Caliber and Bullets for Boar Rifles – A Reality Check

My comment to a belated comment from a reader who believes to be on the track of a sinister conspiracy against rifle caliber .243.



In January 2008 I published an article under the above title that dealt with aspects of rifles and ammunition for boar hunting. In it I weighed pragmatically the arguments for small bore versus big bore boar hunting rifles knowing well that any critical mentioning of certain small rifle calibers would encounter dedicated opposition.


More than two years later my reflections on the smallest rifle calibers drew a pointed angry response.from TheGoldenSockPuppet. Referring to my above article he wrote:


“The 4th paragraph is misleading at best, and untruthful at worst.

It starts out telling you states have minimum requirements for calibers, then says CA's "minimum recomendation" is .243.

There is no such requirement or recomendation (unless you have a muzzleloader, and then its .40).

See for yourself: http://www.fgc.ca.gov/regulations/current/mammalregs.asp#475

They consider boar in the same hunting class with deer and bear, too.“



I bet TheGoldenSockPuppet is a proud owner of a .243 rifle, if he/she is a hunter at all.
Maybe that leads him to misread and misinterpret my actual sentence.

It reads actually like this:


“For that reason alone, States set minimum requirements for firearms that can be legally used to take big game. In California for example the minimum recommended caliber for the take of wild pigs is .243 with a minimum bullet weight of 100 grains – and then only for small pigs up to a maximum of about 90 pounds.“



Yes, California mandates that big game, and that is what we are talking here about, may only be taken with rifles firing center fire ammunition of not less than caliber .22. So, here is your minimum requirement for the take of big game in California.
The California Department of Fish and Game also publishes a list of recommended calibers for the taking of wild pigs. This list is found among others in the 'official' DFG guide to wild pig hunting in California on page 13/14 and on the department's web site.



Caliber .243 is indeed the first and smallest caliber recommended by DFG for the taking of boar and then only for small wild pigs up to about 90 pounds.



The requirement for the legal taking of big game/wild pigs is center fire ammunition of no less than caliber .22 and the recommended minimum caliber for boar is .243.
I know, I know, some of you have taken a 600 pound wild pig 800 yards out with a .243.
There are also one or two who have brought down an elephant one mile away with a puny .243 but those are the exceptions usually confined to bragging hunters and related websites for quasi-religious .243 aficionados. Responsible hunters will use a boar weapon that is commensurate with the terrain and the expected size of the quarry.


The link to DFG in the reader's comment is somewhat carelessly chosen. It leads to the Mammal Hunting Regulations of the CA DFG. Don't waste your time on it unless you want to peruse in great detail hunting methods and regulations for about any animal found in California. 
Considering the incorrect quote from my article and the generic link to mammals hunting regs instead of the more meaningful links to weapon requirements and recommendations for rifle calibers to hunt wild pigs, I am assuming that the commentator is indeed not a hunter. Weapons requirements are one of the topics covered in hunter education, aren't they?
PJJ