Dave2 wrote:A few friends and I are planning on going hog hunting in Dec (anyone know of any good hog hunting grounds within a few hours of DFW?). I'm a complete newb at this... I think the only thing I've ever hunted for in my whole life is a place where I can get shakes in the drive-through at 3am*, so I really have no clue what's going on here...
I was thinking that it might be a good idea to carry a pistol as well as my rifle/carbine, so that if something bad happens and a clan of angry tusky animals decides to chase me, I won't have to untangle my long gun from the brush (or fumble around trying to reload its fixed magazine from a stripper clip) to defend myself. I've heard 9mm is inadequate for defense against hogs, and I want a 10mm pistol anyway, so this seemed like the perfect excuse to go pick one up. At one LGS, the guy said that the Glock 20 wouldn't have enough power, and that I should get a .357 Mag or .44 Mag revolver. Then I went to another LGS, told the guy the same thing, and he immediately said that he recommends whatever high-capacity .40 S&W pistol makes you happy, and then went on to talk about how many millions of hogs one of his coworkers had killed with his .40 S&W. Oh, and that 9mm is too weak, .45 ACP is too slow for the diameter of the bullet, and .357 Sig might work great but he's not sure.
So one "expert" is telling me that 10mm is too wussy for hogs (even though full-bore 10mm loads are supposed to be around a .41 Mag -- more powerful than the .357 Mag he recommends), and the other "expert" is telling me that 10mm is overkill, 10mm guns are hard to find, 10mm ammo is even harder to find than the gun, and that the ideal round is less powerful than one already deemed inadequate by the other "expert".
What do y'all think? Are these hot 10mm loads that I keep hearing about sufficient for dispatching angry, potentially wounded hogs? Should I skip the side-arm all together and just bring a large knife or bayonet? Perhaps a boom-box so that I can soothe away their anger with the power of music? I really don't know. (It's probably not the boom-box, though.)
* It's been a hunt that's lasted nearly four years... I'm about to give up and accept the fact that I might have to stop at IHOP or Denny's and actually get out of my car and talk to people who are entirely too cheerful if I want to meet my post-work liquid frozen dairy needs.
Awhile back I was looking for a place to hunt for hogs as it is something my wife found interesting. I found this place. http://mhr1857.webs.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; I still have not been there yet so can't say good or bad.