big boars and bows

[brushape]

What are peoples experience with shooting big boars with bows. Ive heard on big boars the ideal shot is hard quartering away aiming at the last rib. I did this last night on the biggest boar ive personally had in my sights and it seemed like the arrow didnt penetrate the shield and just went up in between the shield and skin. It was hard to tell because he turned the opposite way immediately after the shot. No blood was ever found or arrow recovered by three guys scouring the hillside where he went. The three friends watching the shot from a long ways away said it sounded like I hit a tree with the arrow. I was shooting a rage 2 blade (yes not ideal for big boys but it was my last chance) Is this a common thing or did I simply not aim quite far enough back to slip behind the shield? Im not great on size estimations but it was easily 250lb plus and as gnarly as they get

 

[easymoney]

My personal experiencekilling and recovering pigs up to 250lbs is a heavy carbon arrow, three blade cut on contact head , slight quartering away shot is what I want.
That being said, my experience with other hunters losing game is that they rushed the shot, they shot even though the pig was moving, did not shoot into the sweet spot, did not have enough bow or even bullet for the job, and did not look well enough for the animal after the shot. And everyone can lose one once in a while, because they typically do not bleed well when shot with an arrow, especially in the shield or after hitting bone.
PS, I do not like to shoot bigger pigs (over 150lbs) even with a rifle, because they tend to be tougher and more gamey especially big boars.

 

[inchr48]

Where's Bruce arrowed a biggun a while back. I'm sure he'll chime in sooner or later. Hope you can find your boar.

 

[brushape]

shot wasnt rushed by any means and was exactly where I aimed, Ive shot around 1000 shots in the last week and being fully winded before i shot i rested the lower cam on my foot at full draw and took a good 15 seconds to breath before the shot. muzzy phantom would have been my prefered tip for this boar but I havent seen any for sale near by and wasnt planning on coming into contact with something of this size. even though the season will be closed for hunting at lake sonoma I plan on going back tomorrow without my bow and looking for more sign the friend I was with and myself both had dreams we went back and got right on blood. we followed the tracks a long ways and didnt see a spec of blood

 

[cali-carnivore]

You said "hard quartering shot". Ideally you would want a slight quartering shot from any real distance. There are many factors involved- weight of broadhead, arrow, distance, draw weight, draw length, angle etc. You want to hit about 2 inches behind the shoulder when that front leg is stepping forward with a slight quartering angle inside 30 yards in an ideal situation. the only times I have had a problem with penetration is when I hit the shoulder.

 

[brushape]

it was exactly 30 yrds which is a chip shot for my bow right now, I aimed for the last rib and maybe hit one rib forward of that but in the brief amount of time I could see the pig it just didnt seem like it penetrated that much. the broadhead was brand new and sharp right out of the package. Im shooting a 2012 bowtech assasin cranked to full speed, goldtip hunter fx340 8.9gpi arrows, qad drop away rest, spot hog 7 pin sight, paper tuned last thursday and shooting great rated at 333fps out of the box.

 

[brushape]

this is basically the exact angle and shot placement I made, i was downhill of the pig though and his body was straight not bent like that

 

[cali-carnivore]

If everything you said is right, then it sounds like you got unlucky. This is the anatomy of a pig. You want to hit the lower third exactly where I said. I do not use less than 125 grain broadheads. I use expandables since they have come so far. I like the way they fly better is the main reason. Remember that the speed rating is under ideal conditions with a long draw length. If the angle was too extreme than they may explain it also.

 

[brushape]

what expandables do you shoot? I have heard bad things about the rage 2 blades for stouter animals but they are so badass for turkeys and blacktail i cant bring myself to take them out of my quiver for hogs especially since I normally target smaller better tasting ones but this was just a product of opportunity and I couldnt pass it up

 

[cali-carnivore]

I use a rage 3 blade rear deploying. I have used a few different one over the last couple years. On a large boar that seems like an extreme angle. The ribs/shoulder/shield would all act to deflect from the vitals. Even if the blade penetrates the arrow is not capable of cutting. I use the same heads for turkey/deer/pig since pig is the only one that I truly hunt without one of the others. I am always looking for pigs while hunting turkeys or deer.

 

[thewolfman]

Wow...thats too bad...with that kinda angle shot i wouldn't even shoot it with my gun.....well...live and learn...good luck next time...thanks for sharing

 

[brushape]

If you say lesson learned that is the whole purpose this thread, I'm not sure what that lesson is. I have shot a lot of animals and was 100% confident in the shot. I see people take that angle shot all the time on deer and other animals. I will update after the search continues tomorrow

 

[cali-carnivore]

The lesson may be that a big boar is much tougher than any deer or smaller pig? You did nothing wrong by taking the shot. Less angle if possible on big boars? You were in the select group that even got a shot, so congrats.

