.17 for Pigs?

[Flintknapper]

Double Naught Spy wrote:

.17 hmr is fine for suckling pigs.

But what if the sow moves?

 

[MCgunner]

Is that a promise MCgunner?

No.

 

[red rick]

Not unless you think that you can hit him right beween the eyes.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

But what if the sow moves?

Then a more substantial caliber is in order, me thinks, LOL.

 

[Big_E]

Ha ha, I didn't mean to get some of you all riled up. I just wanted to know if the HMR could kill a pig. Just a question, that's all.

 

[MCgunner]

Answer is, it can, if you hit him in the eye socket. I've put 'em down with a .22 handgun...in a hog trap, head shot. A 4" kit gun ain't exactly what I'd take hunting, though.

Ya know, I need to put down a hog with my NAA mini revolver next one I trap. Then, I'd be able to say I killed a hog with a NAA mini. I've killed snakes, rats, possums, rabbits, a nutria, and a feral dog with it so far and have finished off a few sharks that were too big to boat with one hand.. A hog would be something to brag about. LOL!

 

[qajaq59]

I use 30-30s and .308s and even then I want a clear shot. Hogs aren't deer. They're both nasty and tough. Better to drop them where they stand with the first shot. And yes, I know guys have killed them with .22s, and even air rifles, but I'm old enough to know being stupid can hurt like hell!

 

[KenWP]

I have done the tackle a pig a use a big knife routine even and it works well but I wouldn't say it's the best way to hunt pigs. With the 17 haveing such a small bullet your not getting a lot of bloos channel if you hit him anywhere other then the proper place.

 

[Mp7]

if u use the .17hmr ... be sure to bring along a sledgehammer
for your finishing move.

 

[jmorris]

it will most likely be 168 grain 180 seems like overkill to me.

I have yet to see an animal that was too dead after I shot it. On the other hand I only use 139 grain partitions and they have always worked just fine. A 17hmr though? I wonder if you guys are serious sometimes.

 

[jimmyraythomason]

"Overkill" exists

You can use too much gun! Let's see, a cotton tail rabbit with a .308 Win. or a squirrel with a 12 guage slug. Or possibly a white tail deer with a .50 cal browning. Dead is dead,right? I've shot "cane cutter" rabbits with 7.5 1911 Swiss S.R and a cottontail with a Marlin 1894 .44 mag. There is dead and then there is demolished. For hogs though,I would want to err on the side of caution and choose a caliber that was more than "just enough".

 

[MCgunner]

I use 30-30s and .308s and even then I want a clear shot. Hogs aren't deer. They're both nasty and tough. Better to drop them where they stand with the first shot

Well, if I get a hog on my sight pin this bow season and can put one in him quartering away, I'm going to release the arrow and pray to the gods of archery. If he runs off, and he probably will, I'll wait a bit, go back to my truck for my .45 Colt, and commence the tracking. And, I'll be hunting out of a ground blind, too.

I've taken 'em with a knife, but the dogs were good.

 

[newhunter1]

I went hog hunting two years ago. I used my bow and my father in law used his 30-06 with 168 grain bullets. His pig dropped...did not take one step further. I used my bow, 70lbs/425 grain arrow to include the 100grain slick trick head/shooting about 250fps and about 52lbs of KE oh and my 26" drawlength. My arrow blew out his lungs and this pig went 30 yards in a circle or 10 yard run away from me.

Also, I am a shotgun hunter. Many have stated that a SG is not as accurate as a rifle with a 100 yards as a measuring status.

My shotgun is my mossberg 695 with a leupold 1-4x20 scope. It is a rifled barrel and I shoot lightfield hybred slugs. At 100 yards I can place all three rounds within my fist. Now, not quite as accurate as say .5" group or a .25" group, but my fist would cover anyone or anything's head, heart, or lungs. I would take my 1 1/4 ounce slug to put down a large animal over my 178grain bullet out of my mosin nagant.

Just saying you know..............

 

[blackops]

30-06 hands down from your choices

 

[Big_E]

Wow this is perhaps my most popular topic ever. Next time I will ask if I should take a .22 WMR to hunt Cape Buffalo

I understand that rifled shotgun barrels can shoot slugs more accurately than a smoothbore, my Mossy 535 is a smoothbore but I would like a rifled barrel eventually.

It has been decided already that the .30-06 will see more action. Thank you everyone.

 

[AStone]

Count yourself lucky that entelodonts no longer roam free.
They were related to pigs and weighed up to 9000 lb.

Although they are related to pigs, some of these huge beasts grew to the size of a rhino.
Their jaws were massively powerful, and the bones of brontotheres and other animals show entelodont toothmarks.

What caliber for entelodonts?

 

[Big_E]

No question about the entelodont. .416 Rigby should do okay I would only hunt from atop a tower with a heavily fortified perimeter around the tower though.

Actually bump it up to .50 BMG just for safe measure.

 

[AStone]

<laughter>

Dude, no kidding.

 

[jmorris]

You can use too much gun! Let's see, a cotton tail rabbit with a .308 Win. or a squirrel with a 12 guage slug. Or possibly a white tail deer with a .50 cal browning.

I would rather shoot a rabbit with a 50bmg in the eye than hunt for hogs with a 17 grain bullet designed to expand in a humming bird. Hang around here long enough and you’ll hear from the guy that’s killed a water buffalo with a squirt gun. It remains unethical and irresponsible to hunt with ill suited calibers in non survival situations.

 

[murdoc rose]

toss all three in the truck however .17 is a bit small