22LR for hogs

MikeH2040

Member
Due to the small game season restrictions for hogs on base or the WMAs...does anyone have any recommendations for or against using 22lr? what about shot placement? is it still heart/lungs or should we use head shots? I assume I would need to be closer (75 yards or less) to the hog to get an effective hit. I honestly don't even feel comfortable using a 22 unless someone out there can say for sure its a safe bet. I'd hate to shoot a hog and have it run without a bloodtrail....

Any advice is helpful
 

ryanh487

Senior Member
Due to the small game season restrictions for hogs on base or the WMAs...does anyone have any recommendations for or against using 22lr? what about shot placement? is it still heart/lungs or should we use head shots? I assume I would need to be closer (75 yards or less) to the hog to get an effective hit. I honestly don't even feel comfortable using a 22 unless someone out there can say for sure its a safe bet. I'd hate to shoot a hog and have it run without a bloodtrail....

Any advice is helpful

shoot 'em in the ear. take your time, get inside 50 yards, wait for the right shot. It won't be easy.

Other option is to use a .50 caliber muzzleloader, which is considered a small game weapon and will put a hog down in a hurry.
 

bfriendly

Bigfoot friendly
Due to the small game season restrictions for hogs on base or the WMAs...does anyone have any recommendations for or against using 22lr? what about shot placement? is it still heart/lungs or should we use head shots? I assume I would need to be closer (75 yards or less) to the hog to get an effective hit. I honestly don't even feel comfortable using a 22 unless someone out there can say for sure its a safe bet. I'd hate to shoot a hog and have it run without a bloodtrail....

Any advice is helpful

If you can get a good shot on one, a .22lr will do just fine..I like a heartlung shot unless I am looking straight at one.........bust a lung and it wont go far;)
 

Nicodemus

The Recluse
Staff member
If I`m going to shoot a hog with a 22 lr, it will be a solid, and I`ll wait for a side shot and put it right in the ear canal. If it is facing me on about the same level, I`ll not take a shot due to the angle of the hog`s forehead.

I`ve done a lot of experimentation with a 22 on both wild and tame hogs, at ranges from about 40 yards to a few inches, both rifle and pistol. Hollow points lack penetration, and Stingers and other hyper velocity hollow points splattered on impact with the skull on frontal shots, most of the time. Solids don`t. Also, the shield can stop a 22 bullet.
 

riverbank

Senior Member
X2 on what nic said. A long time ago my mamas yard dog had 2 hogs bayed in the yard. They were eating the acorns. I popped that sucker in the forehead with a 22 from about 20 yards. He shook his head and ran off. It was raining like crazy outside, I heard the knock of the round hitting and also saw water splatter off that hogs head. To my amazement he hauled butt out of there. This hog was a big boar , he ran off , then came back. There were 2 hogs. The smaller one was a sow and I'm guessing she was in heat. I steadied up for a shot on her but it never happened. They both bolted after he came back. A week or so later my buddy got both of those hogs about a mile down the road on his place. He dropped them both with a deer rifle. That big spotted boar was right at 300 pounds. He had a skull mount done and some of that 22 round was still in the skull. Didn't even make it all the way through. That hog was old. At the time there wasn't many hogs around that area and you could tell he didn't have much competition. His cutters had grown so long that they were in a half moon shape. I still can't believe he came back though. He bluff charged me before they made there escape and I dang near soiled the ole britches.
 

Killer Kyle

Senior Member
I had one bad experience shooting a hog with a .22 LR last August. Shot it behind the ear in the spine. It went straight down, legs straightened out and rigid, didn't even squeal or kick. But after about 20 seconds on the ground, it began to kick. Rolled down the hillside and stopped in a log jam. It was able to barely get up and started struggling off. I perused it, but it outpaced me, and I lost it. Followed it on into darkness. That said, I think a .22 LR can be and is an effective tool when used in the right situations and the right way. I obviously didn't make the right shot, and the hog paid the price. It was a bad enough experience that I just bit the bullet and went out and bought a ML. Had I made the same shot with a .50, that hog would have been stone cold dead. The wound would have been too traumatic. I think the upside of toting a .50 is that where certain shot placements or errant shots yield questionable results from a .22, a .50 erases all possibility of wounding and results in a certain kill. By that I mean if your shot with a .22 is a little high, low, or back of say the heart lung area or ear canal, you can horribly mame the animal. But do that with a .50, and it is usually going to mean a dead hog. Catching a .22 bullet in the eye is going to be a bad ordeal for the hog if you miss the ear canal, but do that with a .50 and it's gonna kill the pig. I say if you are going to do it, then do it, but be precise and surgical. Don't take any quick shots where you can't get on your target accurately.
 

