A few family members and I would like to help the south rid themselves of some hogs this winter. I'll be using a DD5 Ambush in .308, but all they have are AR's. I may take one as well. We'd prefer Texas, if at all possible, but want states which allow at least a 10 round magazine just in case things get rough. None of us have hog hunting experience so all good advice is welcome. Ammo, guides, limits, etc. If you know it I want to as well. We are all in central Indiana. I'll look elsewhere online in addition to asking you all, but I assume your experience will be more helpful than reading a list of laws. Thanks in advance.

62 grain Federal to the dome will take them down one shot. I had 3-9x40 but if I did it again id use irons or a red dot as most shots were taken inside 50 on a spot and stalk out of OK

Similar experience to hitman. No restrictions in FL. 69gr 5.56 for me. Also using a 3x9 scope but like he said if I was to do it again I'd use a red dot or my acog.

I have a 1-8 PA Platinum on my DD5, but I have a few RDS as well. You guys use guides your 1st time? How do you find land to hunt on?

I just use my .300 blackout AR with 147 grain bullets and it takes them down no problem.

But they go down with 62 grain .223 as well.

Local friend of mine but there are plenty of good guided places. I've been eying a couple in GA actually. Also there are plenty of farmers, quail hunt places etc in the south east who are looking for people to rid them of nuisance hogs. Just my 2 cents but if you can get a guide and try to stay on the ground if possible. A lot of places that advertise hog hunts i've found just throw you in a stand and put a feeder in front of you at 25 yards. I don't really see much sport in that. Like someone else said try to do a stalk if possible.

Lots of helicopter hunts in Texas.  Any AR with an Aimpoint is pretty standard stuff from a helo.

I use a 1-4x on my hunting AR. I prefer 62 fusions like some others mentioned. I've used 55sp before but it doesn't hold together well on skulls or other bones.

I aim right where the ear meets the head. One shot does the job every time assuming I hit where I'm aiming.

Barnes TSX ammo is fine for them.  With no hunting experience and not knowing a land owner, you may be limited to just a guided hunt by a group that owns property and sells packages.

AR's are fine for pigs...just get good ammo.

This page has good info

I'd leave after getting our money back. We're considering a helicopter hunt.

I hog hunt with 6.8 spc.

Florida has a five round magazine limit for semi autos that applies on wildlife  management areas and for deer anywhere.  Be careful if you use over five.

North, Central, and South Texas are excellent hog hunting ground.....the west probably is too. Texas is a large state. Contact Texas Parks and Wildlife to see if you need any sort of permit since you are out of state.

My family has property in the Texas Hill Country (west of San Antonio-Kerrville area). South Texas has some very large hogs; the biggest I ever got. North Texas where I live has really had a big jump in the hog population. There is a place here, Hagerman Wildlife refuge, where the population has skyrocketed.  

My lake house is nearby there and my neighbor there has property and the hogs have been playing hell in his pasture where he has always grown hay to feed his cows. In fact, he has hired some trappers with that new style hog pen which traps them.

For your first Texas hog hunt, I would do South Texas. You'll sure to get a trophy down there. Use a guide the first time until you meet folks down here. Everyone is friendly for the most part. We welcome hog hunters, have NO MAG capacity limits, and are a gun loving state. We need all the help we can get.

The dam hogs even tried to dig up my dead dog a few years ago. No joke. We were having a hot, dry spell, and the dam critters tried to dig him up. I thought it was coyotes, but, come to find out, coyotes would not have done that. It was the hogs. I also found tracks.

South Texas, the dam thing really get big, with big tusks. Get a guide and when your here, befriend land owners. They'll let you hunt the critters, I'm sure.

Never been to Texas but I like it already.

Do you mean 147gr FMJ? I've been scouring the Web looking for data on 147gr FMJ on game. I'm assuming about 2000fps?

I ask because I have 500+ rounds of the stuff loaded up for a rainy day.

