Understanding The Perfect Hog Shot

[Zen Archery]

Dropped a nice 240ish lbs boar at 4am with our little 85gr Hammer Hunter zipping at 3340fps.
My inner nerd about shot placement and bullet performance emerges in the video.
I will post pics and a video in the other post about "Hammer Damage" since YouTube has not found necropsy videos favorable.

 

[scrmblr1982cj8]

Nice hog!

I agree with your ideal shot placement. I've never lost one when hitting them below the ear. I've lost a number of hogs shooting center mass.

 

[Coyote Shadow Tracker]

I hunt hogs with my coyote rifle - Fred Eichler Rock River .223 with a Night Vision D-760. I use SGK 65gr and shoot about 2" below the ear. Drops them every time. Most of them - the legs just fold up under them and lay right where they were shot. I have also used Barnes TSX Tipped 62gr Copper with good results. Basically any good bullet (velocity & weight) you hit the hog with 2" below the ear is going to take them down.
You can hit them in the boiler room and they keep on going. Try to find a blood trail when they have "Blood Stop" hides like a fighter jet fuel bladder. I would rather drop them in their tracks. Just have to wait for the correct shot.
You can also hit them in the shoulders with a good bullet and they will drop.

 

[ArkiePaul]

My "best" bad shot ever was a head shot on a sow from about 20 yards. I was shooting one of my long bows from my knees and aiming for the chest! I was hoping to get both lungs from a perfect broadside shot. No such luck. The arrow struck her in the head and broke. The broadhead was imbedded in her skull/brain. I followed her for about 400 yards and finished the job with my 357 mag. I have taken several hogs with rifles in several calibers, large and small, but have never had a DRT. Luckily I have never lost one. Tough animals indeed. Hope you don't mind the archery story!

 

[Chico guy]

This thread didn't get a whole lot of traction here, I was wondering if you posted elsewhere and received any push back? The shot is obviously effective and works for your set up hunting in Texas. The neck shot is contrary to most of what I've always heard recommended in settings like hunter ed or articles by "pros".

 

[flyguy1]

I personally don't hunt hogs (thank goodness, none around here, and hope it stays that way), but have lots of friends in OK/TX and they report the same thing as the OP. Shoot them in the lungs and they can get away. Very different from ungulates.

 

[Chico guy]

I personally don't hunt hogs (thank goodness, none around here, and hope it stays that way), but have lots of friends in OK/TX and they report the same thing as the OP. Shoot them in the lungs and they can get away. Very different from ungulates.

Hogs are definitely tough but they're not bullet proof. In my experience a lung shot will kill a hog just like a deer, if shoulder is not broken they may run a little before dying but generally not enough to get away. Maybe in a super thick cover or marsh recovery may be tough. I'm all for the shot described by OP if shooter is capable. My curiosity is if people are arguing for the shoulder/heart lung shot which in my experience is what the majority of guys recommend.

 

[xsn10s]

I've only shot one hog and that was at the Tejon Ranch. Just a meat sow about 125 lbs on the hoof. Traditional heart lung shot using 180 gr Speer Magtip (old school ) going about 2750 fps. The shot was at 50 yards and the winesses said there was a huge blood cloud and splatter. The sow took off running like nothing was wrong and the guide told me not to shoot again. Well about 250 yards latter he said if it crests the hill shoot it lol.. Luckily it gave up right after. If I ever hunt hogs again I'll try that "interstate" shot. It makes a lot of sense.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Hogs are definitely tough but they're not bullet proof. In my experience a lung shot will kill a hog just like a deer, if shoulder is not broken they may run a little before dying but generally not enough to get away. Maybe in a super thick cover or marsh recovery may be tough. I'm all for the shot described by OP if shooter is capable. My curiosity is if people are arguing for the shoulder/heart lung shot which in my experience is what the majority of guys recommend.

So I used to keep track of how far hogs ran after I shot them and would compare it with the damage done inside. Any time you do significant upper CNS damage, either directly by structural damage (damage by bullet or damage by bone forced by bullet) or indirectly (hydrostatic and/or hydraulic shock), the hogs drop in place. Double lung shot not breaking a shoulder and a hog might run upwards of 100-125 yards (though usually less). Double lung breaking a shoulder, 100 yards (though usually less). I had a double lung double broken shoulder smaller hog (120 lbs, IIRC) that managed 35 yards. Single lung shot (quartered shot where bullet went through the shoulder into one lung and then into the abdomen with minimal liver damage) 460 yards (singular example). Heart shots can result in hogs going upwards of 100 yards (though usually less). If I was to guess (pure speculation on my part), I would say most heart or double lung shots result in hogs running less than 50 yards. Usually, I find that if I make a double lung shot that drops the hog in place, the bullet has either physically hit the spine or passed right next to the spine such as the spine is within the wound channel of the bullet. However, sometimes when the bullet just passes closely by the spine (spine in wound channel), the hog still manages to run. In other words, hydraulic shock is not 100% effective.

