Wild Boar: Ground Work / Tracking, what's your chice for that job?

[Para Bellum]

Hi Folks,

you hunt wild boar and need to do ground work / tracking of a possibliy wounded male of 330# or more. Maybe his friends are with him on the ground. What gun and ammo would you clinch to? And why?

[bswiv]

Short barrelled shotgun, open choke and 000 buck.

I like the 000 buck because if he's REALLY close there will be so little spread that it will act like a slug but gives a better chance should he up and run, which is by far the most likely scanerio. And I like 000 because it penetrates better than 00.

And I'd chose a double barrel or a pump ( Yes I know modern autos are very reliable. ) over a auto.

We shot 2 yesterday (over a dozen this season) both with 000 at close range. We switched to 000 last year after doing some penetration/paterning experimentation with our shotguns. My OLD Mossberg tossed a much tighter pattern with 000 than with 00.

As for penetration testing what we did was shoot some thick cataloges at about 25 yards. If I remember correctly, and I did post the results here, the 00 went through 670 pages while the 000 passed through the full 1100 pages book and kept on going.

[Al Thompson]

Well, his friends are probably ten clicks away, so no worries there. I've never seen a keiler get fire support from his buddies, but ya never know.

I've gone into thickets and swamps after wounded ones with a 12 ga loaded with slugs and think that's the ticket. Frankly, a good 9mm with JHPs works just as well as you want to hit the head to stop them. The handgun is way eaiser to manuver with in the really thick stuff.

[Para Bellum]

a good 9mm with JHPs works just as well as you want to hit the head to stop them. The handgun is way eaiser to manuver with in the really thick stuff.

Funny that you mention that, because that's what I have been thinking for years. I just never dared to try...

[YARDDOG(1)]

.44 MAGNUM a little better than 9mm JMO

[Scorch]

For follow-up in close quarters, I have used a Winchester 94 in 30-30 with 170 gr hollw points, a 12 gauge Remington 1100 with slugs, a Colt Python in 357, a Ruger Redhawk in 44 Mag, and a Ruger 77 in 7X57. Given my choice, I would opt for the 30-30, it has a good combination of energy, accuracy at both long range and close range, and maneuverability. But it's all academic, because of all the pigs I shot, only a few were alive by the time I got to them. Of those that were still alive, none ever charged due to the damage that had been done by placing the shot well to begin with. A quick head shot, and off to the skinning pole we went.

BTW, the one in your picture is a sow.

[45Marlin carbine]

I would choose either a semi-auto carbine type rifle (my Mini30 and the like) or a pump/dbl bbl/semi shotty.

[Hamour]

For up close and personal shooting , I would use a 3" 12ga firing the
triball loads of buckshot from Dixie Slugs

http://www.dixieslugs.com/products.html

Three .60 cal Roundballs per blast will cure what ever problems a 12 ga can cure.

These balls are heavy enough that the boars shield will not turn or stop them.

[orchidhunter]

Here in Alabama we hunt with dogs, a old family line of Blackmouth Curs known as the Howard line, they do the tracking for us. We at times use the Kemmer Mt. Cur also. When the Blackmouths have a hold on them, just about any caliber handgun from a 22LR to a 44Mag will do the job. orchidhunter

[fisherman66]

I'd want a dog too. I watched a GSP just barely miss catching a tusk. Better him than me.

Slug gun or trim lever action rifle or anything that swings and reloads pretty quick.

[texastweeter]

.336 in .30-30

[Para Bellum]

BTW, the one in your picture is a sow.

Thanks, now it was a sow. I just wanted to create some mood in the post. Sus scrofa ist what I ment, male or female (female: if it's the season).

.336 in .30-30

That's what I had in mind...

[bwheasler]

The 870 with sabot or Foster style slugs is the ticket. Open sights with Foster slug for 75 yards and under. Scoped, rifled barrel, and Remington sabot slugs up to 125yds, you can shoot a little farther under the right conditions. The fast handling and instictive handling of 870 will serve you well under most conditons. The firepower of the pump shotgun cannot be denied.

[Al Thompson]

Para, the 9mm with a good JHP does a nice job of getting through a hogs head from about any angle. I usually tote a G26 loaded with 124 Gold Dots. Obviously anything bigger works too, but is more of a pain to carry. The G26 rides crossdraw and works fine.

[phil mcwilliam]

I prefer to carry my sako lever action 308 topped with a 3-9x 40 Leupold. Firing 150 grain bullets you can shoot em up close & far away. I've owned & used colt govt pistol in 38 super, S&W 44 Mag revolver & Ithica 12 gauge pump gun. All of these will drop large boars at close range. Problem I kept having was after I'd finished hunting the thick stuff with either the pistols or shotgun, I'd come across a monster boar out in the open & out of range. A 308 Rifle solves this. Carry one in a semi-auto scoped carbine-if you feel you must, but all my mates use scoped bolt action rifles in calibers from 222,223, 243, 270, 308 & 30-06 for hog hunting. We have all hunted the thick bush before & 270 & upwards does work better, but we have never lost a member carrying a 222 bolt action rifle to a "killer boar", & over the years we have shot many hundreds of them between us.

