243 Bullet type for hogs

[Mel Carter]

On this past hog hunt that I did, I used my sons 243. I recovered both bullets in the skin on the opposite side, the were barley mushroomed and one seemed to have parts broken off. I was using the 100gr Nosler Partitions, I use these in my 300 mag and they work great. Why didn't the bullet mushroom more? They were both lung shots through the ribs. I know these are good bullets and felt they would open up more, I switched from Wincesters power point plus to these. I've dropped 2 deer in their track with the winchesters, should I go back or stay with the Partitions. I know that hogs are tough and need to be hit in the right place to bring them down quick, so I'm not suprised he ran from a lung shot. Just suprised the bullet didn't work to it's potential.

Your thoughts.

 

[Speckmisser]

Mel,

For hogs with the .243, I can't think of a better bullet. However, keep in mind that .243 is way at the bottom of the scale when it comes to hog hunting rounds.

I'm wondering if the hog you shot was fairly young and tender, since that performance sounds more like something I've heard of with the partition on deer rather than on hogs. On a tough old boar or sow, I'm hypothesizing that you'd have seen much more expansion.

Only one way to test a hypothesis, though... you'll have to go back and do it again!

 

[SDHNTR]

I'm with Speck here. For a lighter caliber there is no better bullet than a Nosler Partition. They are a different bullet than the Powerpoint. NP's will expand more slowly and penetrate more. The Powerpoint does exactly the opposite, it will expand much faster. The Nosler design is exactly what you want in a hog bullet, especially from a .243. It sounds to me like you had great bullet performance. IMO a bullet should lodge under the off side hide. Had you hit bone it would have opened up more. But had you hit bone with a Powerpoint it may have exploded and you may have lost the animal. Powerpoints are a great deer bullet, but for hogs you can do no better than the Nosler Partition. And it will definitely kill a deer handily too. Stick with what you got. The reason your hog took two shot is because they are tough critters, and the .243 is on the marginal energy side for lung shots. Want to drop one in its tracks? Stalk real close and shoot it in the head or neck. The .243 is plenty for this shot but you have to be very confident with your weapon to make it work.

 

[songdog]

Another vote for Partitions here. If you were recovering a bullet from a dead hog it must have done its job.

You have to remember that a heart/lung shot on any animal will not drop them in their tracks as a general rule. While completely deadly, a heart shot will still let an animal run for 10-30 seconds in reaction to the shot. He's dead but doesn't know it yet.

If you want to put it down in its tracks put one through the shoulders. You'll often hear stories of guys bear hunting where this is the norm. Sure, one through both lungs will kill the bear but they can do an awful lot of damage in the last 10-30 seconds of their life. Same concept with sheep hunters. An extra 10 feet means that the sheep may be able to make it over a ledge/cliff where you'll have no chance of recovering the animal. Through the shoulders and he can't go anywere.

Yup, you'll loose some meat. You just have to make the call on the shot given the terrain that you're in and the type of critter in the crosshairs.

 

[Speckmisser]

Mel,

Just wanted to toss in a suggestion I was given a while back... that's the neck shot. On a hog, as I was told, you've got almost as much kill zone on the neck as you do behind the ribs. Halfway between the ear and point of shoulder, put that bullet in and watch the critter drop.

I did it on that big sow I shot in Tejon this spring, and I have never seen a big game animal drop so dead, so quick. That was an -06 with Ballistic Tips (a terrible hog bullet, in my opinion), but performance should be as good with any good high-velocity bullet. Even the .243.

Like SD said, if you can get real close and have lots of confidence in the gun, a shot behind the ear is also magic, and deadly with most any caliber. But that's a tight shot, and should only be taken under ideal circumstances.

Bottom line, your hog is dead from the heart/lung shot and he didn't really go all that far. The first bullet probably would have been enough, given a moment or two to expire.

 

[songdog]

I'll echo Spec's comment. One of the first pigs I shot years ago while in High School was a 250lb boar in the neck at about 100 yards with a 130gr Silver Tip out of a .270 Winchester. I was aiming at the normal heat/lung zone but a little case of pork fever got to me and it went right into the center of his neck. He did drop about as fast as any big game animal that I've seen hit.

Upon skinning I found that I didn't even hit the spine but the shock (when you find that jell-o looking stuff that use to be muscle in an animal that's been shot) aroudn the sine was tremendous.

The only problem with this is that it is still a smaller kill area and offers less margin for error than a heart/lung shot.

 

[yotegetter]

I shot a hog with Remington 100 gr. core-lokt .243 with no problems at all. He was a young 250 lb. boar that went down with one shot at about 100 yds. Shot him right behind the shoulder went by the heart. I recovered the bullet and it expanded well.

