400 lb hog with a cross bow?

[cincoranchhntr]

I'm going to the ranch tomorrow to hunt a 400 lb (est) boar that is hanging around the area. He is a real monster. I will be using a cross bow from a pop up blind approx 40 yds from the feeder. We don't want to be using rifles at the start of bow season here in Texas and he might not be here a month from now. Where on the hog should I be aiming for the best results with a bow. His neck would offer a solid 12" dia target, but I'm thinking that might just make him mad if it is not a perfect spine hit. I'm also thinking that his shoulder shield is almost 2" thick. Opinions?

 

[Afalex1]

Wait for a good quartering away shot and nail the boiler room. The heart of a hog is more forward compared to a deer and is well protected by the bones of the front leg. Don't shoot it like you would to double lung a deer. When most people try that they only hit the liver of a hog. By waiting for a quartering away shot you are negating some of the shield and avoiding the scapula.

 

[cincoranchhntr]

Great idea. Makes perfect sense. I'll have to be very patient. I've done that with deer to avoid meat damage. Works like a charm.
Thanks.

 

[slim_shady]

Please report your results!

 

[Ratdog68]

Oh.... for video of that take !!!

 

[scrmblr1982cj8]

Photos would be great!

 

[ZenArchery]

Aim for the opposite lung. Good luck. 400lbs is A LOT of hog!

 

[RattlesnakeDan]

Like a bear, definitely want a quartering away shot to hit behind the shoulder mass and zing one up through the vitals. A strange shot that may present itself is a head on with chin up put one right in the high chest/low neck area. Kilz em' pretty good. I just hate tracking, especially in the dark, they don't bleed well most times.

 

[Jake]

+1 on what Alex said on the the quartering away shot. I made the mistake of shooting a handful of hogs behind the shoulder, only recovering a couple. I got so frustrated I went to Sportsman's Warehouse for new broadheads to replace my muzzys. I was helped by the store owner who stated he had used muzzys all over North America for a "plethora" of animals. This guy couldn't have been a nicer fellow. He previously had the same issue shooting hogs behind the shoulder. Hunting at Jack Brittingham's South TX ranch he lost a monster boar he stuck behind the shoulder at 5 yards. The ranch biologist told him to shoot them center shoulder which he did and never lost another. He stated a fixed broadhead would even penetrate a shield where some soft bullets would not because a broadhead cuts and doesn't deform. Since that day I shot 9 hogs and my father in law shot 4 in the shoulder without a single lost animal. A hog that huge with that kind of shield would worry me though, I would stick him right behind the shoulder quartering away.

 

[RattlesnakeDan]

About 15 years ago I switched from Zwickey's to Steel Force Broadheads for tough critters. (shooting traditional bows) The new Zwickeys would bend and even split when hitting bears, hogs and shoulder blades on big game. Those Steel Force broadheads require some hand time sharpening but well worth it. Not sure about them on a crossbow or compound but Longbows like heavy broad heads typically. I know nowadays everyone is into expandables and such but don't know much about that.

 

[Jefe]

Make sure & take a tape measure with you. Could be Sus Venator material.

 

[Ratdog68]

About 15 years ago I switched from Zwickey's to Steel Force Broadheads for tough critters. (shooting traditional bows) The new Zwickeys would bend and even split when hitting bears, hogs and shoulder blades on big game. Those Steel Force broadheads require some hand time sharpening but well worth it. Not sure about them on a crossbow or compound but Longbows like heavy broad heads typically. I know nowadays everyone is into expandables and such but don't know much about that.

Are those still a cut on contact fixed blade broadhead?

 

[RattlesnakeDan]

Are those still a cut on contact fixed blade broadhead?

Yes R.D. ..... low tech but deadly. I shot 6 animals (hogs/deer) with 1 broadhead. My brothers would laugh at me because I had them numbered with a sharpie. lol

 

[Ratdog68]

Yes R.D. ..... low tech but deadly. I shot 6 animals (hogs/deer) with 1 broadhead. My brothers would laugh at me because I had them numbered with a sharpie. lol

Sweet!!! I'm a firm believer in this type of broadhead. Part of what makes me so crazy with the "training wheels bow" crowd, all the yabbering on "kinetic energy". The SHOCK of the mechanical broadheads having to be deployed before they cut just doesn't make any sense to me. You read over and over of a QUIET shot from a longbow (or recurve) where the animal hardly even flinches when hit... doesn't bolt, and then does the wobbly dance before falling over dead. It's those lucky "between the ribs" shots which leave the animal bleeding out and barely noticing being punctured that one strives for. That... and, all the reliance upon a perfectly tuned bow (to YOU) for them to work properly. Every chance of dropping the bow, or banging into something, or touch your string with a broad head and have to re-string in the field? No thanks... gimme a longbow, woodies, and OLD school broadheads!!!

 

[RattlesnakeDan]

Amen. I made my own arrows for decades. I do have a box full of carbon arrows now just because I'm lazy and cedar shafts got real hard to find for a while. Too many snowy owls having to move to town I guess.

 

[Ratdog68]

A local (to WA State) bowyer I like (Christians too) just closed their doors... they included a link to another source, who, I believe were offering arrows too. I already deleted it from my inbox. But, will try to remember to post it up if I get another link from them.

 

[pruhdlr]

FYI . . . this is what a 400lb hog will look like.
This hog was killed about 2 years ago by a member of my hunting club,on private land,about 1 mile from the club. A Kubota tractor was used to get him out of the woods and loaded on the truck. He was weighed on a digital livestock scale. He was 409lbs. The gentleman used a rifle of unknown chambering. --- pruhdlr

 

[Ratdog68]

FYI . . . this is what a 400lb hog will look like.
This hog was killed about 2 years ago by a member of my hunting club,on private land,about 1 mile from the club. A Kubota tractor was used to get him out of the woods and loaded on the truck. He was weighed on a digital livestock scale. He was 409lbs. The gentleman used a rifle of unknown chambering. --- pruhdlr View attachment 3967

THAT, is one amazingly big hog !!! I'll bet he had some stink about him!!

 

[djones]

... but I'm thinking that might just make him mad if it is not a perfect spine hit...

he will be mad no matter where you hit him with a crossbow

 

[slim_shady]

he will be mad no matter where you hit him with a crossbow

I was thinking I wouldn't want to take a shot with a bow at a boar that big unless I was at least a few feet off the ground.