Hog Hunting

[Mike1TX]

Hello all, This is my first post on this forum. I recently purchased a new Suzuki 4x4 ATV and a Marlin 30-30 rifle.....is this caliber going to be ok for hog hunting in central Texas? Also are there any tactics for hunting on an ATV...stalking?
Thanks for any help.

 

[Coondog]

Mike.. I have never hunted them by ATV, but I think it would be really hard in your area. The best bet would be to hunt a feeder or walk an area that you think they might be in.. You have to be really quiet and keep the wind right. They are really hard to hunt that way down here....

 

[Mike1TX]

Originally posted by Coondog@Sep 10 2004, 11:46 AM
Mike.. I have never hunted them by ATV, but I think it would be really hard in your area. The best bet would be to hunt a feeder or walk an area that you think they might be in.. You have to be really quiet and keep the wind right. They are really hard to hunt that way down here....

Thanks, so is the best way in central texas to hunt hogs is with dogs? What about spreading out dear corn in known areas for a few days, then setting up couple hours before dark? Are daytime hunts very succesful, or nightime with big spotlights? I'm new to this, and have never hunted hogs.
I have a Marlin 30-30 with a BSA lighted reticle scope...this should work?
Thanks

 

[Coondog]

Dogs are definitely your best bet around there if you can handle it.. If not, they move a lot at night, so a good spotlight and a bait pile will help you out.. You can find them during the day if you get to do a lot of scouting and figure out where they are bedding, eating and watering... But, this time of the year they seem to move more at night when it is cooler...

 

[Mike1TX]

Thanks for info...

 

[switch]

Mike1tx, I have hunted hogs for several years in California. When I first started all I had was a Marlin 30-30. When I showed up at pig camp getting ready for the hunt, the guide looked at my gun and shook his head. He felt it wasn't big enough to drop a pig. I had it set up with a 3-9X scope.

My first pig was killed with a 100-yard, offhand shot, while the pig was running. I hit the 154-pound meat pig in the back of the head and he dropped in his tracks. The second pig was larger at 204-pounds and dropped with a neck shot at 50-yards. If you can place your bullets and know your weapon, the 30-30 is adequate for pigs. However, I hear Texas hogs are quite a bit bigger than their California Brothers. I have since moved on to a Ruger 30-06 and I seem to have the same result. I do always shot for the spine of neck on these animals. Pigs are nasty and you definitely want to make sure you place a round someplace it'll do some damage.

I don't use the 30-30 anymore for pigs, but keep around to remind myself that the guides were wrong. Good luck.


Switch

 

[Mike1TX]

Originally posted by switch@Sep 24 2004, 08:25 AM
Mike1tx, I have hunted hogs for several years in California. When I first started all I had was a Marlin 30-30. When I showed up at pig camp getting ready for the hunt, the guide looked at my gun and shook his head. He felt it wasn't big enough to drop a pig. I had it set up with a 3-9X scope.

My first pig was killed with a 100-yard, offhand shot, while the pig was running. I hit the 154-pound meat pig in the back of the head and he dropped in his tracks. The second pig was larger at 204-pounds and dropped with a neck shot at 50-yards. If you can place your bullets and know your weapon, the 30-30 is adequate for pigs. However, I hear Texas hogs are quite a bit bigger than their California Brothers. I have since moved on to a Ruger 30-06 and I seem to have the same result. I do always shot for the spine of neck on these animals. Pigs are nasty and you definitely want to make sure you place a round someplace it'll do some damage.

I don't use the 30-30 anymore for pigs, but keep around to remind myself that the guides were wrong. Good luck.


Switch

Thanks for the info...I'll remember the shot placement info.

 

[BGH831]

Must be nice living in Texas bait,spotlights,feeders.....Makes hunting more like going to the grocery store huh! Not to mention lack of gun laws like we have in California.

 

[bzzboyz]

Originally posted by BGH831@Sep 29 2004, 12:18 PM
Must be nice living in Texas bait,spotlights,feeders.....Makes hunting more like going to the grocery store huh! Not to mention lack of gun laws like we have in California.

BGH831. As a matter of fact it is VERY, VERY, nice. I wouldn't live anywhere else. Unlike California, pigs are not game animals here, they are 200-300 Lb. rodents that people want to be rid of. That being the fact, any means available is pretty much allowed.

