anyone ever try subs on hogs or deer?
most of my shots are 50-100 yards and thought about running subs in my sbr bolt action 308..

tested 220 gr beck ammo and got nice groups at 50-100 yards .

I have customers who give me feed back about hunting with subs. Shot placement is key. Head or neck shots is recommended. Shoulder shots will provide an ice pick style wound- straight in and out. An expanding subsonic bullet works better than a standard bullet, but they are more expensive.

I'd go with the largest caliber I could if I was planning to hunt with subs. 45 or 50 cal, or even a bolt/break 12 ga with a rifled barrel.

300gr Hard cast bullet semi-wadcutter (the larger meplat the better) in a 44 special at subsonic works well penetration and making a large ripping hole deep. CNS dead right there, vitals they will run but there is almost always blood

Headshots on deer and you will be fine at that range. Problem is accuracy. Where a sub hits at 50 yrds will be a big difference at 100 yrds.

I saw someone shoot a doe last year with an expensive subsonic expanding bullet from a suppressed blackout. Shot was directly on the shoulder and doe took off on 3 legs and was never recovered.

I have a AR .300 blackout spec out to the US Navy Seals MK12 Mod 0. It was spec'd to shoot both supers and sub-sonic ammo. I was shooting the Hornaday 208 gr AMAX subsonic rounds. I'm done shooting hogs with subsonic ammo. All of them were head shots below the ear at distances between 50 and 100 yards. Everyone of them hit the ground like a rock and squealed bloody murder until I could finish them off. We love killing hogs though I never want an animal to suffer. To me it's not worth it. I've gone back to 125 gr super sonic rounds with the suppressor. It's still quiet but by gosh when I head shoot one, he's dead when he hits the ground!

The other factor with subs is amount of time they take to cover 100 yards. Usually around a second and half. Sighted dead on at 100 you're more than likely 12" low at 150 yards. Plus shooting at moving game is a real challenge. I shot at a bobcat at 93 yards. He was walking and I instinctively put the crosshairs on his nose and pulled the trigger. By the the time the bullet closed the distance I hit him in his back hip and the chase was one. I tracked him down in about 100 yards where I could put a finishing shot in him.

Supers are a bit louder but so much more predicable and easier to shoot.

I only use subs on the range when we have folks out who want to do some shooting. They think its super cool.

I shoot deer, where I normally would with any other caliber, with a 300 Blackout 194gr maximum expansion subsonic from Lehigh.

I don’t understand the benefits using subsonics on hogs. If you’re shooting into a sounder the pigs probably scatter after the first one is shot. Now you have pigs running away and you’re using under powered ammo to take longer shots. Am I thinking about this the wrong way?

^^ This is my take on it also. The idea that some hunters have is that the round will be so quiet that the pigs will stay there and they will pick off the pigs one by one. The reality is that once you shoot, the pigs scatter anyway, even with subs. Yes, they may come back, like they do when archery hunting pigs. But the pig being shot still squeals and runs off and startles the group. I see no difference in pigs reaction when being shot with subs or super sonic rounds when shooting suppressed. Unsupressed, there is a big difference. I hunt 100% with full power, super sonic ammo shooting suppressed. The suppressor is what makes the difference, even for the deer.

Now the main benefit for hunting with subs in an area where noise is a concern or neighbors. I have A LOT of sub ammo that I send out that shooters want the quietness of the subs for their neighbors in a rural area. This I understand.

All of the above is true. Subs are only good for concealment of fire direction. The key to using subs is just like using supers -- shot placement and round choice. Just like most don't want to use target ammo for supers, you don't want to use similar ammo for subs. The lehigh stuff is great, and i have their maximum expansion and controlled fracturing.

I use supers the most, but I will take my 300 bo with subs as a SxS gun or in the offseason.

very good point... will be running supers and call it a day... but I do wanna play with subs when I get my can for the 458 socom.
and maybe try playing with subs in my 338 lm just for giggles

Interesting read. I do a lot of pig hunting with my Ruger 77/357. (bolt action 357 mag) I have a suppressor on the way for that rifle, and was planning on loading 200gr lead subsonic for pigs. the 200 gr lead has a meplat that is almost .357. I do not have neighbors to worry about bothering, so those of you that have experience, would you still recommend the 158XTP supersonics that I have been hunting with?

I wouldn’t hesitate to run the heavies. You’ll get plenty of penetration, and that wide meplat is devastating.

Yup, they work and i still hae a few 180gr partitions for the 357 that I load to 1550 from my little marlin 1894 with a 16 inch barrel, those are pure death on hogs out to 125 yards. With that load I have punched through both shoulders on 200+lb hogs at over 100 yards.

Inside 125 yards I am as confident with the 357 as I am with about any other firearm that I have ever used on hogs and deer. Like I wrote above a subsonic bullet of my choice for killing things will be a heavy for caliber handgun bullet with a large meplat made for that purpose. Sure unless CNS is hit they usually do not go down on the spot but put one through the boiler room or CNS and there will be a dead critter. The old 44 spcl with 240gr Hardcast bullets works on deer and hogs as well

I made for a friend an Encore in 45/70 for subsonic. Shooting 405 grain cast at 980 FPS. Load was developed for accuracy at 50 yards without a chronograph so it's a bit slow.
He shot a 126 lb hog from a tripod at under 10 yards, high down angle. Bullet exited and penetrated sand over a foot. Hog Dropped, bullet through spine.

Maker bullets look promising and are also cheaper than Lehigh, I plan on loading some of these up when I get the chance

I run the 200grn Makers and they are deadly. Under 100yds on a deer or pig in the vitals they are going down fast.