Where should I shoot a pig with a 20 gauge slug?

[Franchi4life]

I am going to be doing sime pig hunting with a 20 gauge and was wondering what is the best to shoot a pig with a slug it has a smooth bore and I would probably be about 15-20 away

 

[WCB]

in or behind the shoulder? Head? Same as any other animal.

 

[robtattoo]

Right behind the shoulder has always worked for me (this'n was almost straight down)

 

[Franchi4life]

That’s a great looking pig congratulations what gun and what gauge where you shooting. I was told that a 20 was to small to shoot a pig in the shoulder because it other wouldn’t pass through the shoulder plate or if you shot it behind the shoulder it would only tumble around and miss vital orgins

 

[robtattoo]

That's a cheap nasty old maverick 88 in 12ga.
It's my go to pig gun for Florida & Georgia (small game season's don't allow centrefire on public land)
You'll be absolutely fine with a 20, if you can find a slug it likes. Brenneke ate the gold standard, but they're expensive. Both my guns like the dirt cheap Remingtons, thankfully!

Avoid head shots, but tight to, or right through the shoulders & you'll be fine. If you come across a huge old swamp donkey, I'd maybe be a little concerned, but in my experience most things you'll get a crack at will be sub 100lb
I kill write a few each year & they ask seem to hover around the 60-120lb mark.

 

[Franchi4life]

Why do you say avoid head shots

 

[robtattoo]

The shape of the skull makes getting a fat, soft slug in there really tough. A frontal shot is as likely to skip off as go in. A side shot is doable, but it's a tiny target with a lot of room for error. You've only got about a 1" target on most pigs & The damn things rarely quit moving long enough for a guarantee.
The worst part with a frontal, is that If it doesn't penetrate, it's still going to knock it silly & you won't know the difference until the damn thing wakes up just as you're rolling it over. It'll make for a good campfire tale & give you some interesting scars though!

 

[CBECK61]

I shot a 120ish pound hog last year down in Texas in a frontal shot with a 458 socom from a tree stand. Small amount of blood on the ground. Not exactly sure where it hit but but there was only a small amount of blood on the ground. I could see where the hog hit the brakes by his tracks being deeper and stopping. Found the slug laying on the ground 3 feet behind and on center of the tracks. 325gr FTX perfectly expanded with some hair and a small amount of blood. Not very sure what happened but robtatto gives good advice. I assume the hog died but there was no way to track him with the lack of blood. I'm pretty sure I didn't just graze him as the slug would of buried itself in the ground. The Slug had to of hit hard enough to expand that well and just fall to the ground. He I watched him run off briefly and it didn't seem like he had a broken leg. Tough critters. I know a lot of guys shoot them in the head with small caliber rifles or right where the neck meets the head. Good learning lesson for me. I was pretty sure that the Socom would tip one over about anywhere I hit him.

 

[MtnOyster]

Right in the face!!

 

[slaton]

Lower 1/3rd of body and tight to shoulder. Aim for exit to be in the off side arm pit. Quartering away is ideal. If broadside through the ear hole is a DRT shot. Just have to make the shot.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[journeyman713]

My Go-To-Shot for the past couple decades has been the Lungs.

Broadside double-lung shot to exact.
The reason is, I do my own butchering and found a shot through the the front quarter to be no more deadly, and comes at the cost of a significant meat loss. Particularly if both shoulders are hit.

A shot through the rib cage loses no meat.

 

[Franchi4life]

The shape of the skull makes getting a fat, soft slug in there really tough. A frontal shot is as likely to skip off as go in. A side shot is doable, but it's a tiny target with a lot of room for error. You've only got about a 1" target on most pigs & The damn things rarely quit moving long enough for a guarantee.
The worst part with a frontal, is that If it doesn't penetrate, it's still going to knock it silly & you won't know the difference until the damn thing wakes up just as you're rolling it over. It'll make for a good campfire tale & give you some interesting scars though!

Happens to my brother he shot it in the neck and he thought it was dead but as he was getting down from the Treestand the damn thing got up and ran for its like it’s tails on fire that’s why I always make sure my animals are dead if it’s more than that which give another bullet