Hog hunting

[Rocnerd]

Well, I'm finally getting a chance to go hog hunting and wanted to pick your brains about bullet weight, placement, brand (.30-30 is what I have so that is what I will be useing).  I figure on using 170 grn Rem Core lokt or Federal nosler partition.  I have several more trips to the range to determine which is more accurate and sight the rifle in for 150 yards.  Any tips from you guys who have hunted these critters before is most welcome.  Oh, and the rifle is a Marlin 336.

[theirishguard]

Rocnard, Use the Federal nosler partition bullet load. You will find it very accurate and the bullet stays together and goes deep.   Tom

[Rocnerd]

Yeah, I have heard they do well.  I had the tightest three shot groups with the Federal and Remington.  The Hornady stuff was a close second and the Winchester was nowhere near the others.  I will go back out tomorrow night and finish sighting in for 150 yards and see which one of those two wins the race.

[theirishguard]

Rocnard, I advise that you do not use the Remington ammo as the bullets blow up and do not go deep into the animal.Unless the bullets in the Remington are Swift. Pigs have like an armor plate under their skin. The Nosler bullets hold together and go deep.  Tom

[Rocnerd]

Ok, good to know.  I'll stick with the Federal then, since everything I have heard or read points to these things being bullet traps.  Thanks.

[Rocnerd]

Well, the Federal worked like a charm.  Too bad I couldn't do as well.  

The hunt was with the Okee Hunt club just north of the town of Okeechobee.  My first shot I was a little too pumped up and didn't concentrate enough, hence a total miss.  The next shot he turned on me and I caught the leg.  Didn't slow him down much though.  Final shot put him down and is now at the butchers, hmm can taste that pulled pork already.  Of course all this was done while chasing the hog from palmetto patch to palmetto patch.  The guys at the club let us walk around and we gave them one of our radios, so when we got a hog they drove out on the swamp buggy and picked them up.  Towards the end of the day when we were tired of walking they drove us all around until the last of us bagged a hog.  They skinned and gutted the hogs in record time and packed them up with ice in our coolers.  Nice day and a good first hog hunt.  

[theirishguard]

Sounds like a good time, glad you had fun and now have some good pork to eat. Cook it slow in a smoker until you can pull it apart.  My first hog hunt I asked the guy I was going with what rifle I should take and he said....take your S&W 29 .44mag. I said why carry a handgun when you can have a rifle that can do more damage. He said because you can climb a tree faster with a handgun than a rifle!!!    Tom

[Rocnerd]

There were five of us that went;  two with .30-06, one with .44 mag pistol, one bow, and me with the .30-30.  We ended up with five hogs, but the guy with the bow, who was the one who set the hunt up, didn't get one since his father got two.  He had wounded one and hit him a second time with a follow up shot that past through the body and into the front leg of the hog running in front.  We tracked them and put them both down.  All of us carried side arms as was recommended due to the ornery nature of these beasts.  The last one we bagged did try to take a chunk out of the guy carrying the bow before we got him.  
The only thing to climb if it came to it was the swamp buggy and that wasn't around the majority of the time.  Otherwise it was keep your distance or run faster than the other guy.