Buck shot

We were shootin hogs in Texas several years back and my buddy shot two that were anywhere from 35 to 40 pounds with 3 1/2" 00 buck. We never recovered one and I found the other 80 yards from where it was shot. He'd hit it broadside and from close range and it still made it that far. Those things are extremely tough. I'd want the meanest stuff I could get if you're just gonna go this one time. If you'll be walking through thick brush to kick them up the shotgun would come in handy.

If possible I'd be shooting for the head and neck regardless of what size or type of shot is in your gun. Those things can take some heat and keep living. At least long enough to run into the thickest brush they can find.

I shot a 180 pound boar that was caught in a snare 6 times in the ear hole with a .22 revolver once and he just shook his head and ran at me. Shot him in the shoulder with a .243, 95 grain Nosler Ballistic Tip from 10 feet away. We put him in my buddies Suburban and started driving and we could hear the boar breathing back there. If buckshot don't hit an artery, brain or heart they're gonna run off. Take something that's capable of knocking holes in their skull. Coyotes are tough but those things are on another level.

I've seen a 110 grain V-Max out of a 300 Blackout splatter on a 150 pound sows skull from about 15 yards. She just laid there on the ground squirming and squealing, still very much alive. Their skull is thick. Slugs are always an option too. Ain't no skull thick enough to stop one of those. If I was busting brush that's what I'd have. You'll get shots where you're only shooting at the back end doing that a lot of times. You'll want something that's gonna lift their ass end off the ground when it hits them.
 
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Yellowhammer said:
I’m all for using some at $2 a shot.

After a couple of pages of a google search this salt creek was the only place that came up and it looks like it is $55 for 5 rounds (on sale) or $10.50 a round. Where can I get some for $2 a round?

I guess what am saying if it cost over $10 a round plus the other expense that goes along with hunting them, I will take a rifle or use buckshot.

That is just me. I’m sure it is great stuff. For the price if certainly should be.

If I had plenty of money I might get some.
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You’re still missing what I’m saying. But alright
 
I think you are saying it is better to get them with one shot of TSS than 3 shots of Hornady BB.

Maybe, but those 3 shots are still almost half price.

Everything has its place. All I am saying is the place for a shotgun when hog hunting is only in certain circumstances because most times a rifle is the better option.
 
Just putting myself in your shoes but if this is a hunt that's more of a quest to get meat and possibly a trophy boar I can see maybe spending the money on TSS shot. If it's something you'll do time and time again for years to come or if it's strictly a population control type hunt I'd use lead. If it's to cut down numbers, and some probably won't like it but what you ought to do is get the biggest shot possible, get a group under a feeder and unload on them. Whatever falls, falls. Whatever runs off will be buzzard bait. Cheapo 00 buck and a cylinder bore would suffice in that situation. If you need whatever you shoot to stay put use the hardest hitting round you possibly can to make sure that happens.

That's just my opinion.
 
OKRattler said:
I've seen a 110 grain V-Max out of a 300 Blackout splatter on a 150 pound sows skull from about 15 yards. She just laid there on the ground squirming and squealing, still very much alive. Their skull is thick. Slugs are always an option too. Ain't no skull thick enough to stop one of those. If I was busting brush that's what I'd have. You'll get shots where you're only shooting at the back end doing that a lot of times. You'll want something that's gonna lift their ass end off the ground when it hits them.
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I've shot a number of hogs w/55 gr. NBT's while predator hunting w/careful shot placement, all but one w/good results, Half way between ear and eye (broadside) has never failed, but learned the hard way, no frontal head shots.

The one that didn't work was 200+# boar coming directly toward me on a trail. Saw the bullet splash between his eyes through the scope @ about 30 yards. Knocked him down but he regained his feet immediately and retreated over the small hill from whence he came.
 
It costs me right at $4.50 per shell to reload 3" 1-1/2 oz TSS coyote loads. I have to use lead free shot. 1-1/2 oz of TSS #2, #3 or #4 shot all work great on coyotes.
 
Yellowhammer said:
Was the 300 BO splatter with a sub sonic?
I killed several with 110 vmax from the BO no problem but full power loads.
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No sir it was factory Hornady Black ammunition. It hit it right in the forehead. Which seems to me like the thickest part of the skull. I don't know that to be a fact but it seems like it.

On the other hand I shot a big sow right between the eyes and she never even let out a squeal with Remington Hog Hammer 130 grain TSX. Same shot placement but that bullet seems to really hold together well. Almost too well. I've heard ricochets after hitting 150 pound pigs with that 300 Blackout. They peel back and lose petals inside the target but they sure penetrate through some pretty good sized pigs.

