# Lets put some proof to this armor plate ordeal.



## j_seph

Is it really bullet proof or was it just a bad shot placement?
<TABLE border=2 width=765 align=center><TBODY><TR><TD align=middle>HUNTERS ANATOMY OF A FERAL HOG
HEART - LUNG - SPINAL CORD
*The heart, lung, and spinal cord anatomy of the feral hog is widely misunderstood.
This article deals with the anatomy of the wild boar. GRAPHIC PHOTOS are used to illustrate the location of the heart, lungs, and spinal cord so hunters can better understand the proper KILL ZONE area.

It is widely understood or rather miss understood that a wild boar is some sort of super armored beast that is almost impossible to kill. Amazing campfire stories are told and repeated of how well placed shots on the beast fail to bring them down. It's not that the animals are so tough, rather, the kill zone is so small!
YEAH YEAH YATTA YATTA,, I know about the ARMOR PLATE,, GET OVER IT,, it aint bullet proof! The so-called ARMOR SHIELD is tough and it can be thick, but despite the ol-wives-tails it is easily penetrated by both bullet and proper broad-head. A .22 Rimfire will consistently penetrate through a 2 inch thick shield of a wild boar. I tested it OVER AND OVER AND OVER,, SO,, all those stories of bullets bouncing off a hog is just bunk. I have killed many large boar with small .224 caliber through the shoulder area,, although I DO NOT recommend the average hunter try it!!

I have seen artistic drawings of HOG ANATOMY and not once have they been correct. At best they were terribly misleading.

The photos below will reveal in GRAPHIC DETAIL, the exact location of the VITALS and will illustrate how small the heart/lung cavity actually is. Also it will illustrate the location of the spine which runs MUCH LOWER through the shoulder section than many hunters may realize!
I also want to point out how far forward the PUANCH or the STOMACH and INTESTINES are actually located. TAKE A CLOSE look at the final photo! You can see the Paunch is all the way up to the lower shoulder and actually rests against the heart. So the popular belief of placing a shot "BEHIND THE SHOULDER" will generally do nothing more than rupture intestines and liver. This shot will leave a mortally wounded hog running for hundreds of yards. The blood trail will usually end at around 100 yards as the entry wound plugs up. Although the hog will die, they are rarely recovered. Then another story is born of the BULLET PROOF beast. FACT REMAINS,, and decent caliber with a decent load placed in the heart, lung, or spinal column will dispatch the biggest boar in very short order. The TRICK is knowing the PROPER KILL ZONE of the wild boar. 

Please keep in mind the photos bellow are of a dead hog laying on a flat surface. It makes the top front leg appear to be more forward than it really is,, as if it were slightly quartering away. 

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*PHOTO OF A 70 POUND MALE FERAL PIG*

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*PHOTO OF THE SKINNED HOG!*

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*THIS PHOTO REVEALS THE RIB CAGE AND THE BONED OUT FRONT LEG. THE SHOULDER PLATE IS ERECT AND NOT SLANTED AS MANY ARTISITIC PHOTOS MAY DEPICT IT. THE SHOULDER PLATE AND MUSCLE WILL COVER 85% OR MORE OF THE HEART AND LUNGS ON A STANDING BROADSIDE HOG.*

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*THIS PHOTO ILLUSTRATES THE EXACT PLACEMENT OF THE HEART AND LUNGS AS WELL AS DEPICTING THE LOW DIP IN THE SPINAL COLUMN.
<SMALL>NOTE,, the shot was made with a 220 SWIFT (.224 cal 52grn MATCH HPBT 3,900 FPS Muzzle) into the mid-neck region. The wound channel (disrupted tissue) is clear to see. The spine was severely damaged along with major arteries and veins as well as portions of the lungs. Even though the majority of the "PUMP STATION" was left unbruised the hog fell directly in his tracks. No tracking was needed.</SMALL>*

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*AS YOU CAN SEE THE CAVITY AREA IS ONLY SLIGHTLY LARGER THAN THE HAND OF MY 13 YR OLD SON, WHO SHOT THE HOG. THE LARGE ARTERIES FROM THE LUNGS AND HEART ARE SEEN PLAINLY IN THE PHOTO.*

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*THE SMALL HEART LUNG CAVITY REVEALED. ALSO ILLUSTRTED IS THE PAUNCH AREA EXTENDING WELL UP TO THE SHOULDER AREA. SO PLACING A SHOT BEHIND THE SHOULDER INTO THE RIB CAGE WILL NOT HIT THE HEART LUNG AREA (PUMP STATION)! SHOTS MUST BE PLACED INTO THE MID SHOULDER REGION OR NECK (neck shot is only for high powered rifles. The most deadly shot with a broad-head is directly at the top of the heart which is directly in line with the shoulder crease (directly over the top of "elbow joint").* </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>


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## AmericanBorn57

j seph, I really appreciate the work you put into this. I have to agree with you on little piggies this is pretty much the truth. Way back in the 70s I kept a diary of hogs and piggies I shot one year. 88 in total over 3 months. Had to go back and find the notes as I was trying out all kinds of loads and anything from long bows to black powder to shotguns to .22 handguns. I even killed 4 with my pocket knife and 2 with a sledge hammer (had help with those). 