[bswiv]

After reading the responses here it occured to me that we offering opinions never asked for a description of the terrain and a definition of what constitutes the thick woods he would be following a wounded animal in.

I'll admit ignorance of other places. All I really know for hog hunting is the swamps and palmettos of NE FL and SE GA. We shoot at least 80% of our hogs from the ground. Most of them we stalk. Few shots are over 25 yards with many under 10, and more than a handful at less than that.

And while I have no experence with catch dogs I have taken half a dozen hogs at less than 15 FEET and 2 that had powder burns on them. Yes, when the wind is blowing right and the hogs are in a group you can get that close as they only hear you and think you are one of their noisy buddies.

The forgoing also points out how thick the woods really are. At times you can actually see better by laying down on your belly and looking under the palmettos and the like. Friend of mine took one that way on Saturday.

In the situations I describe a scope is of no value, actually a hinderence most of the time. Iron sights, as Hogdogs suggested, or a Red Dot that is shot with both eyes open are ideal.

In other places "thick" might be woods that are far different than what we see and close may mean 40 or 50 yards. That would call for a different gun.

If one of the darn things has decided that he has a better chance comming and getting me than he does by running away then I think in the woods we have I want the shotgun.

In other places it would be different.

Should add this too. I will admit that I am not a very good shot therefor I need the added forgivness of error a shotgun provides. Of course at less than 10 yards you've not much pattern but I still feel better with it.

[armedtotheteeth]

I carry an AR 15.
I also hope to be bringing my little 180 pound Great Dane Named "Tiny" , after I get her a vest. She is only a year old, but, I saw her attack a pretty durn big Brown bear at my sisters place in colorado Recently. Hard to believe that was my Dog.

[Semi-jacketed]

I'd take the same thing I shot him with the first time (.44 mag revolver).

[Yithian]

Whatever you use, make sure its semi-auto. When a big pig charges, there is no guarantee of bullet placement and a DRT. They do not know when they are dead. You can hit them several times before they fall. With a lever or pump, it is nowhere near as safe as with a semi.

Wear chaps or snake boots if you have them, and be sure and stuff that boot in its face as it passes. Keep it away from the leg you are standing on. It's sideswipe can be so fast that you can't see it, and you are cut DEEP.
Safest way to avoid this is to shoot from distances (hard in tall brush), or use a semi-auto.

There is nothing quite so FUN as getting in close to a sound of pigs in heat, and making them scatter.
It's like quail hunting, with Really BIG flightless birds. They go in all directions.
Just be safe.

[Swampghost]

A fully stuffed lever in .44 Mag should suffice in most cases, having a SBH in the same makes for a nice b/u.

One thing to remember is that no two are alike. The Spaniards introduced them in the 1500's. In the 1800's a Russian strain was introduced for sport. Both will tear up a domestic pen for a sow in heat so domestics are always being introduced into the gene pool.

Down in Big Cypress you're going to find them not much changed from 500 yrs. ago and they're some really tough critters. 100 miles north, they're much different.

[Al Thompson]

Good and true info Swampghost. Most of the ones I've killed along the Savannah River Valley were feral, but down below Waynesboro GA I popped a flat tailed, very dark hog - lots of European blood in that one.

I have hunted pigs in Germany - stalking and drive hunts. They tend to be bigger, but the woods have less underbrush, so it's about an even swap. I think Para is in Austria, so his terrain may be different.

Pig kicking (finding them sleeping at noon and stalking them) is some of the best fun you can have. Buddy of mine used to use a .22-250 and snipe'em. He'd drive around till he found some, set up and use a dying rabbit call to get one to look at his direction, then shoot the curious one between the running lights.

[thallub]

I put on my chainsaw pants and go in after them with my .50 muzzleloader and my cap and ball revolver. Yeah, they charge sometimes but that is the thrill of hog hunting. Why? Because it is fun and it gets the heart pumping.

BTW: The hog in the photo will decidedly not go 330 pounds. Would be very surprised if it went over 175 pounds.

[pilothunter]

I agree with the size estimate given above. A 330 lb wild boar with Russian blood would be 16" or so from ear to end of snout, with a huge head and neck. My weapon of choice in close quarters would be a semi-auto rifle, I'd prefer a 750 carbine in .35 Whelen with 200, 225, or 250 gr bullets (TSX, NP, TBBC, GS) and that followed with an '06 with good 180s or 200s. A short semi-auto 12ga shooting Buckhammers, or similar would also be a great choice. I'd say a short barreled turkey or deer gun with sights would be great, actually. Of course a pump SG (or rifle) is just as good, I simply don't shoot pumps normally.

[onthejon55]

rambo knife, big mean dog

[Jack O'Conner]

I've never encountered a single animal that can stand up to a 180 grain bullet fired by my .308 Savage. That includes elk which often exceed 650 lbs.
Jack