Rifle for Hog defense

[Swampman]

A .38 Special or a 9mm is more than enough.

[SHOOTALL]

Hogs not a danger    a mistake to not think so. Hogs don't see as well as some critters. So they may run at you trying to go the direction they feel comfortable going to get away. Fact is they may not see you until they are close. At that point they may pass by or feel a threat and swing their head near to hit you with a tusk . If you are ready you may get out of the way fast enough if not you get a nasty cut. Some critters get pizzed and attack and chase when a 250 lb hog decides to do it and you are the target it can be real exciting real fast.
 Truth is when I was young we killed hogs with a 22 short but they were not excited or mad. They were also on the opposite side of a fence  . We also fed these hog corn still on the cob . we would go in the hog lot to rake up the cobs from time to time. Best not do it when a sow had young she could get nasty . So unless you keep up with the wild hogs in the areas you walk you might run up on a sow that might defend her litter or a hog having a bad day. Best have a gun that can STOP a hog no matter his family tree

[SHOOTALL]

Anyone who does not accept the fact that any wild critter can hurt you has watch one to many Walt Disney movies IMHO .

[Swampman]

A hog may injure you by accident.  That's about it.

[FPH]

In my experience common sense has prevailed........the most dangerous situation is getting between a  Sow feral hog or Sow boar and their brood.

[deernhog]

I always thought they would run from you too until this year when  I walked into a bunch bedded in a thicket while going to to my bow stand. All but three lit out in all directions. The three decided to stand their ground and I decided to see what was up about 5' in a Bois D Arc tree. Look around for a good used 30-30 Levergun in Marlin, Glenfield, Winchester or Savage in a bolt action. A Mossberg pump with a 18" to 20" Barrell in 12 or 20 ga is a good inexpensive choice as well with Remington sluggers.  A .38-55 is expensive to buy and feed so pass on it. Not sure where in NM your walking the Rio but I think I would be more afraid of 2 legged ferals coming thru in some places.

[mcwoodduck]

Of the guns you wrote about.
I own a couple or something very similar.
I own a Ruger 99/44 Semi auto that is short, light, handy and recoil is managable.
I also own a Ruger Bolt action in 308 Win that too is handy and fast handleing.
I think the best thing to talk about is AMMO.
The semi Auto tells you not to use lead bullets, not to use bullets under 215 grains and not over 250 grains.
A 240 grain soft point, FMJ, or hollow point works well out of my rifle, Mine too will shoot the Reminton / UNC 180 grain soft or hollow points and drives them deep with a huge hole.
With the 308Win I would look at a big 180 grain soft point round nose.
Again you are looking for what in Africa would be a Stopping rifle.  It needs to be powerful with a broad heavy for caliber bullet that will drive deep and cause a large wound canal and cause massive blood loss.  Accuracy is going to trump horse power.  If you can make a hit with the 44 and not with the 308 the answer is clear, pick your 44.
The guys that tell you a handgun is more than enough have never tried to outdraw a wild animal.
Once deer hunting I saw a good sized buck while walking around and we were about 20 yards apart and by the time I had the gun out, he was 40 yards away running through woods.  Had he made the first move and come for me, I would have had antlers pinning me to a tree.  i have had an 8 pointer charge me after I put a round in his neck.  A rifle did the trick.  Had I had one of the long guns in my hands, it would have been simple.
A short barreled shotgun too would be a good tool loaded with satans swat or slugs.
Using the 5 or 7.5 pound gun in your arms will act as a weight while walking.  Slinging the gun over your shoulder will be the same as carrying a pistol in a holster.

[jmayton]

Based on the OP's criteria, I'd go with a lever gun in 44mag. 


As for the danger of wild hogs, I have a deep respect for them and try to keep my distance.  But, after killing several hundred with knives, handguns, and various rifles and having only one truly charge me, I don't believe in all the hype concerning their fierce nature.  Certainly they can be, but most of the time they are trying to get away and happen to be running down one of their trails that we crafty hunters happen to be standing in. 

