Certainly, schools of thought on guns and ammo for wild hogs varies greatly. The campfire debate can be quickly squelched by just simply mentioning that any classic cartridge used for the white-tailed deer will effectively dispatch any wild pig.
That would include the ubiquitous .270, .308 or the truly classic .30-06. Pick virtually any solid-core, soft-pointed bullet in the 150- to 200-grain range, and this should prove ample medicine to coax any sized pig to the BBQ pit.
But alas, it is not as easy as all that.
“Everybody has their favorite round for pigs,” said Kerry French, owner of a hog-infested hunting property in Holmes County. “Mine is the .35 Whelen in my Thompson-Center Encore single-shot rifle — which, by the way, I can also use legally during Mississippi’s primitive weapons deer hunting seasons. That is a plus for me.”
One of his alternative choices for hogs is his 3 ½-inch Mossberg 12-gauge pump shotgun using buckshot.
On the other end of the spectrum, I have personally witnessed a huge 300-plus-pounder taken down with one clean shot from an AR-15 .223 using DRT-brand frangible, 79-grain hollow-point ammunition. The shot was placed right in the porker’s boiler room, and it went down like the proverbial “load of bricks.”
So, really, the point here is the same as it is with hunting all big game: Shot placement is paramount.
Wild hogs cannot be assumed to be taken down easily. They can absorb an inordinate amount of bullet energy, especially if shot in a non-critical spot. Their front chests are insulated with thick cartilage that only the heaviest, most well-constructed bullets can penetrate.
Keep all these factors in mind when you set out to get a new hog gun or use a deer rifle already in the rack. Then only shoot when the most ideal shot is presented.
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