Big7

The Oracle
22LR 60gr Aguila SSS Solid

60 gr @ 950 fps of bad to the bone.

Make sure you get this box, they do make one that is primer only.
NOT the same thing.

Solves all your short range, no center-fire allowed problems. ;)

Been there, done that. If you have never tried them, do yourself a favor.agsss.jpgagg2.jpg
 
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earl39

Member
Don't know what the regs are in Georgia but a 17HMR FMJ will zip right thru a hogs skull.
 

GunnSmokeer

Senior Member
rimfires legal

The Georgia Fish & Game laws that specify what weapons are allowed for small game (Code section 27-3-4) say that a .22 caliber rimfire or smaller rimfire is allowed.

I would think that a .22 WMR (.22 magnum) is a far better choice due to both bullet construction (it's got a real copper jacket, not just copper "wash" over the soft lead bullet) and velocity. From a rifle, the .22 magnum can top 2000 f.p.s. with 32-grain loads. 40-grain bullets go 1900 or better. The .22 LR loads only give about 1250 f.p.s.

Yeah, the .17 Mach 2, .17 HMR, and .17 WSM are all legal for small game. The last one should be good for hogs, with a head shot. 3000 f.p.s. at the muzzle (and 2,500 at 100 yds.) will scramble the critter's brain, if you hit it.
 

frankwright

Senior Member
My hunting partner shot three pigs in about 3 minutes with the 17wsm.

He shot them in the head and he said they never took a step .
I shot one with a 22 mag and it fell right over also. A solid .22 would probably work but there is no room for error.
With the low cost of a fairly decent .22 WMR I would probably pass on the 22LR.
 

Barebowyer

Senior Member
Good info. Bought a 17 WSM Ruger M77 a few months ago and haven't killed anything but a beaver with it thus far. I may tote it just because I can...normally have the longbow or recurve instead. Be safe everyone.
 

ripplerider

Senior Member
A couple of years ago I killed a 200 lb. boar with a .22 solid right through the ear hole at 15 yds. If he hadnt given me a perfect broadside shot at close range like that I wouldnt have taken the shot. He looked bigger than he really was coming out of the ivy thicket. Was shooting a very accurate bolt action that I had a lot of confidence in. He rolled down the mtn. right to my feet still kicking. I put a couple more shots in his head but the first one killed him.
 

dusty200001

Senior Member
Due to the small game season restrictions for hogs on base or the WMAs...does anyone have any recommendations for or against using 22lr? what about shot placement? is it still heart/lungs or should we use head shots? I assume I would need to be closer (75 yards or less) to the hog to get an effective hit. I honestly don't even feel comfortable using a 22 unless someone out there can say for sure its a safe bet. I'd hate to shoot a hog and have it run without a bloodtrail....

Any advice is helpful

it is legal to hunt small game on wma with black powder rifle. yes that's crazy but it does mean that you can carry it for the pigs.
 
I take them all the time with a Ruger American rimfire 22lr with Winchester M-22 subsonic. You gotta get ’em in the brain pan to drop them instantly. Just like taking any animal, shot placement is key.
 

HogKillaDNR

Senior Member
I take them all the time with a Ruger American rimfire 22lr with Winchester M-22 subsonic. You gotta get ’em in the brain pan to drop them instantly. Just like taking any animal, shot placement is key.

Guess I'll start taking my 22lr out with the can and see what happens.
 

ucfireman

Senior Member
I bought a used .22WMR just for hog hunting during small game season.
If I was buying new I would look at a .17HMR.
I have not had the good fortune to take one but if I do it will be an ear shot, based on the recommendation of those with some experience.
 
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