Super Duper Hog info thread

[Littlefeather]

Hog vocalizations and calling:

I spend countless days a year watching, listening and shooting pigs in the wild. I do know hogs communicate in a number of ways but I can tell you without a doubt that I've never heard one hog call another from any distance. I personally think the idea is total BS.

Now, having said such a bold statment, I will share my thoughts on this whole issue. Hogs communicate constantly. I don't think I've ever been around hogs when they aren't constantly talking to each other. This talk consists of constant, low pitched, gutteral grunts and squeels. This is the way everyone stays together and knows each others pecking order. Another vocalization you will hear is the
loud, shrill squeal, evolked by pain or a fight over food or a sow. This is generally a one time sound that lasts a total of about 2-3 seconds and stops, not to be repeated unless there is a fight over food. Breeding hogs squeel but are seemingly in constant forward motion.

CALLING: This is an issue that I've totally tried to avoid due to the fact that I think it is  the best way to assure yourself that you will never see a hog . Having these thoughts running through my head has led me to test this idea against hogs in a wide variety of situations. During all this testing I have in fact proven my original thoughts incorrect. Calling will in fact work but once again the  timing must be perfect  or you are going to blow your cover. Here is where I've found calling to work.

When easing through the underbrush in close proximity to areas I know hold hogs, I will occasionally stop, listen, and then give one short, solid grunt. THAT'S IT! One grunt! If there is a hog in close proximity he will instinctively return a mirror grunt to the one I just issued. This is the way hogs communicate their location to one another. Once I have a hog located I will generally circle the area to get a good wind and then and only then will I issue another grunt. This second grunt will be aggressive and will be issued as territorial. Every time he grunts back at me I get more aggressive and will even start breaking sticks along with grunting. This technique works on Boar hogs and large Sows with little piglets. I do not use any commercial calls because I have not heard one that mimics the sounds that need to be made. I just walk around constantly practicing making sounds that I have personally heard while afield. Sounds crazy and I get lots of strange looks but I also sound realistic in the woods. LOL!

The second place where calling works the very best is when you have accidently stumbled upon a bedded group of hogs. When you have busted up the group, they will generally go several different directions and because they mostly operate as a family group, will start looking for where the others have gone. They are looking for each other by issueing gutteral grunts. You will hear hogs in several directions communicating their location to the others. This is when I will ease forward to the location the pigs were before I spooked them. I will get a good assult location and will grunt every time one responds. This will bring hogs in on a string. They will be approaching you from several directions and will know your exact location as they are comming toward you. Get ready, stay calm, and shoot straight. You absolutely do not want to wound one in this situation. A squeeling, hurt pig in this environment will evolk a defensive position from all the dominant hogs in the group and they will rush in to help their injured commrad. This is the situation that will make you or break you in hog hunting.

Feeders and calls. Never ever use a call in a feeder situation. Hogs compete within the family group but will shy away from competition from other groups of hogs. This is generally true unless you find a competative Boar hog. All other hogs will try and avoid confrontation with other family groups of hogs if they can help it.

If there were many hogs at a feed site when you shot one, they generally run ten different directions like we already talked about. Get a second arrow on the string and issue "one" grunt. If they answer you, grunt again. Continue and you will bring the group back together for shot #2. OK, I need a break from typing for awhile. There's more on this later. CK

[NorthShoreLB]

CK , your descriptions are spot on        

Manny

[Littlefeather]

Thats great Manny. I've not hunted lots of the worlds best pig spots but Im glad to hear I'm close to what you've experienced yourself. Once we get through all the foundation work on this thread we'll get into some detail stuff. You have any input? CK

[beyondmyken]

Thank you all for advice and info.  I will be out for my first hog hunt on Sat with some advice from Curtis.  Can you talk more about following sign to find beds or what pig beds look like?  I think I will know one if there is still a hog lying in it  ;^)

[NorthShoreLB]

Readyng your posts I feel like I'm the woods    

you could be writing of the behavior of our pigs, if I didn't know you are in texas.

The only difference so far is water, pigs here get a lot of moisture from lots of fruit and jusy snails, ....but water is still key, just not as much.

I personaly never had any luck hunting over water  :rolleyes:

[cajunbowhntr]

Ck some of the deer grunt tubes are adjustable and can make a pretty deep grunt.Ya think one of these will work?


