Need advice on first hog hunt.

[HappyHunter]

April 18th I will be on a three day hunt at Wilderness Hunting Lodge in Monterey TN. 

This will be my first hog hunt (we do not have them in North West Indiana).  I plan to use a 41 mag lever Marlin or perhaps my S&W 657 41 mag revolver, both are scoped.

I do want to bring a small side arm as a spare.  This will be for shooting the boar after it has me in a tree.  What is appropriate?  I want to keep it light so a J fram 357 or a compact 45 acp?   What do you guys do (besides jump on it back with a folding pocket knife)?

As well any information or advice is more than welcome needed.

Thanks,

Fred aka HappyHunter 

[drdougrx]

Hi,

357 w at least a 158gr sp or HP (preferrably a hornady XTP).  I'm assuming you don't reload.  45acp is OK for humans, but, I'd be uncomfortable on hogs.  Just my opinion. 

Good Luck!!

Post pics!

[Default]

 I differ a bit from Doug on the 158 XTP .. My recomendation as far as 357 mag goes , Stay with soft points for your long gun and pistol , they drive home better .. Dont get me wrong the XTP is a fantastic bullet but i learned the hard way that some hollow points are best left to defense situations due to construction...

 Love yas Doug 

 As for the 41 mag you mentioned ... That should be a good hog slayer  .. Again stay with softpoints and the heavier the slug the better .. My first real big pig was lost due to the only accurate factory load i could find for it was a 250 hollow point defensive round .. Slammed the hog (200+ easy) to the ground , and an instance later it was back on all four cutting a trail.. When i found blood ( finally) it was 30 minutes later and a good 60 to 70 yards away from the point of impact.. Blood was only spilling from the entrance side of the animal and 3 to 4 hours later i had to break from the tracking due to no more blood...

 Since then i have started reloading for the 45long colt round and stick with softpoints and hard cast round nose flatpoints for deep driving on tuff pigs ... Granted all that is far more important for the big tuskers then little guys (150lbs and less) 

  that same load i mentioned before 250gr hollow point was a Speer gold dot and i was very successful on two 100to 125lb hogs the day before the big boy .. Energy and velocity on that round out of handgun was 800ish in the fps and 380 ft.lbs or so on the energy  and fps for the 41 mag are 1300 fps  energy is 788 ft. lbs.  out of a pistol, thats remmies 210 gr soft points.. So again should work great on hogs out of a rifle..


  hope this helps ,

     Default

[S_J_KENNELS]

THe 41 mag is more then enough firearm for any hog as long as you place the shot right. A shot right behind or in the ear and they should drop like a sack of bricks. However if you feel like you must carry another pistol use the 375. Like the others said a 45acp is not the best choice for hogs.

[stubshaft]

.41 mag with a LBT WFN anywhere in the front half of the hog should do the trick.

[Old English]

You really are not going to need a sidearm, hogs will not chase you. Do you have a website listed for the lodge? I have a lease about 20 miles up the road from there, many hogs in the area. I have only ever seen hogs run from humans, even when wounded.

[HappyHunter]

Thanks for the advice.

I do reload, my 41 mag rounds are 255gr. wide nose gas checked hard cast bullets.  These have been very good on white tail.   

I will carry a 357.  I have a 200 gr hard cast gas checked bullet for the 357, very similar to the 41 bullet.  Looks like I may break out the 2-1/2 inch 686 for this bullet.

The side arm is just something I like to have, always.  If it is good for two and four legged varmits the better.

Thanks again,

Fred

[Land_Owner]

...and it wouldn't hurt to take that Bowie or Barlow Knife either just in case you get a wild hair to drop down from your tree perch onto the backside of that tusker for a more challenging view (hehe).

[stubshaft]

Been there...Done that...  Have the scars to prove it!

[tgriffin]

The 41 mag would be my weapon of choice. I shoot a ruger NMBH 41 mag with 215gr hard cast SWC for deer and hogs. As long as you place the bullet in behind the shoulder and low, you will be OK. Hogs have a thick gristle plate that is hard to penetrate unless you are using heavy tuff bullets.
Hogs will run you up a tree now and again  and they will hurt you if you get between them and the young ones.
If we are going to eat them we try to stay under 100 lbs. the bigger ones stink! the largest I have killed was about 250lbs and I could not get within 5-10 feet of her for the smell.
Good luck and have fun.

[Thunderpaw]

 I think some outdoor writers would have you believe hogs are meaner than grizzly bears. IMHO they are not looking to mess you up but when they feel the need they will do what they have to, to save their bacon.

Bring a good pair of binoculars, pick out the one you want, make a good stalk, and make your first shot count. That way you don't need to bother with the sidearm.

