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Old June 6, 2005, 06:25 PM   #1
trigger45
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was told" .308 too light for hog!"?

do i need a 7mmmag or a .300 mag to hunt hogs?
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Old June 6, 2005, 06:29 PM   #2
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I'm not sure I'd want to hunt a hog that NEEDS a .300 mag. I know hogs can be pretty tough but .300 mag seems a little overboard.
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Old June 6, 2005, 06:29 PM   #3
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Obviously the person that told you that is partially brain dead or just another expert on everything and likes to hear himself talk. Ignore it, a 308 with the right bullet can bring down anything that walks the face of the North America.. Probably would not be my first choice for the really big bears,, but then again, I don't expect to be hunting them any time soon
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Old June 6, 2005, 06:33 PM   #4
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In the S.E. U.S. the 7.62x 39 SKS has become a big time hog and deer gun. Your 308 is fine for anything in N. America including hogs.
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Old June 6, 2005, 07:11 PM   #5
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Of course, if you need an excuse to get a .300 magnum, it sounds good to me. You do not need one as mentioned above, but then you can always tell tell yourself or signifigant other that hogs are so tough and mean that the .308 is a bit small and a .300 would be "better"...I like the sound of it anyway.
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Old June 6, 2005, 07:21 PM   #6
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Before y'all scoff too loudly, you might want to talk to folks who kill lots of hogs every year. I've heard more than one of them state that 308 doesn't always leave a large enough exit wound to allow tracking in dense brush. These folks seem to prefer things like shotgun slugs, and they kill enough hogs to know of what they speak.
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Old June 6, 2005, 07:27 PM   #7
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Probably the same wizards who "harvest" whitetails @ 50 yds. with .300 Win Mags and 7mm Mags.
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Old June 6, 2005, 07:48 PM   #8
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The 308 has plenty of power. but you still have to make a good shot! Ask Rich about his north Texas hog that he shot. I really like the mini 30 in 7.62x39 with HPs for hogs. the 7.62 makes about the same power as the 30-30. A well placed shot is everything. I saw a guy hit a hog broudside at an angle with a 30-30. The bullet went in right at the ribs and came out at the shoulder on the same side of the hog. All it did was piss off the hog. I've killed many hogs and I always go for a neck and head shot. Most of the time it's a neck shot. It will drop them in there tracks. If you go on a hog hunt good luck! It's loads of fun!
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Old June 6, 2005, 07:53 PM   #9
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The story that goes with the picture
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Old June 6, 2005, 08:10 PM   #10
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SR420 I have a M1A loaded that I would love to trick out and make look like your gun. I shot it two weeks ago with match ammo and open sights! WOW that gun shoots good.
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Old June 6, 2005, 08:18 PM   #11
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SR420..........

Keep in mind that javelinas sure as heck ain't hogs. Yer picture shows javelinas and javelinas make real good eatin' but they don't have anything at all to do with hogs.
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Old June 6, 2005, 08:50 PM   #12
SR420
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If you follow the link you will find "airbiscuit" -- he hunts with 2 different M1A's and he has bagged many a large hog with the M1A/Port combo.
He has an 18" M1A that has become his rifle of choice.

Impact, thank you for the kind words about my rifle - it is currently getting the full Crazy Horse treatment from Ron Smith @ Smith Enterprise Inc.
I should have it back in my hands in about 2 weeks.

Also, I made a deal this morning to aquire the correct DC Vortex can -- I am told the paperwork will take about 6 months...
just in time for Christmas

.
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Old June 6, 2005, 09:00 PM   #13
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Wanted, Dead or Alive!

SKS, for hogs is pretty popular in Texas, along with the .30-30. At about 150 yards, it's a Redneck's idea of a dangerous big game hunt. I have an SKS, mainly for that reason.

A 150 gr. .308 is plenty, anything heavier is up to you Trigger!