The point where that side plate gets a little bit of an issue is just after puberty for the pig. Goes from being a pig to being a hog - pretty close around 200 pounds. Up to then, I didn't have much of a problem pushing through with just about anything. I got caught with nothing but #4s one time on sow at 5 yards - that will work too but wouldn't make a trend of it.
Point is, there is a reason we don't shoot 2-300 pound hogs with toy guns. Those 70 pounders don't have tushes and aren't taking a chunk from you if you make them mad, AND I don't like to hurt anything I shoot - I like them dead quick. 
In my informal study, as long as my target was no larger than 200 pounds, my long bow could manage to do enough damage out to 20 yards to bring home the bacon. I lost several - 3 or 4 - on shots beyond 20 yards even though placement was fine - the arrows didn't go in beyond an inch or two on the largest of these.
I shot a nice boar one time quartering away with .357 mag out of a 6" barrel. First 3 shots were behind the ear (made him really mad) two through the shoulder (I know they made it through cuz I rotted out the shoulder to see) and the next three were forehead forehead between the shoulders, base of the skull, straight down- like 2' in front of me. He dropped like a rock - well him or me.  With his butt against the front of the bed of the Chevy Luv his head rested on the tailgate. At 10yards the .357 fmj had penetrated his sideplate fine, lodged on the far side. The first shot was 1/2 low missing the brain but tearing one heck of a hole rear to front across his head. The final shot, between the shoulders broke his back (hollow point hand load) at 2', literally at my britches. 
My point is, I did shoot some with .22 handgun - and have worked on a kill floor and found in the right place I can kill just about anything with that round. But I won't shoot a grown hog in the shoulder with a .22. I have more respect for the critter than to try to prove any point over a beer about IF it COULD do the job. Go to Ossabaw sometime, on a parent child hunt. There will be plenty of pigs there taken with .243 and .223 rounds. Not many challenging 200 or more pounds though. 
Yes, them vitals run a little lower in the front than the "side plate" but the problem is the general public isn't that good of a shot. They will shoot behind the shoulder, usually too high and too far back. Too high on these critters and you don't get much, too far back and you are in for some tracking - and some stinking meat.
Thanks again for taking the time and the effort though - very good photography.


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## SELFBOW

I seen enough to know the penetration is hard to accomplish on an older boar with a tough hide.

Here's a 300 lb boars shield behind his shoulder in his ribs. It's over 2" thick and even thicker over his shoulder bone.


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## bigreddwon

Great picture, it really shows the thickness. Once thats got a bunch of scar tissue  from fighting stacked up on it I can see how it would get real tough. 

thx


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## redlevel

The smallest caliber I have used on a hog (other than slaughter hogs killed in a pen) was a .38 special 125 grain hollowpoint from a four inch Ruger GP 100.  It was some kind of factory loaded +p round, which is actually pretty anemic.  El Dorado Starfire, maybe?  Anyhow, it was a broadside shot at a 70-80 lb gilt, at about 30 yards.  I took the classic deer hunter's behind the shoulder heart/lungs shot.  The hog ran about 15 yards, laid down, and bled out.  I did not clean the pig myself, so I didn't recover the bullet.  The man I gave the pig to said the bullet mushroomed, and that the lungs were a mess.  

If the pig had been much larger, I wouldn't have taken the shot.  I would much prefer my .45 Colt loads for use on pigs, but I was carrying the Ruger that day.


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## schreck_1

Good posts and photos.  The more we study the critter we are after the more efficient we can be when its time to make meat. Thanks for sharing!


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## j_seph

buckbacks said:


> I seen enough to know the penetration is hard to accomplish on an older boar with a tough hide.
> 
> Here's a 300 lb boars shield behind his shoulder in his ribs. It's over 2" thick and even thicker over his shoulder bone.


 Neat photo but isn't that from the ribs back to the rump where the stomach and guts are located


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## great white

Is it bullet proof or bad shot placement? I'd say it's bad shot placement. The shield is tough but it ain't bullet proof. A bullet has no problem going through it from a 22 up to the largest magnums, now an arrow might have some. You definately won't get a pass thru on a big boar and the fat will seal the hole thus no real blood trail to follow. I think most people have no idea that if you shoot a hog right behind the shoulder like you would a deer you basically gut shot it unless you hit it really low in the arm pit. Just my opinion but when i hear or see a thread that says they shot a really big hog and they couldn't find any blood or the hog, so there for the bullet must have bounced off. In actuality they gut shot him and he ran a long ways and eventually died. Next time someone kills a big boar with a large shield like the one buck backs is showing. Cut the shield off and test it, start with a 22 and go up, you will see the bullet will go thru it but the fat will seal the hole back up.
Bullet proof-No
Bad shot placement-Yes


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## j_seph

AmericanBorn57 said:


> j seph, I really appreciate the work you put into this.


 Thanks but I found this on a texas website
http://www.texasboars.com/anatomy.html


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## gin house

ive had them shot in front of me bayed up with a 22lr between the eyes, droped like a rock.  too many people get after hogs with 22 hollowpoints, thats not the best idea, hollowpoints dont penetrate and stay together, i use .33grain remington accutips.  between bad choices of ammo and poor marksmanship a lot get away and get injured.  theyre not invincible, any caliber will kill them.


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## Dakotaman

Good pics and they sure show the layout of a hog. There is a very tough shield in the front chest area of a big hog. I watched with amazement as my buddy shot a 325 boar right in the center of the chest with a hot .357 mag load from about 25 feet. The bullet penetrated about a quarter of an inch leaving the majority of the bullet protruding from the skin. I would never have guessed it could stop such a bullet. The hog ran and then came back at us later when he got a kill shot under the ear... that put him down on the spot.  The bullet in his shield was still stuck there when we skinned him. I don't shoot big boars from the front anymore when using a pistol.


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