Hog shot placement question.

[YutYut]

Using a factory Hornady 123gr Amax, Where should the shot be placed? I'm debating between the heart or the head. I'm wondering if the Amax can penetrate the THICK skull. I am leaning at the heart, that way if i miss it it, is still a shoulder shot and its going down regardless to allow for follow up shot. Im using my Templar Custom 20".
here are a few images i saw online. are they accurate?

[Grendel-Gene]

Whatever you do, dont expect them to go down if your are just shooting them in the ass with cheap russian target shooting 223 ammo as they run away.....figure on shooting up most of a magazine then!!!! Ha ha ha!!!

However you do have a 20 inch barrel versus my 14.5....

[sgt_murf]

While I "should" be able to say exactly the shot placement (just don't do much Hog hunting even though they are pentiful here, not enough time off) I believe I would go for the Heart a 120gr Amax should cleanly go in the skull (depending on head angle) and stop the pig if rooting for example. That like you stated would allow followup shots in my opinion. Last time (over 20yrs ago) I went I used a 30-06 no issue with head shots dropped them like flies.
Can be difficult animals to hunt sometimes especially Hot weather unless you know their habits.

[YutYut]

haha i won't be taking a 223 along on the hunt. Just curious as i have never hunted hogs before.

[YutYut]

the weather will be extremely nice with a chance of rain. How would rain affect their day to day pattern?

[Grendel-Gene]

I dont know enough about them to tell you... i just know they are reproducing like cockroaches and they are very smart.... and dangerous.... and fun to shoot!!!!! Plus there are no tags or rules. You can shoot them anytime, anywhere and with anything. It doesnt get better than that.

[sgt_murf]

cool weather example mid 80s - mid 70s expect scouring for food on trails other areas. Hot weather high 90 plus look for wallow hole -- they will hole up during heat to cool off they can't sweat.
Cold weather will hole up but move during warm part of day for food.
Grendel gene is correct SMART and Dangerous and will charge you head on and bite you --- 200lb + Hog = no Joking matter plant two to three quickly in the skull or mouth if it is open /gaping hopefully the bullet will travel down his spine.
do a google search will reveal quite abit about habits etc

[YutYut]

Thanks for the info. My buddy and i will both be carrying sidearms. I won't hesitate to put a few extra rounds in em. i've seen some real nasty hog injuries.

[StoneTower]

Right here is a great place to shoot a hog



The first shot was 2" behind and 2" below the left ear. There was still some movement and we had hunted 3 days and this was the only shootable hog we saw so the guys I was with said "shoot it again" so I did We saw more than 100 pigs that trip but most were several thousand yards away on hillsides.

The first shot did massive internal damage and the second shot broke the shoulders and took the arteries off the top of the heart.


[quote=YutYut]Using a factory Hornady 123gr Amax, Where should the shot be placed? I'm debating between the heart or the head. I'm wondering if the Amax can penetrate the THICK skull. I am leaning at the heart, that way if i miss it it, is still a shoulder shot and its going down regardless to allow for follow up shot. Im using my Templar Custom 20".
here are a few images i saw online. are they accurate?

[sgt_murf]

http://www.texasboars.com/trapping/signs.html
this may help

http://www.huntinghog.com/food-habits-of-feral-hogs/

[txgunner00]

I've dropped many with a high shoulder double lung shot from a .223. I recommend against any low shoulder shot especially with an expanding bullet. Their leg bone below the shoulder blade is tough (on the big ones at least) and could deflect and or break up a bullet before it gets deep in the vitals.

Mid to high shoulder or behind the ear is my recommendation. If it drops low you still get the heart (provided no deflection) and if it's high you get the spine.

[YutYut]

Sounds like a plan! Thank you to everyone for the advice

[hm2 clark]

If your using a 6.5 grendel and not some anemic 5.56 you will do well. Hogs spend a LOT of time with their head down rooting so a brain shot can be more difficult to get then a chest shot. Best to avoid a gut shot if posible. The 123gr Hornady has no problem penetrating to the brain of a 300 lb class hog. I think a pigs heart may be 1-2 inches forward of where your pictue shows and again the 123 Hornady will crack the front ham bone and go throught heart. I think its better to miis forward and down not rearward and high. The Grendel will knock said piggy down, puncture through the cartilage plate,break the front thigh bone destroy the heart and break far side bone,sometime exiting critter. But somtimes despite a destroyed heart (I think pigs have LOTS of stress hormones capable of contracting distant blood vessles therby maintaing blood pressure and activity despite pump (heart) destruction.) hogs will get up and run for as long as 30 sec. this is when they get dangerous. If they get up, knock them down again and again; a climable tree can by handy. Other advice- hogs cant see or hear well so you can stalk them. They travel in heards or "passels" so dont shoot as soon as you see the first one. They move most at night dawn and dusk, and lay up during the day . They wont migrate out ouf the area they are in if not threatened. Oh and they taste good. Good hunting!

[338jdj]

If you have the patience, I shoot em just behind and below the ear. Haven't chased one yet. I would imagine the a-max doing fine but I've always used the Barnes 120 gr. TTSX

[Longshot_34]

A buddy of mine hunts hogs in TX. he prefers to drill them right through the ear.

[bigmatt803]

i have shot alot of hogs in my life. believe it or not many of them have fallen to a 22lr and 22mag all head shots of corse right where the ear meets the head pretty much in the ear hole any size hog cannot handle this shot, so you should have no proplem with 123gr amax. as far as the shoulder shot goes depends if it is a sow or boar remember a boar has a shield which on a large boar can be upwards of 2.5 inches thick and can stop very large bullets on the other hand sows do not have shields and can be easily killed with a shoulder shot from a 223 caliber and up. for a shoulder shot on a big boar i alway shoot and tell people to shoot 4 inches behing the shoulder half way up the body, because the shield is thinner and can be shot thru easier.

[hm2 clark]

That plate has is prsent in most boars. I have had a 120 gr Nosler BT come apart in one. Bullet fragments penetrated into the chest cavity but a 2 hr tracking ordeal insued. Soft point 120 gr hunting bulets like the Remington core lok have not failed me yet.

[bigmatt803]

the boars i have hunted and guided hunters on are pure european hogs ( i used to guide at a hunting lodge in sc) these hogs usually have a thicker shield than most swamp hogs i just try to stay away from the shield just cause i dont like 2 hr tracking jobs. you can still find some pretty good european blood lines in the wild i have seen a few. i have witnessed a hunter at the lodge shoot a hog with a 338 win mag at about 75 yds shot square in the shoulder it knocked him down for a few seconds hog got up and was killed with a shot to the head the bullet was lodged in the shield completely mushroomed about two inches deep. just sayin these are some very tough critters i just like to play it on the safe side with a double lung. to see what these hogs can stop go to youtube and search trackertroy under this look for the video hog stops arrow pretty amazing what this shield will do.

[fanofflyn]

I liked the one shot placement on this hog. But I used a .450 SOCOM and a 300 gr TSX bullet. I think if you shoot a hog through a thick shield or in the head, a solid copper bullet wouldn't break up too early. I'd do the same with a Grendel. I know other people use other bullets with 100 percent success, so I'm not the final judge on that. Go with what you have confidence, and you'll perform better.
Bullet went through 2 inches of coarse shield, rib, heart, rib, shield, and was in the off side hide. I've got the bullet. Nice mushroom, 100 percent weight retention.

[Texas Sheepdawg]

YOWZERS! That's a beast! Post picture of the bullet that dropped that Volkswagen size porkchop on the hoof!