BTW, if you want real adventure and some green for your trouble. Hogs are bringing $.80 a pound where I live. Provided they're still alive!
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Old June 6, 2005, 09:13 PM   #14
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I've seen more than a couple elk shot with a 308 and 180 grain bullets, out to 250 yards. 308 is more than enough for any hog walking this planet if you use a good bullet and good shot placement.

The guys that are down on the 308 are problably the same ones or hunt with guys that buy whatever is cheapest at walmart and head out to hunt.
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Old June 6, 2005, 09:58 PM   #15
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Quote:
Probably the same wizards who "harvest" whitetails @ 50 yds. with .300 Win Mags and 7mm Mags.
Quote:
The guys that are down on the 308 are problably the same ones or hunt with guys that buy whatever is cheapest at walmart and head out to hunt.
You know, y'all can be so uncomfortably smug sometimes....

The guys that I hear tell me that they think 308 is a bit light for hog hunting are the ones with likely more cajones that anyone on this thread (myself included) - the kind who hunt hogs on foot in the southern brush with dogs and spears. When they bring a firearm along, it's generally to drop a really big hog that's swirling in the mess of dogs-n-brush-n-dust. When they drop it, they need to drop it NOW before it hurts one of the dogs too badly (no waiting for the perfect neck shot), and they need to make sure that if it runs they can follow a good blood trail rather than let it die a slow death unrecovered in the thickets. To hear them tell things, hogs are really good at self-sealing exit wounds and subsequently being very difficult to track. They tell me that 308 works pretty well, but that every now and again it just doesn't have enough oomph to give a solid north-to-south wound channel or to blast enough of a plug out the other side to ensure that the piggie leaves a good trail to follow.

I dunno - I've never done it myself. I've got lots of friends here in NoTX that hunt hogs with SKS's and AK's and 30-30's. But they're all also hunting from stands and don't really care too much about tracking a potentially wounded animal. Heck - that's mean that they'd have to get down in the dust and thorns with some pissed-off piggies and they surely don't want to do THAT.

My attitude is that when somebody that's dropped literally hundreds and hundreds of hogs from a boots-on-the-ground position advises me to 'think big' in terms of bore diameter, I tend to listen....

Your call.
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Old June 6, 2005, 10:09 PM   #16
SR420
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The guy's pictured above hunt at night, on foot without dogs.
The 7.62mmx51 NATO works just fine for them.
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Old June 6, 2005, 10:30 PM   #17
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And that's super - there's clearly more experience shown in that picture than I've got.

But I'd also like to point out that not one of the peccary's shown in that picture is over 60lbs. What I'd find far more compelling is to have you tell me how that 7.62x51 worked for you on a fast raking shot on a highly motivated 150lb pig....
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Old June 6, 2005, 10:40 PM   #18
SR420
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The story that goes with the picture

