Pigs in the 'hood. . . A Trashwood / Wingnut adventure. 200+ .pig pics added pg4

[Littlefeather]

Rusty, I like your idea of getting away from the feeders to hunt hogs. Feeders are the best place to have pigs bust you especially if they've ever smelled you once at the feeder. If the sounder has busted you once they'll likely circle to get wind on the feeder every time they approach it from that point on. Here's a couple of methods that have proven themselves to me many times in this very situation.

The trail) You speak of hunting the leading trail. This is how I've smacked-down my biggest pigs ever. That old boar will always hang up on the leading trail while all the feeder pigs rush in to a feeder. I like to pick my hunting spot well upstream of the feeder and right before I hunt the trail I take a long log or stick and lay it at a 45% angle across the trail in a manner to force the hogs into a quartering shot position. They will stop to see what has upset their travel path. At the very end of the log I wipe just a small smear of scent at the end of the log to stop the pig for a shot(bacon grease works well. A TINY DAB)). This works very well on the bigger hogs. They stop to smell the end of the log every time.

The feeder) I generally let the feeder do its daily thing until the day I want to hunt. On the day I hunt I either jam the feeder or turn it off for the duration of the hunt so that it does not feed. I ease in under the feeder and and trickle a "very small" trail of corn away from the feeder in a direction where the wind will always be in my favor. At the point I wish to shoot I'll scatter a bit extra. The pigs will go to the feeder and immediately follow the trail wherever it leads. You create the shot. I don't mind using a little bait for hogs. There are times when it just seems impossible to reduce the numbers. We now have so many hogs around here that the deer seem to have moved on to other areas. The damn hogs make it awefully hard to hunt deer. Every time I get close to deer the hogs seem to come by and scare all the deer away. You guys wear em out! It looks like you might need to take some extra arrows. Good luck!!! CK

[Doc Nock]

REading this daily, and laughing at all the antics has been a real treat in these tough times! Thanks guys!

Only thing is that I think you might be doing folks a dis-service! Yup!  :(  Now when us blokes save up for a hog hunt, we're gonna think of your stories and come home sorely disappointed me thinks.

You two are definitely the Abbot and Costello of Hog Hunting! What a treasure to have such a grand friendship! Cudos, guys! And thanks for taking us along for the ride!

[trashwood]

The flu and colds hit the Wingnut and Jason at just the wrong time.    .  I like to hit the boggy bottoms in the cold.  The ticks, chiggers, and poison ivy are down in count.  The pig are working real hard this time of the yr till spring to get sumpin to eat.  I figure a little corn now and then ain't gonna hurt.

I been waiting patiently for wingnut and jason to get some pigs.  they don't ge to hunt the boggy bottoms much.  As soon as they get some pork in the freezer I am going to thin down the numbers some.  that is just too many pigs for the food load.

I have night hunted at a ranch over in Thurber. this ranch wants the pigs gone.  I want them at a healthy population load.

When wingnut and jason get thru here is the rig I am going to use.  It has a Hawglite on it.  I haven't used the Hawglit before but have used a light on the bow that I  made out of a headlamp strap on the rise limb pad area.

  http://sites.google.com/site/stringwalkerbowhunter/nxxpert-manes  

rusty

[trashwood]

BTW I well accept complaints that hunting at night with a light over a feeder is not really tradbow hunting.  I agree actually.  It is productive and it is a lot of fun.  Ya still have to place your shot with all expertize, ya still have to find the pig and buthcer it.  

the pigs learn very quickly though.  ya get one or two tries and ya better be shooting straight right off the bat.

I was sorry to see the anchor thread closed.  that was likely one of the most important thread to have been posted on this fourm.  50% of the tradbow hunters have no idea what an anchor is or where it should be.  poor choice of threads to close.  I guess forum thinks a four strain string is more important than a proper anchor.  go figure

rusty

[trashwood]

I would like to assure you that everything about the feeder, night time hunting, and light are legal in Texas (Texas I luv U) when hunting pigs.

rusty

[trashwood]

Curtis - thanks for your hard won practicle tips.  Experience is 100 times better than theory any day. it takes a lot of time and thought in the field to figure this stuff out.  I appericat your hand up.


if ya stop and think about Wingnut and Jason experinece last night when they had pigs coming down the pig trial, the pigs were coming from the direction of the feeder.  that would have been a great time to be in a hidy hole with your grunter     one thing feeder does that is hard to do any other way is the it will bring pigs to an area.  as the pigs get closer to the feeder they will gather to single trails going to a feeder.  about 20 to 30 yds out ya will start seeing where the trails are funneling down.  makes hide hunting or spot and stalk very excititing


rusty

[wingnut]

Well I'm going tonight!!  Jason is still under the weather and Rusty is working late.  Looks like I'm on my own.  Going to give it a couple hours anyway and see what I can see.

Might not be that long if that sounder is around that we saw last night.

Mike

[trashwood]

Heee Heee Good luck.  they can be hard to find after ya hit them at night  If ya need help I get off and 22:00 and I'll come help......btw two pigs a night is plenty  

rusty

[wingnut]

going to stop at one if I can.  LOL  I'm taking the camera.

Mike

[stick_string]

have fun!!

[Shaun]

Good luck Mike!

PS, take your bow.