By the way, we hunt deer over feeders as well. That ought to really tick ya off.

God Bless Texas

 

[barel74]

Pigs here in Ca are like bigrodents nobody wants around, too. It's just that our gov. is a little more money hungry than in Texas.

 

[jkhunting]

Hey Ca., Oklahoma will not let us hunt them at night, but we CAN bait them and deer. Both are a bit of a problem here.......TOO MANY!
We have an EARLY goose season for Canada Geese ( a REAL BAD problem with them.) Then a regular season later. We have a LATE SEASON on Snow geese. The Regular season only allows 20 per day per person. The late season is different. No plugs in your shotgun, elect. game calls, no possesion limit, hunt for 30 minutes AFTER sundown.
Wish you were here to help us with all these problems.

Some of the wild pigs do get REAL BIG here, took 6 of us to put one on the back of a pick-up last year. Even then we almost dropped him. Bring enough gun!!!!!!

To the new guy with the noisy 4-wheeler. Leave it at home if ya want to even see hogs. I like to walk and stalk them in weeds that are about 8 feet tall. Hog tunnels everywhere. Walk in on a hog trail. They can come from ANY direction! No dogs, walk in very quite, I carry a 20 inch slug barreled Remington 870, and use Remington Copper Solid sabots. The petals fold back and snap off, then you have a real penetrator of a slug. Average range of my shots is less than 50 feet. A .30-06 with Winchester Fail Safe 180 grain bullets will NOT make an exit wound on a big hog. A 12 ga. slug won't either, but IT has GREAT knockdown power. A wild hog can cover 8 feet in a single bounce, he CAN clear a 4 foot fence in a single bound, if you do not kill him outright, or break his neck, he WILL keep coming once he locks-on to you. He WILL run past dogs and other people to get the one he is locked onto. A 400-500-600 pound wild hog will drag dogs along with him when he charges. Leave the little .30-30 at home. It is good for thin skinned game NOT for hogs of size. Never can tell when you will walk into one. BRING ENOUGH GUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And bring bullets for bear or moose! Not deer bullets!!!!! Be ready to make a killing shot at 10 to 12 feet, at a fast moving target that will run through a bush instead of around it. EIGHT FEET IN A SINGLE BOUNCE. Tusks that are from 3 to 5 inches long. Guess what happens if YOU miss?

 

[Bluka987]

switch, I can't believe somone told you a 30-30 wasn't big enough to kill a pig, thats rediculous, whats the smallest grain bullet a 30-30 has like 150gr? i have killed many pigs with my .22 mag, you just have to place the shot like you said. Now ive never hunted in texas, but I have watched hunts there on TV and a 30-30 is only going to give you about 150yd shot max, and you have to be pretty comfortable with your rifle for a shot like that. I like to think of the 30-30 as a "brush gun", in florida, youve got some real thick woods, and at close range you don't have to worry about the bullet going of course when it hits a twig, like you would with somthing like a 243. And about hunting from a 4-wheeler, Ive been many leases here in florida, where you can drive around in the back of the truck, and find them in the open without even scaring them, i killed 3 like that about 6 months ago. Sorry i couldn't give more info, but ive never hunted texas.
Good luck
Bluka987

 

[Mike1TX]

I think my 30-30 will be ok also...I've asked around a few hog hunter here also. I only plan on using the 4-wheeler to drive to an area, or to bring a kill back to my truck...I was not going to chase the hogs down with it...and shoot while riding like Roy Rodgers....

 

[larrysogla]

Mike1TX,
Are we talking about spot & stalk??? Then the big boars(250 lbs. +) will not be exhausted like in a pack of dogs hunt & chase. The behemoths will be full of energy & pack razor sharp slashers. If it feels that the escape route is towards you, it will charge & a 30-30 spine or headshot will stop it, but on the other hand, a 12 ga. pump/semi-auto loaded with slugs will thump harder & definitely has more knockdown power short of a 458. mag. I am too old to risk hide & limb just to put lean pork in the freezer, so I thump them with a .300 mag., .338 mag., 45-'70 loaded with moose/elk ammo & 12 ga. slugs. Amazingly the big pigs still sprint like greased lightning for about 100 yds. even after being shoulder shot with these thumpers. After seeing this time and again, I am well past experimenting with anything less than 2,000 ft./lbs. muzzle energy & less than .30 cal. bore. Anyway, shoot straight & then fire a 2nd shot, that big pig may drop on the first shot but I have seen them get up & run too. Now, practice with your rifle on moving targets

. 30-30 ammo is cheap so it should not be a problem. Load it with 170 grainers, it will have better penetration, which is what is needed with hogs. God Bless & good eating!!! larrysogla.

