130lb pig vs. 17hmr

Just took this guy about 45 min ago. Was walkin to stand to do some varmint hunting and saw him goin to town around one of my feeders. Hit him right below his left ear. 17 gr. vmax dropped him right there. I really didn't think a 17 would have enough juice to drop a hog. I was wrong. It's all about shot placement. Savage 93r17btvs at 90yds.

WTG!!!!!

Shot placement, plus trajectory and penetration. On top of that, with a young hog, softer bones.

At 90 yards, you are looking about 1950 fps and 150 ft lbs (assuming 24" barrel, less for shorter barrel). That ain't much.

It all turned out well, but if you didn't think it would do the job, then why did you shoot the pig with it?

Never gonna know if you don't try. I just had to see if the 17 could do it. I had some faith, but not a lot of faith.

take it ya never been ta a slaughter house

There's probably some difference between point blank range and 100yds

Point is it's freakin cool that rimfire $@?!ed up a hog like that

Thank you, it needed to be said. If'n you can run the numbers through a ballistics calculator, you CAN know without trying. And you would have known that the HMR would have BARELY enough steam to do the job at that range. It worked this time, so yippee for that.

Slaughter house? Sticking the muzzle up against an animals temple and shooting at distance are MILES apart from each other. Comparing apples to torque wrenches at best.


Chupa

It's a freaking pig.. I'd have shot it with a slingshot if that's all I had...

The OP didn't go hunting pigs with a .17 caliber. He was varmint hunting and the opportunity presented itself so he took the shot. The 17 wouldn't be my choice for pigs either, but I would have done the something as the OP.

Good shooting.

good point their is a difference between point blank & 100yrds

T-bone hiii five!

Ya they gotten a lot more humain about killing. yes, i know its just a pig.

It's a feral pig, does it matter if dies now or an hour later?

I was speaking to the "Don't know till you try" comment. As far as "It's just a "X"...", That's just a justification for people to do what they know in their heart to be wrong.


Chupa

To an ethical hunter it does.


Chupa

Not shooting it would have been wrong!

X marks the spot jaja

There is a difference between hunting and eliminating an animal as destructive as feral hogs.I will use whatever I have handy to kill them,be it a rim fire or center fire.The bottom line is to eliminate them.

That's YOUR personal ethics (which suck in my opinion), everything I shoot at deserves a swift death and my utmost effort to accommodate that. That's how I do things and anyone who hunts with me will do the same or be shown the gate.


Chupa

So you shoot everything in the head?

Why would I?

I want to know at what point in any of my posts did I hint or insinuate that? Twisting a conversation to suit your argument only proves that you have no evidence to support your ethics or lack thereof. Once again "It's just an X..." is nothing more than justification to do what you already know is wrong.


Chupa

Who cares its a hog!! If he ran off and died in a creek bottom and fed the yotes who cares.. Good job buddy!! I shot a boar bout 300#Friday night at about 35 yards with my hmr bc that's all I had my brush gun was n the back seat yeah he ran off do I care? Nope..one less pig eating my deer corn

Tell that to people in Africa who hunt with spears!

And the price of eggs in China is?

Irrelevant. You don't think that African Spear hunters don't do EVERYTHING within their means to promote a swift death of their prey? Just how far do you think they would prefer their tracking to be? A mile? 2 miles? 10 miles? Or a couple hundred yards? Keep twisting the conversation, you're proving my point for me.


Chupa

Ok I'll quit don't worry my ethics are intact just trying to get your goat!
Chupa but there's a reason you can shoot a hog with just about anything in Texas .

OP, well done.

They are good trackers !

How much damage to hogs do to your land? if you still want to be "ethical" about shooting hogs that's good for you.

But, for most everyone else a pig is a nuisance that need to be dealt with as such. So if i happen to shoot a hog in the gut and he runs off so be it one less porker to destroy crops, feeders, and the land.

and until you start making your living off the crops and the land that these pests destroy. You can be as ethical as you want, until they start taking money out of your pocket they all need to die any way possible.

