Thread: A good calibre on pigs

I went with a 7mm08 as my do everything centrefire. I have shot pigs, deer, tahr, chamois, wallaby and goats with it out to 300m no problems.

A stout pill in most calibers will do it. A barnes ttsx will show them who's boss!

If he has a pig problem there will be a lot of little ones either still with mum or weaned. It's the little guys that do the damage by skimming the grass off over large areas, there noses can't root deep like bigger pigs.
If shooting a bait pile and camera are a good way to establish patterns and time your shoots saves a lot of waiting for an opportunity.
You can get a few young pigs at a sitting, my best is 5, but the Mrs got 8 with a 22 several years ago, admittedly they were piglets they ran away after the first couple of shots, then came back one by one.
You will only get one crack at a mob with older sows in before they run so get good at running boar.
My favourite rifle is the 223 with a good bullet, the Sierra gameking hpbt is outstanding but anything that's not a varmint type will do but I have shot them with pretty much whatever I've been carrying as a target of opportunity when looking for other things,
At the least take the back steaks they are al ways good eating and very meaty even on young pigs.
Good luck and have fun.

My father-in-law shot 600 pigs with his .223 last year during the NSW drought last year. He didn't lose any (or so he says). He's up on the Northern Tablelands almost dead flat country, hard to stalk, he must have been shooting at considerable range. No wild pigs around here, I have never shot one.

It depends where you hit them, I shot a 162lb boar on Saturday with my .223. It was a head shot. Shot placement is always the most important thing especially the big ones

really depends on shot placement I guess, hit a soft spot they will pencil through and it's down to luck if you hit vitals and do enough damage to drop em fast, hit a boney shoulder and likely they will blow up, neither is ideal in my experience.....anyway I'm sure others will probably argue differently but I tend to use what in my experience works.
I don't target pigs but both the ones I have shot between 140 yards and 160 yards dropped on the spot with ELDX 145gn out of my old 270win.
neck shots will do the business or if you can try shoot them just below the ear broad side and they will drop like a sack of spuds

@Mr Browning a couple of questions: Do you already have a centrefire? If so, if it is in the the range of my suggestions, use that.

I have done a bit of boar stalking as I have never had a dog. My preference would be anything larger than 243 up to whatever you can shoot comfortably. Any rifle that fires a 110gr up to a 200gr bullet at about 2300fps or over...My go to is one of three, 30/06, 308 or 303. but there are many others suitable. You mentioned maybe having a crack at deer with the same rifle, then that similar range of calibres would be fine.

Of all those I would lean towards a 308 for a number of reasons. That calibre is suitable for any sized game in NZ, is capable out past where most shooters are capable of hitting, and most importantly, there is a large range of ammo commonly and easily available. Whatever rifle you get , you will need to practise with it to get comfortable and accurate and reasonable priced 308 hunting ammo makes practise more about what needs to be learnt rather than cost. Walk into any store that sells ammo and there will be 308 on the shelf. Its the "Toyota Hilux" of calibres.

You can shoot pigs with 223 etc but I generally would not pick that as my first choice especially if you have not done a lot of this before. And going by the OP I would suggest that this is the case.

Finally, wild pork is much much nicer than shop bought pork. It is well worth the carry out. As mentioned earlier, the bigger ones dont taste as good (but they do make good sausages...) and the smaller ones are much easier to eats as well as being easier to carry...so it makes sense to carry out the smaller ones.

I see you are in Chch so if you want to have a chat in more depth, then feel free to PM me and we can talk about it.

whats wrong with a good old 303?

Contrary to some of the big bore assumptions, pigs are actually very easy to kill. They have a very vulnerable neck / base of skull area that is easy enough to target as @Moa Hunter says, just use the ear. I’ve shot them very dead with everything from a .22 LR Stinger (good pig too), to a .44 Remington Magnum, and all my centrefires in between.

If I were going to a spot where range was a couple of hundred, and the pigs were in the paddock rooting, I’d use my .223 and slip one in behind the ear. Lights out.

The one piece of advice I have about pigs is to check their anatomy before just assuming normal heart and lung shots. The heart is tucked up under the front leg and the lungs are well forward and quite central and protected by the shield. It is easy to shoot pigs too far back and under the lungs and get the liver, and losing the pig.

FWIW I had a dig around in the old memory banks and wondered what rifle I have used on pigs the most. It’s the .243 Win by a country mile, with either the 85gr GameKing HPBT or the 100gr ProHunter SP. I’ve always targeted the head and upper neck. On even a fairly modest pig, it’s quite a big target.

You only need the field cannon if you’re long range shooting pigs, or you’re at short range in the bail, which is when something like the short, light .44 rifle comes into it’s own, especially with subs. When there was a problem with .44’s sights recently, a Ruger 10/22 with open sights was taken, whack whack whack. Three goes, hard to screw it up. I guarantee that pig was dead after the first shot. I saw a 10/44 somewhere online recently, was it on here? That would be fun.

What is your most powerful current rifle @Mr Browning?

