Super Duper Hog info thread

[Glenn Newell]

I have never worried that much about colour for pigs but I have always been carefull about movement. This photo was taken nearly thirty years ago now, no cover at all to use for the stalk, pig looked at me a couple of times during the stalk, shot him from 15 yards. The pink shirt was a one of...Glenn...

 

[the Ferret]

Gee Glenn were you really that young and skinny once? LOL

[Glenn Newell]

Yes Mickey I grew into being old and overweight, I wasn't born this way        ...Glenn...

[Littlefeather]

Paul, the scenereo you speakof with the Boar is one I've found that works well with vocalizations. I personally have made this exact situation work three times. The boar jumps up but doesn't know what has disturbed him. He can be grunted into staying but doesn't seem to want to leave the confines of the thick brush. I've had to make em mad to get them out of the brush. One stiff grunting followed by a long, loud exhale of air. Repeat every time he responds. This is posturing to big boars. He will take the long exhales as a sign of a challenge. Watch out, you may need to RUN!    

Pat, Sometime when I fly with a friend of mine, we see pigs bedded on the open grass hill tops. You'd never expect to see pigs in the open grass but they are there. I think this affords them a lazy place to hide in the tall grass and soak up sunshine. Nothing can approach due to the long distance that they can see and smell. Try those hill tops! Id also start a baiting routine if it's legal and "you" find it ethical. Great pig you shot there! Really happy to see you take one after hearing how difficult things are for you right now.

Glen, you look so pretty in pink.    Just kidding mate!  :D   That's some good info on color. CK

[Doc Nock]

Mickey...C as in color=cones.    Rods are night vision and movement.

out at Matt&Cheryl Nappers (Shiloh) I got to watch a lot.  We were in established stands on feeder overlooks.  Once they were into the grits, you could move pretty much I found. But the big boys would stand off 60-80 yards and grunt at anything in the stands...camo be darned. If you shifted a foot 6"... they were GONE.  

I replayed that a few times and had some buds go down several years in a row who had similar results...fwiw from a bunch of neophytes book(s).

[Glenn Newell]

Pat, good on you for your first traditional bow kill. My uncle use to live up in Cape York many years ago and he use to save the used cooking oil, he would pour it on the ground and the pigs would root that bit of gound up for days, he use to shoot them from a ground blind, he also said that sour milk was was the best bait he ever used.
Curtis I know what you are saying about the grass. In the Outback in winter when the heat is gone the pigs and especially the old boars can be found out on the Leichart Grass Downs Country(grassy treeless plains)during the day, they will lay out in the grass all day for the sunhine. These areas are so vast though it's normally best to hunt the areas adjacent to dams and bore drains. It's really good hunting in this country when is high and there a large numbers of locust around, you watch for locust flying infront of the pigs walking around in the grass...Glenn...

[Paul R]

Thanks for the advice CK, I will try that call sequence next time it happens. The snorting and the growling is always an adrenalin rush.

Glenn, I have seen the same things with pigs on cold winter mornings out west , camping up in the long grass, soaking up the sun(I wasn't wearing a pink shirt though    ). It can get pretty exiting when the long grass starts to part in your direction too.  :eek:   One method I use in winter is to hunt along the water channels or bore drains or the timber lines close to them, checking the eastern side (side facing the sun) of Lignum bushes and other undergrowth, I think CK already mentioned this. In the Summer the pigs will bed deep in the bushes under the thickest shadiest tree, close to water or under the over hanging creek banks, away from the sun.

I also used to do a lot of pig hunting west of Armidale which is one of the coldest places I’ve ever hunted in Winter ( it even snows there sometimes    ) but I guess it would be pretty mild compared to what you blokes in the USA can experience. The properties I used to hunt in the area consisted of deep blackberry choked gullies and round sparsely wooded hills which were bare on top. Every time I hunted the place in Winter I would find lone Boars asleep right on top of the bare hills soaking up the sun. In the summer they would bed at the head of deep, blackberry choked gullies usually on the southern side of the hills trying to escape the sun and heat.

Pat, out in Western QLD when there is a lot of rain, the pig’s bed on the sand ridges. These sand ridges can be only a few feet higher than the surrounding soil plains but afford good cover and comfortable, comparatively dry beds, especially when it floods. Because these small ridges are made of sand the pigs don't get mud and clay building up on their trotter's, which annoys the hell out of them, or if they get a build up while they are watering and feeding, they can clean it off in the sand and move about more freely. I don't know if there's anything like that up the Cape, but regardless I would be hunting whatever high ground you have up there, as CK suggested, if there is any.  

