FIRST PIC--16 G Uggie. Hunting quail in Texas I always carry a couple of deer slugs. My dogs love to hunt pigs.SECOND PIC--Merkel 141 30-06
Bob Jurewicz

Very nicely done Bob.

Pete

The second HOGG looks like a real brawler!

Nice guns (and hogs) Bob.

Do your dogs scent track them? Are you running EPs or Setters or GSPs?

I have taken a couple of much smaller hogs while out quail hunting. One with an ounce of 7-1/2s into the side of his head at 10 feet, one at 30 yards with double ought buck. I try to carry a couple of cartridges of double ought buck in my hip pocket. The one I killed with 7-1/2s was right after a big boar had chased my 30 pound French Brittany over a hill.

Mike

Mike,
2 GSPs and an English Setter. They track and when working together can make some groups of pigs circle up with boars on the outside to deal with the dogs. I don't like their attraction to the pigs. It is dangerous for the dogs. 2 years ago my Setter was gored. Not bad but could have been. Didn't change her nor did two serious encounters with porcupines.
I run a GPS on the Setter and she tends to worry me a lot since she doesn't give up on those pigs.
Bob Jurewicz

Yeah, I don't kill porcuipines or hogs anymore. Finally occured to me my dogs would start hunting them. When I run into them now I start yelling for the dogs and trotting off in the opposite direction. Only one of my dogs has hog hunting experience now. The others have never seen a hog killed.

Best,

Mike

Spoken like a true dog man, Mike. If you don't want your bird dog to point rabbits don't ever ever ever shoot one in front of him...Geo

Mike and George,
I'm not sure your theory is correct. I know many bird dog and field trialers who don't shoot anything and their dogs love the "trash".
Bob Jurewicz

My Drathaars always loved fur. Cows, deer, cats, etc. I now run 4 Setters, and they sometimes show interest in deer and bunnies. A tickle with the TriTronics usually clears their head. I would have to set it to 6 for some of the wirehairs. How are those pigs for eating?

Fred,
Pigs 100lbs and less are great!!! The big ones I don't like.
Bob Jurewicz

Like this one, Bob?

http://www.gon.com/article.php?id=2604&show=articleimages

Stan

Mark,

Very nice. Where did you take it?

Pete

France

A few years ago I picked up a book on hog hunting in CA, and it had a chapter or so devoted to hunting hogs with 20 ga slug guns.

A friend hunts hogs regularly, and even the big boars seem to make pretty good sausage. The smaller ones make great steaks and chops.

Is there a season or limits on them, or are they like vermints?

Wow - very cool.

Is 7x57mm enough gun for most hogs?

How long are most of the shots?

I would love to hunt them.

Thanks

OWD

In CA, I think they are open all year but you have to have a pig tag to shoot one. Last time I looked, the pig tags came in books of seven (or something like that). I think they are the most widely hunted big game animals in this state, and can actually be found on public lands, especially on the central coast.

The guys I know generally use a .270, sometimes a .300 Win Mag if they are after the big ones. I'm planning a trip this year and will probably carry a .243 for smaller meat pigs. For our conditions, I would think a light .308 would be about ideal.

No season in Texas. Their Varmint! I've shot them with everything from 22 Hi Power to 12G Slugs. 7x 57 will do the trick with shoot placement OWD. Sometimes the big ones take some killing, they are tough.
Bob Jurewicz

Good point. I will also be carrying a Ruger Blackhawk .357 or a S&W Mountain Gun in .44 Mag, just in case.

You'll do much more with a rifle, especially with a 'twin tubed dream'.

Mike, if you are referring to my sidearm choice, you gotta read the whole thread. I'll probably be using a .243, with the handgun just for backup.

My backup is a Kimber 45. Great finisher. I always carry it on the Ranch due to the Pig Problem.
Bob Jurewicz

Nothing wrong with one of those, but I think I'd rather have the reliability of a wheelgun. Plus, the revolvers are lighter and easier to carry (for me) when there is a lot of walking/hiking involved. I might even have my conversion cylinder done by then to use the Blackhawk as a .357-44 B&D (.357 bullet in necked down .44 Mag brass).

