mossy33oak

I am going in the spring, with Bigcountry, and asked myself the same question (I have never been hog hunting). The web site for the place we are thinking about going recommends the ol trusty 30-30. I was thinking with a 170 gr partition, it should be potent enough plus my model 94 will give me a quick follow up shot and easy to handle if he doesnt cooperate! Whats yall opinion on the 30-30 for hogs? If not I have a 30-06 in a 760 that would also give me that second shot quickly?

jmfa1957

A .30-30 with 170 grain bullets will do it, but given a choice I'd take your '06. If the shots are not too far and you shoot the .30-30 with confidence you should be fine.

Hog hunting is fun. Hogs are smart as all get out. My guess is that if their eyesight was as good as a deer's, we wouldn't kill nearly so many. Their sense of smell is phenomenal, their hearing is pretty good, but they ought to ask for a refund on their eyesight. If they even think you're in the area they will take off running, and they'll run for miles. I've seen them learn to watch the cattle. If the cattle start acting funny, they take off.

Good luck, and let us know how you do!

Moose_Maximus

I went last month, and had my Remington 742 in .30-06. Shot a smaller female right behind the ear, and down she went.

It was the first four-legged animal I've ever killed, and I was glad she went quickly. Never knew what hit her, I think. (Very tasty, too.)

I guess a .30-30 would've been fine, especially for a smaller animal, but you never know when one of the really big boars will turn up.

JeffS

At closer range the 30-30 w/ a 170 grain bullet is excellent. Hogs are tough animals and if you don't hit them right they will go into the thickest cover they can find. It can get pretty exciting to go chasing a wounded hog into thick cover. We hunt them at night alot and you have to shoot fast when the light comes on. If you shoot them in the lungs on a big boar they have a shield that will can be up to 2" thick and it will seal up the wound so it makes them hard to track because it will stop the blood trail a lot of times. That is why we like to use we use a large caliber gun when we hunt them so we can get a good blood trail or better yet drop them in their tracks. We've had to crawl on our hands and knees into brush after them and had ones we thought were dead get up us. Whenever we hunt them at night when somebody shoots one we always bring at least one extra person along if we need to go into the brush after them. Down here they are so plentiful that the game warden told us to thin thewm out anyway we can. There is no limit or season on them. We like to hunt them in the summer time when all the other seasons are closed. We always have them cleaned and on ice within an hour of shooting them and the meat is excellent.

zrexpilot

I would think any high powered rifle would take hogs, I use my trusty 'ol .243 and have taken a bunch with it, neck and head shots mostly. I dont like shoulder shots on deer, but on hogs it works, they are just to frontal heavy and with out their front legs working they always seem to go down with a shot to the shoulders, I have seen deer run a long ways with shoulder shots, not hogs. Heres a pick of two hogs taken with my .243, the one on the left was a botched shot that hit both front legs( I think I hit the barbwire) and he didnt go far but required a follow up shot to the head. the one one the right was a taken at 225 yds with the .243 right in the neck (dropped him).and had a complete pass through.
I would opt for the 30-06 over the 30-30, but the 30-30 would work at close range.
I have heard some far off tales about hogs, it is true that they have a tougher tissue on their sides but it aint made of steel . LOL It's usually scar tissue from fighting all the time. But the fat and thick skin they have do close up and make blood trails difficult. I lost one this year with a bow, you should have seen the fat on my arrow when I found it, this fat closed up and didnt leave me a trail to fowllow along with not much penetration with my bow, I didnt find this animal.

rost495

I've used everything from 22lr to 50 cal. Head shots almost anything will work at close range. If you choose to go to a shoulder/lung shot, then you need a stout bullet. The largest hog my wife has taken with her bow had shields that were 2.5 inches thick. And the one side had birdshot and a couple of bullets that looked like around 7mm bullets by the base of them. The shield needs a tough bullet to penetrate.

Of course hogs and deer in thickets were my latest excuse for another toy. 50 beowulf on my AR lower. Semi auto with power of 45-70 or more. Follow up shots are quick if needed.

But in reality any deer rifle will work. Pick a bullet more along the lines of an elk bullet and you should be fine.

Jeff

Night Hawk 223

i shot 2 hogs in the head with my 30-30 170gn silvertips from about 50yds they both dropped like a rock. not even 1 step. and the friend i was hunting with used his 243 and shot 2 hogs as well one was shot from 80yds and was tracked and shot agian before it fell the other one he shot the next day from 20yds in the head and mad it about 15ft when it fell dead. im not saying one is better than the other. just how the hunt went. it was a lot of fun dragging them out of the woods.

Natural

What about a 303 british?

jmfa1957

Assuming that you can place your shots where you want them, the .303 British is more than ample for hogs. In terms f power and trajectory the .303 is roughly equivalent to the .308. My only concern, if I had one, would be that if I were to use my own Enfield milsurp rifle, that I could place my shot in a kill zone with the given sighting equipment. My No. 4 Mark Enfield I saw a fair amount of action in WWII and was FTR'd by the ROF (Factory Thorough Repaired by Royal Ordnance, Fazerkely, for those non-Enfield fans.) However, there are a lot of Enfields out there that were either unissued or had very little wear, and many of these shoot incredibly well. A buddy has a sporterized No. 4 Mk I that he shoots almost as well with the military sights as he can shoot his scoped Sako.

If you've got a good shooter and can hit well with it, you'll be fine. Go for it!

duramaxlt

here in the south we try and shoot them behind the ear so anything that you shoot well will work.avoid the shoulder bone hogs are very tough there