Dos Mas

[Geedubya]

My passion is perforating hoglets.

Where I hunt it's a target rich environment.
I recently downloaded a couple vids, captured by the Super Yoter Thermal unit I am using at present.

Three weeks ago. Big boars typically only move at night, and they or solo.

A good boar

Two weeks ago, I again had the opportunity to sit out. A sounder of sows and shoats came in.........

A couple minutes later a 'yote drifted by.

I just happened to have my eye to the scope. Did not have time to record a vid, as he was slip-sliding away as i shot.

Heading back next Monday for some dove and varmints!

ya!

GWB

 

[noharleyyet]

 

[noharleyyet]

All kidding aside, thermal vermin eradication is an effective blast...

 

[Geedubya]

G,

Can you provide a bit more info? Seemed you got him more in the head than vitals. He sure dropped. I was curious what cartridge you're using? I've been having discussion about the effectiveness of the 300 blackout. I ask this as I am just preparing to go out in search of hogs, I also have 8.6 blackout. I guess I'm a blackout kinda guy...nah, actually I do have some experience shooting 300 blackout and that is what primarily pushed me towards 8.6 blackout. The 300 blackout just doesn't have enough room for powder.

I see no reason to hunt with subsonic as I can't use a suppressor. You get the nod in Texas in that regard. Also how big is he? He looks about 150 lbs.

I also have a 308 Win upper with a match barrel that would work well for hunting, but I am in search of something smaller/lighter as I will be packing. IOW, I will need to pack the meat out. My 300 blackout pistol is quite a bit lighter, only 6.5 lbs, but more so it's much shorter and easier to stalk with. Lots of folks hunt hogs with 5.56 and go for head shots. In your case are you going for head or vitals?

That little guy looks like a good size for eating.

Sir/Madam,

I hunt out of a camp, and have a camper, so I do not have to pack light. Also here we typically hunt out of stands, quadpods, tripods or ground blinds.

I am a fan of the 308 Win. When I decided to go "suppressed" I was looking for a rifle with a 16" threaded barrel. Two years ago or so those were a little bit harder to come by. I figured with a +/- 7" can, the OAL of the barrel @ 23" would not be unwieldy. I purchased a Sig Cross and am super-pleased with it.

I have an AR-10 in 308 Win, but where I hunt one only gets one shot, two at the most due to the nature of the terrain.
I have 223, 6.5 Grendel, 300 B/O, 300 HAMMR, and 338 Federal in MSR's. If I were hunting open fields or range where I had the opportunity to put multiple rounds down range, I would use a semi-auto .

I typically reload for most all the different chamberings, however Palmetto State Armory had a sale on the Norma 150 gr. Soft points for +/- $14 per box, so I purchased 20 boxes. I tried three other factory loads but the Sig loves the Norma Soft Points. I've probably taken near 30 pigs, plus a number of other varmints with that ammo and it flat works.

I am an old fart and have been killing pigs for 60 years or so now. My favorite shot on a pig is this. I draw an imaginary line between the ear and shoulder. I try to place a bullet along that line 2" below the ear.

Doing so severs the spine and they drop and paddle. If they paddle 180 degrees, I will place a second shot at the junction of the head and spine.

Nothing wrong with a CNS/Head Shot or shooting them in the ear. Pigs usually do not stay still, so the shot i mentioned gives one a greater margin for error.

Here is an example. By time my brain sez' squeeze, I do, and the bullet impacts, this boar had moved enough that I ear-holed him.

Anywho, that's JMHO. Also, I enjoy doing European's with the skulls.

You mention the 5.56/223 and 300 B/O. I usually use those when hunting close out of a tripod when they come to a pen.

300 B/O, 110 Gr. Barnes Tac-TX

Or when I've caught them in a trap or snare.

223 Wydle, 64 Gr. Nosler Solid Base

I caught the one below in a trap. Nailed him up close.

223 Wylde, 64 Gr. Nosler Solid Base.

As to weight, other than bears, ( with which I have little experience), IMHO, the weight of hogs is one of the most over-estimated critters. I'd say the one in the pix weighed between 150 & 200 lbs. I did not weigh that one. If I have a hard time turning them over, I know they are heavy. Those I do not try to pick up and load. I use some type of mechanical advantage........

This is the boar in the preceding pix. I did happen to weigh this one. IIRC he was +/- 150 lbs.

Finally, I am a firm believer in "use enough gun". I no longer track at night. I want the critter DRT. If I do have to track, I want a blood trail that a blind man can wade in.

ya!

GWB

 

[Big Bore]

Nice! Congrats on all the recent success. My lease is in Texas about 2 hours west of San Antonio and hogs are my favorite too.

 

[Geedubya]

Ok, this is very close to what I reloaded. I have 10 rounds of 22.5 gr, 22.9 gr, 23.3 gr, 23.5 gr and 23.7 gr of Hodgdon CFEBLK using a Hornady 110 CX bullet.