 

[clovishunter]

I took my first hog last year while on my way out to target shoot w/ a 30-30. It was not my first choice for a hog rifle, I have a .444 for that, but it sure did the trick on this central california 150 lbs. boar. I was able to stalk to w/ in 75 yrds. and had a big rock as a shooting rest. The result was a heart shot that left him standing dead on his feet for 8-10 seconds before he crumbled where he stood. The 150 gr. FNSP blew up his heart, looked like a doughnut, and exited the other side of his chest causing traumatic damage all the way through.

The thing is, this was not a Texas sized brute, and I had plenty of time to set up for a precise kill shot. You can't controll what size hog you may encounter, or exactly what situation you may encounter them under. If you feel completely at ease w/ your level of hog expertise, and practice your shooting often, including real world hunting scenarios, then have at 'em.........but if you could afford another rifle w/ more ummphh, then that would be preferable. Lever action 30-30's are awesome, lots of fun and more powerful than often given credit, try it on the Whietails, and look for a .300 Win. Mag. or .300 Win. Mag. wssm. They are both thunderbolts that can hammer the biggest and nastiest of 'em. Larger calibers can knock the stuffing outta them as well, but they have much more recoil which can make shooting something to dread.
Good luck

I wish I was in Texas

 

[ImThere]

Brian aka clovishunter do you hunt private or public land ??? and is it close ????just wondering I would like to go on my first piggie hunt soon!


Thanks,

Ricky

 

[clovishunter]

Public 99% of the time, but I have been known to post flyers around The US Post Offices in areas where I know there are pigs. Non-hunting property owners are often tired of the hassels associated w/ pigs and sometimes willing to let someone come to help.

That's what has happend at a resort here in fresno county....... My brother inlaw is a fireman and was out at the resort doing routine checkups and got involed in a conversation w/ the owner who commented about pigs being a major problem there. He mentioned me to the owner and that I was always chasing pigs, deer, bear, or something. The owner asked him if I could come out and kill AS MANY AS POSSIBLE. This guy wants 'em gone so bad he said (privately) he dosen't care how it's done, he even suggested this be done at night and that tags are my option as he just wants 'em gone.
Now I'm not going to get myself jammed up w/ DFG over this, I know the rules and regs. My point in mentioning this is that if one can find private property owners w/ pig trouble it could be a little slice of heaven.

Public property hunting for pigs is tuff, but it can be done if your willing to put up w/ getting skunked most of the time. I tuffed it out and it was just that much sweeter when I finally began to score. I personally feel that 1 public land pig in california is harder to get than any 10 on private land or on a pay to play hunt. We are right at the point where the pigs are starting to appear on the public ground I usually hunt (2 tags filled in the past year). They move around a lot and are only at certain areas at certain times of year. I have yet to achieve the status of a master hog hunter, but I am definitely getting better at it. I am starting to figure out how they move and operate on the ground I hunt. I know that the acorn drop that just started in the ******** area will bring 'em onto my area over the next month or so.
To answer your last question, yes it is close, about an hour away.

 

[wmidbrook]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

I recently purchased a new Suzuki 4x4 ATV and a Marlin 30-30 rifle.....[/b]

Heck, in TX, you should have just bought a knife and done it bulldogger's style. Get one of those kill switches that attach to your wrist, ride up to the hog, hop off your quad onto the hog and stick it good....

Seriously, welcome and it sounds like you're loaded for bear. Good luck.

 

[clovishunter]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div>

ride up to the hog, hop off your quad onto the hog and stick it good....[/b]

I've heard that all it takes is a 3 inch blade.......

 

[dreaminhogs]

Ya, but real men(Texas) only need 2.5"