Thank you and God bless you slso

Nothing wrong with a .17 rifle. It is a great round and I love using it. Having said this it is not the right round for shooting hogs. Unless you can put a round around a hogs ear or thru his eye the chances are good your going to lose that hog. Based in the information the OP has given a 12ga would be a better choice. I love the .17 Savage but if you told me we were going hog hunting it is not the one I would reach for. My .02

Reggie

Agreed Reggie, that was the point I was trying to make. The antagonist who continues to drag this thread out appears to be more interested in being right than having a discussion.

Unfortunately, the posts get less and less readable and more nonsensical as the day goes on. I always give thought to the fact that many people type on phones and other devices, but at some point, inarticulate and sometimes bordering on illiterate take away from any point the antagonist is trying to make.

I don't have a dog in this fight, I'd never shoot a pig with a .17. However, regardless of what Mr. Professional Hunter tries to argue, I shoot dozens of coyotes each year; mostly with a .223, my brother pops them with a .22-250, but he just (yesterday) bought a .204 from Les Johnson (predator quest guy) so we'll see how that round does. Having said that, I've still killed more, or at least as many coyotes with a .22LR than any other cartridge in my lifetime. Does that make it ideal? No, but it clearly has been effective.

I've never shot a pig. I've tried lots, never had an opportunity to pull the trigger. Given that, I wouldn't want to waste my opportunity on an inferior cartridge, if I was only allowed one shot. I'd also never want to put any other person in potential danger, which is all the more reason for my comments.

Bottom line, I agree, Reggie, given the OP's statements, it sounds like an excellent scenario for a 12 gauge, probably with buckshot, but slugs would do as well. Our Division of Wildlife uses 12 gauges and buckshot and helicopters to keep hogs out of Colorado on the Oklahoma border. Seems to work for them, should work for the OP as well.

My opinion, make a point based on facts and leave all the unnecessary rude commentary out, it makes this a better board and a better place for us to all learn from one another. That's why I'm here, and I'm sure most others as well.

Thanks, Punkin. I have a Mossberg 835 that my buddy is Camo-Dipping MAX-4 Advantage. In the meantime, he let me borrow his Stoeger for the dove season. However, I could shoot 3.5" from the Stoeger, but I don't have the proper choke tube. My Mossberg on the other hand, I have all I need and can't wait to get it back. I've been reviewing 3.5" 00-18 Pellet Shells already. No slugs since I have a smooth-bore. I'm anxious to try my 7.65 Mauser Argentine as well. I shot the pig below with a Weatherby Vanguard .243. Lung shot thru-n-thru. Ran 30 yds. Approx 250lbs.

I think of hogs as pest and would ear hole one if the opportunity presented itself. It would be a target of opportunity thing with me. Hell I would shoot one with a 22 or air rifle if given the chance. I hate them and would never pass up the opportunity to kill one. Now if you knocked on my door and said lets go hog hunting I would not be reaching for a rimfire rifle. It simply is not the right tool for the job. My favorite hog slayer is a lever action 30/30 but any centerfire will do the job.

Reggie

Hmmm, my opinion would be to use a 12 ga from an elevated position to most effectively drop the pig, and make for a safer trajectory. I am not a ballistic expert, however, have always been taught to shoot down from above to reduce the risk of an errant bullet causing harm to others. Anything is possible...no matter how much you try to prevent it. Be safe out there.

They wont with a 308 - but if you hit them high with a 243 a big one will run off.

They wont with a 308 - but if you hit them high with a 243 a big one will run off.

Dad has a Savage 99 (old lever action) in .358 Winchester that he swears by for hogs. Unfortunately, it's one of those, "This is gonna hurt me more than it hurts you," situations. The 99 wasn't exactly built for recoil absorbing comfort! I think my .300 win mag is built for more comfort than that old monster!

well how was the hog standing when you shot him behind the ear, a perfect broadside shot you need to be in front of the ear, a quartering away shot is when you place it behind the ear

Quartering away. He dropped instantly and kicked around. It took him about 10 seconds to run with his head burried in the ground. After shooting a pig with a .243 thru the lungs and watching it run, I swore my next pig shot would be in the head.

