Going On A Pig Hunt

LUCKYDOG

Active member
I'm going on a pig hunt this year with some friends. We will be in Northern Texas hunting in stands over feeders. Mostly we are going for the beer and camaraderie but we are still going to be hunting. I'm not sure why but I really want to take an AR platform to hunt them with. Is a .223/556 AR good enough or should I take this as an opportunity to consider the purchase of a new firearm? If I do get a AR 10, it will probably be in a 6.5 Creedmoor because I already have that in a bolt action and don't want to keep adding different calibers. Thoughts please.
 
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The 223 can and will kill hogs. Maybe not the "Best" choice but it will work. If you need an excuse for the wife for buying a new rifle, those wild boars are dangerous and you need a larger caliber rifle just to be safe. If there is no wife to contend with.....buy a new rifle!!
 
Lot of hogs killed with .223/5.56 AR rifles. Precise shot placement at the base of the ear works with about any ammunition. Lung shots probably could use a decent deer capable bullet like the TSX, Nosler Partition, Federal Fusion, Speer Gold Dot, ect.

With that said, I had to follow up a big wounded boar after dark a few years ago. My son accidentally got between a sow and some young pigs at dark in heavy cover and during the excitement a big boar bluff charged him. My son got a bit excited and hurried his shot and wounded the boar with his .30-30. When I worked my way over the mountain and got to him it was pitch black. We had our headlamps and took up the blood trail under a big bluff in cover so thick it was hard to keep your hat on. I had a bolt action .243. I'll admit that I was wishing for my Marlin lever .45-70 and those thumb size 405 gr. bullets.
 
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AR 223 is fine, just choose your bullet correctly. When I went on my one and only pig hunt in Arkansas, I loaded up 50 rounds using the 64 grain bonded Nosler bullet. I never saw a pig in 3 days of sitting in a stand over bait, so can't report any results. Good luck in your quest.
 
GC maybe I'll be bringing my 45/70 with me to track then! The guy told us it can get really thick out where we are going. With a new AR 10 6.5 Creedmoor and my 45/70, I should be ready for anything! LOL
 
Originally Posted By: GCLot of hogs killed with .223/5.56 AR rifles. Precise shot placement at the base of the ear works with about any ammunition. Lung shots probably could use a decent deer capable bullet like the TSX, Nosler Partition, Federal Fusion, Speer Gold Dot, ect.

I had a bolt action .243. I'll admit that I was wishing for my Marlin lever .45-70 and those thumb size 405 gr. bullets.

I had helped with predator control on several family ranches since 2003; my rifle of choice was a Bushmaster Predator with 55 gr. NBT. Occasionally the rancher would ask me to cull whitetail does and one year they wanted rid of as many hogs as possible. For the most part, the .223 remained my rifle of choice for all.

If I was specifically targeting hogs, I sometimes switched to the Dtech 243 WSSM with the 87 gr. Hornady load, but for the most part, I continued to carry the .223. I first carried a magazine loaded w/62 gr. NP's and would switch mags, time permitting depending upon the quarry. After a while, I didn't bother; the 55 gr. NBT's performed every task asked of it, save one.

On one occasion, I was sitting at a water hole moments before dark when a sounder of hogs, led by a large boar, crested a 4' rise at about 40 yards. They were trotting straight toward me so I put the crosshairs between the boar's eyes and saw the red splash as the bullet found it's mark, knocking the boar to the ground. Unfortunately, he rebounded and was back over the rise before I could get a followup shot. There was no blood trail and the hogs entered an impenetrable thorn brush thicket.

Hindsight is 20/20 and I'm sure the bullet, hitting the sloped forehead splashed and never penetrated the skull. Have never taken a frontal head shot since.

Have taken several longer broadside shoulder shots with the 62gr NP's on medium sized hogs effectively, but as Gary said, I like a line between the eye and ear on a broadside hog; puts 'em down with even the light 55's.

The night I unexpectedly found myself on the same side of a hogwire fence with this boar running toward me, I was wishing I had more gun than the Bushmaster, but fortunately, he was planning to run past me, not at me. I never shoot running animals unless they have been hit, nor have I ever practiced instinct shooting, so a lot of luck was involved in that running shot, but the 55 gr NBT .223 dropped him at less than 5 paces; as they say "I'd rather be lucky than good."