All I can figure is that V-Max hit the thickest part of the skull and at that range it didn't have much time to slow down at all. And being a somewhat brittle bullet it just blew a big chunk of the skin off and left a big wound. I have shot probably 80+ hogs with that bullet and while I had a few run a ways before they died I never would have thought it'd do that from that close. I had one other one that lived from a headshot but that wasn't the bullets fault. I shot its bottom jaw off. I say lived, it lived for a little bit. It got another one through the eyeball.
 
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This was 110 grain right in the shoulder. Dropped in his tracks. I believe this was a soft point. Been using 125 grain pro hunters in the Black Out lately.
 
Straight-on head shots are all about the head position at the shot. If the hog's nose is up there is a risk of the bullet sliding up or along the side of that long-sloping skull. Catch them with the head down and it is lights out. My son and I were side-hilling along a long ridge one day and caught a big boar working his way up the side of the mountain. He was walking right to us, we had the wind on him and so we froze against a big oak tree and waited. When the boar got to about 30 yards I told my son to shoot him. The hog saw my son move getting his rifle up braced against the tree trunk, stopped walking, and lifted his head looking up the hill at us. I was just about to tell my son to shoot him in the center of the chest where the neck meets the chest when the .30-30 popped off. The hog hit the ground and I saw hair fly off his head. The boar rolled ten yards down the slope until he hit a tree big enough to stop him and then he was up and like a black rocket he was off down that hill. The boy held right between the eyes and with that angle did no more than give the hog a fancy haircut.

I was turkey hunting one spring day and had a group of five hogs feed through the woods right to me. I was sitting on the ground on a side hill bench and let them come to about ten yards. There was a sow about 125 pounds that was sideways to me, head down rooting under the leaves about ten yards from me. I put the bead on that old Benelli 12 gauge murder machine and sent the 3-2-6 load of Hevi13 just under the ear hole. Backstrap down. Headshots happen with an understanding of angles and positions.

Long story short, rifles for the win. I wouldn't futz with a shotgun for hogs.
 
Yellowhammer said:
Problem with headshots is more about hitting the brain than it is bullet performance. Lot of area on a hog’s head that may not drop him.View attachment 5872
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+1 Head shot at this angle I would aim for the hog's left eye.
I prefer a broadside head shot, preferably half way between the base of ear and the eye, adjusted for any slight angle. This shot, taken at last light as the hog charged past in close proximity was not perfect but the 55gr NBT finished the job for me. Who says close only counts in handgrenades and horseshoes? :D
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Pistol for short range work on hogs, not shot gun! First one I shot was texas heart shot 20 yds ( he was RUNNING), 40sw 165gr cast. Went all the way through, broke front leg and found him 100 yds away. I've shot downed hogs in the skull with the 40SW, they still just look at you. Takes a while to know they are dead. I started using 135gr FTX in the BO, son gave me a few boxes for Christmas. Shot an armadillo @ 50, he still moved so another stopped him. Drove over and saw the nice big hole in the side. Shot a hog @ 100 next nite, know I hit it but it went off onto the thicket. Think it was a gut shot. I don't like them close enough to need to defend myself.
 
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I wouldn't waste my time with buckshot because it's just not very good whenever it comes to hogs. I rather take a .22mag and shoot them just below the ear than to use buckshot.
 
Y’all must have different hogs than we do if it takes all that to drop them. We use a regular ole .22 when they’re in the trap and 10 hogs only takes 10 shots.
When running dogs, I’ll use 2.75” 00Buck out of a 12ga and kill them.
For night hunting I use a .308 and even when gut shooting them so they’ll run off from the bait pile they’ll generally fold up close enough I still have to haul them off.

Between the eyes up an inch or ear hole with the .22.
Just lead the snout with the buckshot.
And just hit the dang things anywhere with the .308.
To me, hogs die easier than deer.
 
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Spurchaser said:
Y’all must have different hogs than we do if it takes all that to drop them. We use a regular ole .22 when they’re in the trap and 10 hogs only takes 10 shots.
When running dogs, I’ll use 2.75” 00Buck out of a 12ga and kill them.
For night hunting I use a .308 and even when gut shooting them so they’ll run off from the bait pile they’ll generally fold up close enough I still have to haul them off.

Between the eyes up an inch or ear hole with the .22.
Just lead the snout with the buckshot.
And just hit the dang things anywhere with the .308.
To me, hogs die easier than deer.
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If I had it my way I would rather kill them with my bow, period. However, if someone calls me and tells me that want a meat hog, I will usually just take my .22mag and walk around and shoot one just below the ear.

As for buckshot... I too ran deer dogs for years in the river swamps that had their share of hogs so I've seen tons of hogs shot with buckshot and most just keep truckin' or need to be shot several more times.
 
In my defense with buckshot, most were under 30yds or so. One big ole boy did a complete stop like he’d hit a wall but didn’t fall over. The second shot made sure he was just dead on his feet, lol.
Nothing bleeds like a bow shot hog, lol. They generally don’t make it far either.
 
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