Super Duper Hog info thread

[Paul R]

G'day fella's, I've been following this thread with great interest since CK started it and there's some fantastic information here. I have also been cutting and pasting some of the info to an Ozzy Trad site called Ozbow, so I hope nobody minds.    

I've got a question for you regarding the calling of dominant Boars. There have been numerous times while stalking in really thick cover, that I have woken up big boars and had them jump up out of their beds in front of me.
Nine times out of ten they haven't got a clue what woke them up but they sure are cranky, snorting and growling and clicking their tusks. They are normally within 10-15 yards and it can get pretty exiting, only problem is that it's normally too thick for a shot and eventually the boar moves off. If I try to follow through the thick stuff I get heard and the boar heads for the hills at a fast rate.

My question is can I get them to come closer and present for a shot, without making them rush straight in and eat me or alternitivly run away? I've tried a couple of grunts as they were moving away but to no avail.

[Whip]

Boy these pigs seem like they are quite the adversaries for a bowhunter!  Somehow I always had the idea they were pushovers, but I'm learning fast that is not the case!  Has anyone ever tried a ghille suit or the 3D camo for hogs?  Think it offers any advantages over regular camo?  It's hard to fly down with a blind, but I sure could pack a gillie suit.

[aussiebowhunter]

ck thanks for ur reply and email..thought i might post here,as some others may be interested,if thats ok?

well where i am we hav two seasons.wet and dry..wet last for around 4 mths,rains of and on most days,where there was no grass is suddenely 3 to 8 ft high,creeks and rivers are following and some may come up 20 metres...so water is plentiful and so is feed...

during the dry,the best times for hunting boars is later sept to dec as everything is drying up and water is only in the dams,the odd waterhole in the creeks. so u know if u hunt through the heat of the day they are going to be laid up near the water...

as i am here on my own over the wet,i get plenty of time to play..but where before if u had a carcass down ,u could be sure of boars coming in early morn or late arvo..

i only hunt the loners as they are the older and wiser pigs as u hav mentioned and they are sure to have the best ivory...and they are very aggressive,they will hav u for dinner as quick as if u pis them off..they basically arnt scared of anthing up here..they only hav dingos as an enemy..

now the lay of the land is mostly flat with some small rises,creeks etc,there is the odd ridge..as i said mostly the grass is high now and heaps of water and feed..

i have had mobs of pigs below me rooting up the ground,going down to 3 ft in places all around these beans trees..we also hav small land crabs that come out in the wet,so im sure they are dihgging for them too..
they dont seem as keen on a carcass now as they would before..

i havent been able to find there bedding,u would think it would be in the higher ground?? what u think?
i hav seen a regular set of good size tracks close by crossing one of our roads here,and also a good size walllow on the same road,,hes been having a wallow  during the heat of the day..

im thinking maybe the trick might be to try some of ur baiting techniques,grain and jelly maybe combined with treestand...but i do like ur ideas using a grunt call plus also a animal in distreess call..what do u think and what calls would u recommend to try..
i also caught three little fellas a couple weeks back,been feeding them up,and i have noticed tracks coming around,maybe some have heard them??

so theres a bit of info,what r ur thoughts?/
many thanks pat

[Littlefeather]

Good post Ray! Good info there. I'll be back in awhile for the rest. CK

[aussiebowhunter]

ck and guys,thought id share with ya all my first ever trad bow harvest,first ever shot,taken today..young fat boar,shot at 8 odd metres went 30 to 40 and dropped..really enjoying this topic,i put a story up in the right spot..cheers pat
 

[the Ferret]

What Curtis said is true to a point about hogs catching movement. It's kind of wierd in that sometimes you can sneak up on them in a wde open field just by moving when their head is down and stopping when they look up. And we have hidden behind palm fronds and walked clear across a field slowly while they are wayching us.I do believe that pigs can distinguish color or at least have read that pigs have enough either rods or cones (can't remember which)in their eyes to distinguish color, however flight doesn't seem to be a response to just color alone in the pigs we have chased in Texas or Florida, it must also be accompanied by another clue to danger ie movement or scent.

Our son Brian (Boris 196) leaves for Florida to hunt pigs tomorrow and is taking several boxes of raspberry jello mix with him to try on the pigs down there. A tip he picked up on this thread. He's also taking a javie squealer. I'm sure he'll give us a report when he returns.

[the Ferret]

Congrats Pat...I'm sure that one won't be your last eh?

[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