[Jack Monteith]

Hi, Gents:
I've been wondering where the best place to put a bullet in a European Wild Boars since they started showing up in Saskatchewan.
http://beartoothbullets.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3663

Are they all gut behind the shoulder, or will a shot just behind the shoulder get the lungs or heart? What about a head shot from the side? It looks like their eyes are so high on the head that a shot between the ear and eye might just go through the top of the skull and miss the brain. I expect they'll burrow into round bale stacks in the winter. A hunter could set up at the end of the row and wait until a boar sticks it's head out for a look-see. Anyhow I expect it won't be like whitetail hunting.

Bye
Jack

 

[MikeG]

Hi Jack,

Glad to help. I would try in this order:

1. Head.

2. Neck/shoulder junction.

3. Broadside through both shoulders.

Head is a big target on a pig, as opposed to a deer. If you miss the brain, it'll surely drop and you can wait a few minutes to see if it recovers. Base of the ear is a good aiming point.

I almost hate to shoot them in the neck, as it ruins a lot of meat, but again, it's nice to drop them on the spot. Pigs don't leave much of a blood trail, no matter what the shot placement. Also they're hard to find in the brush, being generally somewhat covered in dirt, and often it's pretty dark when you find them, at least if they have been hunted much.

Broadside through both shoulders is with the intention to break one or both. A pig's spine runs lower through the shoulder than you would think, and several times I have broken the spine doing this. When it's getting real dark, sometimes you just have to shoot for the middle of the shoulder. Also there's less meat on the shoulder than on the neck, so blowing up a shoulder doesn't ruin a huge amount of meat. They can run a ways on 3 legs, though.

Behind the shoulder is mostly guts. You might get the lungs - and you might not. Heart is real low between the front legs, but again, blood trail isn't a good way to find them. Hit them too far back, and they'll run off and die somewhere else.

Pigs are usually eating when you find them, if the heads are down, head shot is usually not all that hard. They don't run nearly as fast as a deer so running shots aren't out of the question either. Bait them if you can - dry shelled corn works as well as anything. Find an area where pigs have been around, and SCATTER corn far and wide. Fling it like you're sowing crops. It makes them take longer to find it, and find every last kernel they will.

Good luck.

 

[Jack Monteith]

Hi, Mike:
Thanks! There's domestic herds with 25 miles of here, and at the rate they get through fences and reproduce, they'll be here sooner or later. The .222 won't be the primary varmint gun when that happens. Next problem. Where do I find corn outside a supermarket this far north?

Bye
Jack

 

[MikeG]

Hmmm.... not sure what to tell you. I would venture a guess that any sort of animal feed, scattered widely, would work in a similar fashion. Pigs aren't too picky about what they eat. Surely you can find something at a farm-supply store.

Oh, and they really like molassas - a LOT. It's a good bait if you have them coming to a site regularly.

Have fun. The ol' .30-06 should be plenty of medicine.

 

[Jack Monteith]

Hi, Mike:
I was kidding a bit. There's no lack of feed grain around here. I combined 200 acres myself to help the boys out. I was thinking oats when I had a horrible thought. A neighbour a mile away has an old fashsioned threshing day every year. Cut the oats with a binder, stook the sheaves, then pitchfolk them on to a rack and then into the threshing machine. The oats are cut a bit on the green side and left stooked for a week or more. This oat field is right next to a big coulee, perfect cover for whitetails and pigs. I'm old enough to remember when binders and threshing machines were used for real, and I know what mess a herd of stray horses can do to the stooks. Pigs won't be any better.

Bye
Jack

 

[MikeG]

Well, Jack, I wondered!!! You got me. Yes pigs would make one heck of a mess if they get a chance. Have fun....

 

[Jack Monteith]

Hi, Mike:
To clarify, we've got everything but corn here. The head of an oat sheaf is the next best thing to a pile of threshed oats for a cow, horse or pig, so I imagine they'd have a picnic in a stooked field.

Bye
Jack

 

[MikeG]

Growing season too short for corn?

I wouldn't worry about it, they'll eat just aboug anything!

 

[Jack Monteith]

Hi, Mike:
Yup, It's too cold and dry for corn and soybeans here. As for a rifle, I'd use a Lee-Enfield for a herd shoot. They're as fast as a lever, hold more shells and have more range. A Garand, which is still legal in Canada, would work too.

Bye
Jack

 

[Jack Monteith]

More Pigs in Canada.
These little piggies are moving into moose country.

ONOWAY, Alberta - Bounty hunters around Lac Ste. Anne are taking dead aim at the county's pesky pigs.

