# Best 308 Ammo For Big Hogs?



## Babbalou1956

My brother & his son have seen some big hogs on their land & want to get a few. From the pics some look 300 pounds or more. They just bought a 308. Any suggestions on what ammo would be most suitable? I'm thinking at least 150 grain, maybe 168. I'm not familiar who makes the best bullets for hunting rifles. Any suggestions? Thx.


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## kaboom99

Unless you're talking about hog-zilla sized bores at over 300 yards, any commercial 308 hunting ammo will flatten old porky with proper shot placement. If you're talking about some real monsters, Buffalo Bore makes a stout 180 grain SP load that hits more like 30-06, but hogs that size aren't too common in your neck of the woods.

When I used to live in South Texas, the mini-30 and SKS were both popular for large hogs and 7.62x39 is less potent than a 30-30 much less a 308. For hogs, I would just grab some cheap Walmart special 150 grain SP ammo, and call it a day.


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## Babbalou1956

Thanks.


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## high pockets

Who is "Big Hoss"?

I know "Big Jim" & Big Mama", but I am unfamiliar with "Big Hoss."

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OH! Big hogs! Oops! Never mind!


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## Craigh

Here in Florida, I've been hunting hogs all my life. I've probably accounted for well over 200 of those creatures. Maybe a lot more, and I've cleaned far more than that. Most are under 150 lbs but some have been twice that. I've used a Remington 22-250 for long pasture shots and a Sako Forester 243 Win for many at medium range. My truck gun has been either a Marlin 30-30 or a Ruger Mini14 in 223 and I've taken plenty with those. For the past 20 years, I've mostly shot pigs with my Ruger Super Blackhawk in 44 Magnum, but also a S&W 357 Magnum on occasion. My best was a very large sow at 120 yards with a 4 inch barreled S&W Model 65 revolver in 357 Magnum, and right through the neck (more luck than skill). My buddy and I paced off that 120 yards, so I'm not exaggerating. I held single handed Bullseye style, too. As you might tell, I'm proud of that shot. I even took a good size boar with my Colt New Frontier using six rounds of 22 Magnum before it dropped. 

I guess what I'm trying to say, if that most any 308 hunting ammunition should work just fine. It's probably more than you really need for most hog hunting. I personally like Winchester or Federal soft-points, probably 150 grain, but I don't think it much matters. Price would be a guide for me. Online, I might even go for PPU or Fiocchi in a 150 grain soft point. I've had good luck with both. If you feel the need, go 180 grain soft point, but I don't think that's necessary. The only one I'd steer clear of would be Magtech. I've had too many failures with it. Sellier & Bellot is now owned by Magtech, so I don't know about them either. Remington is bankrupt and I've just not used them that much other than shotgun shells in 50 years of shooting, for some reason. I just rarely have gotten as good groups loading Remington brass as I have Winchester/Western. No reason why. With others I might be the opposite.


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## blackshirt

4 or 5 of these will help also....


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## Craigh

blackshirt said:


> 4 or 5 of these will help also....
> View attachment 15838


I've hunted pig with dogs, but not to kill them. A couple of dogs will hold the pig to the ground long enough to get it into a cage. We take it back to a larger pen at the barn and fatten it up on grain for a while before slaughtering it. Makes for tasty hams and backstraps after the meat has been hanging in the cold shed for a while. When we grain feed these pigs, I also butcher out the tenderloin which is a bit harder to get and not that large but worth the effort all day.


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## Argon18smith

I agree that any 308 ammo should do the job. I use my 308 with 180grn to shoot Moose and it works just fine. As has been mentioned, shot placement is the key.


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## HogHunter

Hog anatomy is just different from deer in that their heart and lungs do not extend as far back as a deer. Their heart and lungs are between the shoulders and do not extend much past the front shoulder. Hogs are not armor plated. I think they got that reputation because people were shooting them to far back and the hog would run off to the nearest bad thicket.

I recommend shooting hogs through the front shoulder or head. Yes, you ruin some shoulder meat, but you do not have to blood trail them through a thicket filled with briers, thorns, chiggers, seed ticks, and fire ants. Don't worry about ammunition, worry about shot placement. 

Also, an 80 to 100 lb sow tastes better than a 300 lb bore.


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## denner12

Proper loading in .308 Winchester is capable of taking any North American game species including the big bears, moose and elk at reasonable distances. if there is a hog out there that .308 can't handle I'd leave it alone.

180 to 200 grain TBBC, Nosler Partition, Barnes Triple Shock, A-Frame, etc.... will do the job very well on the big stuff > than 600 lbs if you do your part.


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## Craigh

HogHunter said:


> Hog anatomy is just different from deer in that their heart and lungs do not extend as far back as a deer. Their heart and lungs are between the shoulders and do not extend much past the front shoulder. Hogs are not armor plated. I think they got that reputation because people were shooting them to far back and the hog would run off to the nearest bad thicket.
> 
> I recommend shooting hogs through the front shoulder or head. Yes, you ruin some shoulder meat, but you do not have to blood trail them through a thicket filled with briers, thorns, chiggers, seed ticks, and fire ants. Don't worry about ammunition, worry about shot placement.
> 
> Also, an 80 to 100 lb sow tastes better than a 300 lb bore.


Crikey, I hate tracking a wounded pig. Here on the ranch, a frightened hog will run back into some of the most horrible terrain. I'm talking about brush so thick you can't see a yard in front and swamp water 6"-12" deep. They have small trails out of the water, but it's hard to find them and they're more like tunnels overlaid with thorny stuff. A few times when I was a kid (early 20s), my cousin and I would go in and clear out a little spot along side one of these pig trails. The next day we'd take turns. One of us would go back and stand in that swamp while the other would hit the horn on an old ranch International Scout. The pigs would run out of the pasture and come tripping along that path, and you'd plink your choice behind the ear at close to arm's length with a revolver. Even if they saw you, they couldn't go anywhere and had to keep coming single file down that path through the swamp. They absolutely would not go into the water. One time I got three edible size shotes with a 22 magnum this way. Tied some twine around the hind legs and drug em out. BBQ that night.

