I helped a friend butcher a pig. They had never done it themselves, but had put a few down. When it came time to drop it in the trap I pulled out a 22 pistol. One of the guys said, I have a .357 in the truck, it's going to take more than that. I turned around and dropped the pig. He was stunned. I told him it was all about placement, not caliber. But having grown up on a farm, and having worked in a slaughter house as a young man gave me a little more insight into putting one down quickly than he'd have had.Lynyrd wrote:It all depends on shot placement. Hogs have two weak spots. The heart, which is very small, and very hard to hit. And the spinal column in the neck. Oh, and they also have a weak spot in the skull just above the eyes. A .22lr can kill them easily with a straight on shot to that spot, but it's only about the size of a penny.rotor wrote:So what do most use? .308 is what I thought a minimum for a mature pig. .223 in ball maybe for piglets and small pigs? 7.62x39hp with a quality AK47? .44Mag with a lever marlin? 30-30 lever Marlin? I know people drop them with 22lr but seriously what's best.
I would have wanted something more powerful than an AR-15 with a 400# hog. That thing charges and the pig would not be the only bad smell.
I've shot them in the shoulder with a 180 gr 30.06 from 40 yds and never found the hog. I've also shot them in the neck with a .55 gr .556 and seen them drop right there. I've shot them in the head with a .357 and seen them run off when I didn't hit the soft spot. And, I've shot them in a trap just above the eyes with a .22lr and had them drop dead instantly.
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Return to “East Texas landowner kills 400lb hog with AR15”
- Tue Mar 13, 2018 4:07 pm
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- Topic: East Texas landowner kills 400lb hog with AR15
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Re: East Texas landowner kills 400lb hog with AR15
- Tue Oct 24, 2017 1:40 pm
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- Topic: East Texas landowner kills 400lb hog with AR15
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Re: East Texas landowner kills 400lb hog with AR15
It was left out too long for the meat to be salvageable? I'd say 4-5 years too long. I wouldn't want to make sausage with a farm raised hog that size. And I very rarely butcher anything over 140 that we kill wild. The largest gilt I butchered was pushing 200. And that I made into sausage.