Originally posted by Halo
Impressive, but sad the poor hog had to endure three hours of slow death from inadequate caliber and marksmanship.
The boy reportedly was backed by guys with high power rifles. Rather like an African safari with bwana and guides and beaters.
They got a nice trophy and lots of meat, so it was a genuine hunt, but not a very accomplished one.
Seems to me if you have a weapon or a situation where you know a decent kill is questionable, you shouldn't take the shot.
It was probably NOT an inadequate caliber, although if it was a 500 S&W, it probably had a marginal bullet. Might have been a poor shot though. Both wild boar and feral hogs are like dinosaurs. It is extremely difficult to get a one shot kill, even with a high powered rifle. I've seen hogs shot through the chest at close range with a 30-06 live and run for over an hour, and cover 2-3 miles of ground. Most hogs are way late for their own funeral. And a hog that weighs over 1K# isn't going down quick and easy for anything short of MAYBE 50BMG. Hogs of that size are extremely rare, and in the game world probably rank right around African Safari class big game with regards to difficulty to kill. Most of those hunts don't end with one shot. And few people in the U.S. own African Safari class dangerous game weapons. A 1K# hog has the skin and bone structure of Cape Buffalo, Rhino, or Wildabeast.
Unless you get a really rare shot where you can put a bullet directly into the hog's ear, or into his neck AND snap his spine, the hog WILL run. Or at least try. When hunting hogs, if you cannot get the ear shot, you shoot for the shoulder. If you get a good hit in the shoulder with the right bullet, he's on the ground and you can finish him. Head shots often result in a failure to penetrate because of the shape of the hog's skull and the thickness of the bone. Hogs will run forever and 3 days with a lung shot to pulp and a hole in their heart.
You cannot count on getting the ear shot, and the thing is, hogs are out of control and the wildlife agencies are desperate to thin the herd, so they have spring season, and extend the fall/winter season. Personally, I carry a 44 Magnum with either hard cast lead or jacketed 300 grain bullets, clocked at 1300+ feet per second (not for the faint of heart, or the nimrods) AND my back up 45 Colt Ruger Blackhawk with the same basic load. I aim for the shoulder about 90% of the time. I shot a 300 pounder through the chest. ONCE. The exit wound was the size of a softball. He ran for over an hour.
Most people around here consider my 300 Winchester Magnum to be way too much gun for the area. Even that ain't really enough for a hog that size IF you DEMAND a one shot kill. People around here just don't have 458 Winchester Magnum rifles and the like. And those big guns are expensive to buy and feed as well. Unless you handoad, and 90% don't, even 45-70 or 444 Marlin aren't enough. And those are likely the biggest rounds to be found around here in any numbers. We have a couple of 45-70 lever guns in our arsenal, and they are $1K guns. WAY beyond the average hunter's means. I'm looking at a 50 Alaskan. My wife will probably use it on me if I buy it. Because it is really a bear gun (hence the name Alaskan, as in Kodiak and Grizzly), and we have only black bear around here (the 44 Magnum will take one reasonably easily). But I have hopes of a trip to Alaska to bear hunt.
