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

[Flintknapper]

Gawd.....the buzzards aren't even finished with the one I dispatched yesterday. Now...they send me more!



What a scourge.

[Paradiddle]

I'm reading "With the Old Breed" by EB Sledge (USMCR) - you need a 60mm morter and a crew!

[Lightninstrike]

Looks like trap time again Flint? OTOH, I guess if you had the time you could shoot them out.

[DAVIDSDIVAD]

No, now I didn't say that I blindly emptied the magizine. With combination of a tour stand, open country, and a second person with a Q-beam you have plenty of time and opportunity for several clean kill shots.

Sorry, then, BMF.
The "spray" part of your other post gave me the wrong idea.

Good hunting.

[308win]

Flint - How much pressure will a sounder endure before they move?

[shappa]

Amazing!

I see why they are considered pests!! They're smart and and incredibly destructive on the ecosystem.

Those boars are huge!

p.m. on the way

[Flintknapper]

308win wrote:

Flint - How much pressure will a sounder endure before they move?

I really hate to give another answer to a hog question with the phrase "it depends", but it really does.

It "depends" largely upon why the hogs are in the area to begin with. What I mean by that is....if hogs have everything they need (food source, water, bedding area) and all these things are adequate, they are much more inclined to stay... than if things are marginal.

Unfortunately, we have all those things in abundance...so in my case (if we are careful) we can keep hogs around much longer than some other folks would be able to.

A good example is a sounder of over 20 animals that showed up here late last November. We were able to shoot all 4 of the mature sows out of that group as well as 2 mature boars that came visiting.

All of this took place over a period of about 10 weeks. We let them "rest" 8-10 days between hunts.

If you can manage to take out the Alpha Sow (lead sow) then work your way down...you will eventually "bust up" the sounder (for lack of leadership) and they will split up or move on.

As concerns "pressure"...again it depends on what form it takes. Hunting pressure (being shot at) is very different from the pigs being pursued by dogs (they don't like dogs).

Bumping into the herd while scouting, baiting or checking the game camera is different than walking through their bedding area.

In essence, they will take alot of pressure (if not too intrusive) and spread out over time. Conversely, I would expect them move right away (and maybe never come back) should I foray off into their bedding spot (area of security).

That should make things clear as mud....huh?

[308win]

Pretty sucinct. Seems to me then, if you want to get rid of the group bust them in their bedding area - yes?

[Flintknapper]

308win wrote:

Seems to me then, if you want to get rid of the group bust them in their bedding area - yes?

That will "move them" yes.

However, my purpose is not to simply "move" hogs to another area, (their offspring are sure to return at some point).

Remember: Hogs are very intelligent, they make "associations" quickly. Every time you have an encounter with a hog and fail to kill it, you have furthered its education.

So, while you might succeed in running hogs off of YOUR property, you have in the process done yourself and your neighbors a disservice by spreading them out and making them smarter (read: tougher to kill next time).

IMO, every landowner should be fully dedicated to killing these pests by whatever means necessary.

Just my .0002 on it.

Flint.

[Flintknapper]

A few more taken out.







My brother and his youngest son came up Friday to visit. We loaded up some 6.8’s that my brother wanted try out and baited out the hog-trap.

We had only three hogs this morning…but that’s three less than before.

Anyway….my nephew had a good time setting the trap and could hardly wait until morning to see if we had caught anything. We let him dispatch the hogs and then email the pics to his older brother who didn’t come up (these two siblings are competitive).

[Birdmang]

Lucky kid!

[41 Mag]

Quote:
Seems to me then, if you want to get rid of the group bust them in their bedding area - yes?

That will "move them" yes.

However, my purpose is not to simply "move" hogs to another area, (their offspring are sure to return at some point).

Remember: Hogs are very intelligent, they make "associations" quickly. Every time you have an encounter with a hog and fail to kill it, you have furthered its education.

So, while you might succeed in running hogs off of YOUR property, you have in the process done yourself and your neighbors a disservice by spreading them out and making them smarter (read: tougher to kill next time).

IMO, every landowner should be fully dedicated to killing these pests by whatever means necessary.

Just my .0002 on it.

Flint.

This is so true. folk's do not give them nearly enough credit in the learning dept.

At my bud's place, they have close to a 35acre a gravel pit in the middle of an 800 acre cotton field. The surrounding edges are overgrown with all sorts of vines and such that make perfect cover for the hogs. During most of the year we make drives around the edges to see how many we can cull out. When we first started they would run a few yards and hold up in the cover. We would get on them again real quick. Then they started breaking out across the open cotton field, which for a while worked to their advantage due to the cotton being high enough to cover them making shots nearly impossible.

