hog shot placement

I have been wondering for a long time. I know if you shoot an elk in the back leg it can't get up so you can go up to it and shoot it. Since a hog is worthless if you pick up by its back legs will a hog be the same way as an elk if you shoot it in the back leg?

Never heard of that....seems like a waste of meat and a harder shot than just making a kill shot in the first place....

A hog will just drag itself off....regular kill shots....head and chest area....

Two weeks ago I shot a big boar on the run. First shot shattered it back leg and it didnt lose a step! Second shot landed him a dirt nap!

What makes a hog worthless ?

I guess the right world is powerless.

Nope. I've seen a 3-legged hog missing a rear leg. Heard of others. Like SnakeWrangler says, just make the kill shot and be done with it.

I see , a hog will run with a leg bone shot in half ,doesn't matter which leg it is
Best shot is to drop it first shot ,,,,,,,head or neck , ,,, or heart ,lung shot, the later probably
Going to run about 50 yards

just get a bullet in them....

Shot a boar a few years ago on the run by our tank first shot was quartering too me hit on front shoulder and angled back into guts. Second shot was a fleeting attempt to stop him before brush line I shot for texas heart shot on a running hog... it didn't anchor him. Little bit later tracked him and the second shot took his back right foot off at the hock and it didn't slow him down a bit and that was after a 150 grain 270 through the boiler room.

This image shows two of the first three shots on a hog, all quartering away. He is already dead at this point, but does not know it. He was knocked down and got back up.


This shows one of the first three shots (likely shot #3) where it exited the hind leg after ruining the tibia. The other 3 shots are quartering away shots after it changed direction and tried to get away. He got about 40 yards with a broken hind leg, during which time he was knocked down a second time and got back up.

Head/neck... Why wound any animal?

Shoot it at the base of the ear. If you ca t make that shot then go for heart/lungs

Here you go.

Inhumane: without compassion for misery or suffering. Cruel.
If done accidently, that's different. Have respect for whatever animal your hunting. Kill it quickly.

I have shot 2 three legged pigs. One actually still had the front leg, but it was tucked up under him. The other was missing the rear leg at the knee. There is another that I have seen only once, his day is coming.

Head. High shoulder maybe. Hogs are tough. Seen some of them takes shot and act like they weren't even hit. Crazy stuff.

Here's diagram of a hog's innards that might be of some help in figuring out where to put your shot:

I've had the best DRT results with neck shots.
Taken plenty with heart/lung shots when I can't get a clean neck shot.

The lung on that diagram seems a bit big, extends too far back. Never saw one with a lung extending back to mid body...

One of my problems with "vitals" (heart/lung) shots is that more often than not they run for a bit, making them difficult to find. In the vast majority of cases a head or neck shot presents itself somewhere during the encounter. Head/neck shots generally take the animal down instantly.

No offense, mikei, but this is one of the most terrible hog anatomy images out there. Many of the features are shown wrong and improperly labeled. If you look carefully, you will see that the right front leg has 2 humeri connected end to end, the lower one replacing the radius and ulna. The thoracic vertebrae are labelled "Neck Vertebrae" which would be the cervical vertebrae and the thoracic are the chest/thoracic cavity vertebrae. "Main artery" and "Main Vein" are interesting names, but not correct and the main vein is shown as a loop. The lungs are impossibly large. The pelvis is all wonky and it would appear that in place of the tibia, they have put another humerus.

I was being nice, but yes, it is pretty bad... And no offense mikei....

When I use to hunt South Texas, we had plenty of hogs. We always tried for head or neck shot. You'd get hazed some if you brought one in shot anywhere else...LOL If you missed at a feeder, just wait a few minutes & they'd usually be back. We always looked for "eaters", which were sows between 60 & 120 lbs. We had an undocumented ranch hand that would skin & quarter it for $5, but he'd keep the neck if it wasn't blown up too bad. Some great BBQ ribs slow cooked over those mesquite coals!

In the face.

Why would one shoot an elk in the back leg?