A/C lover (freon?), clearly the biggest issue in your kill shots is that you went Army, me and the boys from USAF would just drop in an A-10, pop off a few thousand rounds from the front gun and pigs would be dead. I never understood the desire of the ground crew to make things difficult! Haha!

TCU AFROTC Det. 845, Class of 1999. Hoorah Flying Frogs!

Ha! Anyone that can play video games is qualified to shoot from a Specter 130 as well. I could've joined the Chairforce as well and never had to dig a foxhole or sleep on a SCUD Missile. Keep in mind the Army has more aircrafts than USAF. HAHA!

well then step up to a 22 hornet, its all i use and havent had one take a step.
17 gr of lead is a bit small.

Comical

You have 1000 acres inside the city limits of a town of 115K and you can't find a safe direction to hunt?

As for your drive time, nobody really cares about how long it takes you to get where you hunt. That doesn't change the correctness of what you were doing.

You can use .17 hmr for pigs just fine, but you have to be very precise in your shooting to be sure that the shot placement occurs in tandem with trajectory through the body and that the round will penetrate sufficient to do the damage that needs to be done. You shot behind the ear, missed the vitals, and it sounds like damaged muscle tissue and maybe minor nerve damage. Since behind the ear is behind the head, what were you hoping to actually hit? If you could place it behind the ear, then why not into the bran?

I don't know about shooting in a populated area. I think I would be archery only, maybe a 12 gauge with #4 buck or a stout lead BB load for head shots, but I still think I would rather go with a bow.

Lately, all I have been using on hogs is my .17HMR and I love it, **BUT** I hunt from my bow stand at bow range and with fairly solid rest. Given the option I am taking a shoat first. First shots are are head shots. If I get an chance at another I will take the best available shot. Usually another head shot because shoats typically run 20-25 yards turn and listen for mama to grunt. I have taken a 180lb hog with the .17 and it dropped like a rock, but that was at 25 yards. When I hunt open country or plan on taking a larger hog I use my '06.

YMMV

-ww

Alright guys. Yesterday I set my gamecam to operate in Video mode. However, unbeknown, it didn't activate the IR Lights while in Video Mode at night. So all I saw was a dark screen.

On my way back to the truck I heard a loud pig roar near a creek. My persistence and/or stuborness made me grab my .17 "again". Well....make a long story short. I made some pig calls and lured this bad boy in within 10 minutes. One round to the head 30yds away sealed the deal.

thats a pig.... errr i mean a hog... errr i mean big one

You must have had an Air Force guy or a cub scout or something come in and whack it with a real gun, then take the credit. How very Obama of you!

Everyone knows a .17 can't kill a pig. Haven't you read this thread? I think the facts have been pretty well layed out. Sheesh. I can't believe you'd keep telling such tall tales.

Haha! I still wouldn't call it an ideal cartridge, but way to go, and way to put the haters down! I'm on team freon, except for that whole groundpounder thing. Haha.

Yep, he's up to a 50% success rate!
Just bustin' your chops FF, any kill on a pasture rat is a good one.

In all honesty, armydud, (loving term of endearment) if you want to borrow some crazy bad-[censored] rifle for whacking your next pig, just to prove a point, I'd be honored to loan you a rifle. I'll loan you a bb gun up to the aforementioned .358 Winchester. You can whack pigs to your heart's content, and I'll buy the ammo. Seriously, between myself, my brother, and my dad, I don't think there is a cartridge lost in our collective collections... .204? .222? .223? 22-250, 6mm, .243, .257 roberts, 25-06, .270, 30-06, .300 win mag, lots in between, I'm up for a loan on all. I'll be glad to provide gun and ammo, but I might want to sit in to video the hunt!

I could make all kinds of cracks about how the army couldn't teach you to shoot any more than a .17, but that wouldn't be nice, my brother, now would it? Let's do some hunting when I get down there in December, it would be an honor!

Apparently you haven't as nobody has said this.

Can and should are different determinations.