Not again.......! Feral Hog Control in East Texas

[Flintknapper]

It has proven to be quite accurate for me, but our hogs have excellent habitat in which to grow.

I know of a few ranches in South Texas where the hogs (feral) tend to be kind of 'raw boned" (Texas slang for...lanky). They would not weigh in as closely on the scale.

Even so....a heart girth measurement and the predicted weight would likely be closer than the average persons 'guess', so it still has some value.

[hsiehjohn]

Flint, how big are the coyotes down at your part of the world? With all the pork you are feeding them, they must be as big as wolfs.

[Flintknapper]

^^^^^^^^^^


Here is one my Daughter shot this past Deer Season:


But most….are more like this one…I took:



It is rare for a Yodel Dog to exceed 60 lbs. where I live, I would guess the average to be 40 lbs, or thereabouts.

[Trent]

Heh I still love that Hog you have stencil'd on your magazine well on the lower.

[Wes Mantooth]

Wow Flint!

I haven't been on here in a while. 51 pages so far. That's more than some books I've read

[allaroundhunter]

Flint.... Out of curiosity, have you ever had a 'yote take a step after being hit with the .458 Socom?

Sent from my HTC One X

[Flintknapper]

Out checking the water level of the ponds today and spotted this ‘wallow’ while on the far side of pond. It was large enough that it warranted a walk around the bank to look at it. I’m a pretty big guy, but I could have fit into it.




Found a tree a few yards up the bank that had a fresh rub on it. The height of the rub was 34”….so it was a good sized pig that made it.




It has been so hot lately and I’ve been so busy doing other things this year….I haven’t spent much time following up on hog sign. But this one is worth looking into.

[bldsmith]

That's a pretty tall rub. I see some 300 grainers in it's future...

[rocsteady]

Finally got a chance to try out the ASYM 70g TSX rounds, BCM and Aimpoint on something other than water bottles this weekend.

At end of a business trip to Dallas, got out to hunt some hogs and see for myself how the round performs. Went out here: http://www.bouldertexotics.com/. They were fantastic.

First morning got my opportunity and didn't waste it. Shot ended up being less than 50 yards so I don't have any heroic sniping story to post.

Thanks to some anatomical pics of hogs posted a while back, I had a pretty good idea where to aim and upon further review, they were right on.

Pig was going from my right to left and I put the red dot basically right up from that front "elbow" and let one fly just as she was leaving the clearing I'd spotted her in. She bolted through the brush but made it only about 10 yards before she dropped.

Later as we opened her up, I got a good look at what the bullet did inside and can now say that any doubt I had about the 70g TSX or ASYM is gone! Opened up almost immediately as the round went from tiny entry wound on outer left shoulder to what appears to be full expansion even before it penetrated the outer "sheath" stuff that these pigs have just under their skin. First time I'd seen one being gutted so I wasn't too sure what was what but there was no doubt when the heart (or what was left of it) was pointed out to me.

Round continued through the body before leaving a pretty substantial (compared to the size of the unfired .223 bullet) exit wound.

Afterwards, I went out two more times and passed up a couple slightly larger boars hoping for that monster/trophy hog but didn't happen.

Guess that means I have to go back!

Wanted to post here as I've been following the Flintknapper "saga" for quite some time and wanted to participate.

[Flintknapper]

Great shot placement and an excellent hog!

Hope you had a good time while in Texas and we THANK YOU...for helping reduce the hog population here.

Flint.

[Flintknapper]

Have had a few pics of this 'lone' hog on my game cams lately, so I thought I'd take my rifle and go sit on a stand to see if he would show up.

Usually, I wouldn't bother with a small Boar...since they tend to just 'pass through', but it is almost Deer Season here and I didn't want him to show up at exactly the wrong time and scare off the deer (I've had that happen before).



Anyway, I keep a couple of traps baited out this time of the year and the path to my stand takes me close to one of them. I decided to go and check it...and luckily found the little pest already in it!

