# General > General Guns & Ammo >  Killed my first pig

## jim Glass

Wanted to include you folks in hog hunt report.    I worked on this for 2 months here in Florida and gave up at one point then I met up with some great people here in the RV resort.    My original hunting partner was from Canada but they developed health issues and never made it to Florida.  I tried hunting alone but my hunting experience has been with duck and geese so I was far from being in my comfort  zone. Below is a copy of the email I sent to many of my friends. 




Killed my first pig tonight with my 12 gauge slug.     Made a new friend at the campground interested in hog hunting.   Turns out this guy is quite a sportsman and is gifted WITH an outstanding hearing ability. More on him.

Ken and I  have been setting up the wild hogs all week putting out 50-lb of corn for bait.   I learned a coffee can full of corn won't get their interest.   By coordinating feeding times along with a game trail camera we determined the best time for a hog ambush.     I would put out 50-lb of corn around 3:00 pm for an evening hunt.   Venturing out at 7:00 pm we discovered 90% of the corn had already disappeared.  The game camera showed the hogs eating the bait at 6:00pm.   Last night we hunted until 9:15 pm before we left.    The game camera recorded us leaving the blind at 9:15 then recorded the hogs eating our bait  at
9:21.   The hogs were eating our bait before we were in our cars heading for home, well RV.

 Today I set out another 50-lb of corn at 3:00 pm and we were in the blind by 6:00pm.   It was only a few minutes before the hogs began to appear from all directions, headed for the piles of corn.   This was broad daylight.    I got ready to take a shot with the crossbow but couldn't decided if I should shoot a little pig or a big one.   What a thrill to see all these pigs in daylight 20-40 feet away.  Something spooked the hogs and they ran off before I got a shot off.    I was so mad at myself for not taking a shot.   Ken said, they will be back.

We waited and waited until it was pitch dark all the while mad at myself for not taking a shot while it was daylight.   Next, 7:30 pm,  Ken whispered to me, "the pigs are coming back".    Then Ken told me to point the shotgun at the bait pile and wait.     Finally, I could hear them coming.    The jungle floor sounded as if it were alive with all the pigs.    Then I could hear a "grunt grunt" about 25 feet away.   All this in total darkness.    Ken tapped me on the shoulder and I could see he had the spotlight ready to light up the hogs.     The spotlight turned ON and Ken said, see them, see them.    I took aim, it was all I could do to see the gun sights in the darkness.   I felt like everything was lined up so I fired.   A little 40-lb pig rolled over and thrashed around.    It was a clean kill.   The pig never knew what hit him.   Hit in the shoulder and out the top of the head.    Rifled slug is a wicked shotgun load.

We field dressed the pig and skinned it.   It is now in a cooler with 20-lb of ice and some lemon juice.

Couldn't of done this without Ken.

Tomorrow night Ken gets to shoot a pig.   Jim

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## Rick

Congratulations. I know you've been working on this for quite a while writing letters and trying to get set up to do it. I'm glad you had success.

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## hunter63

Ya gotta love it when a plan comes together.

Congratulations.

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## crashdive123

Congrats.  Nice to see your plan came together.

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## natertot

Very nice! Congrats!

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## 1stimestar

Mmm bacon.  Congratulations!

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## jim Glass

We killed 2 more hogs tonight.
From Homosassa Florida
  Jim

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## Batch

Given the choice shoot the little pig. Easier to drag.

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## jim Glass

Yes on the little pigs.    Easier to field dress as well.   Most of us in the hunting group are more than 1200 miles from home.   No garage or barn in an RV resort for butchering hogs.    Trying to figure out how to BBQ what we already have.
The RV resort has a large charcoal roasting oven but my wife is the cook and she has know interest in cooking these hogs.

I'm open to suggestions on this???
Jim

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## Rick

While you're down there take a moment to run over to Homassas Springs to the Manatee sanctuary. I think it's the Ellie Schiller Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park. They rehabilitate injured and sick manatee and they have an underwater observatory. Pretty cool place. Another congrats on the piggy.

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## crashdive123

Yeah, that way if you get tired of eating hogs you can switch to manatee. :Whistling:

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## Rick

You are a bad man. Very bad man.

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## jim Glass

I shot the hogs less than a mile away from the manitee sanctuary.

We head back to Illinois on Friday.   Been a wild 10 weeks in Florida.   Took the wife to the emergency room twice, totaled out a Ford Focus, and killed 3 hogs.   How many snow birds can say that?