That pic has been flooting around for years... Not an expert like others, have taken the heart & lung shot on hogs with .223 using 55 gr fmj hitting right at top or just a smidge higher than what is pictured were the heart is on that diagram... While i don't use the gutting method, hog didn't travel far... Tis thinking heart sits little higher than in that pic... The heart & lung just like deer gives less room for error... Live target tis always more difficult than 3-D target... Edit: heart shot not best for deer, elk, or hog...

OK, here is a picture of a half pig. As you can see, the lung (large pink organ) is almost directly above the leg. The smaller organ below the lung is the heart. It is no more than 2 inches inside the chest cavity, closer to an inch. Both are tucked in behind the shoulder pretty good. Unless you get an oblique (quartering) shot in behind the shoulder, a direct shot has a reasonable chance of hitting large bone and deflecting. If you hit a bit further back, that darker red organ is the liver. The pig would most likely die from a liver shot, but it will run and you may never find it.

You shouldn't mean to I agree but I have seen some that have been quartering away with high winds at long range and they aimed a little to far back.

Heck, you can't demonstrate it any better than that. Thanks, dfwroadkill.

Dang, he goes out and cuts one in half to show us. That's impressive!

This is why I like a shoulder shot either mid height, low height or even high works. You lose some shoulder meat but they drop in their tracks and do not run.

I like right at the bottom of the ear or in the face.....

My favorite shot is in the ear hole

Moderators: please delete this post immediately. The diagram of the hog's innards is anatomically incorrect.

No big deal Mikei, an honest mistake. That depiction has been floating around the internet for quite a few years.

It IS indeed among the 'worst' representations out there, but many folks would not be aware of that.

We appreciate your efforts and continuing desire to share information.

Flint.

Couldn'the agree more Flint...

its been used in other threads, tis first time heard it was a bad diagram... i constantly get it for my bad grammer... Edit: when i mentioned it floating around for years on page 2 spelt floating wrong...

Brain shots make it pretty easy, great example pic btw.

Thar be a little editing on my part... As DNS posted, the two shots heart & lung area, usualy result in what is called death run just like with deer... The shot further back can also result in a dead hog... Leg shot hogs & deer have known ta survive... One must realize difference in stationary target & live target... i got cheap posts...

Here is a diagram that recommends where to shoot for a head shot. It is from a manual on destroying/slaughtering livestock. Point "b" is normally my aim-point. If looking at you, then the forehead above the bridge of the snout between the eyes. According the the manual, the front point can be used for a "bolt gun" in the slaughterhouse, but the side point requires a bullet.



The is the link to what seems to be a pretty clear diagram. Still drawn, so accuracy may vary. A copy of the image (with a watermark for the source) is below.

http://www.medical-artist.com/assets/images/Pig-Female-anatomy.jpg

I always told my boys to make an "X" between the eyes and ears and shoot middle of th "X" or at the base of the ear....thanks for posting StretchR

Only one I ever shot was in one ear and out the other.
About a 170# boar and dropped where it stood. Kicked it's legs twice and expired.

Shot this one last night with a lowly 5.56 soft point...dropped and started kicking. I put two more into his throat to try and get him to stop kicking (didn't work), but first shot was lethal, highlighted by poorly edited red arrow (this is exit wound)



That is where I aim for hogs with any round, and if I hit there with any round it is down piggie.

I stated on another thread that I have killed several fairly large hogs with a .223 using a 75 gr. BTHP put in the proper place, but that reminded me of a really big boar that I shot with a .300 WSM with 150 BSTs. I shot him at about 200 yd. off of sticks standing and hit him in the liver. He went down, uttered a blood curdling roar ( if I had been in the woods in the dark I would have peed my pants ) and got back on his feet and dragged himself into the neighbors property. I got back into my truck, drove down there expecting to administer the coup de grace with my 10mm and he was gone. Since I didn't have permission to go on the neighbor's, I didn't pursue. About three days later, I saw a couple dozen buzzards fly up at dark around 150 yd. from where I shot him. Hogs can be really tough !

Oh, I know I hit his liver from the color of the blood on the ground. And he regained his back legs about ten feet into the other property because the drag marks disappeared. Really, really tough !