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

[offroaddiver]

Showed the litter of spotted pigs to a friend and he came up with a good one-liner. Hog Hunting... ar-15 and pick a spot. lol

[Lightninstrike]

Here ya go Flint:

http://www.texasbeautysupplies.com/vitet1.html

[Readyrod]

Hey Flint, what do you think about using a .44 mag lever action for hogs. Will it do for the big ones? Thanks.

[Flintknapper]

Absolutely!

I’d stay away from “hollow points” or any bullet designed for rapid expansion….but the venerable 44 Mag. is plenty of “medicine” for hogs within 100 yds. (assuming good shot placement).

If you want to “up the anty”:

http://www.natchezss.com/product.cfm...ID=CBCB44320HC

They don’t specify the length of the “test barrel” used, but out of your rifle…chances are…you’ll see slightly higher velocities than cited (meaning more energy).

[Flintknapper]

What’s up with this? These hogs have come into the bait site the last two days at 2:30, and 6:40 p.m.

It is hot as Hades that time of day!



I was going to go and either sit on stand near the trap (manually trip it) or sit on my ladder stand and just observe them….but I don’t know if I can even get down there right now with these “random” afternoon visits.

I thought I had them patterned to a 7:30 p.m. arrival (three days in a row).

[Caimlas]

The thrill of hunting and killing them fades quickly and you can only consume so much pork.

Also, what about the introduction of predators? Is there anything that will hunt/kill these buggers? Wolves, maybe? I know wolves used to be plentiful throughout Texas a century ago. I'd think that the Department of Agriculture and/or Game (or BLM) would take an interest in getting rid of these things more than they have. Hell, up here in SD, it's legally required by land owners to rid their land of sizable prairie dog colonies. These hogs look to be much worse.

On "Spot": what is the difference between dispatching it yourself and moving it off your land for a little while for someone else to take care of? Either way, Spot ends up dead. Also, might Spot's coloration be unique enough to interest a biologist taking her and her litter off your hands?

Oh, and I've added "go hog hunting with a spear" to my bucket list. :P Unfortunately, I just sold my Yugo SKS, so a bayonet is out unless I pick up another.

[Flintknapper]

Caimlas wrote:

As someone else said, could you not sell the meat? Set up a small smoke/cure house, set up a small operation. Surely it'd be worth it (at least enough to offset the damage to your crops/livestock)?

The only way they can be sold is live (on the hoof) to a TAHC approved holding facility. In fact, Feral Hogs can not "legally" be transported or released elsewhere unless a Vet has checked each animal for Brucellosis and Pseudo-Rabies. These hogs would bring about .10 a pound right now (not worth it).

The meat resource from slaughtered hogs can be given away (or used personally) but can NOT be sold.

Also, what about the introduction of predators? Is there anything that will hunt/kill these buggers? Wolves, maybe? I know wolves used to be plentiful throughout Texas a century ago.

In this part of the State...once hogs reach the size of any shown here, they are pretty much "home free".
There is little predation on hogs in East Texas. We have plenty of Coyotes and Bobcats....but they make a good living on other things than hogs. No need to risk injury attacking hogs.

I would wager more piglets die from the sow rolling over on them than succumb to predators each year. Disease is not a big factor either.

The standing "joke" about hogs is: " A sow will have a litter of 10 and 13 of them will survive".

Sure seems like it sometimes.

I'd think that the Department of Agriculture and/or Game (or BLM) would take an interest in getting rid of these things more than they have.

The problem is so widespread in Texas that anything short of putting a "bounty" on them would have no real effect. We have an estimated 3 million hogs in the state (conservatively).

[Readyrod]

Hey Flint thanks for the reply on the .44 mag. I don't have any guns right now, unfortunately, cause I live in Tokyo. I'm just prepping the list.
Maybe you should just trap spot and keep her in a pen, kinda like a pet. It may be more cost, and damage, effective than letting her run free. Maybe you can use her to attract boars or something. The longer you let her run free the smarter she will get and the more little spots you'll get. Not a good scenario.
Good luck, and keep us posted.
RR

[Flintknapper]

Well…….my “Spot” problem was remedied this evening. Took my Nephew (Wife’s side) out to the hog stand this evening. He hasn’t been back from Iraq very long and we haven’t had much time to visit.

Josh likes to hunt….so letting him take out the Black Sow seemed like a good plan, he was eager to go.



We took my .458 SOCOM since he is already familiar and comfortable with the AR platform. Just before dark the hogs showed up. I saw our “resident rabbit” cut out….just before they popped out of the brush….so I knew they were coming.

Josh spotted them about the same time I did. He ‘snicked” off the safety…slowly raised the AR and found the Black Sow. She had already turned broadside and I knew the shot was about to break. Just then…I noticed “Spot” coming up directly behind the Black Sow. I told Josh to wait….”they are going to line up”.

As soon as they got even with one another….he touched off the shot. Both hogs fell right where they were. The 300 grain Corbon (Remington HP) made an ENTRY hole nearly an inch across. The bullet fragmented into five large pieces as it passed through the Black Sow.



Two of the fragments hit the spotted sow (one in the neck, one in the brain pan).



