Super Duper Hog info thread

[Littlefeather]

Snow!     Hell no! Stay inside where it's warm. Ain't any pig worth going out in the snow for!!!! LOL!    

Seriously, We had a foot of snow in deep south Texas last Christmas. I never miss hunting on my birthday, the day after Christmas so I was out in the nasty stuff. What I found was that if I had snow in Texas all the time, there wouldn't be many hogs left to hunt. The snow made it as easy to find them as I've ever seen. If you have snow and you've been having a problem locating the hogs, you'd better get out in it and work all day till you hit a cross trail in the snow. Don't plan on hunting them if the snow has a crust on it but at least use the snow for locating them bedding. Come back in a few days when the snow is gone and tag one. The snow led me straight to hogs last Christmas but getting a shot was impossible in the crunching snow. It sure was a bright memory for me though. The prickley pear cactus looked quite surreal covered in white. Here's your chance to locate the bedding area of those big boars you've been talking about. Please report your findings. CK

[Ray Hammond]

I agree on the scent Curtis. Hogs are very different from deer- in my opinion the only thing that makes then less difficult to kill than a whitetail is their gluttony!

If a hog smells you- he isn't going to confirm that with eyes or ears- he's out of there right then!

You ever notice how a deer will smell you and then look for you- or hear you and then try to smell or see you?

Hogs are smarter, friends...they don't need confirmation- they bust it getting gone!!!

[Littlefeather]

Thank you Ray! That is a great observation. They even think they've smelled something and all you see is hiney's going away from you. What about snow Ray? You hunt snow in your area don't you? CK

[wingnut]

let's see hogs in the snow.

My first hog hunt ever was in the snow.  However I didn't know it.  My dad and I were in NE Washington state and hunting whitetails and mules.  Nope them ain't hogs just deer.  But we were going along a base of a ridge and cut about 6 sets of very fresh tracks moving into the winds so we followed up and over the ridge and into a quiet little draw.  We could hear em moving ahead and slowed to a snails pace.  Then all of a sudden there they were.  Six beautiful hampshire feral hogs.  Only they had been feral for about an hour.  They excaped from the farmers pen down the road.

We yucked it up and headed on for our deer hunt.  And stopped by later to tell the farmer where his hogs were.

LOL

Mike

[Lee in S.C.]

On the subject of scent control... I had a big ole brindle colored boar that I had seen and hunted him for a month before I finally had the wind right and he gave me a shot. He would come in to about 60-75 yds and if he smelled something he didnt like he would turn and go back the way he came. The little pigs and sows would charge right in and feed but the big boy always hung back and checked the scene. I finally closed the deal and had to drag him out of a clearcut through knee deep water. Finally resorted to a 4 wheeler to get him to the road. This pics an oldie but a goodie.
 

[Horne's Archery]

Well here's one for the table.My buddy Jim called yesterday to see if I wanted to go start some hog holes.After getting a pass I said yes around 4:00,so the work party was on.
Durring the drive Jim told me the Care Taker of his inlaws ranch had a problem with a hog.This hog is a 300 plus .lber.Now the problem is the hog will just stand there and gral at them on there nature walks.Two days ago the hog traped Chuck in the barn in the midle of the day.
This hog,and 25 or so herd hogs are running in a thick wooded wash that runs North and South not 2000 yards from the house.The wend generaly blows North or South.I think the herd has a saw in het,and thats keeping him in the area.
Any angles on taking this hog is apreciatet.
Off to work right now.

Mark

[Ray Hammond]

Curtis, snow here is so unusual it tends to shut things down a little...I've hunted deer here in snow, but never pigs...Coastal area of SC where I hunt (about 35 miles inland from Hilton Head) rarely gets the white stuff!

[Littlefeather]

Nice pig Lee! Let me ask you a few questions about him. You said he had been running with some herd hogs when you were originally seeing him.

Where in the herd was he located as they traveled. Front, middle, or dead last? If you would have shot a hog as soon as you saw the group would you have had a shot at the Boar? What was your set-up as far as Hunt location(tree stand, ground blind, etc) and what was your gear selection(broadhead, arrow material and weight, bow draw weight). What was your thoughts about gear selection after the shot? Thanks!

Mark, I'm going to have to come up and check your hog problem myself.    I just don't feel good about sharing right now!  :D   Seriously, I'd like to take a shot in the dark on how to get him since you are probably going to go after him soon anyway. Back in a bit! Got some chili cookin right now. CK

[Horne's Archery]

Great Curtis,it's time to feed I'll be back.

