Well what about a 22-250? Is that a one shot and done kind of round for hogs?
My son threaded a 22-250 through some brush to get this boar to drop in his bed. To top it off, we used an X-sight gen 1 to do it!!
I know, not the best option but we got out there only to find my thermal scope was dead (batteries I hope) and the only other option was the 22-250 with the XSight. He hand held the “flashlight” and could see nothing but the blinking eyes. I was behind the thermal hand held and watched as the boar went from laying down to standing staring right at the light and was worried he was going to bolt. Next thing I know and it was a bang flop. DRT with a 22-250 perfectly between the eyes. It’s his first pig in a while and we got rained out last week on a pig hunt, so he was happy.
We dodged a tornado but got to see some pretty ominous looking funnel cloud action, waited out some hail, and decided to hit the site later than we would normally but our patience paid off. Been seeing this guy for a while so it’s good for him to go.
Indeed, there aren't any hogs that will walk away from a centerfire rifle shot between the eyes!
Nicely done.
IDK, hog hunters on my place have shot 3 hogs this year. All 3 said they hit right between the eyes, knocking them down then running off. Never found any of them. IMO, between the eyes is a bad shot. Seen to many times over the years that the bullet just glances off. But, if you put it in the ear hole, they don't run off.
If your .223 has a faster twist rate barrel, there are some heavier pills you can sling at the hogs. Hornady V-Max is one. Range, size of hog, and shot placement are the keys to DRT from a .223.
With the right shot placement - it'll do the trick. I'd suggest something a little larger, however, there are many thousands of hogs are taken each year with 223.
Just for the record, I don’t like a shot between the eyes. I prefer a behind the ear side shot which renders hogs a pulsating mass of tick infested muscle and fur....however, due to the inside the brush location and the method of shooting being used (X-sight with illuminator) the only shot possible was a shot between the eyes as that’s all we could see. Had he been out in the open we would have gotten our preferred CNS behind the ear shot.
Just saying you don’t “need” anything super heavy with correct shot placement, as has been mentioned many times above, but I don’t believe anyone is arguing that either.
I've killed many with a .223.I like the earhole shot better because it is much more forgiving. You can miss a little in any direction and still get a quick kill. It's just too easy to miss trying the between the eyes shot. They move a lot and misses are too common with any caliber when you try to thread the needle.
IDK, hog hunters on my place have shot 3 hogs this year. All 3 said they hit right between the eyes, knocking them down then running off. Never found any of them. IMO, between the eyes is a bad shot. Seen to many times over the years that the bullet just glances off. But, if you put it in the ear hole, they don't run off.
But, if those hogs weren't recovered, there's no way of knowing where they were really hit. I often think I've made a good shot only to find the bullet didn't hit where I thought it had.
The only reason I switched from 223 to 6.8 is because of safety. I hunt alone in the SHNF and can be a mile or 2 back in the woods with nobody around. I really dont like the idea of shooting a pig at close range and wounding it and having it get up and charge me after I shoot it. I just dont have confidence in that round on hogs. The time I decided to switch was when I made a good shot in the shoulder and the hog never stopped. just kept on going. That was it for me!
Sure shoot them in the ear. That is easier said than done sometimes. Especially at very low light situations on a moving target. There is no baiting so most of my shots are on moving targets.
You are clearly lying! From the photos, I can tell that you didn't use a 22-250. You used a 50BMG and just missed, sucking his eyball out of the socket and killing him with the shockwave of the bullet passing by his head!
Unclebubba, you nailed it. I actually told him to miss to see what happens. Wasn’t expecting to kill three cows in the neighbors pasture 2 miles away though
It's more about placement and bullet construction. I've used .223 on hogs. When I was using varmint bullets, it took a couple of shots. When I switched to a Sierra Game King (both were 55 gr), I made one shot kills, even in the shoulder.
For the first shot, about any caliber will do. Once the sounder is alerted by the first shot, you really need some heavier ammo to take them down. Head shots on running hogs ain't easy.
" I don't hunt turkeys because I want to, I hunt turkeys because I have to."
Want a one hit and down? Get the new supper dupper deluxe 20lb 2 wheel cannon. That 20lb chunk of lead will stop almost any pig you are likely to encounter as long as you hit it solid.