View attachment 291680

The points in question are:

1) Can the 110 gr punch through the shield of a 250 lb. pig?
2) Can 300 blackout be used past 100 yards with supersonic?

Cheers,
Alan

What's the old bromide, " Opinions are like noses, everyone has one and most of them smell.

With that in mind, note that I am biased in regards to my choice of calibers/chamberings that I choose.

My responses are not meant to be critical of anothers choice, rather they are formed and expressed after years of experience with rifles chambered from 17 Ackley Hornet through 458 Lott.

OK,

My family and friends complain that I can never answer a yes or no question with a yes or no.

So

Short Answers,

1. It's possible

2 It's possible.

I've been posting on different internet forums since 1999. During that time I've had the opportunity to view any number of threads in regards to hunting calibers and bullet choices.

One could be titled, Which Bullet for Elk at 10,000' Elevation......

" I want to use a 223 on the Elk Hunt I'm going on. It will cost me $10K. The question is, since I'll be hunting Elk @10,000' elevation, what bullet is best?

My answer would be, "Why would you spend $10K and not use a cartridge that might not suffice, when there are so many other options that would increase the odds for success.

I am not implying that the 300 B/O won't work. Rather it would not be my first choice. If one had the luxury of being able to take game at will, then experimentation is much more feasable.

In the Texas hill country it's 'root hog or die'. I've killed well over a thousand in the last 20 years. I can count the number that weighed 250 lbs or more on two hands. Perhaps where you plan to hunt it may be different. Big boars are typically solitary and mainly move in hours of darkness. The largest I typically take are at night with thermal, snares and traps. Don't pass up a shot on a decent pig waiting for a monster. A shot not taken is as good as a miss.

Even on pigs that are in the 150 to 200 lb. range, the "shield may be over 1" thick. It has been my experience that monometal bullets (Barnes TTX, Hornady GMX) have a tendency to "pencil" through. One makes a bad/high shot that shot that lodges in shield, or even pencil's through, the fat seals up the hole and there may be a few spatters of blood from the entry, then nothing.

In my neck of the woods, if the critter is not DRT and no blood trail can be found within 10' to 15' from the POI, the animal is lost. Particularly at late eve or night. Then again YMMV.

Anywho, I do wish you the best of success in you venture.


ya!


GWB

 

[redhaze]

Nice hunting.

 

[Geedubya]

After i replied the last time, I got to thinking, that some times my views and opinions are somewhat parochial. By that, I mean that I have only hunted hogs in Texas and not elsewhere.

IIRC one can only hunt with monometal bullets in California. That would rule out using Nosler Accubonds or Partitions, or Sierra Game Kings HPBT's. I have loaded a few of the LeHigh Defense
Controlled Chaos in the 300 HAMMR, but have not availed myself of the opportunity to try them out as I've been so satified with the Sig Cross and the Norma Soft Points. Two weeks ago it was 91 degrees and not a breath of air @10:30 PM. I've got to where I sleep in the mornings then run my snares and traps about 8:30. Don't go out to hunt at night until about 8:30. Consequently I've done almost no day hunting with other rifles this year.

As to average size. That would be hard to objectively quantify. A bud and I have taken over 500 pigs off the 1,700 acre "pasture" that comprises our private land trespass lease, sin July of 2018. Let me just speculate that many more have been 100 lbs and under than 100 lbs and over.

I keep about a dozen game cams set out year 'round. Here is a recent shot of a typical sounder of sows and shoats. Most of the sows in this pix are 50 lbs or under

Where I hunt in the Texas hill country, groceries are scarce. There are no river bottoms, nor live water on our lease, and no crops around for 10 to 15 miles. Conseqently hogs are rather lean.

IIRC you did not indicate whether you will be hunting public land in the daytime or whether you will be hunting with an outfitter in your state. I'd say talk to them and get references. Some outfitters here in Texas run "put-n-take" operations. Those tend to have young pigs rather than large boars.

I jokingly tell folks that feral hogs can breed at 6 month, have 3 litters per year, up to 13 shoats per litter, and out of those thirteen, sixteen usually survive.

In the second video clip I posted above of the sounder that came in to the feeder you may notice that I took one of the largest of the group. Here is a pix of that pig postioned next to the coyote I took that same evening.

Since I've been using thermal and hunting almost exclusively at night, I have been wailing on the larger boars. I took this one in May. Did not weigh him, but he was a stud. Probably the largest I've taken this year. I'd estimate at least 200 lbs. I weigh 185 lbs. When I grabbed him by the hind leg I was barely able to move him. When I went to put a strap under his body to drag him off, I did so with difficulty.

Just fer schitz n' giggles, here are three of the largest I've encountered since 2002

315 lbs. weighed

275 lbs, weighed

+/- 275 lbs.

Good luck in your quest.

ya!

GWB