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Pig Hunt With A .223?

4K views 26 replies 23 participants last post by  marlin1 
#1 ·
Anyone know if you could pig hunt with a .223, say a 75gr HP?
 
#4 ·
I live in Texas and have hunted them for quite a few years.
I hunt hogs nearly every day...they're all around me here.
I use 308, 257 Roberts, 300 Savage and 243Win.
Not every hog you see is a bruiser...Quite the opposite.
Many are in the 80-100lbs range.
223 will work fine in most cases. Lots of guys here use them
because they like an automatic, as they'll be running after the first shot
and sometimes before that.
I just like to shoot them further away if I can.
When I get one in a trap I shoot them in the head with a 22lr
40gr RN.
 
#19 ·
Never pig hunted....yet....but I can say we used this same method killing meat hogs for many years when I was growing up. It works.

DR
 
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#6 ·
If you shoot them in the brain/neck bone, it really doesn’t matter what you shoot them with. If you are going for a body shot learn the anatomy of the pig. The heart and lungs are more forward and lower than a whitetail. Stay away from varmint bullets and you’ll do just fine. 65 gr Gameking, Nosler Partition, 77-75 gr bullets all work great.
 
#15 ·
Put it in ther ear (or right behind) and the 223 will drop most of them!
 
#18 ·
My cousin in law lives in Connecticut and lives near the shore. He won a 25-20 1894CL at a Ducks Unlimited about 27 years ago. It came with commemorative box of 50 rds. He takes a deer within an 1/8 of a mile from his home every year. One neck shot to each. Bang flop. It's all about shot placement.

Pigs shot in the ear drop real quick.

At this rate he will be almost 80 when he runs out of that commemorative box of ammo.

AC
 
#20 ·
You may think it is overkill but I use a 450 Bushmaster AR or a 50 Beowulf upper for pig. If I could I would use a 44mag pistol but it is illegal here to hunt with a pistol unless you are on private land. When the pig is cornered by the dogs they become very viscious and when pumped up on adrenelin can be very dangerous and unpredictable. The big bore takes them out cleanly. Don't waste your time with a small 22 cal bore especially when close in. I've seen them turn and charge with no warning and can close the gap very fast when you are close. Plus with the big bore AR when the dogs are called off you have limited time to take your shot----having to take multiple shots endangers the dogs as you risk hitting a dog.
 
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#27 ·
A guy I know that was charged by a wounded boar was shooting a 7mm Remington Mag...it was a bad shot.
In reality he wasn't charged..boar was just trying to get the hell out of the pasture when it was shot and run back to the woods and the guy who shot shot it just happened to be in the way. The boar ran about 6 feet left of the shooter's leg and kept running. In 25+ years of hunting hogs I've never seen a hog actually charge anyone but I have seen them run away towards a direction where someone was standing.
 
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