Hog hunt with 40# bow?

[BOHO]

If you have a short draw you may consider a shorter bow. A short draw with a longer bow isn’t getting much use of the full limb. You’ll get a lot more pop from a shorter bow. Say if your using a 68” hill bow try a 64”. I bet you’ll love the difference

[Nantahala Nut]

I shot a 90ish pound hog with a 40 lb recurve a few weeks ago. Didn't quite get a pass through at 5 yards. I would go with a little more weight if you want two holes.

[pdk25]

It is very nice for people to say what they think will work, but I was on a hog hunt in Texas where a gentleman was using a Black Widow recurve that was 38#@26".  He had confidence, but that wasn't enough when the heavy shield on two boars stopped his arrows, and the boars ran off leaving zero blood trail never to be seen again. I think he was using magnus stingers.  There are limits to everything.

[pdk25]

Nice boar Chuck.  If I was using your setup, I would have preferred to hit them behind the toughest part of the shield as well.

[tippit]

Being almost 72 years old, I can't shoot much more than 40#.  I hunt hogs on a 4000 acre lease in south Georgia with a 40# longbow. I understand the advantages of a heavier bow as I started in 1980 with 75# bows.  

This 350+ boar was taken with a 42# longbow...but I won't take a shot at that big of a hog again because as RC said they don't taste good!  I only shoot 25-125# hogs now for the the dinner table...tippit

 

[pdk25]

Nice boar! Did you go through the shield?  I know that you recently said you increased your drawlength.  What did it finish up at?

[Skates]

.
If that boar really weighed 350+, how much do you weigh?????


 

Originally posted by tippit:


This 350+ boar
   

[tarponnut]

I've killed quite a few pigs shooting 40-45# bows at my draw length. I've also been in on many more tracking jobs/kills of hogs(as a guide). Forty pound draw weight is fine for the average pig we encounter in south Florida with a heavy arrow and good sharp broadhead.
On a side note, I've yet to encounter a boar that was "rank", even the really big ones 200#. Then again, these pigs eat corn, oranges, and grapefruit most of the year:)

[Terry Green]

Tarp....yeah rank is NOT the norm at all...and I undetstand it doesn't have anything to do with diet.....

Sadly this missknomer has caused many of wild boars to go to waste from the Perpetual propaganda of them not being good to eat..... that is far from the truth....and I've even witnessed a big sow thrown away cause a GUIDE told them she was too big to be good.... just because he didn't want to fool with it  as Hogs are thought of as rodents in this part of the country.... and one of the BEST tasting hogs I ever ate was a 300#  sow !!!

[pdk25]

I eat em all, unless I am out of freezer space, and then I give them away.  I just hate skinning the big shielded boars.

[Keith Westbrook]

Originally posted by BlacktailBowhunter:
I have to shoot a 45# Bow to achieve 40#, and I believe 40 is plenty if you hit them in the right spot.

I field point is fine IF you hit them in the right spot!!!    

Hogs are the most fidgety non-still animals I've ever hunted by far.

[JohnV]

I've killed somewhere north of 30 hogs, nearly all feral from Georgia and Florida with a few from Texas that had a lot of Russian blood in them.  All of the feral hogs were good eating including boars as large as 200 pounds.  The Texas Russian strain hogs, in my opinion, have a gamier flavor than southeastern feral hogs.  Feral hogs are so good eating that I give away my packaged deer meat to make room in the freezer for the hog meat.

[pdk25]

I have killed around 20 over 200# just this year, around a 50/50 split between rifle and bow.  It has been crazy.  Only a few big ones left, but I saw a sounder of 30-40 small hogs crossing my gas line on Sunday night on the way back from deer  hunting. They are tough to get rid of  at times.  Nobody that I gave the meat to had any complaints.

[Jabar]

Yeah what always comes out of these threads is someone shows a picture of something they killed with a certain bow and all that does is prove that it can be done. You can kill a deer with a car but it's not advisable it's not very efficient way to hunt. You can also kill a hog with a rock but it's not very efficient not very reliable but it can be done. I'm sure you can find pictures of hogs have been killed with a rock and with a car as well.  I believe bigger hogs deserve bigger bows.

And I also have never understood the it's too big don't eat it stuff. That's never made sense to me, nor has it been my experience at all.  Only rank hog I have ever experienced was years ago my uncle was cooking one he shot and he started opening the windows and hauled the hog outside to the back of his truck and we all left the house disposed of the hog and went to dinner and came back after the house had aired out.  There is a big difference between rich and rank make no mistake a rich tasting hog is wonderful but you don't want to be around a rank one. Luckily that was like I said my only experience.  This was the first hog my uncle had ever shot and he said it smelled bad before he cooked it but he didn't know any better but it ruined him he never killed another one he just assumed they were all like that and you couldn't tell him any different unfortunately.  But I found a way to get him back years later when I smoked a big ham and he didn't know that it was wild. I didn't tell him until after he it had seconds and we had a big laugh.

[amicus]

The big boars in my area are RANK! I have killed a few. When you go to a public urinal and the smell reminds you of the boar you killed the night before, that's rank. I personally don't consider wild hog good eats and I highly suspect it has everything to do with the hogs diet. I have no problem with domestic pig. I have walked up on pigs several times eating rotting/decaying maggot infested cow flesh. They are Usually covered in ticks and fleas. Not good eats in my opinion.
I know some folks will eat the big ones, Im glad they like them but I just can't do it. I usually give away the smaller ones if someone will take it. My comments are based on my experience in my hunting area It might be different for you and your area.

40lb bow has plenty of power to kill if you can place the arrow in the right spot.

Gilbert

[Keith Westbrook]

Too bad your area is full of rank boars..Ive hunted several ranches in Texas north south east and west and we never brought one into camp that was rank.

But I'm really not sure who you're arguing with because no one here is claiming you should eat a rank hog.  Also, what is your for criteria for 'rank'?

[Doug Treat]

I don't have experience with pigs but I have a lot of elk experience and elk can be hard to penetrate. In my opinion, it doesn't matter so much what weight your bow is but it really matters what weight your arrow is. I like 2 blade heads and heavy arrows for light weight bows if you can handle the trajectory or take shorter shots. My current setup is 650-675gr out of a 40# bow (16-17 grains/pound... I know, crazy, right? "I put the arch in archery"  :') These heavy arrows shoot at about 140 fps. but they fly great. I have gotten 20" of penetration on elk , and have broken 2 humerus bones in half (small elk and mule deer) after going through the chest with this combination and a mid 40s longbow. These arrows just laugh when you mention a bear or deer slowing them down even when hitting bones.

[Keith Westbrook]

So a 10# bow is fine also as long as you arrow is heavy????

[Jerry Russell]

A 40 pound bow is capable of killing a big hog but I can't imagine puposly hunting big hogs with that poundage.  Obviously it is the only option for some folks  because of a medical/physical issue.  

The difference between a 150 pig and a shielded 300 pound boar is huge.  It is like two different species.  

On the rank hog issue...45 years of hunting and guiding for hogs and I have never encountered a hog that was not good to eat.  That includes countless hogs of 250+ and up to 500.  

It shameful that some people repeat and perpetuate this old wives tale.

[David Mitchell]

Well I have certainly experienced the difference in young boars and sows compared to old tuskers as far as eating is concerned.  I will not shoot any more big boar hogs...nope. Not an old wives tale here--I have tasted the difference.