wild hog

[roger460xvr]

I shot this hog here in sebring florida,, using my taurus raging bull 44mag loaded with hornady 240xtpmag at 23.5 of H-110. One shot is all it took.                                                                   

[Land_Owner]

I shot one 145#'er off-hand from a distance of 25 yards using my blued, 7" bbl, Ruger Blackhawk, with open sights, in .45 LC caliber.  I was so "impressed" that the 255 gr. SWC hard lead bullet over 10.5 gr. of Unique powder went straight through both shoulders and into a puddle beyond, causing a geyser of spray, that I didn't see the larger 200# boar behind the palmettos to my right until he was running flat out for the tree line and I didn't get the 2nd shot off. 

I NEVER want to be on the business end of ANY firearm.  The lethality of that projectile coupled with the visual confirmation of dropping her dead in her tracks AND the bullet retaining massive energy AFTER passing through both broadside shoulders is still vividly imprinted in my mind's eye.  Revolvers and pistols are indeed HAND CANNONS. 

Nice shooting roger. Good looking gear you are toting.   What does that rig weigh with scope?  That's a bunch of powder to ignite all at once. Ever chronographed the velocity?  How is felt recoil in that Taurus?  What scope are you using?  How far was the hog away?  Off-hand or steady rest?  So many questions...

[qajaq59]

Well done Roger. It's nice when they go down and stay there. Here in Florida the brush is a little tough to be chasing boars around in, especially when they're wounded. By the way, was it a head shot or through the chest?

We just got home to Melbourne Beach, after roaming around for 4 months in the motor home, so I guess I'll need some practice with my rifles before I head for the woods. I don't want to be chasing one of them in the brush either.

[roger460xvr]

re,     Land Owner,  The revolver i was using that day was my taurus raging bull 44mag,. the weight of the bull i would say would be around 4lbs plus . because i know my S/W 460 weighs in at 5lbs I,ve never chronographed this load. the grip on the raging bull tames the recoil down to a shootable level. the scope on the bull is a 2-6-32 simmons, its really a good scope for the money compared to my bushnell trophy 2-6-32 on my 460xvr. I handload for all my revolvers going to try loading for my 7mm magnum next. This hog was about 55yards away i hit her right behind the front leg she fell on the spot. I carry my rigs in a uncle mikes shoulder holster or a cabelas bandolier holster. Always carry my eastman 62'' camo shooting stick with me when I,m walking thourgh the palmettos. I,ll look for my pictures of the two hogs i shot with the 460xvr with only one shot!!

[Land_Owner]

There are quite a lot of us Florida Pig Poppers and Hog Hammerers here on GBO.  That's a Testament to the frequency and duration of pigs in Florida.  They're everywhere!  Finding a private place to shoot them is becoming an "E" Ticket ride (if you remember Disney World's early days).  Opportunities abound though and with the total area of riverine, swamp, savannah, oak thicket, and palmetto/pine flatwood lands there is little doubt that hog hunting will continue in Florida.  Probably forever.  I like the idea of a shooting stick, both with handgun and rifle.  Using some form of steady rest far outweighs the off-hand method.  Usually I sit and wait for them in a tree stand where there is always a steady rest. 

[Wynn]

Well, I do my best to reduce their #s here in Polk County. I hunt two large blocks of private land practically in the shadows of Disney. My handgun best was a 200 lb boar at 25 yds with my Ruger Security Six. I load 17.3 gr of H110 under either 158 gr SWC or XTP's with great results in that old 4" barrel 357. Nice hog Roger. I've considered stepping up to a scoped, 6" barrel Redhawk mostly to extend my range. My eyes ain't what they used to be on open sights and short barrels.

[Wynn]

Land_Owner, The Spanish introduced hogs into Florida in the 1400's and they have been breeding ever since. That makes for a long tradition of hog hunting in our state. As prolific as they are, I imagine that the number of generations that potentially have bred totally wild in some areas could be staggering. I sometimes get a chuckle when some hunters refer to our piney wood rooters as "feral hogs" or escaped "domestics" and claim that only the Russian or European strains are "wild" hogs.

[Land_Owner]

Wynn,  Every one that walks up to my place is certainly wild and every single one of them tastes like pork.  I wonder what the coast and interior of Florida was like in the 1400's (besides no indoor plumbing, AC,or  window screens to keep the 'skeeters out).  Rolling up onto the Florida beach after traversing the Atlantic from Spain or Europe.  Seeing the abundance of wildlife, meeting the "Natives", I can't quite put my mind in that place.  I'm a Native and grew up in Jacksonville on a creek that wound its way through a forest and out to the St. Johns River.  I can not remember any time in my entire youth when either a deer or a hog visited our location, or was ever seen near there.

[qajaq59]

I just hope everyone keeps on hunting hogs in Florida. Otherwise the entire state will look like someone Roto-Tilled it. When you first move here from a northern state and see what they can do to a piece of property it's unbelievable. Especially a crop area or golf course. I think hunting them should be considered a public service.

[Land_Owner]

I enjoy the opportunity to offer football friends and their sons a joint hunt together, some for the very first time.  There is nothing quite like the growth of the relationship between a Father and his son when they meet with success and connect with one another on that very first hunt.  There is always that gleam in the eye of "...the next time."  The boys ALWAYS want to go again and the Dad's are glad to get the meat.  It's ALL good.