Where you been Wolfman? I think I know so congrats.

 

[myfriendis410]

I would guess (if the arrow did deflect) that due to the extreme quartering angle it did as you thought. However; a big plate hog can eat an arrow and go off to die without leaving much of any blood trail. I like the Rage two blade for bigger hogs, but if the arrow did something wonky it's gonna be a loss. It does happen. I would say for big plate boars that the pocket might be a little better--if you peel the plate off a big hog it kinda dies as it approaches that area of the chest. I hate to see it happen but that's hunting.

A heavier shaft and heavier broadhead MIGHT have made a difference. Maybe. You certainly weren't shooting a light setup; I would call it medium weight (350 gr. to me is light, 400 or so medium and 500 being heavy).

I wouldn't be surprised if you go out there in six months and find a big gnarly pig skull.

 

[thewolfman]

Any other animal it would b fine...not boss hog....i ve done enough of pig hunting to never b surprised ....i wouldnt b surprised u see that pig again but alitl skinnier...i say that because my buddy shot a pig...2 months later i shot that same pig...he hit the pigs leg...which the bone was completely gone but the pig was fine climbing up and down the hills...and another one we shot it had a pass thru with the bullet sticking on the other side...the hole had healed...so i m not surprised to b surprised... lol

 

[Deleted member 33033]

On this hog, my shaft smacked the edge of the shoulder, the most heavily armored spot on a boar. An inch away from the spot I was trying to hit. Fortunately the shaft penetrated halfway effectively striking the vitals and caused a very visible limp to Farvenruttin’. He slowly limped away and I quickly nocked another arrow and estimated the range at 40 yards, put the pin on him and released. Apparently he was closer because the arrow passed over his back close enough to shave him. He didn’t like that! He spun and looked directly at me, then went crazy and charged. It seemed surreal. I nock a third arrow as a 700lb pissed off hog with the longest cutters I have ever seen is running at me from within 30 yards. I draw and line up a frontal shot, trying to ignore the pucker behind me and the snorting, snapping and grunting from the front. At 10 yards I release the arrow and run for the rocks. The shot stopped him for a nanosecond and then he charged right past as I made it to the safety of the boulder pile. My mouth was dry and I was still in shock at how quickly I went from hunter to bull’s-eye. Minutes later the big boy expired in a shady spot and I was posing for photos. After being dressed and quartered it was found both broadheads reached the vitals within an inch of each other…one from the left shoulder and the second thru the chest near the same shoulder. I was using Axis arrows (10.3gpi) w/ a Montec 100gr 3 blade broadhead, 27" DL, 65lb DW and the 1st arrow was shot from 26 yards. Not fast either, only 250fps.

 

[easymoney]

bruce,
Now that's a hog...
The ranch I hunted last weekend had a reported 750lb hog wandering around ( I saw the tracks and they were the size of cattle, but this ranch does not run any cattle), that had been seen by multiple people. That is not something I would personally want to harvest. Well, maybe for the wall, but not for the meat...

 

[brushape]

Where was that pig taken? it looks more like the sea lions that beg for fish next to my boat than the pigs I hunt

 

[99luftbalut]

The only pig I've shot so far was about 600 pounds lighter than Bruce's pig.

I did get a complete pass through with the arrow sticking into the mud on the other side. I think the fat layer on pigs acts like a fix-a-flat -- It was raining/misting but there was no blood trail that I noticed (though there was blood along the arrow) even though the pig expired after trotting into the underbrush less than 10 yards from where he was hit.

The shot was pretty much a broadside behind the leg and a bit higher than I wanted, but while I missed the heart, the Montec did sever his aorta.

Used a 60# 2012 PSE Brute X with v6 Victory arrow and 100gr Montec CS broadhead. Pretty light arrow (my dl is something like 26.5") but it did the job and the pig is delicious.

 

[KTKT70]

Apparently he was closer because the arrow passed over his back close enough to shave him. He didn’t like that! He spun and looked directly at me, then went crazy and charged. It seemed surreal. I nock a third arrow as a 700lb pissed off hog with the longest cutters I have ever seen is running at me from within 30 yards..

wow... hot dam.. where do u get a hog that big and what do u do with it. Is the meat even any good or is it just for a wall? I also wonder how fast that bad boy was.. like is it a slow kind of run or can he still move pretty fast. Not that i want to mess with a pig eather way. But just wondering iF they get slower and dumb when they are so big and old.

congrats on such a big ol boy