Most folks don’t realize how tough wild hogs really are. Additionally, most do not realize the wild hogs develop a gristle plate on their shoulders/sides to protect them against other hogs over their lifetime. I took a football size piece from the boar killed by Allen Manues home to do a little ballistics test. The shoulder plate measured 1.85″ at the thickest point. I placed it on shooting berm and made sure there was not space between the piece and the dirt to truly simulate the shooting situation. I measured off 20 yards and shot the plate with a 12ga 3″ 00 Buckshot. Nine of the 13 pellets struck the plate, but the deepest any of the pellets penetrated was 1.52″. Now, that should make anyone think about not only where to place your shot, but what to shoot a hog with.