Finally saw some hogs at my buddies place, dropped one at about 50yrds, saw the rest scatter and apparently the one I dropped was one of them , looked for blood but nothing, searched all over in the area I shot it and nothing, headed down the trail I thought they took and out of no where I found a blood trail, followed it for around 75 to 100 yrds and it just disappeared. Never did find it. I have never shot anything before and not recovered it. I just felt sick that I did not recover it. I know this happens but It has never happened to me. I guess there is a first time for everyone. Oh well maybe next time.

hey at least it was a pig

better luck next time and shoot it in the head

Definetly going for the head next time.

Be happy you even seen one I havent seen a hog in 5mths talk about being depressed

I was very happy to see them, I had seen tracks and wallows all over the place but never seen any. Saw about 15 to 20 yesterday.

losing an animal always sucks.

Personally I think hogs leave a poor blood trail when shot in the boiler room. As stated above, go the head shot.

Head, neck, or right through the shoulder. drops em everytime.

i hear ya i just we could get them to come to the feeder so that i can have a chance to try and miss ha ha

I feel your pain - been there. The only way to get over that kind of depression is to kill 'em all!!!

Yea hogs are alot thicker skin than deer and blood trails are not often.Head shots every time.DRT.

I will be going back out this weekend to redeem myself (hopefully) wont aim at anything but the head this time.

Put a bullet right in the ear hole.

If you haven't lost an animal you haven't hunted enough. it is an unfortunate part of the sport..... in my opinion though hogs are about like coons or skunks...leave em in the dirt.

i do not reccomend head shots unless you are CAPABALE of that shot. the head is a small area and not enough room for error. you are likely to miss especially hunting at night. the kill zone for a pig is in the middle of the neck. i have dropped 250# boars with my 22-250 in their tracks with a neck shot. i have shot them in the middle of the shoulder and they have dropped where they are. i hear so many people talking about brain shots and most people are NOT capable of that shot. why risk a trophy boar to a head shot when you can drop him in his tracks with a neck or shoulder shot and its a bigger target?

Head shot??? Shot one with a 30-30 right between the eyes charging me and my buddy, we try to catch them live, but sometime that dont always work. It took 4 rounds to get him down. He was 427lbs. MONSTER..I do believe he was on PCP or ACID. haha.. Best place is right behind the shoulder with a 7mm mag,,go down like a rock.NEVER had one run over 30ft. 15 yrs hog hunting..

Any part of the head with the right caliber is DRT.Never had any run off with head shots but i either used a .270,308 or 30.06.Shot one in the neck years ago at 30 yrds with a .223 when dogs had him bayed and dog owner said shoot him in the neck.Well he lit out but killed the bulldog first.Three months later a buddie said the caught that hog cause he had cutters up passed his eyes and had a puss pocket in the left side of his neck.Dcided i would never shot another with a litle caliber or in the neck and all has fell ever since.True statement if you hunt long enough you will loose a animal.

I second the head, or neck, shot as well. Shooting them in the shoulder will not always put them down. My son shot one this past weekend through the center of the shoulder. The bullet passed all the way through and exited the other shoulder. We were shooting down into a creek bed. At the shot the hog ran up the other side of the creek bed and disappeared. I did not think that he had even hit it. No blood on the ground. The shot happened right at dark and since he took off without making any noise, and did not leave any blood trail, I assumed that my son missed him. Well, the next day the hog was found. He ran up the other side of the creek bank-about 20 yards almost vertical, and then another 20 yards further before expiring. The shot was dead center on the shoulder facing us, and the bullet came out a little lower on the oft shoulder side because we were shooting down on him. That hog weighed 135 on the scale.

The next afternoon we had a chance to shoot another hog-I told my son (9 years old and not the best shot) to only aim for the head. The shot goes off, and the hog drops instantly. The bullet smashed the skull within a couple inches of the ear-hole. The hog weighed 250 lbs. on a scale.

I shoot an older savage 30-06, plenty of stopping power, for some reason I have never done a head shot on hogs or deer not sure why, I have always gone for the vitals behind the front shoulder, Compared to many on here I am not as experienced but have been hunting since 92 when I have a chance to anyways, It was just wierd almost sick feeling not recovering the animal since that has not happened to me. I have read many posts about not recovering and know it is part of the sport but just the same it made me feel bad. I guess it is better that it was a hog vs a deer. Thanks to all for the insite on the optimal places to aim at.

You may never lose another one, hogs are tough and it seems those scar plates keep from losing to much blood!! My brother busted one that was probably around 260 or so with a .270 winchester using 140 grain core-lokt ultras. About eighty yards, bullet did'nt pass even through. Hit perfect behind shoulder, bullet was mushroomed inside the far side plate!! He rolled at impact. My father shot one that was looking right towards him. He said he put the bullet between his eyes. He said the big boar kicked up flipped over backwards and hauled butt. We found bone fragments and meat pieces, but never the hog. I shot one with my remington pss a few years back, put it a hair below his ear. Fired he dropped like a ton of bricks. Went, jumped in the truck to pick the hog up and guess what. He was gone!! In one year we killed 65+ hogs with rifles, no trapping and had only four or five run. This was a few of them!! you just never know!!!

still waitin for my first. hopefully saturday night!

I agree anything can happen regardless of bullet place ment.

Hey Tworod Ilive in little elm also this wouldnt be john would it? If it is this Derek. Bob told me about that hunt. Keep after them.

Sorry to hear about your loss. It has or will happen sometime.

My son has killed both of his w/ one shot from a .22-250. The last one was 186lbs w/ a bullet within 3" of the eardrum. It was DRT.

Tworod..are you going to tell us how your hunt went today? It is a good thing we are not playing baseball (three strikes and you are out)! Law of averages...we are bound to get one sooner or later.

i never missed a head shot last one i shoot was at 110 yrds with a rossi 223 better luck next time