Last weekend some friends and I took our yearly treck to Wild Hill Preserve in Vt. to take some Russian Boar. We have been doing this for 5 years or so, and I can agree on other posts regarding this place and it is worth the trip.
Although it is a stretch to call this hunting, I have picked up much from checking out the hogs in the meat locker and comparing the remains with what the person who took them had to say about it. With about 20 pigs per trip, that is a lot to work with.
Last year was: if your chasing it around, don't shoot it (my sow was less than delicious), and shoot as low as possible in the chest and the show is over (Lost one the previous season with the pistol. I shot it where I would have shot a deer, which ended up being a mistake of epic proportions) :eek:
I was going to shoot with my .357 this year but when I arrived, found that the key was at home. Had to switch to the drilling in 7mm instead.
I saw some pigs in the morning but just snapped a few pix. Another thing that is nice about going to a place like this is that the only stress is that you put on yourself.
In the afternoon I went out again and did a drive with another fellow and a guide. Two pigs showed up and the guide called that I shoot the #1. I shot the knuckle when I had a nearly broadside shot and the pig went about 5 feet, good heart shot and totally blead out. The butcher said that it was about 220 but I never put it on a scale.
(never take a picture when staring into the sun :roll: )
The other person took a second pig with a 45-70 which then ran briefly and he had to shoot it again. His shot was about 6" higher than mine.
I'm glad that I forgot the lock for the pistol. Too little room for error.
What was interesting here was that the guide pointed out that the blood in th ohe I shot was like water and in the other it started to jell up. Mine had no clue before I shot it. He fired off abot 4 rounds before connecting and his was highly alert. He said that mine stood a much better chance of tasting the way it was supposed to.
My friend's son took a similar sized pig quartering with an 06 and it balled up under the skin in front of the ham. Last year I took a quartering away shot with a .450 and it stayed in the neck. These things are dense, definately alot more so than deer. .357 for deer, absolutely, for pigs I will stick with it as backup.
As far as shooting in the head I wouldn't recommend it. Again, too little room for error. When I blew the shot with the pistol a few years ago, the owner put me on a second pig in the afternoon with dogs. It didn't appear injured but it was. Seems that someone decided that a head shot was the right thing to do and when the slug hit the jawbone it was deflected to a non lethal spot. (The injury had probably happened weeks earlier from the looks of it.)
Also, another friend put one down (he spined it with #1) with his .54 flint and 90gr of FF. Point blank, side of the head (jaw). I found it half way through. I plan on dropping it in the mail tomorrow.
Last year I saw one taken just under the right eye at 25 yards with an 06 and It turned into a perfect mount. Didn't even clear the back of the skull.
One additional thing. 12ga slugs work great but tend to stay inside unless it is the classic through the ribs heart shot, which is probably the best shot there is. Talk about not wasting meat.
I am far from an expert on pig hunting but it was very helpful to see nearly 100 of them hanging over the past few years. Also, most of these are in the 180-200lb range, and I am sure that smaller pigs are probably a bit different.
Good Shooting.
Tom