CB

[Cinghiale]

Hi Littlefeather...here in Italy I use a similar method like your to bait the wild boars.
I take used oil where was fried fish; I soak a rag with the used oil and I drag it on the wood and than I came back under my treestand.
If a boar meet the oil trail follow it for sure.
To use corn I make some holes on the ground with a heavy metal stake and I fill it with corn. So when a hog came in it take more time to eat because it has to root. It's more natural make rooting to find food.
Tomorrow I'll try to make sour corn....nice idea.
Ciao Armando

[Littlefeather]

Ciao, It's great to be able to compare notes about hog behavior a literal world appart. We've got lots of state-side guys who are phenominal with hunting pigs. Never thought of Italy and haven't thought of Hawaii till this year either. Good to know. Let us know how the sour corn works for you. Is everything else I've covered close to what you are experiencing as well?

Cajun, Once again Im caught in a quandry about the calling. Here is my personal take on everything we've discussed so far. Use every technique we've discussed a little bit at a time till you determine what is working for you. Save the calling and vocalizations till you feel you've advanced just a tad with pig hunting. It's kinda like a new Whitetail hunter going out and immediately starting to snort/grunt/wheeze before he's ever heard the sound made by deer in nature. How could anyone produce the proper sounds when you've never heard them used by the animals. Just remember that ammo is in the arsinal if you find yourself in one of the situations I've mentioned about where and when to use the sounds. First study the hogs awhile. Calling is not for the two weekend a year pig hunter. You'll just end up blowing great possibilities before they arise.

Bedding areas: Im going to cover this at the end of the thread. For now I'll just say that the hogs in your geographic region will act totally different than those in mine when choosing bedding areas. My hunting is done in relatively flat, featureless country. Im sure yours vary's. How to determine if it's a hog bed? Well, here around me they tend to get up under low growing brush. The depressions they make are always slightly wallered out, leaving the appearance of a ring around the bed. Hogs literally waller around in these spots and loose lots of hair in them. Just get down close to them and if it was a hogs bed, there will most certainly be hair there. These areas generally are either moist areas holding coolness or they will have a powdery, dusty bottom to the bed. The powdery type beds are used to remove remove parasites from their skin a lot lite rabbits and birds dust themselves. You will generally find the dusty type beds higher in elevation and will generally be on the east side of ridges and high areas. Rarely will you find dusty beds where they aren't on the east side of a tree line or ridge. The wet type beds are generally late day beds where pigs are escaping the heat. These will be found in the low-lying drainages and around ponds.  CK

[JC]

Dang CK, when you writin the "Hog Hunting with Traditional Bows" book? Some good stuff here...much of it, I didn't know....like the some of the bedding area info. I have found lots of "hog sign", rootin, feces, scratchin posts etc. where I've hunted em but never beds.

[Ray Hammond]

I havent read the whole thread...but Curtis asked for some perspective from Georgia and South carolina so here goes-

Hogs in MY neck of the woods are true ROAMERS unless kept in an area by supplemental feeding of corn etc.

I have seen hogs in an area that looked like it was hit by an atom bomb one day- the next day there are no hogs on 2500 contiguous acres - go figure.

they like roaming up and down waterways here...swamps, creeks, streams, rivers. If I have a choice thats where I would concentrate my efforts every time.

Here hunting hogs in stands is only productive if you want to hunt on the runs coming into the feeders...otherwise, and even if you hunt a feeder- its sort of a crapshoot. The more pressure you apply to a feeder- that makes the hogs just go nighty- night to feed.

I like slipping for hogs. There's one of two ways to do it that we have found. Plant something in fields like sorghum, brown top millet...something that has nice tasty roots taht the pigs will have a good time rooting up..and spread the plots around your place..and move between them slipping, glassing, and if you see one, go after that sucker right away..be aggressive, move in, and take your shot.

The longer you mess with em, the more likely the wind will shift and all your work will go for naught.

Another way is to run around the roads of your property and spill a little corn along the sendero or two track as you drive around. This means the hogs have to come out of the thick and stay in the roadway moving up and down, picking up the corn. You can go in the woods or thickets on the side of the road and buttonhook them with the wind in your favor of course, and pop out on em and take your shot.

I like moving around in swamps for them, spotting them feeding- lots of times you will hear them before you see them..move in..get em spotted, check for more than the ones you see and if there's only one or two, move move move and get your shot.

if there's lots of them you are going to have to be more careful...more eyes, more noses. Don't get between a mama and a baby and you will be just fine.

In places where hogs STAY a lot, they do use regular beds i have found...around here they look like big bird nests...they like something we call tai-tai (looks like a weak, stringy sort of cane)..that grows in patches..they'll pile it up in cold weather and make a nest to lay in of it... Ive never seen them making a bed but I guess they bite the stuff off and pile it up just like a momma and daddy bird do twigs.

