der Teufel
Member
This was actually my second attempt at building a hog trap. The first one had too large a mesh and was somewhat small. I'll go back eventually and modify it, but in the mean time I decided to start from scratch. I bought the panels from Tractor Supply and, other than the door hinges, everything else was built from stuff I had lying around - mostly old bed frames.
I also made a feeder which I positioned over the trap. In the short term I've wrapped a feed sack around the varmit cage so that the corn will mostly drop directly into the trap. Here I've baited it with extra corn. Note the all-important corn arrow!
I set it out in mid-December, and some time before Christmas the hogs discovered there was free food being delivered daily. I finally got out New Year's Day and set the trap. That night I caught two small hogs, but they got away.
The hogs showed up a little after 7:30PM, and less than five minutes later two hogs are in the trap:
The sounder stayed around for two hours, then departed. The two hogs in the trap were left behind. As they rooted around in the cage, they dislodged the rod that I used for a door trigger, and eventually they shoved it and got it caught in the door. After more rooting they used the rod to force the door slightly open, and all the dirt they'd moved caused the door to stay slightly ajar.
Here one of the hogs is eyeing the door:
Two minutes later he's out and headed for home. About two hours later the other hog also managed to escape:
BUT, I figured out what they'd done and I modified the trap to prevent them from pulling the same trick twice. The next night the hogs showed up a little after 10PM. At this point the doors on the trap are still open:
And the little one waste no time in getting into trouble. Barely three minutes later FOUR hogs are in the trap and the doors have closed.
And they were still there, patiently waiting for me the next morning
There were two sows and two boars, each weighing ~50-60Lbs.
So this story had a happy ending. At least it was for me. I suspect the hogs might disagree, but I didn't ask them.
I also made a feeder which I positioned over the trap. In the short term I've wrapped a feed sack around the varmit cage so that the corn will mostly drop directly into the trap. Here I've baited it with extra corn. Note the all-important corn arrow!
I set it out in mid-December, and some time before Christmas the hogs discovered there was free food being delivered daily. I finally got out New Year's Day and set the trap. That night I caught two small hogs, but they got away.
The hogs showed up a little after 7:30PM, and less than five minutes later two hogs are in the trap:
The sounder stayed around for two hours, then departed. The two hogs in the trap were left behind. As they rooted around in the cage, they dislodged the rod that I used for a door trigger, and eventually they shoved it and got it caught in the door. After more rooting they used the rod to force the door slightly open, and all the dirt they'd moved caused the door to stay slightly ajar.
Here one of the hogs is eyeing the door:
Two minutes later he's out and headed for home. About two hours later the other hog also managed to escape:
BUT, I figured out what they'd done and I modified the trap to prevent them from pulling the same trick twice. The next night the hogs showed up a little after 10PM. At this point the doors on the trap are still open:
And the little one waste no time in getting into trouble. Barely three minutes later FOUR hogs are in the trap and the doors have closed.
And they were still there, patiently waiting for me the next morning
There were two sows and two boars, each weighing ~50-60Lbs.
So this story had a happy ending. At least it was for me. I suspect the hogs might disagree, but I didn't ask them.