[aussiebowhunter]

ck,glen,paul,cheers all good info,yep iwe have some rocky ridges,not that high and we do have sand ridges,i agreed they would have to be the go..i reckon ill also try some small food baitng,like the cooking oil,jelly and old milk tricks..makee a few spots a k around the house,so u can do nice afternoon walks...

ck,could u mention what callers u like for grunting and distressed..if its not right to name brands on here,would u mind emailing..

in yestredays situation,the large boar and the rest didnt know what was wrong and basically had a little shuffle and looked around..i sat still,i was thinking then what would have been the go,give a grunt or hav a distress call going.??

what would u reckon ck?? i am ok with a boar coming in on me,with an arrow ready,they were all in such good condition compared toi the dry..def double there body weights...

cheers pat...

[Glenn Newell]

I have always worked on the theory that if you cant hunt you might as well look good    ...Glenn...

[Littlefeather]

:D  Your funny Glen....

Pat, I don't use any manufactured calls. I don't know who makes them and cannot recommend one. All the ones I've heard don't sound realistic. They all sound like modified deer grunt tubes. I've worked for sometime creating the proper sounds inside my chest and deep throat. My calling lacks the high pitch weeze that is inside of the big boars grunts but I'm sounding real close. Maybe some of the guys here can help with manufactured calls. I wouldn't know where to look for one. CK

[Glenn Newell]

Last time I was in the States I bought several different types for grunting pigs and didn't have any luck with them at all. I didn't scare any away and the pigs didn't pay any attention to me at all, didn't even get a side way glance. I will admit I don't have a clue about calling pigs.
I have seen when two boars are fighting and they are making plenty of noise other boars will come running to the scene...Glenn...

[Joe D]

Great thread Curtis!  

[Littlefeather]

Thanks Joe.

Glen, I appreciate your input. What you just said further reinforces my thoughts about calling. Like i've said repeatedly, I believe calling will only work in very specific circumstances. They do have a language. You just have to figure out when to speak! CK

[Ray Hammond]

when a couple boars are getting after a hot sow they can sound for all the world like what you would think a couple of silverback male gorillas would sound like fightin- just TEARIN' it up..they growl, grunt, wheeze, snort, blow- its a awful racket...and a great time to put the move on em...I've run into it 4 times in the last 5 or so years and every time I was able to get in there and get close enough for a shot...didn't get a shot in each situation but had a good chance and did take a couple boars out of the 5 chances.

They are not standing still, usually, like a couple of bulls rutting- they are moving, running, chasing- over a big area- at least thats the way it has been around here. I get very, very excited when I hear this kind of racket in the woods- the first thing I say to myself is like that fight announcer..." Let's get ready to RUMMMMBBBBBLLLLLLLLLEEEEEE!!!!!

[Littlefeather]

Stop it Ray!!!!!!!!! Im getting aroused! I just love to hear that sound myself! CK

[Ray Hammond]

When I get within 50 miles of my place Curtis I swear I'm like a hunting dog in a box on the back of the truck- my tail is WAGGIN' till I get there, change my duds and GET AFTER EM as my buddy Greg Campbell says!!!!!!!!!

Other than elk hunting, hunting swine is the about the most fun you can have with your britches on!

Well, maybe I shouldnt have said THAT last remark quite that way... Let me rephrase that a little- its the most fun you can have huntin!!! How's that?  

[Littlefeather]

Yessir! I raise my glass to that! CK

[dan massa]

I am just getting back into the traditional side of archery and loving it. This web page is great and has tons of useful info. I just purchased two bows (Bob Lee Stickbow 60# 66" and a PSE Sable takedown# 64")and planned on using the stickbow on a trip to Nolton Creek ranch the first week of March. My first hunt for hogs was probably begginers luck and I shot a 260+ pound boar with my wheelie. Does anyone have any info on the ranch and any tips to hunting a high fenced ranch?

[Littlefeather]

Don't know anything about that ranch. Unless it is a very small operation, you can just forget the fence exists. CK

[dan massa]

It is between Uvalde and Sabinal and operated by Les Zimmerman out of BarE ranch.