Sometimes you get a 'break', but mostly NOT!

Flint.

[Twmaster]

Flint, are those 4" squares in your fence? If so I'm guessing he's about 20" tall?

Not a big fellah. So is he feeding the 'yotes and buzzards or wrapped up in butcher paper?

A good friend of mine is part owner of a 60+ acre place up north of Wolf City. We were out there yesterday zeroing some new rifles and decided to take a trek down to the tank way over on the east side of the property.

We did not see any signs of hogs, although the dried reeds were mashed down in the shallower spots. Not much water in the hole. The deep spots had maybe 4 inches. I think I saw a couple of deer tracks in the dried up edge though.

[countertop]

Heh, looks like I'm gonna be in Dallas for a business trip the last week of January. How far away do I need to think of heading in order to get on some hogs?

[Twmaster]

The trouble is finding somebody that will let you on their land.

[sargas23]

Countertop,

There are plenty of places near Dallas where you can go whack some hogs. You will have to pay for the hunt though, and it costs approx. $250 and up depending on where you are hunting. We usually use one of the hog eradication guys to get us set up on the property we'll be hunting on, so I recommend looking for them on the internet. We've used CountryBoysHogDoggin' and I think they give you an option to hunt with dogs or you can set up in a blind. We were hunting last weekend near Commerce which is about 30-45 mins east of Dallas.

[Flintknapper]

Sometimes you can’t find a hog to save your life, other times they just drop right in your lap (go figure).

I went to go check my game cameras and to see if the corn feeder needed filling. It was already well after dark before I got down there. I always take at least my pistol with me.

I have to park some distance from the area…because it is planted in oats for the deer and I don’t want to drive through it.

I was making no effort to be quiet and had changed the card in one camera and started walking over to the other. The two cameras are perhaps 150 yds. apart and the feeder is between the two.

As I neared the feeder I could hear a ‘crunching’ sound…so I slowed down and quietly moved toward it.

The little bit of wind was in my favor…so I just kept walking. I stopped at what I guessed to be 15 yds out and shone my flashlight under the feeder.

There was a lone pig (small red boar) just standing there like nothing was wrong. All lit up like a Christmas Tree…and seemingly unconcerned.

I had already drawn my .45 before getting close….so all that was left to do….was snick off the safety and take the shot. The bullet struck him just under his right ear and down he went.

A gift from the pig fairy…..I guess.

[allaroundhunter]

Well dang, Flint, some guys get all of the luck (if that's what you wanna call it)!

I just got finished setting up a deer feeder about a month ago, and within 4 days of having it up and running there was a sounder who were frequenting it. I went out there with a 12 ga and 00 buck and my brother with an AR and we got 5 down with a 6th hit pretty badly that ran deep into some brush.

Since then we haven't seen any sign of them going near that feeder!

[ROGER4314]

Folks from other areas may not understand how destructive the hogs are in East Texas. They are a major pest here and multiply like rabbits.

Flash

[Blue68f100]

My dad called this afternoon telling me my trap I built 6mo ago worked. He had a hog tearing up his yard for over a week. I told him the trap was set and needed baiting. He kept telling me the trap is in the wrong place, I told him to bait it they will come. I told him to use tainted corn with diesel fuel. After baiting the trap he caught a ~200# sow 4 days later. 1 more down and many many more to go......

[Flintknapper]

Sigh……….

You can kill them and kill them….but they just make more!

[bldsmith]

Time to get the piledriver out and line em up.:-)

[Flintknapper]

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Might be just the “ticket”.

I’ve got some loaded up already.

540 grains of hard cast lead.

[halogrinder]

bad ass :smokin:


thats your 458 SOCOM, right?

[SciFiJim]

Flintknappper, do you purchase those or did you cast them yourself?

[Twmaster]

That's some hard hitting hog hammer man.

While I'm just plain happy to see you eliminate those hogs (with extreme prejudice), those three little shoats on the left have interesting color patterns