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## Winnie

> I shot the hogs less than a mile away from the manitee sanctuary.
> 
> We head back to Illinois on Friday.   Been a wild 10 weeks in Florida.   Took the wife to the emergency room twice, totaled out a Ford Focus, and killed 3 hogs.   How many snow birds can say that?


On this site? You don't want to know.

sounds like you had a good time. When you get sick of wild hogs, England has a problem with wild Boar.

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## crashdive123

Every time I see this thread I think of the movie.  I enjoyed it and this thread.

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## Phaedrus

Congrats!  Sounds like quite an adventure.

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## jim Glass

Roasted the hog today at the camp ground.   Everyone thought it was the best hog they ever tasted.   I didn't expect my wife to taste the roasted hog but she did and she love it.

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## kyratshooter

One more thing off the bucket list and an educational experience to boot.

First hog kill
First pig roast
First kill with a shotgun slug

How did you roast it?  We generally skin them and wrap them in foil and roast them whole over low coals or smoke them overnight in the smoker.

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## jim Glass

Roasted the hog exactly like you describe except the small hog is cooked after three hours.

We killed #5 last night.   We spread 40 lb of corn around the blind and the pigs showed up 15 minutes later, around 6:10 PM

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## crashdive123

Outstanding.

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## DSJohnson

Using a 30 cal carbine too.  Interesting.  Looks like it is big medicine on them.

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## kyratshooter

For those little ones a carbine would be a good pig rifle.  A .223 would work, or even buckshot if legal.  

I wish I had some little pigs to kill!  This has got me all cranked up for some pulled pork.  I might have to do something bout that tomorrow.

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## jim Glass

> Using a 30 cal carbine too.  Interesting.  Looks like it is big medicine on them.


Started out with a crossbow  but it just did work out in the jungle with close shots and the vegetation.   The M1 belongs to my brother as a backup to my 870 w/slug barrel.     The M1 jambs after ever shot.   Does not seem to eject the spent shell.   I had to check on a wounded hog.   The hog looked at me as though he wanted to attack me but didn't because he was so shot up.   Didn't know the M1 was still jambed until I attempted the final shot.   Cleared the jamb and shot the hog through ear, that was it.

Tonight is the last hog hunt before we leave for Illinois.   My hunting partner uses the 870.   I'll use the M1 as a single shot.   I oiled it up good so maybe it will work.   I test fired the M1 a year ago and it worked fine.   If I use it again, I'll test fire it before coming to florida next year.   My hunting partner did not know he  would be hog hunting in Florida.   Just met the guy but we made friends quickly and will probably be friends for a long time.   He deserves credit for making the hog hunting successful.

Sure hope I can lease the ground again.   Land Lord wants to shoot a pig.   I'll offer him a hog hunt and maybe a new lease will be sure thing for next year.   Land lord is in Baltimore, Md

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## jim Glass

This week all of the senior citizen hunt club members head North to home.   Below is the last kill making it our seventh hog kill.   In the picture is Ken.  He claims this was a 300 lb but that might  be a stretch, but I didn't actually see it.   Ken always wanted to kill a large hog.   It was quite a challenge for 2 men to drag the dead hog out of the jungle.    Hope it tastes good.   Jim
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## kyratshooter

Got to agree with you Jim, that is not a 300 pound pig no matter what the guy's goal is!

Looks more like 175-200 to me, and still a lot of good meals.

When you clean that M1 break the gas system down and make sure the gas port in the barrel is clear and there is no carbon build up around the piston.  Check your ejector too.

You are either not getting enough gas to punch the piston all the way back or the shell is not being kicked out by the ejector.

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## Batch

I agree with you on the size Kyrat.

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## jim Glass

Once in my shop I checked over the M1.    The M1 was unable to pull an unfired shell from the firing chamber.   I think the shell extractor itself has a weak, broken or missing spring.     The extractor itself appeared to be in good shape from what I could see.    The gun belongs to my brother so I was not going to tear it down without it being mine.    This is why I want to build an AR-15.   I'll know how it works and it will be my gun to tinker with.

Ya, I thought 300 lb was a stretch.   After dragging the hog out of the jungle it probably felt like 300 lb.

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## kyratshooter

Jim, the M1 Carbine requires a special tool to remove the extractor.

If the carbine is a war time model and the spring is weak it is no wonder, its got 70 years on it.

