My daughter is renting a place that has a fair amount of feral hogs and the owner has given me permission to hunt them. The place is good size, 170+ acres.

I know nothing about hunting pigs. So any and all coments will be appreciated.

First, where to look for them. The land is divided into four sections, the front of the place (where my daughter lives) is good sized flat land backed up to a tree line about 50 yards wide and 300 yards long. They see the pigs early in the morning near the tree line. The boy friend thinks they are after acorns. There are 3 more LARGE fields, each seperated by larger tree lines, probably 100 yards wide by 1/4 mile. I drove around the place and did not see any signs of routing (sp?) as they did at my place, my fields looked like I had been attacked by a 105 Howitizer. I found a small pond near one tree line, all the tree lines look like they had streams running thru them at one time, but we have been in a drought. So where do I look for them?

Baiting. Yes I know a lot of you don't believe in it, but the tree lines are more like jungles, you are not going to sneak up on them. I have heard that they love corn soaked in diesel, I am not sure I want to eat a pig that has had diet of diesel, any suggestions.

When do these things get up and roam around? I have seen them at all times of the day, but what is their prefered times of roaming.

I am going to use my Ruger #1 45/70, 300 grain JHP over 55 grains of IMR 3031, about 2100 PFS, I should think that would do the job. I am taking my 44 mag pistol just in case things get up close and personal. Some of the pigs around here get over 300+ puonds.

Any and all advise will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

Ken

I wouldn't do the corn soaked in diesel. Poison for anything that eats it. However, you can create a rubbing post that is irresistable to pigs. Wrap a tree with burlap that has been soaked in used motor oil. They will find it and use it heavily.
Also, if you are in a drought situation, find any water and you will likely find where the hogs have been wallowing in a mud hole. It helps keep them cool and keeps bugs off of them.
Good luck.
YB

Sooo, do they make good pork chops or would it be too "gamey"???
Sounds like bacon to me.
Good luck.

Feral pigs taste better then anything you will buy at the store. You can go to razorbackoutfitters.com for some attractants to draw them in for the kill. They like acorns,corn but have also been known to take down a baby deer. They have to have water and will hand around watering holes in the heat of the day.They are exremly aggresive, so make sure it's dead before approaching cuz it will come after you.. Shoot them with the biggest gun ya got. I use a desert eagle 50.cal but have taken one with a .270. Good luck and for anyone else who may read this send me all the info ya got on feral pigs. I'm a pig huntin junkie.

They move around mostly at night best time to get them would be then but if not then do it at first light of right before the sun goes down.

We have a similar situation here in NW Florida. Hogs are very crafty and dumb. They will run over you, without a gun and not be seen within 20 miles when you have a gun in hand. But they are not game on private property so there is no closed season, they are considered range animals except in state parks or state preserves.

They have bad eyesight but very good hearing and a nose a dog would be jelous over. A good bait is wet corn, soaked in water, in 5 gal bucket, until ripe. Dig a hole and pour the contents in, cover with 2 - 6 inches of dirt. They will find it if around and spend hours rooting the corn up. They also love potatoes, apples, peanutbutter and the never fail bait, old out of date chocolate candy. Now a big pile of Reeses Peanutbutter cups are just next to heaven for a rooter. They can smell the pile for over a mile away.

I would set a tree stand on the edge of the tre line with the most used standing water / mud and put my bait out in the open, about 10-20 yards. A full moon will work great with a red dot sight. Make the bait last longer by burying it in a post hole style hole. Use a scent masking spray and be real quiet.

Here abouts the land owners use PSP runway sheets, steel stakes and wire to make a trap. The door is plywood and the trigger is an iron pipe across the tips of two steel stakes driven into the ground inside the trap. Corn is poured inside the trap. The hog is cought, removed and fed out, before a trip to the processor. Makes a fine whole hog BarBQ after a day in the dove field.

Old boar hogs ain't much to eat right off the range, they smell frying just like they do when gutted, but you can make pretty good sausage out of them.

As Elmer Fudd said: "Be very cawreful." Wild boar have a very deserved nasty reputation. For the unwary they can be very bad hombres.
Ed

Becarful because if you put out a pile of reeses you might find me digging around they are my favorite. Out of date or not.

Look for signs of where they have been rooting the ground. They will tear up a pretty good sized area, turning over the dirt and generally digging through it looking for edible roots. If you find some fresh sign like this, try putting out some bait and watching at last light or first light. You can also spot light them during the night with a red or green light and they won't spoke too easily. Hogs will eat just about anything so don't waste your money on "Hog Wild" or other commercial attractants. Corn is probably the easiest thing to get a hold of economically.

This sounds like huting deer with an attitude :).

Lots of good info already put up , nothing I can add much to .. They do have an attitude ..
45/70 and 44 mag adds to the fun .. I've tooken quite a few with my SBH's ..
A good bait we use is whole shelled corn mixed with molasses ...
You're gonna have too much fun .. HHMM East Texas aint too far away

I was hoping to get out there and set up some bait, but work has me scheduled for the next 9 days straight :(. Lots of good ideas. My friend has started making some sour grain and the molasses corn sounds good. Maybe they are oriental pigs and will like sweet and sour corn :).

It is interesting that you don't need a hunting license to hunt "deperdating feral hogs" and that "Any lawful firearm, pellet gun or other air gun is legal". So how close do you have to get to bring down a hog with a pellet gun .

Uummm...I'll let you do that experiment, but let me know how it goes.

I think I will pass, BTW, welcome to the forum.

kbis wrote:

So how close do you have to get to bring down a hog with a pellet gun .

There are some really fast and/or powerful pellet guns. Lewis and Clarks was a 36 caliber and they killed many things with it for a historic example. Now think if you had a 45 caliber "paintball" gun (as I dont know any pellet guns with that big of a bore) with lead balls/handgun bullets travelling at speeds of up to 1000fps or more using High Pressure Gas. That would be pretty powerful.

Dimitri

I wonder how many people were there to back them up. I would feel a little more comfortable trying it if I had a dozen guys with 75 cal. muskets there just incase