Hey, I'm not in the picture - Airbiscuit is the guy that hunts big hogs with an M1A, not me.
I'm just the super guy linking you to the information
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Old June 6, 2005, 10:42 PM   #19
impact
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rbernie I guess then you won't hunt hogs with me if you are chicken! I use a mini with a 5 round mag because it is easy to drag around when I'm on my hands and knees in thick brush and oh yah! Snakes. I had people tell me where there are pigs there are no snakes! BS! One day in cut-shoot hog hunting crawling through some brush I almost put my hand on a snake. Got a good look at the snake. I just took a small stick and flicked the snake off to the side. When I got home I looked up the snake in one of my books. I didn't know there was such a thing as a two tone gray copperhead Snakes don't scare me but because of that I fear I'm going to get snake bit one of these days. So I try to be carefull.
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Old June 6, 2005, 11:17 PM   #20
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They tell me that 308 works pretty well, but that every now and again it just doesn't have enough oomph to give a solid north-to-south wound channel or to blast enough of a plug out the other side to ensure that the piggie leaves a good trail to follow.
On any given day, any bullet can 'not get the job done'...If a .308 with the proper bullet can take an elk at 200 yards, it surely can take a hog. IDGAF how big the hog is...a .308 with a 180 grain Nosler Partition bullet will kill a bear...for crying out loud! These are the same people that say that an 06 can kill anything in North America, but the .308 is just marginal. What a bunch of [color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color][color=#FF0000]█[/color].
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Old June 7, 2005, 03:15 AM   #21
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I would normally say that a .308 is enough gun for a pig. A few years back, I was out spotlighting pigs. I had a very nice Parker Hale C4 sniper rifle, with the issue Khales scope. I was using Norma dual core 180 grain bullets. My mate had a .222 ( but is a great shot) and the other guy had a .280. Anyway, We saw a HUGE pig. I mean massive. The boarasaurus. I leveled the 7.62 and let her rip. BLAM! THWOCK! The bullet, as it turned out entered in the shoulder blade, put a hole in that, stayed together, and smashed all the organs in that area. Then the pig turned around and looked at me! And it looked annoyed! "Holy s**t" said I , and let another go. BLAM! THWOCK! and down it went. My mate looked at me and said "Dude, I am scared". So, fr all but the biggest hogs the .308 is the ticket. This pig was 6 feet from nose to end of its tail. It was a monster.
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Old June 7, 2005, 08:45 AM   #22
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anything bigger than a 22WM is overkill.
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Old June 7, 2005, 04:28 PM   #23
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I took a nice 160 lb Russian Razorback in TN with a .45 Colt out of my Blackhawk.

On foot...no tree stand...with a guide and 2 dogs. First shot when he charged us, 2nd shot to put him down.
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Old June 7, 2005, 06:49 PM   #24
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It depends on the weight/size of the pig.

I don't know much about Javalina, but they are small and I understand that while possibly dangerous... they aren't particularly difficult to kill.

Ferral Hogs are something else again. Young adults can weigh from about 125 lbs. up to about 500 lbs. The record from Hollister, Kalifornica is a whopping 700+ lbs!

In Dixieland for many years the 30-30 was THE ferral-hog gun!

In the Big Sur (Kalifornica) we hunted with .44 Mags. The brush is pretty thick and you often have to push through it, or even crawl under it. Easier with a hand gun.

At Fort Hunter Liggett (also Kalifornica) the off-duty GI's would hunt them with the 1911 45ACP!! I wouldn't recommend this, because when you meet a pissed-off Sow or even a Boar, that might be on the heavier side... you'll want the extra penetration to pass down through the snout and continue into the vitals. The .45ACP is more than a little iffy in this situation.

By the way, an ex-Navy Seal and a tired old Green Beret I know, and their friends, hunt them with large hunting KNIVES (The $200 + variety).

They hunt with pit-bull dogs and when the dogs distract the "pig" they jump on his back and cut his throat... Go figure!

There are very few critters in the woods that are meaner than a mad hog... it's better to kill 'em than piss 'em off.

The guides and dog handler's will go out and get the 100 pounders and, again, while the dogs do their work... the guides will grab the pigs by the hind legs and flip 'em on their backs (Helpless as a turtle.) and castrate them!
When they hunt them later on, they will taste better.

The bottom line? You don't need a hot magnum.

Last edited by Pointer; June 7, 2005 at 10:07 PM.
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Old June 7, 2005, 08:15 PM   #25
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Pointer: I remember reading about an island in the tropics where the rite of passage from boyhood to manhood was to skill a shark with a knife (no scuba, no nothing). I am not sure if I would have made manhood there Maybe if everyone else does it, and you grow up with that... sounds pretty alien and scary though.


Ah yes, there was a tribe in Africa where the rite of manhood was to kill an adult Gorilla with a spear - this guy can literally tear you to pieces with his bare hands. The technique was you challenged him and pissed him off, and he chased you while you ran like hell with spear down the trail. At the last instant, you fall to the ground, jamming the butt of the spear in the dirt, and as he dives onto you, he is diving onto the spear. Also sounds, pretty... interesting.
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