New spring and plunger is about $6.

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## hunter63

Back a few years, a guy from Texas released hogs in SW Wisconsin, and there was a big legal battle.....lawsuits etc.
The area is about 5 miles from our cabin.
http://www.findingdulcinea.com/news/...sconsin--.html

Year or so later, a couple of guys showed up as semi pro hog hunters....we ran into them in a saloon on a rainy afternoon.
Seems they preferred SKS 7.62 X39  as "the" hog gun........I ask them if they left the bayonet on...JIC....

Anyway......Haven't hunted them my self.....but I personally would not use an M-1 carbine......I can still recall how poorly they performed as a deer rifle. 

Just saying.

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## kyratshooter

Depends on the size of the critter, as in all things.

For those little 30-50 pound hogs Jim was showing at first the carbine would be plenty.

For that big oinker in the last photo I think I would prefer that 12 gauge slug, especially if I was on the ground.

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## Old Professor

Based on the two pigs that I shot and weighed last year, I would say that pig is 175 #  tops live weight. More like 134 to 145# gutted.  Probably 60 to 75# butchered meat(depending upon if it is all boned out.  I deliberately shot two pigs that size because I think the smaller ones taste better.
As to roasting one; I like to slather with barbecue sauce and wrap with three layers of heavy duty foil. This creates a pressure cooker effect of 5# pressure. Cooks them quicker and tenderizes tough meat cuts. I cook for about three hours and then start checking to see if they are done.

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## kyratshooter

Yes OP but it is not "butchered weight" that is running at you snapping its tusks!

It is all 175 pounds of live weight, and an M1 carbine is not a sure fire 100 pound deer killer, or a 175 pound human killer, so I don't want to be on the ground with one where the pigs have hunter access!

I would actually have more faith in the .223, which I do not have much faith in on the 175 pound game.

However the SKS sounds real good as a pig rifle inside 100 yards, so the SKS or AK I would use without hesitation.

And I must admit that a .300BO does not sound bad as a game getter.  Ammo cost is a bit high to use one as a plinker rifle, but I am seriously thinking about getting a .300 upper since we have been discussing this thread.  You can get the 115-125 grain slugs above 2100 fps for adequate short range performance from a tree stand.  

I can snag a new upper in .300 for $200-$250 and use an existing lower to keep cost down.

Was it Sourdough that went on about a 6.5 or 6.8 chambering in the AR for his own use up in Alaska?  I can not see how one could get any velocity out of the heavier calibers but that is also a possibility to consider as a short range tree stand pig rifle.

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## hunter63

The M-1 Carbine was favored by a friend of my FIL....and was another Disabled Vet....gues he used one in WWII.

After the 3rd or forth deer we (the SIL's and I)...being the Young Kids...ended up tracking and chasing them down...or trying to.
Neither FIL or his buddy could walk with out canes and wheel chairs.

We finally ask him to switch to a 30-06.....cut down on lost deer.

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## kyratshooter

You probably have slightly larger deer in Wis than in some areas too.  Even from one side of my state to the other we have variations in the average size of deer killed.

Average here is not going to be more than 100# with a real big buck going 150.  

Still, I have never been much on the 30 carbine and its power ratio, although I love the weapon itself, especially for arming women and youngsters if necessary.  Beats the he!! out of handing them a .22lr!

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## Wildthang

I always thought the .308 was the king of the hog rounds. I would think that an AR in .308 would be good for the little ones as well as the Super Oinkers.
Why not just use 1 round that will take them all!

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## jim Glass

I looked into building an AR-10 for the .308 round.   The AR-10 requires a special lower receiver so it will be dedicated to the .308.    I'm going to build an AR-15 and start with the .223, then buy a different barrel for the .300 Blackout.

I'll be curious to know what the 200-lb tastes like.   I may stay with the smaller hogs.

Oh ya, The land lord says I can lease the property again for next year.   He wants to go hunting though but that is ok.

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## Rick

If he's going you might want to build a DShK just to ensure he let's you keep coming back. Heck, I'll let you hunt my neighbor's dog in my back yard if you let me shoot it.

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## Batch

Jim, for meat hogs keep them under 80lbs. A little bigger for the sows. I have killed sows over 200lbs that tasted good enough.

But, young and tender is the rule for good eating meat.

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## canid

Yeah; that seems to hold true for most game animals and meat livestock.

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