"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32 (New King James Version)
With the right shot placement - it'll do the trick. I'd suggest something a little larger, however, there are many thousands of hogs are taken each year with 223.
^^^^^ THIS
Though I won't necessarily suggest something larger. Ive killed the vast majority of my hogs with various .223s, but as everyone has said, shot placement trumps all...
Indeed, there aren't any hogs that will walk away from a centerfire rifle shot between the eyes!
Nicely done.
IDK, hog hunters on my place have shot 3 hogs this year. All 3 said they hit right between the eyes, knocking them down then running off. Never found any of them. IMO, between the eyes is a bad shot. Seen to many times over the years that the bullet just glances off. But, if you put it in the ear hole, they don't run off.
I don't put a lot of faith into claimed POI without recovery of the animal. There is nothing like a good flinch to radically alter the POA to an unintended POI. With electro-optics these days, revealing such hunter shortcomings takes away many claims of great shots or super hogs. That isn't to say that shots cannot glance off, but glancing shots seems to be an overused excuse which is handy dandy because it can virtually never be contradicted with any evidence. All that exists are claims.
Indeed, there aren't any hogs that will walk away from a centerfire rifle shot between the eyes!
Nicely done.
IDK, hog hunters on my place have shot 3 hogs this year. All 3 said they hit right between the eyes, knocking them down then running off. Never found any of them. IMO, between the eyes is a bad shot. Seen to many times over the years that the bullet just glances off. But, if you put it in the ear hole, they don't run off.
I don't put a lot of faith into claimed POI without recovery of the animal. There is nothing like a good flinch to radically alter the POA to an unintended POI. With electro-optics these days, revealing such hunter shortcomings takes away many claims of great shots or super hogs. That isn't to say that shots cannot glance off, but glancing shots seems to be an overused excuse which is handy dandy because it can virtually never be contradicted with any evidence. All that exists are claims.
All I can say, when the hunter says he saw dust fly off the top of the head, knocked the hog down, only to get up and run off, is pretty much a glancing blow. I have only taken one shot between the eyes at a short distance with a gun I KNOW is on only to watch it run. I've shot them with a 22 in the ear hole and dropped them like a rock.
Well, you should not try to shoot them between the eyes when their nose is up. You do it when the nose is down so that you are shooting more at the flat of the head. Doing otherwise is not a problem with the location of the shot, but the orientation of the shot and that is on the shooter.
I have made several between-the-eyes shots and not had a problem with any hog taking off on me.
Last edited by Double Naught Spy; 04/03/1902:06 PM.
.223 in the hands of a very good shot who has the experience/patience to wait for the perfect central nervous system shot placement is a capable round. IMHO, its not the right round for an inexperienced hunter/shooter who may get excited and start blasting away. Also, IMHO, its not the right round for running shots on a sounder. It can result in wounded lost animals. Even pigs deserve to be treated humanly, not a long painful death from poorly placed shots.
With good bullets (Barnes TSX, Speer Gold Dot, etc.) and WELL placed shots a .223 will kill hogs and deer reliably, but there is very little margin for shot placement error. Personally I wouldn't shoot a big 200#+ boar on the shoulder with a .223 and expect consistent good results. Your basically limited to ear hole and neck/spine shots with a .223. I consider the 6.5 Grendel, 6.8 SPC and .300 BLK as minimum calibers for hogs.
In my hunting loads I tend to use very tough bullets loaded in both .22-250 and .223 Rem. There is a Hornady 62gr bonded soft point that I like and there is 65gr Gameking that I love. Both will pass all the way through most pigs while seriously F ing up everything in the process of doing so.
IMO the .223 is fine if you shoot the head or neck. One hog at a time round. When shooting big groups, you will not stop shooting a hog until it stops. It takes about 5 in the body of a large boar to stop him with a .223. With a .308, they stop quickly and you can move to the next. Once the rest are gone, you clean up the wounded.
And then there is weird anatomy or something....shot a hog tonight with the same .223 that was dead in the OP (fresh batteries) and the hog did the initial bang flop as I am accustomed to seeing. Short earhole shoot.