Also, a quick death would be a head shot everytime. Not drowning in their own blood as their lungs collapse. JMO

I agree that if it were all I had I would try to kill the hog. And I understand the arguments about hogs being destructive and killing as many off as possible. They deserve as quick and humane a death as we can give them regardless. They aren't evil, they are animals doing what God created them to do. And in taking them on the hunt we are doing what He created us to do. But there is and ethical standard by which we all should hold and that is a quick and humane kill whatever our quarry. There is no honor in intentionally wounding an animal and letting it die a slow death just so you don't have to remove the carcass from a field. And I agree with Chupa on that. I find that happening at my place you will be shown the way out and not be invited back.

when the oporkalips comes ant these zombie pigs come looking for you, you will wish you made a clean ethical head shot. I for one bow down to my pig zombie masters...

It comes down to other people's opinions and some trying to force theirs on the rest of us with a guilt trip. The fact that the pig is dirt is hard to deny. So the facts prove beyond any doubt it was an ethical shot. End of story. When I come on here to read about hunts and hunting, I really don't want to be preached to and I don't think I'm alone. Please try to keep your feelings and opinions to yourself so we all can enjoy OP's story without being hassled.

My signature says it all and I live by that rule with whatever rifle I may have in my hand at the time.

I killed my biggest hog ever with a .17HMR. Just like the OP I was varmint hunting
(squirrel) and came upon a group of pigs out in the middle of a field on a fall day. I had plenty of time to pick the one that I wanted to shoot and found the cross-hairs settling on the brain-case of a sow that was 350+. She was quartering away at about 70 yards. I made a "smmcchhh" sound just like you do for coyotes and she turned her head just right, and I let her have it right behind her right ear. She dropped on the spot like a safe had fallen on her. I have her skull with the bullet hole in it, and no exit hole. It penetrated the skull just fine leaving a dime size entrance hole. Now the other shots on the other pigs that were running away.. I got some squeals, but nothing like that first shot.

OP, you did a great job. Keep killing them with whatever you have on hand at the time.

He wasn't hog hunting. It just happened to show up. I would have done the same thing, it's a feral hog. They can cause so many problems if you let them get over populated. I'm not surprised the .17 did that to him. You put a great shot and the .17 is a bad dude.

You still have no idea what it is I'm saying. Truly hilarious. If eradication is the goal, a rifle is a poor way of doing it. Still just self justification to do what you know is wrong.


Chupa

I tried the new red mountain dew one time... I thought it was wrong.... but it wasnt

Chupa[/quote]

I tried the new red mountain dew one time... I thought it was wrong.... but it wasnt [/quote]

quit feeding him

Tx Hunter, you are way off trying to take a hog with that little ol 17gr bullet!







You definitely should have stepped up to the 20gr xtp

i have dropped hundreds of pigs with a 22lr..they are a invasive species and should be eradicated as such
my bullet of choice is the 60 grain aguila subsonic..though i dont hunt anymore unless i am very hungry

I'm 2 for 2 with the 17hmr myself. They were just as dead as the ones I shot with a 270.

The .17HMR isn't in question, stop bringing it up. I never said that an HMR for pigs was wrong, that's what is so damn funny here is that ya'll get butt hurt and think that someone is out to get you. I never said that he shouldn't shoot the pig with an HMR. Funny as hell that ya'll can't see the point, very myopic.


Chupa

Nice shot

Didn't think you started this thread. Congrats to the OP.

shot one about have again bigger then that with a hmr he was looking at me and wouldnt let me at the ear so i tried for the eye, sound like a golf ball on a hardwood floor he sat down on his but and shook his head then took off. scope was shooting 1.5" high guess to many miles bouncing around in the jeep. couple 45 in the starfish slowed him down permanently.