A set of wild boar ears will fetch $50 at the county office these days as residents try to tackle a problem that has plagued the wooded and swampy area for at least two decades.
http://www.canada.com/search/story.aspx?id=2a35b9e3-81cb-42ca-9a1f-50ee20d6d351

Bye
Jack

 

[kdub]

For some reason, always sorta figured it was too cold up there for hogs. Of course, then I realize that wild boars are prevalent in Russia, so - why not?!

The Enfield will do the trick on them - feral hogs may not have developed the thick cartilage that European boars have over their shoulders. Or, so I have read - only wild hogs I've shot have been the Texas feral hogs down around Brackettville. First one succumbed to a head shot with a .44 Mag Ruger carbine at about 30 yds. 2nd was downed with a spine shot with a .243 Win and 105 gr Nosler Partition from around 80 yds. Sure were good eating!

 

[MikeG]

Jack - suppose I could get away with mailing you a healthy pile of pig ears????? Bet I could send you enough to retire on!!!

 

[Jack Monteith]

Hi, Mike:
There's more than enough pigs (the domestic type) around here, with 4 mega-barns within 20 miles. No use in shaking up Canada Post.

Bye
Jack

 

[MikeG]

Yeah, but the ones I send will have bullet holes in them... LOL....

Seriously, hope you get a chance to pop one. Going deer hunting tomorrow (which in most of Texas means pig hunting as well). Plan on killing something.... if nothing edible shows up, might have to try out Bill's .250 on a raccoon.

 

[Richard of Oz]

And what to shoot it with? The Powers-that-Be here say .270 minimum. But I'm trying to justify to my wife (and myself) getting a .357 lever-action by telling her that I'll stop pigs rampaging through the yard. I further justify it by saying that I'll use the same 158gr SJSPs which I shoot in my DW, although wise folk on this forum like KciH recommend 180gr castcores. My only first-hand experience on the grunters has been with rifled slugs in a 12ga.

 

[LAREDOBOB]

Where to shoot a pig? I would shoot one as close as I could to a forklift.

 

[MikeG]

And what to shoot it with? The Powers-that-Be here say .270 minimum. But I'm trying to justify to my wife (and myself) getting a .357 lever-action by telling her that I'll stop pigs rampaging through the yard. I further justify it by saying that I'll use the same 158gr SJSPs which I shoot in my DW, although wise folk on this forum like KciH recommend 180gr castcores. My only first-hand experience on the grunters has been with rifled slugs in a 12ga.

Richard, I've killed a few with a .257 Roberts and it works fine. Know people who have used stuff down as light as a .22 Hornet and .223 Rem. It's all about shot placement.

I shot one this weekend with a .458, and the darn thing STILL ran about 50 yards! Blood trail was impressive though.

I think that the .357 in a rifle would be fine, personally....

 

[ribbonstone2]

One thing we have is pigs, but they do come in different sizes. The big'uns can be 200-300 pounds (some are wild bore, some are second and third generation mixed escaped hog/bore mix)..these aren't real sociable.
Are aslo the smaller pigs (45-100 pounds) which do pack up.

Ranges are short here...but have killed them with .41mag., .44mag, .243, 30-30. 38-55, .303 Brit, .444, .45/70 and 6.5RM.

Killed one unexpectedly...wasn't hunting for them, but this one just poped out of the brush at my feet and kept coming ahead. All I had was a 28gr. (with 7 1/2 shot) and an old Browning HP (9mm) under my jacket. He may well have been dead after the first or second 9mm slug, but I put all 13 in him very rapidly.

IF there is any direction being pointed out, it seems to be that trading some expansion for penetration is a good thing...that big bullets work better than small ones...and that high velocity hurts more than helps when the range is short.

And I'll do in another couple of them this year...expect soon...and will take out a 50/70 (probably too long a rifle...but it will be fun) and a .401WSL. Not that I think I'll need that much power...but what else would you do with those two rifles but kill hogs?

 

[halfbreed]

Jack, if you can mix up some wild brew, the mash will draw them in like kids to candy.
It does not have to be good, just use some grain, sugar, yeast and a big barrel a couple weeks later and you will have more pork than your freezers could begin to hold.
Guaranteed! Also my favorite shot is the earhole. the little .22 rimfire works wonders. wild or tame they will go down the same!

John

 

[Richard of Oz]

Thanks Mike and others. Great fan as I am of rimfires and .410s, I think that I'll give the .357 lever-action a go and not accelerate my changing into Glory.
I'm a fan of pork, too, although I keep that quiet in some countries which I visit. But one hears horror stories of feral pigs being riddled with worms & other parasitic nasties. I have enough trouble filleting fish, heaven knows how I'd go about field-dressing a mangy pig.