In warm weather its the muddy and wet areas they like...they roll in mud and rub on trees close to the wallows to rub the mud into their hidesto keep skeeters from biting them...like you wear a bug suit. The boars will mark trees with their tushes too, sort of like a buck rub only lower and a lot bigger than a buck rub...more like a 12 inch legged moose on steroids.

Ive got pictures of 30 inch diameter trees looking almost like a beaver has worked on em for a week but its boar hogs.

NOTE- regulations on hog hunting vary widely by state. You cannot hunt pigs after dark in some places...I wouldn't do it where I hunt them in the dark even if it was allowed as there are many bad things to walk into here like big gators, cottonmouths, etc in the wet areas..unlike many other locales this place is HOSSSTILE if you know what I mean..      

[Bacote Kid]

If you posted this CK sorry I didn't see it. You can also get you a hunk of ol' creasote post. The more creasote on it the better. Chain it to a tree so they don't tote it off. Dump deisel all over it, yes deisel. They will use it as a rub. I think it was Manny who posted some pics from Hawaii what the hogs were doing to the utility poles. They rub it to get the creasote and deisel all over them for a bug and tick repellent. This works the best in the summer for obviuose reasons but they will begin to frequent the area to use this rub. Just deisel it up whenever it starts lookin dry. It's a good place to bait around also. Kind of a double shot. I always like the "PHD" method for my corn. Keeps em from vaccuming it up so fast...Bacote...  

[Littlefeather]

Yep, covered that on page two Bacote. Thanks though.

Thanks Ray, I know you spend lots of time with pigs out there. Glad to have you share your regional information and what works best for you out your way. CK

[the Ferret]

A note about hogs, they never stop moving for more than a second or two unless they are bedded or sense something isn't right. When they sense something isn't right they stiffen up, stand still and point there noses up a bit I I assume trying to catch a scent) before woofing and running off. If close to a hog, expect to make a quick shot because he is only going to offer perfect shots for a very small time frame before turning one way or another. I mean like a second. The exception is when dogs have them backed up against something like a palmeto bush. They will usually stand pretty still knowing there will be no attack from the rear and will face all comers head on.

Carry on CK

[Bacote Kid]

Sorry CK missed it.    

In never knew there was this much interest in Hog huntin'. I thinks it's great...  

[Littlefeather]

I hear ya! I been knocked down and tossed around as well. Lets get through the informative stuff then we'll tell the tales of teeth and blood. CK

[Ray Hammond]

Not dis'in you, Bacote, and some may see this as nit-pickin but I am against putting deisel fuel on something and leaving it around for rain to suck the fuel out of it and run it down into our aquifer so we can drink it later.

There's lots of ways to attract hogs and most of them don't involve damaging the environment- I know, its small compared to a diesel spill at a wreck, or what leaks out of underground tanks, but every little bit hurts a little bit more sort of like spray cans messing up the ozone...let's be careful about encouraging folks to poison themselves and others just to keep some pigs coming back to a rub. We've been using gas and diesel since the early 1900's- thats 100+ years this crap has been getting into our ground water and I firmly believe it to be one reason cancers are on the rise...do I have proof? No. But its a chance we don't HAVE to take either.

fuel will soak through your skin, so why wouldnt it soak through a pigs hide as well? If that happens, then its going to taint the meat or at least be in the muscle when you are eating it...and that cant be good either.

Remember, everybody lives downstream from somebody...underground water or above ground its all the same.

[Bacote Kid]

I here ya Ray. But were I do it is in an oil field out of Sugarland Texas. I just roll the log around in what the oil companies spill out. But your right, I'd never do it in the Hill Country were you don't have all that mess...

[Littlefeather]

Good point guys! Thanks for pointing that out! Looks like this thread is getting lots of traffic but little input. I'll check back later tonight or tomorrow morning to hopefully gain some insite from others here as well. Here piggy, piggy, piggy. Im comming ta get ya!  CK

[Boris196]

Great stuff guys!! Keep it coming.

I've hunted them a few times before but you can never learn enough, and since spot and stalk is my favorite every little bit helps.

I've found that when spotting and stalking being aggressive doens't hurt.  They move around a lot and about the time opportunity finds itself, it's gone.

CK - I've tried the Here piggy, piggy call but never had much luck with it.

[Cinghiale]

Have you any tips for night hunting ?
Flash light or moon light ???

Arms