Is a Collared Peccary a hog, albeit small? This one was shot with a 12 bore H&H Paradox gun in Argentina.

I was going to say yes, because it looks a lot like our javelina, which most consider to be a small pig. It looks like a pig and cooks like a pig, but apparently it is no longer classified as a pig. From Wikipedia:

"The collared peccary (Pecari tajacu) is a species of mammal in the family Tayassuidae that is found in North, Central, and South America. They are commonly referred to as javelina, saíno or báquiro, although these terms are also used to describe other species in the family. The species is also known as the musk hog and Mexican hog. In Trinidad, it is colloquially known as quenk.
Although somewhat related to the pigs and frequently referred to as one, this species and the other peccaries are no longer classified in the pig family, Suidae."

I hear that the problem is so bad in Texas they want people to come from everywhere to hunt them. That would be an excellent trip as long as some bird hunting is thrown in there as well!
Anyone know of any package deals available?

And what’s the dog of choice for hunting hogs, curs???

I was waiting for someone else to chime in on the dog question, but no one stepped up, so here goes. I don't actually know of anyone in So Cal who hunts hogs with a dog or dogs, although I am sure there are some who do. Typically, hogs here are a spot and stalk proposition, although you can sometimes stumble into them at close range.

FWIW, one of the cable TV channels (Discovery?) recently ran a series of episodes on professional hog hunters (animal control types) in places from Florida to Hawaii, and those who used dogs had everything from a ginormous Great Dane to small packs of pit bulls. I have read that some of the Southern boys use Walker Hounds, and I can understand why. My all time favorite dog was a Walker that was 132 pounds of gristle with jaws big enough to pick up a pit bull and throw it around.

Thank you sir, we might be talking about the same breed of dog as the Black Mouth Curs look similar to a pit bull but has longer legs. The term 'Black Mouth Cur' I've only heard once and from an old hillbilly friend of mine in West Virginia and just might be a slang term for the actual name of the Walker Hound breed.
No?

Funny but you should see the gun he uses to hunt hogs with, an old beat up LC Smith, I've never seen a gun with this much wear, not a pump an autoloader or a single shot, but I've never seen a more beautiful double!!

Replacement,

Collared Peccary and Javalina are the same animal. We have them in AZ. They are neither as smart or as hard to hunt as pigs. Eye sight is poor and they don't seem to hear very well either. But they do have great sense of smell. Menace to dogs which they figure are coyotes and are proficient at killing. I have had one encounter on a friends Golden Retriever which turned out pretty nasty. Killed two with 12ga birdshot at very close range to get them off the dog. Dog was within minutes of bleeding out when we got her to the vet, but she survived thanks in part to being an overweight golden with lots of fat and hair around the neck. Javalina are not hard to kill, and a center fire .22 is enough. Typically run about 40 - 50 lbs around here.

We used to hunt peccary at night in the jungle in Belize when I worked down there. We needed them for food. We'd walk on trails until we heard or smelled them then turned out our lights and went quiet to hear where they were. They would just walk right by us for some reason and when we were surrounded on would come the lights and the show began with single bbl 16ga shotguns and one Winchester .22 auto and of course our machetes. Talk about fun! We also shot the larger ones that they called "Juaries", which didn't taste as good. The Peccaries were really good. We'd smoke them on a wood rack over a low smokey fire and just hack a piece off when hungry. The pigs were all a royal pain to clean as they were caked from stem to stern with bloated ticks. We piled the hides, put kero on them and burned them and the ground for 10ft around. We also kept parrots, McCaw, toucans, and a couple of turkey like birds, a small deer, pigeons, and a kind of partridge on the smoker whenever we found them. We all carried sling shots and rocks to harvest the small birds. Except for the river otter and one hawk, that was all some fine eating.

