Hog hunting questions

[C-dub]

:clapping: I'm exempt from the Hunter Education Training Course!

How come?

Born before 9.2.71

I got you beat!

What? They give you $10 for still being able to hunt?

[C-dub]

I was thinking about this last night, but was too tired to stay up and ask about it. Isn't most hog hunting done in the evening after the sun goes down? Is that why I've seen so many 200+ lumen red and green flashlights that can be attached to a rifle?

[WildBill]

I was thinking about this last night, but was too tired to stay up and ask about it. Isn't most hog hunting done in the evening after the sun goes down? Is that why I've seen so many 200+ lumen red and green flashlights that can be attached to a rifle?

Hogs are most active during after dark. According to the TPWD website, hogs can be taken at night, but the local game warden must be notified. The website has some other interesting information about feral hogs.
http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wi ... eral_hogs/

BTW, they recommend .243 caliber and greater.

[rickyrick]

Hog hunting is mostly at night. You may get a visit from the game warden, especially during deer season. They say to contact the warden ahead of time, but I must confess that I never have.

If you want to exclude pigs from a certain property, you must be ready to spend a lot of late nights out there, even on work days. I trap and gun hunt pigs so at times it gets old checking traps after work. I have completely eliminated pigs from a moderate sized ranch. After months of constant pressure they finally moved on.

If you just wanna hunt one or two just continue your deer feeder and go at night, you'll probably see some pigs if a water source is near.

[chamuiel]

Nice Gun. One question though. Are you guys hog hunting or planning on going to war?

[C-dub]

Nice Gun. One question though. Are you guys hog hunting or planning on going to war?

The next Boar War.

[velo99]

I loaded 200 gn xtp just under max for my Vaquero 45 lc. We are going to a stand with a feeder. The shot is maybe 20 yards. I think it will do the trick. If not I have some 250 gn cast round nose I loaded to max. Still have my 308 if the Colts don't do the trick.

[Heartland Patriot]

Second-hand info, but I have a buddy who recently shot a hog with a .223 AR. Used Russian steel case 62 grain FMJ...right in the head, he said the hog dropped right where it was standing and died on the spot. All about shot placement, I'd guess. When I was a kid in South Texas, a variety of firearms were used on them, but it seemed like lever action rifles in .44 Mag were a favorite, not sure of what type of bullets, though.

[C-dub]

Second-hand info, but I have a buddy who recently shot a hog with a .223 AR. Used Russian steel case 62 grain FMJ...right in the head, he said the hog dropped right where it was standing and died on the spot. All about shot placement, I'd guess. When I was a kid in South Texas, a variety of firearms were used on them, but it seemed like lever action rifles in .44 Mag were a favorite, not sure of what type of bullets, though.

I have one of those in the form of a Henry. To my knowledge, there's not a huge variety of .44mag ammo, but I am far from an expert on the subject. I just haven't seen very many different types of ammo in this caliber. I imagine just about any FMJ .44 mag will get the job done. Years ago I thought about taking it into the mountains with me on a backpacking trip and got some really hot stuff, but it was a little longer and wouldn't cycle properly, so I never even fired the stuff.

[The Annoyed Man]

Nice Gun. One question though. Are you guys hog hunting or planning on going to war?

The next Boar War.

Assuming he meant my son's carbine build from the previous page, Yes to both. But when my son built that carbine for his boss at the time, his boss didn't request a hog-hunting gun. He requested an AR15. My son had nothing to do with his boss's decision to take it hog-hunting.

[chuckybrown]

Ok, let me wade off into these waters. I actually guide hog hunts at our place after deer season. Have for decades. PM me if you're interested.

That being said:

1) You need a license. Predator control aside....you're not a hired gun, you're there to hunt. By a license, support wildlife in Texas.

2) Regarding calibers: Sure, a .223 will do the trick. BUT, you're hunting at night, looking downrange through a dark scope illuminated (maybe) by a buddy holding a spotlight with an unsteady hand. Most folks chances for an ear/neck shot are marginal at best. Bigger bullets = energy transfer.

