Feral hog defense

[Baldanders]

34 Texans were killed by dogs from 2004 to 2013... Maybe we need a dog defense thread too.

I think we haven't done it recently because it would give P-F a collective case of the sads.

If it works on bobcats, it should probably work on problem canines.

I think this has come up in the LE section a few times.


If I hear about feral hog attacks in my neck of the woods, I will start toting my Trooper with some 158 grain/180 grain JHPs, or maybe my 625 with .45 Super ammo.

I would probably get a shotgun rack for my riding lawnmower, too. 😀

[Clusterfrack]

34 Texans were killed by dogs from 2004 to 2013... Maybe we need a dog defense thread too.

I’ve had many bad encounters with feral dogs, including in packs. Killing a feral dog with a Maglight and slicing another with a shovel caused me to lose zero sleep. Unfortunately none of my fights against dogs were in places where I could use guns.

I would welcome a thread on dealing with dangerous canines.

[cornstalker]

With their thick skull and shoulder shield, I would feel a bit under-gunned with a 9mm on a mature hog. I would think that would be more of long-gun territory. If it comes down to using a sidearm, I would think it needs to be a big one.

My opinion is not experience-based, just going off of what I have learned about feral hog anatomy.

[Hambo]

a small feral boar is 150 pounds.

Maybe in Chicago, but down here most hogs are probably 75-150 pounds. I've only killed two that were over 200.

[txdpd]

In Texas feral pigs often a generic term that include javelina/peccary, escaped domesticated livestock animals, Eurasian pigs/hogs/boars, and crossbreeds between the latter two.

In my limited experience javelina and true feral pigs are not aggressive towards people. Somewhere in the 10,000 year domestication Eurasian hogs to bacon on legs, someone figured out that it was a bad idea to let the piggies with human aggressive traits reproduce. The Eurasian hogs are another story, haven't seen one in a while but they would go out of their way to kill dogs. According to TPWD they are almost extinct due to cross breeding.

I wonder if there was a dog involved, the only cases of non-hunters being attacked by wild pigs that I'm personally familiar with have been people trying to stop attacks on their dogs.

Personally I'll stick with 9mm. I've never had a pig charge me, but I don't think shooting at a 150lb pig missile is a high probability target and would opt for capacity.

[Caballoflaco]

Here are a couple pictures of pictures I saved a while back off of a traditional bow hunting forum that show the anatomy of pigs. Their hearts are farther toward and lower and the lungs don’t extend as far back as deer and other ungulates; this makes targeting a bit different than folks who shoot deer are accustomed to.





The orange spot in the top photo and pink spot in the lower are aiming points with the most forgiveness.

[Stephanie B]

With their thick skull and shoulder shield, I would feel a bit under-gunned with a 9mm on a mature hog. I would think that would be more of long-gun territory. If it comes down to using a sidearm, I would think it needs to be a big one.

My opinion is not experience-based, just going off of what I have learned about feral hog anatomy.

This story would seem to be in agreement with your impression.

[Joe in PNG]

Sounds like a good excuse to get a 1911 in .38 Super to me.

[cornstalker]

This story would seem to be in agreement with your impression.

That was a good read.

Thank you.

[Joe in PNG]

That was a good read.

Thank you.

He's got a couple of books out:

The Lawdog Files

African Adventures

Both are good- the Ratel saga especially so.