Here's my story
I had great groups at 100 out to 200 yards with 40grs of W296 with a 240XTP on top, When on my first pig hunt this weekend in a long time and thought I'd take this load. After two long days finding these animals we got word from another rancher that they were tilling his field up at night. We set up at a tree line and waited, We glassed the field and saw movement at aproxxanently 500 yards and were losing light fast, We decided to go in after them. I saw movement in the grass at 100 yards and froze, it was a hog and a big hog it was moving left from my position right into a small clearing as soon as it got to that clearing it must have smelled me because it took off running to my left, I got the 450 up and led him about 12" and let one fly, WHACK! Thats distinctive sound of a solid hit and it was down, So I thought.
We gave it about 15-20 min and then went to recover my pig, It was not their. No blood, nothing. It's now dark and After about one hour looking for blood we found one very small light red spot on a piece of grass approx 200 yards away(pure luck that we even found that). We continued looking for about another hour then decided to get the dogs out their first thing in the morning. We followed those dogs all day it felt, Only to be brought to a dead cow about two miles away, we continued looking for the better part of that afternoon and came up with nothing, After talking to some ranchers in the area they all said I should have never used a hollow point bullet on the hogs in that area, They said if I had hit behind the shoulder plate that we'd all be looking a nice pig but because they believe I hit it in the shoulder plate it just ran off into another zip code. Guys that hunt these pigs their said it's not uncommon for a 200+ pound pig to have a 3/4" shoulder plate and when that XTP hit it, It flattened out and never went through, Everyone I have talked to about this said the same thing, Only use solids on wild pig! Most of them told me to leave the 450 at home and bring a 30-06, 270, 300 win mag, something like that.
Needless to say I am very disappointed in the hole experience and have no one to blame but myself, I shair this to hopefully give someone like my self that didn't know not to use hollow point bullets on big pigs, A heads up. I have till June 2011 to fill my tags but unless I come in to group of them and have time to switch from my 30-06 to the BM it will probably not see a pig kill anytime soon.
I told my "Guide" that had I got a shot at one standing still I would have dumped him, He smiled and said very few pigs are taken from that area standing still and I should have only led that pig about 5 ". solids or not with the 450.
Any constructive criticism would be appreciated