Congrats to rickyrick for the ballistic/downrange prowess, he's obviously a professional. However, the vast majority of our paid hunters that pile out of suburbans dressed in black carrying suppressed blackouts can't hit the broadside of a barn after the sun goes down. Last spring sounded like a shooting gallery after dark....only to pick these guys up and no hogs down...."they ran off", "no blood trail", "we think we hit it"....

In fact, we're probably going to institute a rule at our place that paid hunters must hunt with a minimum .270 diameter bullet. (We're using "diameter" for obvious reasons) My suggestion? .270 or larger. The pigs don't care whether or not they are shot at by a "tacticool" hunter....

3) To what TAM said: yep, hogs eat whatever they can find. They're cannibalistic for sure. So are most species of fish. I have hunting buddies that will take hog meat over white tail meat 24/7/365. It's a taste thing. The key to cleaning them is this: hang 'em by their back legs. skin 'em. cut off the hams, the backstraps, and finally the shoulders. If you do this, you NEVER have to open up the body cavity. I can even get your tenders out without spilling the guts out.

I was out at our place last Saturday at 10 am, standing at a feeder talking to a buddy...and he said "look!!!!". Twenty plus piggies were heading in...hit the brakes when they saw us, and were high tailing it out of there.

They tear up land, tear up feeders, and are a general nuisance. But they taste darn fine in sausage. Get a big sow, and have her completely butchered, and you'll have some of the best venison you've ever had. Picnics, pork chops, ribs, and tenderloins. All nice and pink.....

Peace.

[ffemt300]

I used to hunt hogs with some friends, three dogs. a bowie knife and a .45. Two track dogs scare up the hog, the pit bull catches it and then you slit the throat with the knife. .45 was a last resort. Made for an interesting night. I recently found out that one of my buddies farms land within walking distance of my house and just happens to have a hog problem, so I may be getting back into it.

[baldeagle]

A friend took me hog hunting on his hunting property outside of Mingus back in March. I asked him, what do you do with the ones we shoot? He said, leave 'em where they lie. The bones will be picked clean inside of a week, and in a couple of months even the bones will be scattered and gone.

Sure enough, we even found hog droppings that contained hog hair. Apparently some of the survivling hogs had fed off the carcasses of their fallen comrades. Disgusting creatures.

I like pork as much as the next guy, but after seeing hairy hog poo, I lost any appetite I had for eating wild hog meat......but that's just me.

Domesticated hogs aren't much better. I could tell you some stories, but I'd gross out everybody here. Suffice it to say that there was a period of time in my life when I couldn't even eat bacon because it reminded me of what I'd seen and smelled (and I love bacon). Hogs may be smart, but that's all they've got going for them. Oh, and yummy meat if you don't know where it came from and what they do.

[flb_78]

To make hogs a little easier to handle, use a Weed Burner propane torch and burn off the hair and bugs before cleaning it.

[The Annoyed Man]

I went hog hunting out near Mingus just yesterday with the same friend previously mentioned on his property out there. I brought along a scoped Remington 700 in .308, which is plenty of caliber for a hog. The thing is, although we saw lots of very fresh prints (like within the past 12 hours or less), we saw zero hogs, and I never fired a shot. By 3 in the afternoon, it was 110º in the shade in camp, just outside the cabin. I had just come back from a tripod stand and was totally drenched in sweat. My friend, a long time hunter and outdoorsman who is a 69 year old ninja (we coincidentally share the same birthday) and in much better shape than me, said that it was just too hot for the pigs to come out. We had planned to hit the feeders for the last time of the day around 7:00 p.m. and then head home after that, but it was just so blamed hot that he said they probably would lay low until around 10 p.m. or later before coming out to scarf up the corn on the ground. We were not set up for a night hunt, and by then had both had about as much of it as we wanted, so we went home. That's the second time I've been hog hunting, and the second time I've been skunked. I'm beginning to think that I'm jinxed or sompin'.