When pigs show up at your feeder, do you try to shoot the first one, the biggest one, sows, or line up a couple and kill as many as possible with 1 shot?

Ideally try to take a well placed shot at whatever hog happens to have another one behind it. I tend to go for bigger ones too, just for easier target. I'll take what I can get though, I've shot shoats with a .30-06.

I go for the biggest sow and then hope for another hog or two in the confusion that follows that first shot. I find that trying to line up two of them is quite difficult due to the fact that they move around so much while scarfing up the corn!

Same here - I have tried the lined up shot many times and have not been successful, even once as far as I can tell. I even tried with 00 from about 60 years and only had the first in the row drop.

Maybe aiming wrong place and not getting the needed pass through. Hogs are pretty dense with lots of bone, skin, and muscle so the bullets, even when there is a clear exit, are likely pretty fragmented. Would FMJ work?

I used to try to line up a "two fer shot" all the time. Many times I was successful. However, I have found that doing that, I was concentrating more on lining them up than what I should have been concentrating on. That is making a good shot with the first shot. I missed too many times. Now, I just make a good shot on one pig, and I don't miss anymore. If I can pick off a 2nd or third in the confusion afterwards, then, that's just gravy.

I’ve done it with a 270 and with a 30-06. They weren’t more than medium size, and I took them through the chest. I think you need to get through the first pig with enough remaining power to kill the second one. And obviously, the bullet itself matters. Using 120 gr Nosler BTs in my 260, I’ve never had a bullet exit a large hog, so a bullet change would be needed, I suppose.

I have killed 2 shoats with 1 bullet, but that is about it.

I try to make sure the first one falls, anything behind it is just a bonus! Usually use a 270 or either a 300 WBY mag.

Same here. And hopefully the big sow has a bunch of little ones that will come back looking for her in about half an hour.

We took out a sounder of 12 a couple weeks ago over a period of about 5 days because they kept coming back to where the big sow was shot.

Looks like I will be shooting more than one in the morning.
I usually shoot the one closer to the brush so I can usually get a couple more shots off when they are by a feeder.

My experience has been, if they are coming back, they do so within about 5 minutes. Their quick return has increased since the suppressor's arrival.

Always try to get two or more lined up.

Trick is to lay out a heavy 'line' of corn parallel with your line of sight.

After the group has quit fighting and jockeying around for position over the broadcast corn, many times the non-dominant hogs will line up 'perpendicular' to the line of corn, as if at a feed trough. Often times be close enough together to insure good shot placement on the hog(s) behind the first.

I will try lining up a shot too. last year I was able to drop the sow, and then waited on the piglets to line up. Got three in one shot and a forth single before the rest decided it wasn't healthy to stay. Saves on ammo also.

If the opportunity presents itself, I'll take the 2fer.

Gotten more than 2 a couple of times. Got 4 young ones a couple years ago, and when I got up to where they were, there was a tail laying there from another one...

This 2fer was interesting because the hit on the one behind happened as the bullet was tumbling after hitting the first hog. You can clearly see the imprint of the tumbling bullet hole.

Flintknapper, that's a good idea. Maybe I should stake some rain gutter to the ground as a trough. Now I want more penetration than expansion.

Yes, penetration is key.

I will use a 160 gr. federal fusion bullet in my 7mm-08 for that purpose, or break out the 458 SOCOM with a 540 gr hard cast bullet if I know in advance I have a large group at the feeder.

It is the ONLY time I will shoot 'behind the shoulder' of the first hog (wanting the best penetration). Yeah, they run off a ways, but are just a dead hog....running.

Biggest or whichever one give me the best shot