Only he didn’t just lay there, he commenced to do a face dive type run away from me and I pumped him with 4 more rounds and stopped him. Went to get the UTV to use the winch to drag him off, pulled up right next to him.
He stands up and starts to walk off....at this point I am
So I walk to the back, grab my gun, and just open fire on the guy. I want him out of his misery. Put about 4-5 more in him and he is down. Pull up to him again, and still breathing. This after multiple shots to the head already. I put the muzzle up to his skull and fired the final breath maker.
Friggin zombie hog
He wasn’t 260+ like my last one, but he was probably in the 230-240 range easily. Little bigger than I thought he would be, and a lot tougher. Will to survive was strong in this one!
And then there is weird anatomy or something....shot a hog tonight with the same .223 that was dead in the OP (fresh batteries) and the hog did the initial bang flop as I am accustomed to seeing. Short earhole shoot.
Only he didn’t just lay there, he commenced to do a face dive type run away from me and I pumped him with 4 more rounds and stopped him. Went to get the UTV to use the winch to drag him off, pulled up right next to him.
He stands up and starts to walk off....at this point I am
So I walk to the back, grab my gun, and just open fire on the guy. I want him out of his misery. Put about 4-5 more in him and he is down. Pull up to him again, and still breathing. This after multiple shots to the head already. I put the muzzle up to his skull and fired the final breath maker.
Friggin zombie hog
He wasn’t 260+ like my last one, but he was probably in the 230-240 range easily. Little bigger than I thought he would be, and a lot tougher. Will to survive was strong in this one!
I have shot a lot of hogs with the .223, using standard 55 gr. fmj's, and they worked just fine. I always preferred a center of shoulder shot with about a 90% angle to the body ( them standing sideways in front of you). Never had a problem taking down hogs that way, although I moved on to different cartridges....just for the fun of it. You shoot them behind the legs, you can just about forget it....they can run a long ways.
And then sometimes you get lucky. Since this thread was brought to the top, last Week Sunday night, get to the feeder ad see hogs there, count four. I stalk up to where I have a decent shot at any runners, about 40-45 yards from feeder. They have no idea I am there.
Fire and hit first one in the ear hole. The rest run. I pump two more shots in two hogs running toward me and they both drop. First one drops about 25 yards from me and the second less than that. I sure wish I had video’d those shots, because I can not remember them at all because they happened so fast , but both were drt shots. All three hogs were down for the count. I hit head/CNS on all three somehow. Three shots in about a second time. Talk about getting lucky!
Sorry for the upside down pic. The pigs were two sow and a boar, all three in the 150-175# range, pic makes them look smaller.
DNS, thanks! You are the gold standard and I bring up a mere bronze at best...there are some serious hog hunters on here, you being one of the best, and sometimes I simply get lucky.
Like many others have stated, it is all about shot placement. I have killed many a hog with a .223 but have since moved on to try many different calibers. In my experience, shooting a big boar behind the should with almost anything will not drop him immediately. That being said, I have also killed many with a .22 and .17HMR, all about the shot placement.
Forget the FMJ rounds and use the ballistic tips. Even though most of the Hogs I've killed was with a .17 (Calm day), the rancher where I hunt said he hasn't lost a hog since using Ballistic tip rounds in his model 7 .223. He calls them the magic round. My longest DRT shot with the 223 was 170+/- a few yards. DRT one last year at 230yards with the 6.8' all ballistic tip rounds.
Proverbs 27:17 As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.
In my experience, shooting a big boar behind the should with almost anything will not drop him immediately.
That is only going to be if you do direct or indirect spine (CNS) damage. You can place a shot behind the shoulder on a broadside or quartered toward shot and miss doing any significant damage to the spine. From a vitals standpoint, these would be much less ideal shots.
In my experience, shooting a big boar behind the should with almost anything will not drop him immediately.
That is only going to be if you do direct or indirect spine (CNS) damage. You can place a shot behind the shoulder on a broadside or quartered toward shot and miss doing any significant damage to the spine. From a vitals standpoint, these would be much less ideal shots.
DNS you kill pigs very well but you missed the "will not" in TXag08's post
"And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32 (New King James Version)