While you can kill a pig with a .22lr, bigger, more powerful calibre's open your options. The good old .308 would be my go-to for big boars, although that shield can still present some difficulty. The .223 would be my self-imposed minimum for piglets and weaners. That is because of the welfare of the animal to consider - letting them run off wounded just doesn't sit well with me, even if they are pests.

Any centrefire from 222 up is fine. If you not going to carry out the pigs either take someone with you that will lol
Or take the legs of, makes a good roast, easy to carry out. Can bone them out as well and take the meat in a pack. Seems a waste to just leave them on the hill.....you work for DOC ??
But if the farmer wants them gone , so be it but shot pork is good

Originally Posted by Bol Tackshin

While you can kill a pig with a .22lr, bigger, more powerful calibre's open your options. The good old .308 would be my go-to for big boars, although that shield can still present some difficulty. The .223 would be my self-imposed minimum for piglets and weaners. That is because of the welfare of the animal to consider - letting them run off wounded just doesn't sit well with me, even if they are pests.

The 308 wont have any problem with monster boars, the shield be no problem if using a 308, it go down. A 223 depending on distance, projectile could be a problem if hit a good boar is the shield.
Shot placement and a 223 will be fine thou. Pigs stand still in the spotlight ok, if a good set up no reason cant head shoot or neck with a 223.
Never had a problem ever with a 243 on boars.
Think the old shield rumour is from people using .22 and loaded down bail rounds, ie 44mag, 308 low powered etc and boar shields can be a problem.
At normal power a 308 will drop any pig hit in shoulder unless using some crap ammo not suited for purpose that explores on impact

Great discussion, thank you for all the replies, tips, hints. The knowledge you guys posses is second to none, thank you.

Originally Posted by 300wsm for life

Do you currently have a centre fire rifle? If yes then just use that as you will be comfortable shooting it. Just be weary if it's a small caliber on large boars. The shield on a large boar can stop effective penetration from 223 bullets.

No, currently I dont have a centre fire, but I have fired plenty over the years, so consider myself very comfortable with them to the point it is fucking enjoyable lol, is that wrong?. Not in my possession is my Dads old 303, its in storage in Invercargill, not sure its still shootable anyway.

Originally Posted by mimms2

Close and accurate enough with a .22LR will do it, so anything bigger is a matter of preference/laziness.

I'm assuming you don't have any CF or shotguns? In which case .223 would be my recommend for you. And you can get plenty of cheap practice in with it on small game.

I would say you could find someone handy who would happily carry out the meat. A damn shame to waste it. (Goats and venny too)

Currently posses a shotgun, but no centre fires in my armory. Im hoping in some respects, if I get one, it will cover all.

Originally Posted by csmiffy

whats wrong with a good old 303?

It doesnt seem to be the "in" calibre anymore, but yes, whats wrong with one.

Originally Posted by deer243

Any centrefire from 222 up is fine. If you not going to carry out the pigs either take someone with you that will lol
Or take the legs of, makes a good roast, easy to carry out. Can bone them out as well and take the meat in a pack. Seems a waste to just leave them on the hill.....you work for DOC ??
But if the farmer wants them gone , so be it but shot pork is good

Yes, taking someone with me is an opinion, in fact hopefully I will. It should be down hill over farm land, maybe I can chuck a rope on it and ride it down lol.

Farmer very much wants them gone, I agree, wild pork is great, I grew up on it. But when you dont have the tools and means to pack it out, it is limiting what you can do about it. It might also be night time shooting.


Now, I was considering months ago to get a 243 to do some long range work on rabbits and hares, kind of glad I held off, it may be a little light on the big stuff.

Thanks again.

Cheers

Originally Posted by Bol Tackshin

While you can kill a pig with a .22lr, bigger, more powerful calibre's open your options. The good old .308 would be my go-to for big boars, although that shield can still present some difficulty. The .223 would be my self-imposed minimum for piglets and weaners. That is because of the welfare of the animal to consider - letting them run off wounded just doesn't sit well with me, even if they are pests.

They never run off wounded if you shoot them properly. With pigs, no question about it in my mind, the best way to kill them is to shoot them in the head. Big boars or fat heavy sows can take a fairly sizeable hit from a .30 cal and squeal and carry on and still run like fuck on 2 and a half legs. You have to nail the CNS. Lessons I’ve learned over the years is the mob is going to hurtle for cover at the first shot, it’s very hard to get onto subsequent pigs unless you’re somehow set up for driven style shooting and can intercept them on the run. Even shooting them over bait it’s hard to get more than one or two.

Hands down the best way to improve your tally is to target the largest sow with weaners and piglets in tow. Anchor her on the spot, don’t let her utter so much as a squeal. A head shot will have her down and thrashing on the spot, confusing young pigs, and some may not run very far, or if they do, they come back for a look. Even better is to have two guns on a countdown, to drop the two largest adults so the young don’t follow the next in charge into cover.

Pigs are a complete bastard to target in open paddocks because they behave differently to goats and deer, much more inclined to hit the gas pedal and not look back. And then stay away.