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As has been stated, shot placement with the 223 is a bit more critical than with larger guns, but even the big boomers will fall short with poor shot placement.

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Regards,
hm
 
I'm from Texas and have hunted hogs for 28 years. I've killed more with .223 and 55gr FMJ than any other single cartridge. Now, I haven't killed any with .223 in many years, but I definitely killed most in my early years with it because it was what I had. I never had to track one or shoot it multiple times to stop it.

Now, I use whatever I'm carrying during deer season. My favorite cartridge is a .280 Rem, but it isn't easy to find ammo on a shelf in Texas. .270, .257 Roberts (funny, huh?), .308, or 6.5 Creedmoor are probably some of the best options for being able to find ammo on the shelf there.
 
If you're shooting them in the head it'll work fine. I've never seen one shot in the body with a .223 that just fell over and died instantly.

If you have a 45-70 that's the gun I'd use for them. If it's something you can do every day and you have time to figure out what works best and what doesn't I'd say give every gun you have a try. But if it's something you've never done and failed opportunities or wounding a trophy boar would bother you I'd be hammering them with the biggest caliber you've got to ensure you ain't tracking anything or mad at yourself for not taking a cartridge that will put them down at any angle,standing still or running. I've shot several hogs and seen hogs shot with a .223 and there I definitely better choices available especially on moving targets. I don't just shoot one and stop. If there's a group of them I shoot until everything is dead,I run out of bullets or they leave. A hit to the body of a running hog will cause it to squeal but more than likely it'll keep running. I've seen hogs take .223 bullets like a champ and they kept going. Your best bet with a .223 is to shoot a bullet that doesn't break apart and get them in the brain.
 
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Having done exactly what you are describing and taking a .223 with 62 gr expanding soft points, and hitting them pretty solid, we still had to go after them in the Mesquite brush. I said next time I'm taking my Springfield Armory M1A Scout, .308 semi-auto, that will put them down, and I could probably get more then one when they come in to the feeders.
 
If you want to use the AR-15 platform you could just buy an upper in 6.8 SPC or 6x6.8 if you reload. Heavier bullets and bullets designed for larger game are available in 6mm and 6.8/270. I've shot hogs with 223 55gr V Max (target of opportunity) ear shot and dropped instantly. I feel a little more confident with the larger calibers though.
Bobby
 

Two hogs have dropped from my .444 Marlin, so your 45-70 will be as good or better if tracking of shooting closer ranges. On three other hunts we hunted free ranging hogs over feeders, shooting from elevated blinds and from distances as close as 20 yards out to about 225 yards. Over the period of a few annual hunts, we used a variety of rifles and calibers, having success with all.

On my last hunt I shot four hogs, one with a 7mm STW at 120 yards, and three at the same distance with a 6x45 in an AR platform. The 75 gr. Sierra HP from the 6x45 droped all three where they stood with head shots. The 6x45 is nothing more than a .223 case necked up to 24 caliber, so no doubt you AR .223 will do the job. Many others on the forums have proven that. On another hunt I dropped a hog with a neck shot from my Bergara .308 and a 130 gr. TSX bullet at 87 yards.

As already mentioned, shot placement is important. Hogs can be tough and can run a long ways with a lung shot or poorly placed shot. That’s why I like head or neck shots as it drops them right there. I have seen two hogs shot with a .375 H&H that ran as if they were untouched. We recovered both, but just barely found the last one. I was amazed at the damage that rifle did to that hog, and that it was able to keep going.

I think choosing a good bullet and an accurate rifle that you shoot well is probably more important than caliber.

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If you end up taking your .223, factory loaded Federal Fusion 62 grain bullets have done well on any game I've seen shot with it. No pigs in my experience.
 
I really like the 450 bushmaster in the AR platform. Midway sells the uppers at a really good price. The 450 isa really good round and will fit on the AR15 lower. This is a lot lighter than the AR 10.
 

When, I lived in Jasper, Texas. I hunted razzor back hogs with my Winchester 94/1949 in 32 special. Any 94 owners out there.
I added the sights 20 years ago. The sights are worth almost the value of the rifle, now. Took me a few years to find then.
A number of whitetails has been put in my freeze over the years with it's help. No hogs here in Ohio. I like to deer hunt in West Virginia and Kentucky.
The locals there like my rifle and myself. You can tell a lot of a man by the iron he carries.



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