Thread: Wild hog shooting tips

My parents have some friends who are building a property in the Coromandel and the grounds are being destroyed by feral pigs. They want them taken care of.

Wife and I plan on heading there in a few weeks. What are some tips for making the most of the trip? Head out in the morning or night? What advice can you give a new hunter. Willing be shooting with a .243. Cheers

get the wind in your face,sit and watch at both ends of the day....shoot the big ones first. enjoy the pork. Tasman does some pretty good pig culling up in Nelson...NZ wild adventures on Utube....pretty much what you wanting to do.

just what Mickey Duck says wind right - get into a good position and try not to move to much - do an intial look to see where they are arriving from and watch - dont leave to much of your smell around - once you have seen sign of which way they travel then move of and find good spot to watch -not to close --no noise especially metallic clunks - its even better if its drizzling or even raining - blowing a bit okay - the bigger pigs are smart and will let the small ones come out first - if theres a big boar around he will come out last - and listen they can make some noise moving in - early morning pays to do a recce afternoon before so you know exactly where to go in the early morning dark - and yes they spotlight okay - great eating - have that .243 zeroed well most important -

Originally Posted by Barry the hunter

just what Mickey Duck says wind right - get into a good position and try not to move to much - do an intial look to see where they are arriving from and watch - dont leave to much of your smell around - once you have seen sign of which way they travel then move of and find good spot to watch -not to close --no noise especially metallic clunks - its even better if its drizzling or even raining - blowing a bit okay - the bigger pigs are smart and will let the small ones come out first - if theres a big boar around he will come out last - and listen they can make some noise moving in - early morning pays to do a recce afternoon before so you know exactly where to go in the early morning dark - and yes they spotlight okay - great eating - have that .243 zeroed well most important -

Best place to aim? Headshots or vital organs

Now the most important point of the exercise, bait the bustards.

depends on a few things really - how good a shot are you and how well is that .243 zeroed i.e how confident are you of a head shot and how far away are they - lung shot will wreck meat but ya get ya pig - with my .222 I will go head shots out to 150 yards - after that not so confident - since you are trying to get rid of nuisance pigs maybe try to head shoot the fattest bugger first and then just get what you can after the shit hits the fan ( for the piggys that is )

Pays to keep your shots in the lower band of side on neck or chest shots.

The spine runs low on pigs and they have a fair bit of non vital meat above.

Seen a fair few drop then get up and run.

Originally Posted by Tall kiwi

Best place to aim? Headshots or vital organs

The neck is the best shot on a pig. If going for a head shot aim for the earhole to give yourself an aiming point, otherwise the crosshairs will drift to the centre of the head - the jaw hinge.
Just behind the front leg is a good body shot. Pigs dont like being shot

Pigs are very predictable if they are not being hunted with dogs. They will have a fairly set routine of times etc they are visiting. Most likely its the evening, but if they are under some hunting pressure it can be as late as 2 am. Go wait on dark to see if they are coming out. If not then it might be a job for a spotlight etc.
Because of the nature of your questions Im going to presume you are a newer hunter which is the basis for my answers. Stay away from the headshot. As Moa says they have a massive jaw and hinge. its very easy to hit that and Ive recovered a couple of pigs that have had that happen. they are tough and its a shit way for them to go. You have the 243 so Id suggest the best shot is a low chest shot right on the back of the leg/ armpit area if its a big pig. for a smaller to average size just smack them dead on shoulder but as others have said, dont go too high. ideally nothing above half way up the shoulder.
Baiting is a good way to get them where you want them early. Maize works well.

Originally Posted by whanahuia

Pigs are very predictable if they are not being hunted with dogs. They will have a fairly set routine of times etc they are visiting. Most likely its the evening, but if they are under some hunting pressure it can be as late as 2 am. Go wait on dark to see if they are coming out. If not then it might be a job for a spotlight etc.
Because of the nature of your questions Im going to presume you are a newer hunter which is the basis for my answers. Stay away from the headshot. As Moa says they have a massive jaw and hinge. its very easy to hit that and Ive recovered a couple of pigs that have had that happen. they are tough and its a shit way for them to go. You have the 243 so Id suggest the best shot is a low chest shot right on the back of the leg/ armpit area if its a big pig. for a smaller to average size just smack them dead on shoulder but as others have said, dont go too high. ideally nothing above half way up the shoulder.
Baiting is a good way to get them where you want them early. Maize works well.

Yep bang on with me being a new hunter. I've been out and about rabbiting with my .22 but this will be my first go at any larger than a rabbit. I was thinking if drawing them out with some bait would be a good idea - Might give that a go. Thanks for the advice.

Put a bait out, wire it to the battery in a small travel clock, non digital, which is set at the correct time, the moving of the bait will pull the battery leaving you with a time to be "on watch"

work out when they are coming out you will need a thermal scope if its at night daytime there will be a lead sow takes a bit to work her out If you can shoot her the others will all hang around because they are used to following her if you are using a suppressor shoot the pig further est away the others will react to the sound of impact and usually run towards you works on goats too otherwise you can bait them maize works or diesel painted on trees they rub against it to get rid of lice and like the smell

someone I know told me a story of how he and his mates laid bait on sheet(s) of old corrugated iron in a clearing where pigs used to come out of the bush ... makes a handy alarm to let them know when the pigs were out when they couldn't see them. The pigs got used to the noise of their trotters on the tin as they scoffed the bait. A couple of nights baiting them, then one night sit downwind with clear line of sight, wait for the tin to start making noise, and clean them up... I've never tried it but would love to have the chance to try that one day!

Best for pig culling/shooting info online imo. Professional culler out of Texas, no fluff, no nonsense and straight to what works and what doesn't.

Where to shoot instructions:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGjS...=LoneStarBoars

Pigs can be hard to spotlight because they dont 'hold', they stand for a moment, long enough for a shot then gap it, so it's target acquired and bang ! Make sure your mate holding the light stays on one pig till its down
Another way is to arrive before first light and follow the pigs off the flats into the bush and shoot one as they make their way along rubbing on trees and discussing the nights events.
If it rains all day and clears in the late afternoon to sunshine, get out there quick as the pigs will be busting to head out and will come out before the normal 'just on dark'. I have often had evenings after rain clearing to sun where I've shot two or three good solid 80 - 90lb'ers