We changed tactics putting at least one person up on the highest ground with a long range rig to pick them off being able to see down into the cotton. Once the cotton is picked and cut several of us will get high enough to wreak havoc on them when they make the break. Nowday's, in the past couple of years, they have actually started to zig zag while running across the open land instead of simply running straight away. It may not be in a fashion associated with any tactical training, but it has been effective for some of them numerous times.

We consistently change things up to try and keep them from getting too smart to one trick. Traps are for the most part not an option due to us only being able to work them on a limited basis. Normally we spread out and work them so that one person starts the shooting which results in them heading directly away from the noise, and the other will be waiting a goodly ways down out of range of the first hunter to pick up the on coming pack. This usually will cause them to about face or break into the open at which point they really get hammered.

When we really try it is not uncommon to run out of bullets before they get out of range. We for the most part are using bolt guns over the semi-auto fire version. We have used the SKS's to a certain success, however once they get to the longer ranges, reliable hits are less frequent than we like.

As mentioned this is mainly for eradication and we generally can get all but one or two of a pack. It only takes a week or so for them to be replaced by another, so it is for the most part a never ending saga. Combined with the fact they have some 600 or so acres of river bottom, plus the surrounding farms also with huge acreages of river bottoms, they are pretty much going to be a never ending problem. They do move in and out of the areas, but where there is water there will be hogs close by, even if they have to travel a while to get to it.

On our family place we have an area of artesian springs in a bottom. It is only about 3 acres of thick stuff, but over the past couple of years the hogs have found a sanctuary. I work on them as much as possible and they move over to the neighbors place for a week or two and then right back again. They move out at dark and return before day break, and we work them over, when we can, in between.

[Flyboy]

For those who have the (mis)fortune to be shooting hogs every week, I just stumbled across this:
http://www.nrahq.org/hunting/hungry_nat_list.asp

It's a national list of organizations accepting food donations from hunters. Even feral hogs can be useful to somebody.

[Flintknapper]

+1 ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Always best.

But….they can be “recycled” too.






After a couple of days….this is all I usually find:

[Quoheleth]

^^^
Pic #2

And you thought the line at McDonalds took forever! This is an all you can [gag ] buffet!

Q

[280shooter]

What trail cams. do you use? I have one, that wont take a good pic if your life depended on it.

[Lightninstrike]

Flint, you must have some fat buzzards around there.......

[Flintknapper]

Lightninstrike wrote:

Flint, you must have some fat buzzards around there.......

Thats why they're all walking.

[schlockinz]

You've made some interesting "friends" with all those carcasses.

I can't wait to move back to Okiehoma so I can go make some fat happy buzzards

[sneedb82]

280Shooter wrote:

What trail cams. do you use? I have one, that wont take a good pic if your life depended on it.

Flintknapper wrote: (post 189)

Hi Jim,

My game-cam is a "Moultrie I-40" infrared, still picture and video capability.

The thermometer is internal and fairly accurate. Battery life is incredible.

Hope that helps gents

[Lightninstrike]

Interesting video. For a second I thought it was Flint but not the same area. Family outing to clear the hog trap. Illustrates how these animals act when trapped and how caution is needed when dispatching them. Personally I think the guy could have used a little more gun but it seemed to get the job done.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhndTx8cuwI

[schlockinz]

is he shooting them with a .22LR in the chest?

[Lightninstrike]

To me it sure sounds like a 22. His young son handles it with no problem. 'Course after the sound being washed through a camera, the Internet and my headphones who knows. But he is pretty clearly going for central nervous system shots. You can hear him telling his sons to aim right between the eyes.

[Flintknapper]

Lightninstrike wrote:

Interesting video. For a second I thought it was Flint but not the same area. Family outing to clear the hog trap. Illustrates how these animals act when trapped and how caution is needed when dispatching them. Personally I think the guy could have used a little more gun but it seemed to get the job done.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhndTx8cuwI

No, definitely NOT Flint.

IMO, this should be a "how to" film illustrating how NOT to dispatch hogs.

As much as I dislike hogs....I am mildly disgusted at the ineptitude these folks displayed.

Dispatching trapped hogs should only be done with a somber attitude, recognizing that it is in fact "slaughter" and an unpleasantry.

With that in mind, only a decent marksman should do the shooting...and then it should be done with the barrel literally stuck through the panels.

These animals were done a grave dis-service.

Perhaps I should video the next group of hogs we dispatch to show how it SHOULD be done (I.E. quickly, humanely, and without glee).

Flint.

[Lightninstrike]

Good idea. ^^

It was pretty sloppy. Multiple shots to bring them down. Both the adults seemed very concerned about the possibility of the animals getting out of the trap. I would have thought if they managed to get out they would hightail it, but they seemed concerned about them attacking.