I’ve got a friend in TX, and I’ve been thinking about asking him if he knows anyone who’s doing hog hunting. I don’t have any larger caliber rifles outside of my husband’s Kar98, and I know my .223 isn’t recommended.
“...and I know my .223 isn’t recommended....”
Dunno about so called “recommendations”, but a .223 loaded with 50-60 gr. Nosler ballistic tips seems to work just fine on em. It’s more shot placement than anything else. I’ve seen one guy take one with a .17HMR round right to the head and she dropped like a rock.
It’s all about shot placement...
.223 or 5.56 is THE preferred round for shooting pigs from helicopters. Must be hollow points. That is about the only round used to kill pigs from helicopters, and that round kills many per year!!
Your .223 is FINE for hogs up to 100 pounds or so. - We use JSP or JHP for that hunting. = You husband’s K98 is FINE for ANY feral hog, using ANY of the standard 8mm Mauser factory loads.
(Fwiw, my very petite lady shoots a REMINGTON Model 7615 pump carbine in 5.56NATO/.223 & does WELL with it out beyond 150M.)
“Wee piggies” that dress out to about 60 pounds are like ambrosia, dressed out & put on the pit whole.
More to the point, killing feral pigs is a SERVICE to your State. ====> DO NOT WORRY about “killing too many”, as they reproduce about like rabbits & DESTROY more than they eat.
Btw, the BEST “TEXAS RED CHILI” that I’ve ever had is called INVASIVE SPECIES CHILI & made with half feral pork & half Axis deer.
(IF you hunt Whitetail deer OR are like me & are given so much venison that I need NOT hunt them, MIX IN HALF feral pork with the venison for grilled hamburgers. = Most venison is too lean for my taste.)
Yours, TMN78247
*** “.223 isn’t recommended” ***
I have my (2) go to outfits ... .357 Mag (Carbine and Revolver) and my 44 Mag (Carbine and Revolver) but I hunt on the ground ... if I was in a Stand .223 coming out of a Semi is plenty good unless you want the meat because the .223 doesn’t drop them right away and I tend to add a few more rounds just because I can.
I have taken down a lot of pigs with a .223. Shot them in the ear canal. Bullet goes into the skull and bounces around. They drop right where they were standing. Also I take down coyotes with the same round. Head shots work best.
5.56 is plenty of gun if you do your part in shot placement. I have 3 AR10s in 7.62 now but many moons ago all I had was a DPMS in 16” 1:7 twist with irons in the 90s. We hug hogs down here for sport they are a nuisance no closed season ,no bag limits, and no license needed. Do not use any of the varmint polymer tipped rounds this is where the myth you need Xx sized gun comes in. I can’t count the number of sounders of hogs that have meet their doom to me and my Former Marine’s 5.56 using core lok bullets. We make a weekend out of it beer, nighttime hogs with spot lights and dogs and now we use NVGs and dim lasers.
These are the proper rounds for larger game. They are absolutely deadly on hogs and deer too for that matter. In a fast twist they punch through both sides I have never recovered a round ftom an eating size hog 150_250lbs we only eat the females the males get left for the Yotes. Hey Yotes gotta eat too.
https://www.a3gmunitions.com/product/remington-223-62gr-core-lokt-ultra-bonded-box-of-20/
Cheers