[SHOOTALL]

A hog may injure you by accident.  That's about it.

by chance if that was true is the injury less life threating ? is it still not good to have protection if an accident is about to happen ?

[cwlongshot]

A hog may injure you by accident.  That's about it.

by chance if that was true is the injury less life threating ? is it still not good to have protection if an accident is about to happen ?

Swampy cannot make an intelligent realistic argument, most of us know he is mistaken. But he still likes to throw in jab comments in to stir things up. Most find it best to treat the comments as a momentary escape from reality and not take them too seriously.

CW

[FPH]

Swampy is correct in this instance.  My buddy runds them with dogs and catches them by the hind foot and kills them with a knife.

[mannyrock]

 
  Man, how these postings can drift.
 
   The issue is not the "intent" of the hog (accidental, reckless, malice aforethought), but the damage it can inflict.  We are not conducting a grand jury investigation to determine what crime the hog should be charged with.
 
  As for those guys who chase hogs down with dogs, and then jump on top of them to cut their throats, I can tell you that just a couple of weeks ago,  I was watching the t.v. show "hog wild," and saw one of those guys get his leg ripped wide open by a hog that he thought was fully subdued.  Off to the emergency room he went.
 
   As for the correct firearm, I would never recommend any type of handgun.  In the frenzy of the moment  (a hog coming, a person trying to back up or run, while swinging and shooting his handgun), it would be extremely easy for someone to blow his own leg off.
 
     The correct (though boring) answer is either a lever action or semi-auto in .44 mag.
 
Best, Mannyrock
 

[cwlongshot]

Swampy is correct in this instance.  My buddy runds them with dogs and catches them by the hind foot and kills them with a knife.

I have seen this too, heck there is a show on TV about it! He'll yes you can hunt them with a knife or spear. But do not for one second think its not dangerous.

BUT I total disagree with you, on Swampys opinion here. His stand is that Wild hogs will NOT hurt you and if by some slim chance they do it was a accident. Anyone with any experience around wild hogs knows this is a fools play. Hogs are no different than any wild animal (and ornier than most) or even human. Get them in a place they do not like and cannot get away they will fight and fight they can! Get between them and the direction they want to go and you will loose your ground. Sure you can most times jump up and climb a tree and avoid the altercation. But the point is if you don't react you will be tangling with a strong sharp toothed animal fully capable of eviscerating you!

CW

[SHOOTALL]

Swampy is correct in this instance.  My buddy runds them with dogs and catches them by the hind foot and kills them with a knife.

That dosen't make him correct , when you run a pig with dogs first you tire him out and second he has his attention else where when you slip the blade in. So how on this earth does that compare with someone steping between a sow and piglets by accident ? 

[FPH]

He said by accident.....did he not?

[FPH]

He said

Swampy is correct in this instance.  My buddy runds them with dogs and catches them by the hind foot and kills them with a knife.

That dosen't make him correct , when you run a pig with dogs first you tire him out and second he has his attention else where when you slip the blade in. So how on this earth does that compare with someone steping between a sow and piglets by accident ? 

by accident.......did he not?

[FPH]

Computer screwing up .......sorry for the double.

[SHOOTALL]

He said by accident.....did he not?

 
well of course he did !
So what does by accident mean ? Accident on the pigs part or the person ? Some are just protecting their area others might be looking for a meal.

[gstewart44]

 But the point is if you don't react you will be tangling with a strong sharp toothed animal fully capable of eviscerating you!

CW

the hogs where I hunt are getting bigger....I am more worried about them running by and slashing/hooking at femoral artery height. .... no chance to get out of the woods and to a hospital before bleeding out...... and then (perish the thought)  I would probably end up as coyote and buzzard food.    

[SHOOTALL]

well I have never seen a critter that was killed too dead. But have seen some not killed enough.

[mannyrock]

   
`1

[mannyrock]

 
 
    Well, okay then, how bout a 20 gauge semi-auto, with a 20 inch barrel, sporting a red true glow front sight, a ghost ring rear sight, and loaded up with slugs.  That should do it.
 
