If I’m in killer hog country, I’ll just sling my Marlin 336SC over my shoulder. Chambered in .35 Remington, it will easily dispatch the largest hog that ever lived with factory 200 grain jacketed soft points, whether Elmer liked it or not.

That is a good hog rifle for sure. Far better than the 30-30 I used in the old days but they can absorb an amazing amount of lead & keep going. Especially when they get the adrenaline going. As I stated before, I shot one right behind the shoulder with a 450 gr. cast bullet out of my Ruger No. 1 going about 16,500 fps.. The bullet went clear through both shoulders from side to side & the boar ran some 50 yds.. He didn't live long but long enough to do some serious damage if he got those tusks in you. Then there was the one that took 7, 32 Win., 170 gr. slugs, if I remember right & had to be finished off with a Ruger .44 hand gun. Both of those hogs were only about half the size of that monster in the picture. All I can say, if you are on the ground with something like that, approach with caution! Use your head & don't do anything stupid! A much smaller hog can hurt you or even kill you! My days of shoot'n big boar hogs are pretty much over unless I unintentionally blunder into a situation! Once you've done it, you've done it! I'm looking for a nice Bar-B-Q size pig these days. I am in country infested with hogs a lot but haven't killed one in a long time now. I rather hunt ducks! I did fill one of my deer tags a couple days ago. It was the first time I shot my new to me, 12ga., 30" LC Smith, that I just had restocked, at game. A standard load of 9, "OO" BUCK, at under 35 yds. produced an instant kill! Anyway, good luck with the hogs & be careful!

Guy brought a Marlin Dark in .35 Remington to the range last week and let me shoot it. I don't think I'd feel undergunned with that one.

tp

"I don't think I would feel under gunned with that one."
Nor would I! The average wild pig is of little threat to the hunter & can be easily dispatched with a lesser rifle. What we are alluding to here is that rare, exceptionally large & ill tempered old brute that has the capacity & temperament to hurt you. I have never heard of a wild hog or bore killing anybody but they certainly have the ability of doing so! Years ago, 250 lbs. was a big hog. I never weighted either but I killed a couple I think would have gone between 400 & 500 lbs. I thought they were monsters but now we are seeing wild hogs going over 900 lbs.! They have the mass of a Cape Buffalo! Fortunately, I don't think they are very inclined to attack unless backed in a corner. They will almost always run. They are the most dangerous when bayed with dogs & fighting for their lives. A game warden I worked with when I was surveying for DNR told me, "they will run you if you surprise them in a group". He has the credentials to know! A properly placed bullet from any decent deer rifle will kill any hog. All I'm trying to say is if you back "Bad Boy" in a corner, be very, very careful how you approach! An old hog hunter with much more experience than me told me, "He is coming after the slowest thing around & it ain't going to be one of the dogs!" He can be on you before you can get off a shot in thick cover & you have just a few feet between you & those tusks. I have seen 250 lb. hogs with more than enough teeth to rip a man wide open with one pass!

I would much rather confront a wild hog than the much smaller and faster Javelina of the Southwest and Mexico

I had a buddy who hunted hogs with a long knife and a pack of Pit Bulldogs.
He was one of those non-violent drug felons who can not own a gun. He also kept a bow and arrows by his bed in case of a home invasion.

Hahahaha.....

Yea, right! We were going hog hunting on an island hunting club. One of the members named Jack invited a guy with catch dogs from NC. Jack had a trail/ bay dog named "Little Red". They were going after a big hog Jack said was a barrow. When they were leaving the camp house, Jack reached for his rifle. The NC guy asked, "What is that for?" Jack said. "This is a bad hog, we might have to shoot him!" The NC dude laughed & said, "Leave that thing here, this dog will catch any hog that ever walked!" So they took the boat down the river to an oak ridge where the hog was known to stay & Little Red picked up the trail & bayed shortly. They would lead the catch dogs in on leashes. That big Pit Bulldog ran in & grabbed the hog by the ear. The hog slung the bulldog over 6 ft. in the air then made a pass at Little Red. L.R. laid flat on the ground, which appears to be what saved him as the hogs tusk didn't break the skin but shaved a 2" or so jagged strip of hair about 18" long off of L.R.'s side. Both dogs came out of the woods & refused to follow the hog into the swamp. Far as I know, that hog is still in that swamp! I guess if you have enough catch dogs you can catch hogs like that but you will have a big vet bill & bury a lot of them! That is why they led the catch dogs in on a leash! An old rank boar isn't worth anything anyway. Back then they would try to catch the dogs & leave or if that didn't work, they would shoot the hog! Little Red bayed most of the hogs I killed but I was either alone without dogs or with my dogs when I killed the two biggest ones. The first was a battle scarred old brute with long tusks & his right ear, as I recall was split in half, presumably from fighting with other hogs.

Good story. I have a video wherein a boar killed six-seven dogs and tore up a few other pretty bad before getting shot. There is a reason why the 9.3X62/74 is popular for driven boar shooting in Europe. I got a few with 12-bore slugs and .30-06. But, for the really big ones, a bit thumpier cartridges are the ticket.

16,500 fps? That slug had to be liquid by the time it left the barrel.

I bought a 9.3x62 when thinking about the possibility of a safari (never happened). When searching YouTube for 9.3x62 videos, I was surprised to see it commonly used for driven boar in Europe.

That seemed surprising to me because an acquaintance with a seasonal home in FL said he uses a .22WM on hogs on his property. Quite a difference between the .22WM and the 9.3x62. We don't have any hogs in my part of the country. If we did, I think I'd use the 9.3....

The .22 Magnum will kill a hog with a perfect brain shot. Larger calibers like the 9.3x62 will kill them with a shoulder or chest cavity shot. Don't try that with the .22 Mag unless you feel lucky and have a climbing tree nearby.

The .22 lr rimfire & the like has killed many truck loads of deer but that doesn't mean it's an ideal deer rifle!

"16,500 fps.? That slug must have been liquid by the time it left the barrel."
Sorry, that should have been 1,650 fps.!

I figured that, I was just teasing!

I figured that too! I seem to make decimal place errors a lot!

Absolutely this. And if you want to come down out of that tree after a bit, it's a good thing to have a sidearm that will go up that tree with you because the rifle is going to stay on the ground as you go up.

Ask me how I know.

tp (quite literally with barked shins)

The way I see it somebody has to learn the hard way, and better you than me, so thanks for sharing T-Pee.

I've never seen a feral pig. They are unregulated in my state so they can be shot year round.

Most of the truck loads of deer killed by a .22 were not recovered but ran off only to die a long, slow and painful death. Do not shoot a deer with a modern rimfire of ANY caliber.

I agree. Much the same with hogs, although I think their recovery rate from marginal hits is probably better than whitetails'. Most people don't give a $h!t about wounding hogs though, and deer hunters generally hate them with a passion. I've even heard a couple of sick bassturds gloat about purposely gut shooting hogs so they die a painful death. Jerks like that aren't worthy of a hunting license, IMO.

I agree with Lossking & Ezra Smack on all counts! I assume we have too many & at least in some areas they need to be controlled but I kind of like it that they are there. Even though I don't hunt them much anymore, they provide a hunting opportunity & I like that! It doesn't seem like I will have a lot to worry about in regard to hog hunting opportunities in my lifetime & I view that as a good thing!