A gun or rifle is usually my first weapon of choice when hunting animals. However, I’ve also had success in using a bow for hog hunting too.
If hog hunting is something you want to try out, it’s important to know WHERE to shoot a wild hog with a bow and arrow with the deadliest aim possible.
Hunting animals is never as simple as firing and hoping for the best. You should gather some information about these animals to support your hunt.
Understanding the hog shot placement is something you should definitely master as a bow hunter.
You should also know the best time and place to go hog hunting.
These golden bits of information are significant for your hog hunting sessions and can make or break the success of your hunts.
Contents
Where to Shoot a Hog With a Bow: Shot Placement
I will be tackling a major problem that many hunters wonder about: Where is the best place to shoot hogs?
Take a look at the image below:
Based on this picture, you can see the locations of all the vital organs of a wild hog.
It’s clear to see that the best place to shoot wild hogs for a clean kill is just behind its front leg.
This midpoint of its chest is where the heart is located. A heart shot is one of the best ways to hunt for wild hogs, and this is the sweet spot you should aim for.
A good tip is that if a hog’s front leg is positioned forward, you can directly aim and shoot on its armpit.
The heart is 3 inches from the skin of the armpit, so this point of reference is a great way to land a heart shot and kill them almost instantly.
If you shoot a little higher than behind the leg, you’ll end up penetrating the hog’s lungs.
This isn’t as great as a heart shot, but it’s still an effective shot placement for hunting.
Now that you know where to shoot hogs with a bow, you might be thinking that hunting them will be a whole lot easier.
It’s true that knowing where to shoot them will help a lot, but that won’t necessarily mean that hog hunting will be any easier.
Feral hogs don’t just stay in one spot and stay still all the time.
You have to develop the patience to wait for the right opportunity until you get a good look for an accurate heart shot.
You can also watch this video for better visualization:
Right Archery Gear for Hog Hunting
A broadhead with two or three blades will be the most useful for hunting game. These arrowheads are ideal for hunting bigger game like hogs.
If you’re interested in shooting a bigger pig that’s less than 125 pounds, you should definitely use a three-blade broadhead.
It will puncture a better hole, and it will cause massive damage to the vital organs of a bigger hog for a clean hog kill.
A broadhead with two blades is still a great choice and can penetrate just as well as a three-bladed one.
I find them more suitable to use these broadheads for smaller hogs.
For reference, you can probably get a clean hog kill for a 65-pound hog by just using a broadhead with two blades.
Approaching a Hog
Most of the time, people who hunt hogs do so by shooting from a distance of no more than 20 yards.
I tried this distance myself, and I think close enough to get a good aim and far enough to avoid exposing yourself to a hog.
It’s rare for hunters to hunt hogs from longer ranges because it’ll be too difficult to get a good shot.
It really helped me in my experience to have good camouflage! I’ve tried camouflaging as a tree and as a bush.
One important piece of information you should know about is that a hog’s nose is its most sensitive organ.
I advise spraying yourself with deodorant to eliminate odors from your body that a hog will probably smell out.
A feral hog’s eyes are not as sensitive as its nose, but slow movements are still necessary when approaching a hog.
When approaching a hog, move carefully and as SLOWLY as possible until you reach a good distance for a nice, clean shot.
Best Time to Hunt a Hog
Usually, the active hours of hogs and the easiest times to hunt them are in the early morning and late evening.
These are the times when hogs are moving around and looking for ways to feed themselves.
I’ve had more success in the early morning route than the night route. Hogs are easier to spot and I just find it more relaxing and safe.
Where to Find a Hog
The basic way to find a feral hog is to take a look at the ground and spot any hog footprints if there are any.
Hogs in dense forests usually sleep underneath big trees.
They also hang around riverbanks, bottomlands, hardwoods, and similar areas to seek food and water for their group.
Hogs also often wallow in muddy areas. You can keep a good distance from mud puddles and wait until a hog will show up to wallow.
Instead of actively searching for a hog, you can also lead a hog to you. I’ve had a lot of luck with luring hogs in with CORN!
Following the Blood Trail
Sometimes, your shot won’t kill the hog immediately because you missed a heart shot by a couple of inches.
If a boar doesn’t die immediately when you hit it, it’ll probably run away as fast as possible and just start to bleed out.
When this happens, all you have to do is follow the blood trail until the hog slows down and bleeds to death.
As soon as you catch up with the hog you should try to preserve the feral hog’s meat as quickly as you can.
Preserving the Meat
After you trim off all its skin, all you have to do now is to cut off its meat and try to preserve it as soon as possible.
Here are simple ways on how to preserve the meat immediately:
- Apple Cider Vinegar: Cover the meat with apple cider vinegar. 2 gallons of apple cider vinegar should be more than enough in most situations.
- Orange Juice: Cover the meat with orange juice: 2 gallons of orange juice should also be enough for most situations
- Sea Salt: Cover the meat with large amounts of sea salt
You can do one or all of these methods not only to preserve the meat but to also bring out a bunch of flavors, which is hard not to appreciate.
Next, you should store it inside a fridge to keep it cool and preserve it for good.
After two days in the fridge, you can then drain the meat and add more seasoning if you want to.
Why Does Proper Aim Matter?
For starters, it’s an ethical concern.
It’s a hunter’s priority to make sure their target is put down as QUICK and PAINLESSLY as possible so the wounded animal doesn’t suffer slowly.
Furthermore, proper shot placement and aim matter because the cleaner the kill, the better the quality of the meat.
If an animal is shot unsuccessfully, they become scared and release adrenaline, which, in turn, increases the pH level of their meat.
Poor shot placement can lead the meat to be too tasteless or prone to spoiling quickly.
Conclusion
That’s pretty much all you need to know when it comes to hunting hogs and knowing where to shoot them with a bow.
Once you absorb and remember all this information, hunting down hogs should be much easier for you.
Happy hunting!