As far as the lodge you are going to, they will take good care of you and your pig (the sausage is delicious). You will want to bring something to read or some DVDs.

[45-70.gov]

find  you one of those taurus  41  mag  5 shooters  to accompany  your scoped  guns

might not have time for that  this  hunt  but maybe  the next

i  like  the  357  out  of  what  you  mentioned
with  the big  hard cast bullets

[HappyHunter]

I do have a Smith and Wesson 457 Mountian gun (41 mag).  This is a 4 inch barrel, but it is heavy and I am trying to keep the weight down.  I considedred a 357 j frame for a carry/backup gun. 

Fred

[gstewart44]

I have hunted hogs in FL and GA for the past 25 years.   I have harvested hundreds of boars, sows and piglets,  and when startled they will run 99% of the time.   However I have been charged by a boar on two different occasions and they were attention getting experiences.   The first time I was hunting with a BP single shot rifle and missed an offhand shot at about 50 yds.   I was between the boar and the rest of the pigs (behind me).  The porker started to run away from me then suddenly at the swollen creek and started coming right down the path back at me.   I had to act quickly and not wanting to use my Hawken as a club decided to jump up a scrub oak getting about 5 feet off the ground.  The hog blew right by the tree and then busted off the trail following the others. 

The second time I walked up on  a group of them by a mudhole.   I shot off hand again with my 3030 at about 70 yds.  Hit the pig - heard the squeal - he took off and I heard him crash after about 30 yds.   I waited about 10 minutes and started walking up on the hog laying in a clearing in the middle of a palmetto thicket.    I yelled to my buddy " I found him,  He's down!".    With that the hog snorted and jumped up and charged right at me from about 30 yds.   No trees were around and I worked the lever on that 3030 as fast as I could getting off 4 fast shots that all hit home.   The boar crashed for good about 10 ft away.  He weighed about 200 lbs and had 2 1/2" tusks on him .   No good for eating though  - too shot up. 

Nowadays I always have my 44mag or 45 revolvers with me if I am single shootin a rifle.   Otherwise its a 3030 or 44 mag carbine (ruger or marlin). 

If you are shooting from a stand in a tree you will be safe from a charge but on the ground I recommend definately having a handgun.   Heavy hardcast LSWC with a wide meplat will do in 357/41/44/45.   I have used the Hornady XTP 300 gr in my 44 mag revolver a lot and they perform well but no better than cast hard lead.

The gristle shield is not armor plating but I have seen it disrupt a 100 gr 243 SP and had a 400 yd search to find the pig.   I have used 45 acp before but the round nose fmjs don't seem to pack the punch as a 250 gr lswc.  I always stick to a frontal head shot or a "just below the ear" from the side.   I like to harvest as much meat as possible so if I can't take the head/ear shot I let them walk. 

Good luck and Let us know how your trip turns out.

[rickt300]

I usually hit them in the neck in front of the shoulder, they always go down and may not be dead but it is easy to put a finisher in.  On broadside chest hits the vital area is in the lower 1/3rd of the chest starting at the front leg and going forward a bit. I will shoot at the leg about 1/4th of the way up from the bottom of the chest.  As to being charged if you place your shot correctly that just won't happen.  I killed a hog in a group of big hogs that his buddies hung around and made me real nervous in the dark trying to get the 250 pounds of the dead hog in the truck. The light I had would only work if you held it's trigger down, the return spring for the trigger of my rifle had broken at the shot so I was in an unhandy position.  They came close enough a couple times that I had to jump into the truck.  I gave up loading him and just tied him by the head to my hitch and drove to the hanging tree.  I ALWAYS now carry a second gun of some kind.

[Land_Owner]

They came close enough a couple times that I had to jump into the truck.

You should also carry some boards to make a ramp and "invite" them into the bed of the truck.  It is way easier to shoot them in the lights of the front yard than in the back woods.  They can stay with their dead buddy longer that way.

[SHOOTALL]

I hunted there and had a good time , they are easy to hunt with . I carried a Golck 10 mm in a shoulder rig . I rode a 4wheeler and it worked well . Didn't have to use it . The area is tree covered but little under brush so you will have more than enough time to use your rifle . You will be in a fenced area with BIG critters and they would be more problem that the pigs if you got to close . What you will need to watch with the pigs is they pack up in packs of over 25 so give um room . Most of the hunting is on mts so you can look down on then with little fear of a charge even if they did that .
Ours was a 3 day hunt , I shot my pig 30 min into the first days hunt , had plenty of time to scout after . So if i was to give any advice WAIT until the second day to shoot , where are they going they are in a fence . Pick a big one but not the barn yard ones they have floating around as a food hog . Unless you want to fill the freezer.