = 39.6 ft per sec (pretty impressive for Wilbur)
450 ft / 3000 ft per sec(bullet)= .15 seconds to impact
.15 sec. to impact x 39.6 ft. per sec(wilbur)= 5.94 feet of distance traveled in .15 seconds to impact.

Please lead the pig by 5.94 feet :)

Or just do what I do and point it at the pig and pull the trigger. They usually fall over and die.

RE: How much lead on a running hog?
 

Actually a great question. At one of the the ranges where I shoot they have a "running" deer target. It's on tracks, made of plywood and it crosses at about 60 yards. There are safe zones in which to shoot (between two orange poles. This "deer" shoot usually takes place right before opening day.Usually we get 5 guys to a squad bet heavily and get 1 shot each for all the money and bragging rights. Usually there are 50 or so guys at this shoot and it's hilarious. My observationsare as follows.

1. 75% of the shots are clean misses
2. 10% of the shots blow an antler or a hoof off.
3. 15% of the shots could be scored as kill shots.

Guns used are all shotguns or muzzleloaders. (No rifles allowed for hunting where this range is). I have found that no lead is required so long as you swing your gun through the shot. Ask any accomplished skeet shooter what happens when you stop swinging - miss every time. That being said some skeet and trap shooters follow a sustained lead and some shoot a swing through lead - when the sight picture look s right slap the trigger. It's a great game with clay targets. On pigs or other live game it becomes more complex.With a rifle (shooting 2500+ fps) a 100 yard shot I would expect to have no lead.