Pig hunt

[Kaz]

I just got invited on a wild hog hunt. I've never been, but I said I'm interested and will go if nothing prevents me. Not sure what to bring though. My first instinct is a 12ga with some slugs, but I've heard about calibers in the neighborhood of .40 being used too. Wouldn't mind some input from anyone who's been. Thanks.

[Moose]

Are you asking what you should buy for the hunt, or asking what you should use that you already own?

[Kaz]

Whichever it turns out to be I guess. lol I'm told the area is pretty thick with brush, so I'm thinking something fairly short, and the 12 I've got is something like a 26 inch barrel. .30 carbine don't work, .308 Remington 700 is set up for long range... I'm dubious of 5.56, but if there's a strong consensus to the contrary I might consider the AR. I'm pretty convinced I'll have to buy or borrow something. I can probably finagle a .38 spec or 30-30 lever (leaning more toward the 30-30 between those two) pretty easy, as well as a shorter 12 gauge. Could even get a .270 BAR; it's not really set up for being in close, but it's better than my 12.

[LBJake]

Are you going to be stalking or using bait? Sounds like stalking, I'd go with the shorter 12 gauge and a backup pistol. 30-30 is fine if you feel more comfortable with it.

Hogs are surprisingly fast and can be mean bastards when they feel cornered.

[Kaz]

I haven't gotten a real plan for this yet. It's a friend's dad's ground and he's trying to clear some nuisance hogs out. I'm not sure if I'll be blocking or walking.

[Moose]

I was thinking a 30-30 loaded with Horady FTX.

[Kaz]

I'm kind of leaning that way too. Been looking around on the net and don't see to many shotguns being used. Though I did find a thread full of people using 5.56 and saying it worked well. lol But I also found a thread full of people who had nothing good to say about it for hogs. .30's seem to be the most common reccomendation.

[Kaz]

30-30 isn't happening. Dad's is too nice and he doesn't want to loan it out. He did offer his .357 lever though, would that work well enough with rifle loads?

[Stormrider]

I've seen them shot with 6mm bullets up to 338 bullets. I've used 300Whisper, 308Win, 300RUM myself and watched friends use 223, 260, 7-08, 308. The 6mm/260/7-08/308 were all ~400y. The 223 and 300Whisper were about 25y. They all kill hogs like nobodies business.

[LaMarsh]

As an FYI, bores aren't native to michigan, but they have some high fence reserves there where you can go and pay $3,000 to hunt them and I guess a few years ago one of the fences got busted at one of the ranches and some got out, and supposedly those things mate like rabbits and they're breeding like hell.... anyways, my understanding is that they're all over the place in some counties and the DNR allows you to kill them as spotted, any time of the year, without a tag.  I'm not 100% sure about this, may want to check it out if you any of you were considering paying a boat load to take one off a high fenced preserve. 

P.S., I got a decent bull elk this fall, I'll post pics for yall to see ASAP!  Happy new year guys!

[Kaz]

Finally went out today. From about 10:30 am to about 5 pm I walked over some rough terrain, through snow the whole way, over waterways, over a couple barbed wire fences (nearly tore myself a new one, thank god I ended up wearing some old BDU pants, which didn't hurt nearly as much when they tore), and through brush sometimes so thick you have to duck down and go backwards; fueled only by a pack of donughts and a few swigs of Dew. lol Out of the 26 or 27 of us, we got 3 young pigs, and all taken by one guy. Oh well, the compression bandage made it home unopened and I got out of the Kazbah for a day, so I'd call it a good hunt.

[arizonajeff]

so where's the elk pictures Lamarsh?