My favorite way of hunting hogs is on the ground. I have been charged twice in about fifteen sucessful hunts. In each of those cases, the hog was mortally wounded and I was way too close.
Due to the fact that hogs vitals are so far forward, much like game on the "Dark Continent", one of the best arrow angles will be from the ground. Far too many people shoot hogs like they do deer, resulting in long blood trails with no hog at the end. They are tough as nails, and can take a lot of punishment. Leave your wimpy broadheads at home. Cut on contact, large cutting diameters are the wise choices, the fat and that course hair will soak up a lot of blood.
I have found that the Wensel Woodsman is my choice as big hog medicine. The two hogs I have shot with them, died within ten yards of being shot. Prior, I used Zwickey and Magnus, both fine choices.
Hogs in hot weather can be found along creeks and near swamps. They will also get high on ridges during hot weather to catch the breeze. Moving slowly along these types of cover in the right weather conditions, playing the wind, glassing the hiding spots can pay big dividens.
In extremely cold weather, you will find them on the lee side of bluffs, cut banks, dead falls, and depressions. I have found them in deep depressions ten to twenty bunched up for heat.
I love to get on a point, the higher the better, early or late in the day, where I can glass for them. Hogs when actively feeding, will move in a fairly predictable path, other factors, that determine their feeding and travel paths are the lay of the land. When I locate them, and determine their path, I dope out the wind, and run like hell to get to a point in front of the feeding pig , or pigs. I say run like hell because the darn things cover a lot of ground pretty quickly, use caution, running in the woods can cause falls, no arrow on the string until you have sighted game and in the process of moving in for a shot.
Once they feed into range, I try to shoot as they move past, slightly quartering away shot. On broadside shots, I shoot for the crease just behind the shoulder.
You have to be careful, because you can fool their eyes, if you use cover and don't move, but their hearing is better than any hoofed animal I have ever seen. Their sense of smell is the best in the animal world, and their intelligence has no equal in the wild.
Hogs are not like deer, if something is not to their liking, they will get the heck out of Dodge, quick and in a hurry.
While I am a northern boy, living in Texas, I hate the Texas heat, but love being able to chase these pigs all year long.
If you can score on a regular basis on pigs, you should have no trouble with deer or most any other critter.
Topic: Hogs on the Ground (Read 6622 times)