Good lord, some people.......to the OP, good shot. Yes the HMR gets the job done, been shooting pigs & yotes up to 100 yrds for years now with no issues. That fast little bullet turns the brain into mush in a millisecond.

well said. i dont even know what a 17hmr is let alone what it can do at 90yrds ta a hog lerned something bout shot placement. am sure tx hunter can take some kidding

It is all I can do to keep the feral hogs under control on my ranch in central Texas, and that's using two large pen traps, hunting them off off stands and hunting them at night. When there are periods of time that I can't get out there very often, they tend to get out of control again and will destroy my pastures that I depend on to feed my cattle. Now if I know I'm going hog hunting, I will take my 300 BLK, my AR-10 or my 6.8 SPC, BUT if I'm riding around and see a hog, and the only thing I have with me is a 22 rifle, there will be lead headed towards that hog, and while I hope the hog has a quick death, if he doesn't then so be it. If you want to know what will get any of my guests uninvited back to my ranch, it is them passing on a safe shot at any hog that shows up regardless of what firearm they are carrying. When it comes to feral hogs, I don't have a lot of hunting ethic. My 2 cents!

Those ARE your hunting ethics! Damn good ones at that

Thanks adam...since the feral hogs have become such a huge problem on my ranch and all over central Texas, I don't look at them any different than I do fire ants, mice/rats or scorpions....death to them all in any manner possible!

The 'ol behind the ear shot is deadly! Watched a buddy of mine drop a hog with a .22 at 50 yards with a shot behind the ear.

Great shot! I've seen hogs run off after being shot in the shoulder with a 270, 30-06 and even a 416 Rigby. Dead is Dead and a head shot should make you proud.

Nice shot tx hunter, 17 hmr will do the job, if it wasnt much then why is that pig dead, stu%$* mot&^%#%$#^s

Yes. There is no reason to inflict needless suffering on any living thing.

And for another reason, how hunters conduct themselves and their respect, or lack of it, for the animals will influence the future support of the public for hunting, which is definitely declining.

A stupid motherf#$@er wouldn't be able to see that the argument isn't about the caliber used. But in that he expected it not to work and did it anyway.


Chupa

chupathingy dont be to ignorant and see who posted that aint much, then get hot about it

....I blame violent video games for this outrageous behavior and lack of hunting ethics

17hmr very under rated !!!!!

Nice shot!

I like violent video games. Straight up, shoot em up, first person video games. Don't give a dern for the zombie crap. Really prefer saving mankind from the covenant, the US from the commies or hunting rogue dictator swine.

But I really get happy killin pigs. I hear the stuff about places over run with them. I've only seen it a time or two. Once down near Nacogdoches. Most of the places I've been fortunate to have been invited to hunt that supposedly had a lot of pigs did have some. But not like I'd like to see. And I've been darn disappointed with a couple of places I paid to hunt where they supposedly were over run with them.

I saw pigman kill one with a pellet rifle the other day on the tv. Waited for the right shot and pop goes the piggy. But it was quick and deadly. Just like the OP's shot. Did he know for sure? Not by his statement. But he sure knows now. There is one question I have for him though?

Now how was them pork shoulders?

There's a few videos on Youtube of some guy shooting them with Gamo Air Rifles. BANG, FLOP! No suffering there.

So you believe in a quick, ethical kill. I guess you would do away with trapping, at least snares & leggers? Sometimes, critters just gotta go, regardless of method or harm to the animal. Hippies might hate it but I don't really care. At least we do what needs to be done.

FYI, there's nothing wrong with that mindset. Just don't go preaching it to a rice farmer who's farm is overloaded with beavers or a sheep farmer with yote problems.

Right in the MEDULLA thats what i like to see!

Guess one shouldn't mention bow hunting around here?? And probably shouldn't say that I've seen (with my own eyes) a 6x6 bull dropped in his tracks with a bow.

I'm sure the OP didn't plan on the pig running around suffering just like the guy that gut shoots a buck with a 300 win mag and tracks him for two days. Just like I doubt he expected to have such negativity rather than a pat on the back for making a nice shot.

Here's a tip: your 300 win mag cannon is worthless if you miss and VERY painful if you miss-place

Just picked up a savage 93r17brj and some vmax...got me fired up