I just got a rifle back I loaned out to a neighbor to go hog hunting locally

[Grumpy]

I have few people I really trust enough to loan out one of my hunting rifles too.
http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/where-in-hell-is-my-buck.14375/
IN FLORIDA HOGS ARE CONSIDERED NEARLY VERMIN (LIKE RATS) HOGS CAN BE HUNTED Year-round by all legal rifles, shotguns, muzzleloaders, crossbows, bows and pistols. Hunting license not required.
Bag Limit: No Limits

a good deal of FLORIDA SWAMPS LOOK'S LIKE THESE pictures
typical palmetto thickets where 20 -40 yard shots are the normal range, and where some areas where use of a climbing tree stand offer's you a big advantage

but I just got a rifle back the rifle I loaned out too a neighbor to go hog hunting locally,
and once again,
I got to hear about the "AMAZING RESULTS" that the guy got using a decent heavier caliber rifle , far better and UN-expected results than the guys , were used to get using lighter caliber rifles!
Mike ask to borrow a rifle/carbine suitable to hunt hogs in heavy cover,
something like I normally hunt hogs, with, my 44 mag marlin carbine,
but given a choice he selected a 45/70 break action I had,
( I got that in a trade and I'm fairly sure mike wants to buy it now)
mostly because it had a 2.5-power scope mounted and he tried it with 405 grain Remington bullets,
loaded over 48 grains of VARGET with a 215 fed primer and found he could keep all the shots touching of the bench rest at the range at 50 yards


he told me that his chance at a 140 lb hog came when he first saw running from a guides pack of dogs, the the only shot at the hog came at about 30 yards as it broke out of the palmetto scrub at a dead run directly running towards him, he has never had that happen, previously and said he felt like panicking !
but only having a single shot, he had the presence of mind to place the cross hair on the hogs head and pulled back the hammer and fired all in one motion!
he told me his heart-beat must have hit 150 beats per minute.
the shot impacted the hog between the shoulder,s and exited just below the tail, but off to one side,punching through a ham on a slight diagonal tract through,
making a huge internal mess, but instantly dropping the hog in a skid/tumble pile up.
he has used a 30/30 on hogs before but always had them run off at least some 30-50 yards after bullet impact (keep in mind shooting at a seconds notice, and firing a rifle off hand at a moving target is a great deal different than, taking your time,and shooting groups of a solid bench rest at the range!)
http://www.handloads.org/loaddata/d...-70&Weight=All&type=rifle&Order=Powder&Source

http://www.gunnersden.com/index.htm.44-magnum.html

 

[busterrm]

I had something similar happen to me and friend once. We were out deer hunting, walking to his stand with a nearby corn feeder. We were about 100 yards from the stand, my friend was about 60 -75 feet ahead of me. We were both carrying 7mm mag rifles, I forget what brand, its been probably 15 yrs ago. Well anyway, out of the brush at a full tilt came a boar and head butted my friend in the back of his legs and down he went. I had my rifle hanging over my right arm towards the ground, and the boar butted him a couple more times when I stepped on something and the boar turned toward me and started his charge. I leveled my rifle and had a clean shot but was very anxious and shaking. I didn't take the shot because my friend was in the line of fire and if I shot it could have hit him. So at a moments notice I high tailed it to a nearby tree and started climbing up off the ground and the boar head butted the tree as I barely made out off the ground. He sat there and head butted the tree a few times and started snorting and I leveled my rifle at him and unloaded 2-3 shots right through the top of his head in a frenzy. I was shaking and my heart was racing, it scared the living shit out of me. My friend Johnny got up off the ground while this was going on and ran over limping the whole way. He yelled up at me, "Why didn't you take the shot on the ground? You had a perfect straight on head shot. You wasted ammo!" John did realize if I had shot on the ground I could have hit him. I told, "John you were in my line of fire, I could have hit you, I was shaking and scared shitless! So I made a run for it to the trees! That motherfucker was going to run me over just like you." John's face went white and he almost passed out, he grabbed a rope and we drug to boar to a tree and hung him up and field dressed him right there. I will never forget that, from then on we never walked in a line ever again. We walked side by side, it scared the shit out of me, in a moments notice I could have shot him. That was one of the last times I went hunting, I went probably 4-5 more times, but just couldn't bring myself to level a gun even a deer. I shoot at targets now and always insist on anybody being behind me before I fire a rifle ever.