Where I hunt in West Texas the ferrel hogs are a huge problem. I kill every one I get a chance to. I have had dogs really torn up by those nasty things. I shock the heck out of my dogs when they fool with the hogs. I think it helps some, but they still want to mess with them. I'm thinking of getting one of those M16 rifles and start at the back of the pack and work my way forward, but I think even with that I wouldn't even make a dent in the population!! The nasty things seem to be everywhere, but worse in low lying areas and around water.

Buzz,
Just got back from my place in Colorado City. Short work trip-lots done after the fire. Two(2)less pigs in W TX. Didn't have a double this trip.
Bob Jurewicz

Bob: I am just North of you in Spur, TX (White River Lake). The fires worked our ranch over too. It has been dry, dry, dry there. We are very worried there won't be many quail this year. I'm sure the hogs are doing ok though.

Colorado City?

My wife's family was from Colorado City. I don't think any of her close family lives there anymore but we visited twice while we were out in the area, the last time in 2009, to see the homes where she spent time as a child and visit with her relatives in the cemetery on the East side of town. She still has a small interest in a family holding near Hermleigh.

We have a DRSS get together down at the 4K ranch near Brady, Texas in Jan of every years just after the Dallas Safari Club show!
The DRSS (Double Rifle Shooter's Society) hunts hogs with evry kind of double rifle from little 7mm to 577NE doubles. There are lots of hogs on that 96,000 acre low fence ranch, and we normally shoot around twenty big hogs between about 15 shooters in two days! Lots of fun, lots of pork, and lots of good practice with the double rifle that pays off when the big Cape Buffalo, or lion is on the minue in Africa!
Here is an example one morning's take!

More hogs with doubles

Gun is a Jon Haberta 450BPE. Been trying all week to take apig with it and finally got my chance today. 70 yds standing broadside. I hit it a little back but it only ran about 100 yards. I only wonder what this gun has seen in the 110 years before my current care?
Bob Jurewicz

Bob,

That looks like a very nice double, do you have a few close-ups (of the gun) that you could share with us?

Regards,

Buchseman

Bob,

Very nice, thank you.

Buchseman

Wow that looks like great fun.
Some pretty big lookin pigs there.
I bet the smaller ones are good to eat, that plus its must have a whiff of danger about it, if it gets up close n personal?.
It would make a nice little hunting trip, going to Texas for a few days Hogging,
Prolly the best chance I have at something that might bite back.
I'll have to look into that
Bob, that 450 rifle is gorgous
cheers
franc

Franc,
There is only a bit of risk. I have only had 2 boars ever challenge me. Neither survived. They really are not dangerous game. Now, for the dogs they can be a problem. My 2 older dogs like to hunt pigs more than birds. They will actually try to herd the pigs which sometimes will circle with young and sows inside and young boars outside. Older boars are very solitary but due run with the pac sometimes. The setter has ben gored once, not serious. I like pig hunting better than deer, great fun.
Bob Jurewicz
Bob Jurewicz

Here's a hog of a different stripe, a warthog, taken with my homebuilt .303 British, September 11, 2011.

Ron,

Well Done! And done with class,too. He looks like a toothy old tusker. Nice Job and i like your rifle a lot. Bob

Ron,

Unless I heard it wrong, isn't the warthog the critter said to be proof that God has a sense of humor? They sure are interesting. Your home-made .303 looks very nice, I'm sure it's a rewarding feeling to take it out for a hunt. Curious, what was your choice of bullet for your hunt?

Buchseman

Here is a boar that I shot two weeks ago using a 1935 Greifelt Model 272 9.3X74R O/U double rifle. In contrast to Ron's African beast (above) the boar pictured below is of Polish lineage, being exported first to Canada from Poland, and then to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The weather conditions appear to be a bit of a contrast as well.





Here's the non-boar side:



Buchseman

Beautiful gun!! Great boar!
Bob Jurewicz

That is a good boar Buscheman!!! Nice rifle too and I notice the "sprig of evergreen" in the hogs mouth, nice touch from the old world, I like it!