Manny

[Swampman]

You ladies might break a nail.  I'd stay out of the woods.

[mcwoodduck]

He said by accident.....did he not?

 
well of course he did !
So what does by accident mean ? Accident on the pigs part or the person ? Some are just protecting their area others might be looking for a meal.

And the bear encounters are also by Accident as well as any other wholly cow look at that critter. 
And a startled animal that knows your there and you accidentally cornered it in a canyon does not care and comes out. 

[45-70.gov]

OP
 more of a hog defense question.  In the winter, I enjoy hiking along the Rio Grande in New Mexico with my dogs.


hiking  means......LIGHT
you  say rifle....but.....i have a better suggestion
shorty 12GA....i like OOO buck shot... defense is close range
if that kicks too much...get OO tactical low recoil...or back down to 20GA
pump  riot gun  or double coach gun.....if you can stand the weight
is a pig your ONLY threat?


DON'T LEAVE YOUR HANDGUN BEHIND......so this makes weight more critical
and get better ammo


RIFLES
45 hi=point rifle   will give you ammo compatabilty  and they are light...my 9mm is very reliable
trapper lever gun in 357 or bigger


get a good sling that fits you
if you pack-pack...a shorty break action double or single may slide right in....ready

[gstewart44]

Hmmmmm I wonder if they make Kevlar or ChainMail chaps for walkin the woods with big hogs.....

[Land_Owner]

As soon as we have them "figured out" they change.  I shot a 125+ pound boar, at 15-feet, last Sunday night, in the headlights of the truck, on a narrow dirt roadway, hemmed in by trees and vegetation on both sides of the truck almost up to the F350 mirrors.  The 60+ pound "Junior" pig that I did not shoot with the 223 Handi-rifle (single shot) made a bee line toward me.  He was on me before I knew it and with not many choices for places for me to go, I climbed up, onto the expanded metal game carrier.  I do not know and am surprised why the pig didn't get me, gnashing its teeth, grunting, scared, adrenaline flowing.

I could not have stopped that charge with a lever gun or bolt rifle.  Absolutely not with a Handi-rifle.  Pump shotgun - yes.  Handgun revolver or semi-auto maybe if the instantaneous shot placement was very good.  My adrenaline was pumping - after the charge, but flowing none-the-less while shooting the bigger boar at that close distance, at night, by myself, way back in the woods.  I was lucky.  Nothing bad happened to me. 

Until you have "been there", you don't know how you will react...daylight changes things very little when under duress.  I think the 12 ga. pump or semi-auto shotgun, short barrel, riot gun variety, 5-shots, #4 buck shot, would be enough.  At that point, you are not hunting to eat the game, you are shooting to save your own skin.

[swordfish]

Yea baby, that's what I'm talking about! Nice going Richard. Good to hear you're in the hogs again.
 
 
 

[jmayton]

I started hunting hogs with my Handi-Rifle (.223) but found that the need for quick follow-up shots was very important and switched to the AR.  The only hog that ever charged me was one I had wounded with the first shot.  She came crashing out of the trees right for me.  I back-pedaled and got off three rounds and then reached for the pistol figuring I'd have to put one in her head while she was on top of me.  But that third shot got her and she stumbled, stopped, then turned around, took three steps, and then died.  I would always carry the lightest gun I could (if you're walking a lot) that allows for quick follow-ups. 

[Land_Owner]

She came crashing out of the trees right for me.

  What was she doing up a TREE?   

Stewart...         the place was "crawling" with pigs that Sunday evening and I had a single shot Handi-rifle in 223 caliber to "equal" the odds in favor of the pigs.  What an evening.  What an experience.  I am not used to getting my adrenaline "up" any more when pig hunting.  That'll do it though.  It is good for this Old Man to practice the "fast feet shuffle".  Now that I have "teased" that issue, one of them, or the BEAR I am seeing on the cameras, will probably get me.