Mark

[trashwood]

this is the night for a taking a head count.  ya call your rancher, call the sheriff, and call your game warden (invite him along).  about mid-night a drive along your back roads keeping track of the miles at a walking speed.  with serach lights ya count the pig eyes ya see.  if you are smart ya will mark it on your map   .  I have got the calculations somewhere (i'll find 'em) that the game department uses to turn the number of eyes and miles into a head count estimate.

in some states it might be not so legal ??   .  Bruce and I have always include the gamewarden.  at least in some parts of Texas this is how get your doe tags.  it is a real good way to check on your real pig population.

i'll find the calculation or maybe some of ya game warden folks all ready know it.

ya be surprised where ya find pigs bedding down in the cold and freezing rain  

rusty

[Lee in S.C.]

He always came in last. My experience is that the little pigs will rush in first, then the young sows, then the older sows, and if there is a boar he will hold back and come in once he's checked things out. And when he moves in he takes over.
 The boar in the pic was solitary, he never mixed with the other hogs. All of the better boars I've killed have been that way.I shot him with a 53# Jeffery recurve, 2216 xx75 tipped with a woodsman. The arrow passed through except for the fletch and he bent the shaft when he fell on it.  I shot him from a loc on in a creek bottom at the edge of an overgrown clearcut that was holding water due to beavers. I knew I had hit him well and heard him thrashing and gurgling about 50-75 yds out in the cut. Never any doubts about my gear selection, I knew it would do the job. Ive killed hogs with longbows recurves and selfbows from 45-65 lbs using carbon, aluminum and wood. Ive shot muzzy 3 blades, woodsmans, snuffers, and magnus 2 blades and stingers, razorheads, and a ribtec. They ALL worked when I put them in the right place.

[beachbowhunter]

Lee, that resume puts you on the Hog Killer BOARd of Directors!   :D

[Littlefeather]

Is it just me or does it look like Lee might have been sandbaggin us all along. Good info Lee. I see a pattern.

Mark, I hate to give you advice. I already know you are pig smart. Let me go ahead and have a wack at it though. The Boar is running the caretaker in the barn for no apparent reason you say. Dang, My kind of hog. I like it when they come beggin for it.  :D   I think you need to take that boar out. Here's the deal, you think you have a Sow in heat in the herd running there. That is going to make the boar unpredictable as far as hunting dominant hogs goes(using info we;ve shared already). With a Sow in heat running round the area, I do believe I'd hunt the herd for a few hunts and see if he's running behind the pack. If he is, Id just hunt the herd hogs and refrain from shooting anything but the big feller. You say you're setting up some bait sites so you are half way to the herd hogs already. Probably ought to concentrate the efforts there for now. If that doesn't work, I think easing into the wind down that ridge you speak on in the AM, doing "one" grunt every 50 yards or so as you travel may locate him. Those big hogs will respond to a singular grunt every time. The reason, I didn't advise going straight for his bedding location first is that sometime if you jump a dominant boar out of his lair he'll discontinue use of that particular bedding area. He knows you've found him and they most often won't lay there again any time soon. No need to push him if you can bait him into the open with Natures best bait, a Sow n heat! CK

[wingnut]

Curtis,

how about you come up and we'll soak ya in some sow in heat scent?  Then you could crawl around making soft grunts while we keep an eye out for the big fellar.

Sound like a plan?

LOL

Mike

I could never get my bear hunting partners to do it either.

[Littlefeather]

Oh, I think it's a little early in the morning to ask me to do that. Ask me again this afternoon after I've had a few beers.   :D

[wingnut]

Yep I think that would be one of them "Hey Bubba!!  Watch this"  things that happen before something real bad.

Mike

[Van/TX]

Oh, I think it's a little early in the morning to ask me to do that. Ask me again this afternoon after I've had a few beers. [/b]

In south Texas (at least by my rules) it's OK to drink beer after 0945 hrs.  For you non-military types that 9:45 AM    ....Van

[Charlie Lamb]

and for all you Marines out there...the little hand is on the 9 and...  :D

[swampbiologist]

Well, I'm back from the Hog Marsh and the only thing I have to report are sightings of 1-200# class Boar on Saturday and two sows with piglets. I wanted to post a couple of pictures of what the coastal Habitat looks like.
IMG]http://i17.photobucket
Hog bedding area in Sedge Grass
 
Rootings
 
Willow ridge
[IMG]http://i17.photobucket.com/albums
Hog / Deer Trail
Easy to walk but hogs found in very thick areas.

[swampbiologist]

Here's the Hog / DeerTrail

 
Here's the sedge grass that they love to lay up in and I love to stalk in.