 

[Mel Carter]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I know 243 is marginal for hogs, but for some reason this rancher doesn't want me to use my 300 mag. I know hogs are tough and I expected him to run after the shot. The bullet looks like it didn't hit any bone, maybe a rib but that's it, so I guess it did what it was suppose to. I was thinking of doing the neck shot as well, but he was on the move and I wanted a little more area to shot at. We'll see what happens next time. I'm going to have my son use the 30-30 unless he's too far out, than i'll give him his 243. I'll let you know what happens. We are heading up to D5 on the 27th so it will probably be the weekend after we get back.

Thanks again!!

 

[DILPRXO]

I've always been a fan of the more sturdier constructed bullets..with the Corelokts and Partitions being particular favorites.I'm impressed with the accuracy of Ballistic Tips and Swift Scirroccos but it seems like when it gets down to hogs I always reach for one of the 1st two styles.As for shot placement I perfer the front shoulder to just about any other vital area.IMHO the neck shot should be used very selectively with regard to hogs. A shoulder shot "pulled" slightly under field conditions will strike either the neck or the lungs. Both vital areas. Whereas a "pulled" neck shot has a high probability of hitting a hog's lower jaw. Breaking that jaw is not going to do very much, if anything to slow the animal down if it isn't recovered will die from starvation. Again just my opinion.

Take care

 

[Speckmisser]

Chris,

When a neck shot was first proposed to me, I had similar concerns. That was my preferred shot on whitetails with my .243, but I could shoot that rifle like nothing else I've ever owned (and I shot it a LOT). But I was pretty skeptical when it came to taking a hog with the neck shot. Elkron on this forum helped change my mind. The exchange where he convinced me can be read on this thread. There is also another link inside that discussion to a larger discussion/argument/debate over the heart shot vs. the neck shot.

Bottom line, as Ron explained and I found when the critical moment came last spring, the killzone on a hog's neck is about the same size as the heart/lung/shoulder shot. It was an extremely easy shot, and one I'd be confident in taking 90% of the time.

However, if the hog was moving as Mel said, then I probably would've gone with the shoulder shot too.

 

[DILPRXO]

Hi Philip..
I think we are on the same page here with regards to the neck shot...as I said above I thought it should be used very selectively..meaning a shot used under certain almost specialized circumstences. Elkron qualified his advice to you by saying"That is about the size of a football and if you are an average shooter using a rest this can be done from 100 yards out. and from what I recall you followed his advice basically to the letter on your March hog..you shot from short range approximately 50-60 yards out from a sitting/braced position..and it was successful for you.

But I am still unconvinced that the neck is to be preferred to the heart/shoulder shot are far as hogs in general are concerned. The chest contains more vital organs that the neck..it is surronded by bone which when breeched by a bullet effects a hog's ability to function/move.(Broken limbs and ribs are nature's way of telling us to slow down

) The fragments from those bones being broken create secondary wounding to vital organs as they enter the body through the wound channel. With the neck it appears to me you are attempting to traumatize the spine..what else is there other than the major veins...and again if you get alittle pumped up and pull the shot you risk hitting that jaw.

Again these are just my opinions,no flames intented, and I post them more as food for thought for someone new to the sport who might think the neck shot is the way to go under all circumstances.I think you'll agree from your statement about targeting the shoulder on hogs on the move the neck area should be targeted only in certain situations and not used all purpose.

Take Care bud

 

[Speckmisser]

No flames taken, Chris. And I do think we agree... at least mostly.

I found the neck shot as easy as the classic shoulder shot, particularly at close range (inside 100 yards with a good, scoped rifle). But as I said, in Mel's situation with a moving hog, I think instinctively I'd shoot at the shoulder/vitals. Definitely at longer range, if I took the shot at all, it would be shoulder/vitals... mainly because that's the shot I visualize so often that it would be second nature to take it.

The neck shot should probably be considered like any other tool... properly applied to the right application, it is perfect. But when you try to drive a nail with a screwdriver... well, you get the picture.

I'd like to learn more about the physiology of the neck shot, because I think there's a lot going on there besides just trying to break the spine. Every neck shot I ever made, both on deer and now on a hog, has resulted in shattered vertebrae and severed spinal cords. But from what I understand, you don't have to directly hit the spine to make a quick kill.

Anyway, there's a very good reason that the shoulder/vitals shot is the "old standby". It works.

By the way, I'm looking forward to the next Tejon trip to test the theory a little more. You need a ride?

 

[DILPRXO]

Ride?

In the Tactical Vehicle??

Rainy Roads

Yeah bud...I'll ride with ya..cause you, me and Scott..together we bring home the bacon