As far as shot placement, I never thought much about it and try not to destroy the front hams. I tend to aim just at the top of the shoulder or neck. I very rarely get one wounded and running, but often need a finishing shot to the head. Nevertheless, your advice is good. I usually debone shoulder meat for sausage except any hematoma. Mix in a Boston Butt with a lot of ground shoulder meat and maybe deboned rear hams if it's an old hog. Great smoked sausage.

For me, sow or boar, a pig under 100 lbs is optimal and tastes the best.

As far as armor plated, I have no idea where that myth comes from, but I've also heard it a lot. They are pretty soft. That said, the hide will take the sharp out of your skinning knife in a hurry. I usually bring two or three knives in my truck as well as a stone and steel. Also, the head is pretty hard and thick in places.

I remember one fairly large pig a person with me shot and wounded in the belly. That pig ran to the top of a mound and stood there looking at us coming across the slough to get him. I'd left my 243 back where we had shot from and only had my 357 revolver on me loaded with some very hot 125 grain flat top jacketed soft points. When we got around 50 feet away, it started snorting and pawing the ground. I carefully aimed and hit him just above the right eye about even with his snout. That bullet ripped open his hide, but slid right over the skull splitting open the fur. That pig made a racket and ran in a tight circle then steadied down looking me in the eye, madder than heck. I was about 10 yards by this time and shot him in the head again, almost in the same place. This bullet again split the hide but slid around taking off his ear. That pig did the same thing but this time ran off into the palmetto brush. We tracked him until dark and had to give up. Every time we'd get close, he'd squeal and run back deeper. I hate to lose a wounded animal, but it just got too dark. We went back and picked up the pig I'd shot and headed back to the barn. Mine had been a spine shot with a 243, and the pig fell where it had stood rooting with a passel of her sisters.

BTW, here in Florida, we just generally call all wild hogs, "pigs" and they're generally a mixture or razorbacks, Russians and other feral pigs left by the Spanish settlers years ago. They can look mean and grow tusks, but usually run the other way. The only time one ever charged me was a large sow trying to protect her babies, which I'd not seen. She knocked me down but I was unhurt and laughing.


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## Bisley

Any .308 Winchester round is sufficient for a one shot kill on a hog, but the heart is protected pretty well by the shoulders, on a straight broadside shot. If you are accustomed to shooting deer (broadside) by aiming at the 'crack' made by the shoulder joining the chest cavity, you will probably miss the heart altogether with the same shot on a hog. It is lower and further to the front. You may still hit both lungs and have a reasonably quick stop, but likely won't get a 'DRT' shot, as you would have had with a heart shot.


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## HogHunter

Hogs are the scourge of the south. They directly compete with deer and cattle for food and as pigs (that's for you Craigh) increase, quail, turkeys, rabbits, and deer decrease. I don't know if deer just move out or if pigs kill fawns. Pigs can have two and sometimes three litters a year with 6 to 10 piglets per litter. You can kill 100 pigs on your property, but it doesn't really do any good since there are a 1,000 pigs on surrounding properties and with their ability to reproduce. I think the answer may be in genetics. If someone would produce a bore that could pass on a gene for antlers and the Game and Fish would put a limit of one pig per day, hunters might hunt them to extinction. It almost happen with white tail deer in North Arkansas. There is just something about a set of antlers and there is a limit, that makes you want to shot the animal. My pig is bigger than your pig.


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## Craigh

Yeah, here in Florida, we have no limit and it's open season year round on all but public property. I don't know if it's still true, but because it is considered a varmint and invasive, you didn't even need a hunting license. One of the problems we have with both pigs and armadillos is they dig and root up the ground on the edge of pastures. Occasionally one of the cattle will break its leg when navigating through the rootings. That's expensive. 

For me, in recent years, pig hunting has just gotten boring. There are so many and they're so easy, I don't bother anymore and would rather spend my time on wild turkey. I do help clean a lot for the new or young hunters. That gives me the right to take home a ham or two and my favorite parts, the backstrap and tenderloin though there isn't much of a tenderloin on a wild pig and it's a pain to cut out. If it's been a good year for acorns and the pigs have gotten into the tubs of molasses pellets and cattle feed, you can find some with a fair tenderloin and some meat on the ribs, but generally it's not worth going after. 

Most of the time, I field dress by removing the front and rear hams then cut out the backstraps. I kick the rest into a ditch. When you come back the next day, there's nothing but a few bones and fur. Scavengers take care of it overnight. On those really good years, I've seen over an inch of solid fat under the hide. Then, I might take the whole thing back to the barn to butcher out the tenderloin and ribs, but that's rare. At the barn, we have a large game cleaning setup with long metal tables and stainless sinks. There's also some hooks hanging for pig and deer as well as a large walk-in cold shed. This is where we remove the hide from the hams and backstraps. We use a hatchet to take off the hooves. Then make sure every hair is removed so some of the women and children aren't grossed out. Hair just loves to stick to the pink meat. 

We also have a large stone BBQ pit there and sometimes green oak coals glowing. Season up some backstrap and throw it on the grate. Put it between some slices of toasted homemade bread and what a treat. I don't care who you are, that's good eating. I also make up a mustard vinegar sauce to soak it for a spell before it hits the coals. That's good too. Then us old timers kick back while the kids go out for an evening hunt.


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