Leave all of your crap at home.  Fly to Texas and do a NV hog hunt with integrally suppressed 44 Mags.  This is a good place to start and not very expensive: http://nighthogs.com

No, I am using cast bullets, but you can get 144ADimsr FMJ's if you are looking for them.

Normally I use Nosler BT bullets for most hunting, but I have worked up a few of my own that work great on hogs, powder coated, flat machined tip with a small hollow point with H110 behind them, I machine the tip a small bit, then drill about 2 mm, one of the benefits of having a mill and notes.

I did a lot of experimenting with machining the tips off FMJ's a few years ago and drilling a small hollow point and they worked pretty good, but was expensive, which is why I started casting.

Being retired, I have a lot of time to waste and play around!

Ask me about huge south Texas hog charge while afoot and ar15.
It's one thing to hunt hogs while in a stand, and you can hit them in the kill zone ,   it's another when you are standing there and a momma hog is pissed.
Bring enough gun to the fight .
Feral hog hunting is more fun than should be allowed.
Have fun.

Nice!

Medicfrost, what gun is that? No rcvr extension so not Ar15 but otherwise very similar to AR.

I figured it out SCR. I likey!

Texas looks at hogs as an invasive species.  You can use whatever is legal to own to hunt them.  We used 30 Rd mags.  The only problem was us not taking more time between shots.  It was a learning process on the sounder we engaged.  Between the 3 of us all shooting we expended 34rds and did not recover a hog.  I know I hit at least one but did not drop.  We were in a boggy section of standing water so no tracking.  

Yes if at all possible see if you can hunt TX.

I use an AAC MPW 9" 300BLK SBR with an AAC SDN-6 attached. I usually shoot Barnes TTSX 110gr supers with excellent success but I have used the more in between weights of 147 gr and 155 gr. I carry a Glock G40 MOS with an RMR on my hip with 180gr FMJ, it works quite well too. My brother in law has thousands of acres of farm land here in south Texas and we hunt and trap them religiously but we never allow just any old Tom, Dick, and Harry to come out and hunt, there's far too much liability on so many fronts with that approach. I tend to get friends out or active and wounded service members just to give back to the community. Beware of the hog hunts where they just sit you in a stand and push pigs to your feeder, that's not how works and it isn't any fun. Don't expect to kill a bunch just because you are there and see evidence of their existence, they are sneaky bastards. We've killed as many 17 in a night and we've gotten skunked numerous times as well, sometimes we go home without a kill even with the dogs. I'll take the meat from a 80-120lb sow but I don't mess with the meat much from anything larger, we've done it but I don't have time to bleed out a boar on ice for days and the way we run them down in SxS's you would definitely need to bleed them out for a few days minimum. Be safe, be smart, and always aware of whats down range of you, when you get into a mess of them and the group breaks up bullets can start flying in all directions, just be aware of where your buddies are.

I've seen a lot of hogs get away when shot with the 223 AR's.  Mainly when shooting 55 gr. soft points.  Hogs are tough animals.  If you have to use a 223 I've seen great results with the 62 gr. Barnes bullets.  To me, the ultimate on the AR15 platform is the 6.8 spc.  Fantastic hog cartridge and deer for that matter.  Just my 2 cents.

It takes some getting used to.  I use a 11.5" in 5.56 with a can, and a 3x TA33 ACOG & 75gr reloads - ran up on 10 young hogs, all around 125lbs, I dropped the first 2 where they stood, and had 2 more down within 30 yards, and got hits on 3 more with significant blood trails but never recovered any of those as they got off our property.  

Have also gotten some big ones (350-425lbs) but don't always see the big ones in large groups on our property.

Got back from a hunt a couple weeks ago.  I think we made up for our first fiasco.  Here's a video of 2 of the 4 we took.  300bo pistols 200gn fracturing makers bullets.

I don't know why but its hard to find a good place to hog hunt any outfit you check out ask a lot of questions and read the fine print