Just got back from another successful hog hunt at Shiloh Ranch in Stonewall, OK.
Used my SRH 44 Mag 7.5" with UltraDot. Loaded 240 gr. XTP's with H110. My hog weighed about 140, and was a through shot taking lungs out the other side and damaging the heart. Pig was really skittish. Ran off any time I'd move even slightly and didn't give me time to try a head shot - I shot as fast as I could get the dot on him. Pig ran about 20 yards and died fast. Hit from around 20-25 yards. Blood at impact site, but NO blood trail.
My son (15, first time hunting bigger game) took a 170 pound with a Ruger 77/44 bolt rifle and same load - destroyed the shoulder, pig ran about 50 yards and died. No blood trail. Bullet recovered - flattened out perfectly ending up on back side but did not exit, did not separate. Shot from 40-50 yards away.
Buddy took a Russian boar close to 200 pounds with the same load out of a Marlin 1894, about 15-20 yards away. Bullet did not exit. Hog dropped within a few feet and died. Bullet jacket recovered and expanded - lead separated from the jacket. Lead was not found but may have passed through without the jacket but we could not find the lead or an exit wound.
All three hogs were shot within 20 minutes of each other. This is the second time I've hunted at Shiloh Ranch, and will definitely be back. My son and I didn't see as many hogs as I had last year, but still plenty of opportunities. These three were all killed on the first evening of the hunt. This is also the second hog I've killed with the SRH, but the first time using XTP bullets. Last year I used a Speer Deep Curl, and it was a through shot on about a 150 pound hog and there was no blood at all. At the advice of the owner of Shiloh, I switched to XTP's. Seems hogs just don't like to leave a blood trail, but from looking at my buddy and my son's hogs, the XTP really did the job on these medium to large hogs. I wouldn't hesitate to use that same load on a really big boar, and I'm not convinced that a solid hard cast lead is the only proper bullet to use, and I've learned that a good hollow point works on hogs (I've read so often that it's all about penetration and that hard cast is the only bullet to use on hogs!). I've come to the conclusion that a 44 mag loaded with almost any reasonable bullet works just fine. Just don't expect a blood trail with any bullet, and make sure you make the first shot count!
