BigGameHunt.net Hunting Forums

Chuck S · Joined: 09 Nov 2007 Posts: 37 Location: Carlisle, Iowa

Boy you guys talk about using big bore magnums on punie hogs like your shooting bison or cape buffalo or elephant or something. .270 will drop elk any day. .338 federal is a good load for bison or cape buffalo according to a hunting program I watched featuring a Ruger M77 in .338 Fed.

Personally, .243 works excellantly for hogs as does the 7mm08 or the .223.

I suspose you guys would use a 7mm Rem Mag for squirrels too!

I perfer the right tool for the required task. Wrenches will drive nails, but it is still a wrench.

Just my opinion and experience.

Chuck S

Whitworth · Joined: 14 Oct 2007 Posts: 108 Location: Virginia

Nope, my .338 is my squirrel rifle! :laugh:

Nowhere did any of us big-bore afficianados say anything about needing that much gun for hogs. We have them and like to use them. Nothing more, and nothing less. I may be heading to Tanzania in 2010, and I can think of no better practice than on live targets and well, I like pork! :D

I hunt with handguns more than anything else nowadays as it's just more challenging IMHO. A scoped rifle is just too easy.........

Chuck S · Joined: 09 Nov 2007 Posts: 37 Location: Carlisle, Iowa

Good answer Whitmore. Now I can understand that. Thanks for your responce.

Chuck S

Whitworth · Joined: 14 Oct 2007 Posts: 108 Location: Virginia

Not a problem, Chuck!

haiku_rodney · Joined: 03 May 2006 Posts: 100 Location: Maui, Hawaii

Aloha Whitworth-
Do you find with the big bores you get less meat damage? Just wondering.

Whitworth · Joined: 14 Oct 2007 Posts: 108 Location: Virginia

Aloha Rodney! Yes, I have found that they don't do the damage of some of the smaller and much faster rounds that are used. Only once did I have a big-bore do a lot of meat damage and I was using a really soft Hawk (Deadsoft) bullet in my .458 Lott and it busted hog number one up pretty badly before killing hog number two......... Even my .338 win mag tends to do more damage that my .416 or my .458s ever did.

haiku_rodney · Joined: 03 May 2006 Posts: 100 Location: Maui, Hawaii

Thanks! I currently hunt with a 7mm-08 and try mostly for head or neck shots to minimize the amount of meat damage. I want to move to a big bore. I am currently saving my $$. I am leaning very heavily toward the 416 rigby. Don't know if that's what I am going to end up with, but, that's what's got my eye for now.

Whitworth · Joined: 14 Oct 2007 Posts: 108 Location: Virginia

That's a great choice, Rodney! I love the .416s and currently have a .416 Rem. Mag and it hammers game! You can pick up a CZ in .416 Rigby for a song and a dance.

haiku_rodney · Joined: 03 May 2006 Posts: 100 Location: Maui, Hawaii

Unfortunately, I am left handed so I have been looking at the Ruger #1.

Musky Mike1 · Joined: 01 Aug 2008 Posts: 6

I have a bolt-action 30-30 I want to use for pig hunting. I plan on hand loading Speer 150gr hotcores bullets. I don't have to use flat point bullets because it is a bolt action. Do you guys think it will work fine on 100-175 lbs pigs?

granite · Joined: 10 Aug 2007 Posts: 22

A 30-30 is plenty for for your average pig and with hot handloads , practice and some basic knowledge of pig anatomy you can bring down even larger hogs. Try not to shoot them in the guts and you'll be alright.

PORK CHOP · Joined: 04 Aug 2008 Posts: 11

Hunting hogs here in Georgia has proven to me that a hog can be taken with just about any rifle, our regulations here are to the hunters advantage when it comes to shooting wild boar because the season never closes and the GDNR allows the use of small game weapons to harvest hogs, now i am not saying that a 22 long rifle or a .22 magnum is the smartest rifle to hunt wild boar with but i will say that i have killed many many hogs with both these weapons while small game hunting. my father showed me a spot directlly behind a hogs ear where they used to shoot them on the farm with a .22 when they wanted to butcher one and it has proven to be a lethal spot i have shot hogs at 60 yards plus with my .22 magnum and they dropped like they were struck by lightning, but when i am hunting for hogs specifically i always carry my marlin 336 in 30-30 with no scope or my fathers old 303 british enfield both of these calibers have never let me down and have put allot of table fill in my freezer for many years

Whitworth · Joined: 14 Oct 2007 Posts: 108 Location: Virginia

Musky Mike1 wrote: I have a bolt-action 30-30 I want to use for pig hunting. I plan on hand loading Speer 150gr hotcores bullets. I don't have to use flat point bullets because it is a bolt action. Do you guys think it will work fine on 100-175 lbs pigs?

Absolutely it'll work! It will work really well in my opinion!

bunch · Joined: 20 Oct 2008 Posts: 12 Location: SW Missouri

can't go wrong with a 7 mag man...i've hunted hogs from texas to missouri and oklahoma and it never fails..they never move after the 7 mag yelps..

bunch · Joined: 20 Oct 2008 Posts: 12 Location: SW Missouri

I've always used my 7 mag..It has done the trick and i will never rifle hunt hogs without it..i haven't had a pig take a step or two after pulling the trigger(from eater pigs to the ones i have on the wall)..I love watchin em' drop!..Easiest blood trail possible and a 7 mag will take almost any big game animal in N. America ethically with the right shot placement..