I really didn’t expect the Corbon to fragment quite that much…or I wouldn’t have had Josh go for the double. I believe the 405 gr. soft point or the 300 gr. Barnes will be better suited for the job (but then only under ideal conditions).

Our “Marine” was cool and collected the whole time, got the job done just like I expected he would.

[Husker_Fan]

That sounds like a tragic accident. I mean, your nephew was trying for the black sow and never had a chance to see Spot come in behind where the ricochet painlessly ended her life. Just a horrible accident.

[kanook]

tell your nephew "welcome home" for me. nice shooting. now I really want a 458 socom.

[czarjl]

A Marine with a rifle is a force to be reckoned with. Nice shooting and glad to hear he’s home.

[Flintknapper]

Hogs right after shot:


Piglets/Shoats back feeding an hour later:



I found a bullet fragment laying in the dirt this morning. It weighed 104 grs. I can't post a pic of it right now...because for some strange reason my camera is giving a "lens error" message, it worked fine last night.

Maybe "bad JuJu" for taking out "Spot".

[eatont9999]

He's a Marine, what do ya expect? Glad to hear he is back in one piece. Happy hunting!

[Flintknapper]

Lest anyone think the shoats won’t survive:



With a little luck…we will be able to trap these out.

[DammitBoy]

You are planning to capture and pen one of spot's offspring for your daughter to raise tame, right?

[SciFiJim]

Those are good BBQing size. Trap some and throw a wake for "Spot".

Is the post with the reflectors part of the gamecam system?

[Flintknapper]

Jim...what you see in the background is my "Hog Gauge".

Often times...there is nothing of known of "scale" in the bait area...so I use a pole marked off in 12" increments to give me some idea the height of a hog.

The animal needs to be fairly close to the gauge for it to be accurate (in the same focal plane) ....but over the years I have developed a practiced eye for estimating a hogs weight based on the height of the animal, it's physique.... and overall health.

[kanook]

if it's cleaned sitting on my grill and the lid just barely closes, it's 60lbs.

[Readyrod]

Goodbye to the West Texas Spotted Hog. Haw Haw. Great shot, Excellent ending.

[LWYM425]

Flint: "With a little luck…we will be able to trap these out."

Well you had to do what you had to do with "Spot." ... And its not like Spot was the last of its kind...

but wait! what's THAT?! is that a STRIPED piglet??? Well you CAN'T shoot the STRIPED one!

Keep up the good work, and thanks again for continuing this thread

[Flintknapper]

It is hard to tell from this pic (hogs bunched up)….but this is 9 of the 10 pigs from the litter(s)…of the two sows my Nephew shot last week.

I apologize for the fuzzy picture (borrowed camera…while mine is being repaired).




How it happened:

I knew with the sows gone…the shoats would return to the bait site (no leadership).

I have been “moving them” slowly from the bait site toward the trap (about 40 yds. away).

The last two days…all of the corn placed in the trap had been “hoovered up”…so it was evident they had been going in and spending some time in there. Normally, I would set up the Game-Cam on the trap to confirm…but small hogs are “predictable” to say the least.

They did fool me a bit today however. Game-Cam pics from the last 4 days showed them coming directly into the bait-site from woods to the East. Today…I had an East wind and the tree stand I use when manually tripping the doors is on the West side of an old logging road (down wind). I was happy with the wind direction…it left me pretty much bullet proof in terms of being scented.

I “assumed” the hogs would hit the bait-site first, pick up the scant amount of corn left there…then work their way down to the trap as a group. Instead…they came to the trap first and split off into two groups (7 went into the trap, 3 went up the trail to the bait-site).

Well……..pookie, “I may have to settle for 7”…I was thinking. To my surprise the 3 turned around only half way up the trail and came back. YES……., this is more like it!

Two of the three go immediately into the trap, one stays outside (there’s always a non-conformist, sheeeesh). So…… I am waiting patiently for the little bugger to make up his mind. Problem is…. a storm is headed my way and it’s starting to rain.

I don’t mind a light rain…and they didn’t mind the rain.…BUT the wind was now starting to swirl (not good).

“Greediness” was telling me to WAIT, but “Experience” and “Murphy” were persuading me otherwise. Just about the time I decided to give young “glue-foot” another 30 seconds, a clap of thunder sounded in the distance.

All of the pigs in the trap lifted their heads and looked toward the opening. Well….that was all I needed to see. I yanked the cord, the doors slammed shut and little footballs started running in all directions.

In a few minutes they all settled down and went back to eating the corn. The rain got a little heavier…but I wanted to wait for the lone pig to return and see if I could just shoot him with my .45 Auto.

Less than 10 minutes had passed when I spotted the little red pig sneaking back in. He walked back and forth on the opposite side of the trap… never offering a decent shot. I finally decided to just let him go, I clapped my hands loudly….watched him as he ran away….then got down.

I’m sure there will be “replacements” soon, (they always send replacements)!


Flint.

[offroaddiver]

"During luls in the battle it is important to restock and reload."

I would try a couple of different loads to see which dispatched them in their stance.

[Flintknapper]

Huh?

[Flintknapper]

My new “Catch Dog” is doing pretty well for being only 7 months old.




He is supposed to be 1/2 Pit-Bull…..1/2 Rottweiler.

The guy I got him from said the “Pit-Bull” won’t really start to show…. until he gets a little older.