Using buckshot for hogs

Davey_O

Davey_O

New member
Hi all, I scouted out an area on my Florida leased land that's in a thick cypress swamp with the center of the swamp giving maximum visibility of 40-50 yards without running into a lot of underbrush. Thinking about setting up a ground blind on the high area of the swamp and hunting with a 12 gauge using buckshot. I have several different brands/loads of 000 buck that pattern very well with a modified choke. My modified choke gets the tightest patterns than my other chokes on hand, which are improved cylinder, improved mod, and extra full chokes. My question really boils down to will the 000 buck do the job or be a crippler in anyone's opinion? A co-worker kills many large feral hogs on his lease in central FL with Winchester supreme 00 buck but I just think that might be a tad bit small of shot size to use. Thanks

P.S hope this post doesn't cause any offense to others. I try to be as ethical a possible when hunting any game.
 
I have killed quite a few with #4 buckshot. In fact I killed 3 a little over a week ago.

There are 41 pellets in a 3 inch #4 buckshot load. There are only 10 pellets in a 3 inch 000 buckshot load.

There is no question that you are going to have some hogs run off with buck shot. In my situation, I am not worried if they run off. I am trying to inflict as much damage as possible and be safe in an area where I don't want a bullet to travel to far.
 
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I wish that my lease had more hogs but they were eradicated back to the point that all trace(tracks, sightings on game cams set up that they were reduced or gone off the lease that my cousin has. I hunt this lease a lot and remember seeing them in 5, 10, and sometimes for at one time 17 hogs. I want a standing hog shot kill or possibly I want a slow trot and not to scare them being so few at this time. I have to say on thing when we were infested with them I use to light them the at night and use Winchester #1 buck just it seemed to me it had more pellets(24) than anything other than #4 buckshot. I wanted to plain out erraticate them cause they were driving the deer herds off of the 4700 acre lease of our family's.
 
2 3/4 buckshot

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2 3/4 inch 12 ga. #1 buckshot has 16 pellets, #3 has 20, #4 has 27, 0 has 12, 00 has 9, 000 has 8.

3 inch 12 ga. #1 has 24, #3 n/a, #4 has 41, 0 n/a, 00 has 15, 000 has 10
3.5 inch 12 ga. #1 n/a, #3 n/a, #4 has 54, 0 n/a, 00 has 18, 000 n/a.

 
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Yellowhammer, hope you didn't mean losing 15 dollars tearing them shells apart. I sure appreciate the photo and chart it really has been some time since I got around to tearing some extra buckshot I have on hand so I can actually remember their sizes haha. I once tore open some Winchester and Remington 3 in 00 buck and on a cheap micrometer I had on hand the shot measured only .31 instead of the standard .33 size.
 
My uncle Ken was on my dad's side of family that for years they hunted with only 2 3/4 chambered pumps, semi autos and he used the 2 3/4 federal, Winchester, and Remington #1 magnum load(20 pellets) there were a lot of deer killed in front of dogs with this buffered magnum load in my parts growing up. And when all started getting 3 inch guns were loving the 3 inch Winchester #1 buckshot that has a shotcup and buffering. My uncle Ken RIP stalked deer with a Remington Wingmaster fixed full choke that was chambered for 3 inchs and his gun flat would put all of them in a 12 inch circle(no open holes) at 40 yards sometimes he claimed heed said maybe they left a pellet or 2 out when he patterned his shotgun, lol. Thought I'd share a memory of my late uncle. Originally Posted By: Lynn McMahan12 ga #1 3" are deadly.
 
I really would go to 00buck. I have seen a few hogs taken with it and it does the job as long as the shot is on target and the range is not to far.
 
Definitely am split in the middle on deciding either the 000's or 00's. Probally will go with either my 2 3/4 federals 000 or 3 in Remington 000's. They pattern at least 3/4 of pellets in a 12 inch circle at 45 yards using a factory modified choke. I heard from a lot of sources(family members, co workers, and people I've met over the years hunting) that when you aim at the hog, aim for the neck. That way you got the pattern from his snout out to his front shoulder. These sources also said never aim to hit the shoulder because of them sometimes carrying heavy shields.
 
To each his own, but I am not a fan of buck shot for hogs. I guess if you just want to inflict injury to get rid of the hogs it may be for you. We have a couple members of our club that use buckshot for hogs. I killed 4 in a row with the bow that part of the meat had to be thrown away because of infection from buckshot wounds. If you shoot enough hogs you will loose some with any weapon, but buckshot seems to be way too high in the loss column for me.
 
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Weekender, do you not believe 8-10, 000 buck will do the trick at 0-45 yards then I admire your beliefs but I have my own and this swamp area is perfect for my buckshot scenerio. They might even be running?
 
Nobody thinks they wont kill. The big problem with buckshot is that you get little if any blood trail. If they don't drop right away, you are unlikely to find them.

For certain senarios (like mine) it is perfect. I want to get lead in as many as I can, and still be save in regards to houses in the area. I don't really care if they run of somewhere and I die because I am mainly trying to protect my yard from being rooted so bad I can't mow it with a riding lawn mower.

If I am sport hunting and therefore fully expect to recover whatever I shoot, I will go for something other than a shotgun. I feel that if I can hit it with a shotgun, I can hit it with a rifle and have a better expectation of recovery.

Now, if I am hunting a shotgun only area, or something like that, I would not be adverse to using a shotgun and taking the best shots I could.
 
My son just got his first pig while hunting a few hours out of OKC yesterday (he is stationed there). When he told me he was using his 12 gauge with 00 buck, I said why the heck were you using that! He said that's all you can use there if you don't have a deer tag. Apparently, he had to finish it off after he tracked it some distance.
 
I've used 3" 000 Winchester Supreme for both deer and hogs and I prefer the 10 .36 cal. pellets over the 41 .24 cal. pellets of #4 Buck for their better penetration capabilities and the larger holes they make. Buckshot is notorious for producing poor blood trails and as such I like having .36 cal. holes in my game as opposed to .24 cal. I also don't like making unnecessary holes in something I intend to process for the table. If someone can't hit a running hog in the vitals at
 
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I agree Yellowhunter that if you want more chance to kill a deer or a hog that a rifle serves you best. The reason I am choosing the shotgun is the range is really short I can barely see through the underbrush more than 40 yards. A rifle might hit a branch of a bush or tree being so dense in this swampy area I set my blind. Bye the way I checked the swamp tonight and they raided some corn I had some small but mostly full grown pig tracks!Originally Posted By: YellowhammerNobody thinks they wont kill. The big problem with buckshot is that you get little if any blood trail. If they don't drop right away, you are unlikely to find them.

For certain senarios (like mine) it is perfect. I want to get lead in as many as I can, and still be save in regards to houses in the area. I don't really care if they run of somewhere and I die because I am mainly trying to protect my yard from being rooted so bad I can't mow it with a riding lawn mower.

If I am sport hunting and therefore fully expect to recover whatever I shoot, I will go for something other than a shotgun. I feel that if I can hit it with a shotgun, I can hit it with a rifle and have a better expectation of recovery.

Now, if I am hunting a shotgun only area, or something like that, I would not be adverse to using a shotgun and taking the best shots I could.
 
Haha! That is true YankeeBill! I also had to give him the speech about being a good shot at the range and being a good shot when it counts! I believe the boy suffered from the "rush" before the shot. I can't say I haven't ever done the same, but I still had to give the boy a hard time!
 
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