Basically, I assume that if you don't do significant CNS damage, expect the hog to run. Even with a good heart/lungs shot, it can run whatever distance adrenaline and remaining 02 will carry it for the next 10-30 seconds. Based on some of the places I hunt, 10-30 run time can mean that the hog is effectively lost.

 

[Chico guy]

So I used to keep track of how far hogs ran after I shot them and would compare it with the damage done inside. Any time you do significant upper CNS damage, either directly by structural damage (damage by bullet or damage by bone forced by bullet) or indirectly (hydrostatic and/or hydraulic shock), the hogs drop in place. Double lung shot not breaking a shoulder and a hog might run upwards of 100-125 yards (though usually less). Double lung breaking a shoulder, 100 yards (though usually less). I had a double lung double broken shoulder smaller hog (120 lbs, IIRC) that managed 35 yards. Single lung shot (quartered shot where bullet went through the shoulder into one lung and then into the abdomen with minimal liver damage) 460 yards (singular example). Heart shots can result in hogs going upwards of 100 yards (though usually less). If I was to guess (pure speculation on my part), I would say most heart or double lung shots result in hogs running less than 50 yards. Usually, I find that if I make a double lung shot that drops the hog in place, the bullet has either physically hit the spine or passed right next to the spine such as the spine is within the wound channel of the bullet. However, sometimes when the bullet just passes closely by the spine (spine in wound channel), the hog still manages to run. In other words, hydraulic shock is not 100% effective.

Basically, I assume that if you don't do significant CNS damage, expect the hog to run. Even with a good heart/lungs shot, it can run whatever distance adrenaline and remaining 02 will carry it for the next 10-30 seconds. Based on some of the places I hunt, 10-30 run time can mean that the hog is effectively lost

Thanks for reply and info. My experiences have been very similar. I found often that a lung shot with no shoulder hit will drop the pig, but they'll get back up and maybe run a short distance sometimes just in a circle. I think the 10-30 seconds is right on. They last about as long as the last breath. My curiosity with neck shot is if CNS isn't directly hit or destroyed from shock would you expect the same?

 

[dwightb]

I have shot a lot of pigs at night under a corn feeder. Pigs being pigs, they don't stand around. They are there to eat as much as is there and then get! Head or neck shot is too small on a moving pig for me! I prefer the traditional boiler room shot! Use the biggest bore you can handle! When there is lung on the ground they don't go far, if at all! Run them through length wise and they go nowhere!

 

[Zen Archery]

The neck shot is contrary to most of what I've always heard recommended in settings like hunter ed or articles by "pros".

Hunters Ed is about game animals (elk, deer, turkey, etc). Lungs are the widest surface area to cover for marginal errors (particularly for new, inexperienced hunters).
My selfish motive of not wanting to get poison ivy, oak years ago had me researching how to drop these invasive species. The shot placement in the video is spectacularly efficient.

 

[Zen Archery]

In my experience a lung shot will kill a hog just like a deer, if shoulder is not broken they may run a little before dying but generally not enough to get away. Maybe in a super thick cover or marsh recovery may be tough. I'm all for the shot described by OP if shooter is capable.

"Get away" can lead to lost animal.

As for capable. The surface area of the lung not covered by shoulder is actually smaller then the shot placement suggested in the video.

 

[Chico guy]

Hunters Ed is about game animals (elk, deer, turkey, etc). Lungs are the widest surface area to cover for marginal errors (particularly for new, inexperienced hunters).

Thanks for reply Zen. Believe it or not wild pigs are considered Big Game in my state. Not really my point though.

I'm more interested to hear the feedback (if any) from the video. I see you're representing Hammer Bullets and I know the world of social media can be volatile. I shared my experience above shooting mostly heart/lung ( I've shot a handful in head or neck at close range) basically because that is what I was taught from the beginning.
I can see the benefits of the neck shot described but see potential for difficulties depending on hunting conditions and shooter.

"The surface area of the lung not covered by shoulder is actually smaller then the shot placement suggested in the video."
Hitting the shoulder may not be ideal for meat loss but it's likely going to put animal on the ground quicker.