[wingnut]

Well I'm back.  It was exciting for a while but soon got dark and cold.  Heck the temps were in the 30s when I got to the truck.  LOL

Had two different boars come check it out.  Got a good look at both but couldn't get a shot.  DAng that stuff is thick.

Had a possum wander by. . didn't want to eat em.

The wind was bad.  Need a South wind for this to work best.

Mike

[trashwood]

I talked to Wingnut yesterday evening.  I didn't get off till six and i would dark by then.  We needed to put some more corn in th feeder.  We desided I'd go in with hawglite and try to get one down and then put corn in the feeder.  

I spent 20 minute putting a stalk on the feeder.  I tought it sounded pretty quiet.  I got to my hidy hole.  let things settle down.  eassed out eye out around the edge of the hide????? no feeder.   rud my eyes to check for sure....that's the dang tree?? had a 1/4 moon and pretty ggod light.  

settle back down a few minutes to hear what I could hear.....it was way too quiet.  turn my hawglit one to check on feeder....it is just gone.  looked for eyes.....i was alone.  got up and went to tree holding feeder. strap was busted in to.  dang 'em pigs musta wanted a six pack to go.  looked around for the feeder and finaly found it over by the trail in about 10 yds from the stand.  place looked like a war zone  

did have a strap (well need more than one) so I backed out and called Wingnut.  I go to work this morning so Jason and Wngnut ae gonna try to set up feeder againg.

if ya tought it was just put up a feeder and drag home the pigs ya are seeing how long it really takes to get a pig off a feeder.

rusty

[trashwood]

Just heard from wingnut.  He came by and gave me a nifty-seat we had ordered.  He is on his was out to bale the feeder out.  LOL I think wingnut will do a better job getting the feeder hooked to the tree.  I didn't think about them wanting to have corn take-out.  

Hey ya dang pigs this is an eat-in conssesion.  nothing to-go, please......and stand still, form a nice line, and take turns  

rusty -big bad wolf will huff and puff -carring the dang corn- Craine

[Doc Nock]

Is it my imagination or the more excited Rusty gets the worse his typin?

     :D  

Great tales guys... nice to wander along even sharing the trials and frustrations...all part of it! otherwise..it'd get boring, huh?  

[wingnut]

Rusty and I are going to give it another go tomorrow night.  Took a while to dig the feeder tube outta the tangle.  Those pigs really wanted the corn that was left.  I think everytime they moved it they could hear what was left in the tube jiggling.  Good think it hung up or we'd never found it.

Put two new straps on it this time.

Hope we can get em to eat a little.  Dang!!    

mike

[trashwood]

DocNoc - the worse my typing is the nearer I am late to work    .......although if exicted I doubt I could type at all    

the thing the get me interested in kinda revealing what goes into the a hero pic from start to finish was some of my target shooting buddies ribbing me about....what is the big deal.  ya just go out and put up a stand, sprinkle a little corn around.  then ya just drag home the pigs.  heck fire anybody can be a hunter....they say    

so I desided to update a thread from start to hero pic....no matter how long it took.      

of course I could be getting out there with a walker before it happens but it will happen LOL.

most of the time we never get to see all the scouting, all the preparation, all the patience, the new approaches, the practice with bow and call, etc etc....we just get to see the hero pic      oh anybody could be a tradbow hunter    

rusty

[Shape Shifter]

This is just an awesome thread. When these two guys get together isn't always...

[trashwood]

so wingnut got the feeder up and tidy tight. he and jason left if full of corn.  since we want to hunt tomorrow evening if I don't get the feeder filled up in the AM we'll be hunting and feeder will be empty.  ya have already seen what the pig can do over night.

In the morning before going to work at 8AM, I am gonna feed the feeder and corn the middle road a bit.  If I have enough time I am gonna try and find me a hidy hole on the middle road.  if wind holds from the south I might not be able to get behind and by Wingnuts stand without casting wind shadow on stand.  so if I have time in the evening I will walk up the bad road and down middle to corn pile I put out in morning.

we are hunting a triangle made by the good road, the bad road and the middle road.  wind usually from SSE middle road runs east and west mostly.  good road runs northe and south.  bad road run kinda east and SSE.  if ya hunt the bad road ya are packing out pig to junction with good road.  ya can drive good road from bad road to middle road.  if not rained in two weeks ya can drive middle road.

the triangle maybe 120 acres or so of green briar hell.....and pig heaven    

DocNoc did make a good point.....there is no where in Texas except a pig farm that has more pig load per acer than the boggy bottoms.  the pigs have gone real nocturnal after 3 gas wells were drilled.  I think the oil riggers eat pretty well while they were there.

Wingut and I are the south west conner right now.  Rojo Grande came from a area east of where we are now (pipe line stand).  I am not sure how many pigs I have taken over time I have hunted the boggy bottoms.  could be a dozen I guess.

rusty -more than ya wanted to know about boggy bottoms- Craine

[trashwood]

btw that dozen or so pigs was over 5 yr or so I forget exactly.

an aside        
by the way Van/TX if ya pick this thread up again let me ask ya a question. Do you remember that guy who came to Vanderpool pretty often that had the left/right handed bow.  it had a shelf on one side of the bow.  ya turned the bow upside down to shoot left handed and well upside down again to shoot right handed.  did ya ever shoot the bow?????  do you remember his name?

van is a right hander shooting lefty or lefty shooting righty is I recall??? and just a little younger than me  


rusty