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

[Flintknapper]

Shots can range from 40 yds. to 175 yds. on the stand I most often hunt.

Normally... they will hit the 100 yd. bait site first, but sometimes pop up on the 50 yd. site.

Shots are almost always at night, about 100 yds., under a red hog light. I need magnification of some type and the ability to place a very precise shot on occasion.

I could just light them up with my laser, but they tend to spook at the beam it gives off (green). I'll just take the 7mm-08, it has a 3 X 15 X 50mm scope with illuminated reticle on it.

I've killed plenty of hogs with that rifle...but after using my SOCOM (no more Mr. Niceguy), I just feel less well equipped using taking a 140 gr. bullet to the woods.

With the SOCOM....I still try to take good ethical shots, but I can shoot them from just about any angle (if I need to) and know that it is going to put them down right there.

Got to go to woods now.

Flint.

[230therapy]

What are the details of your rifle? Optic, upper, accessories...

[Bobson]

So is it actually legal to hunt with firearms after dark in Texas? Or is it an exception made specifically for pest elimination? Or is it illegal and people just do it anyway?

Just wondering - never heard of a state that allows hunting with firearms after nightfall.

Also Flint may be the world's best advertisement for .458 SOCOM.

[Shadow 7D]

He is doing DEPREDATION
IT ISN'T HUNTING
it's killing PESTS

So yes, in most states you can kill invasive and harmful species without a hunting permit (though you may need a depredation permit) using any means legally available, in most states that means anything (humane) goes, night, trapping etc. that may not be legal under hunting regs.

[gathert]

Its the same with beavers. Blast em away on you property with no restrictions really.

[Twmaster]

Flint,

Thank you for the photo of that 'wallow'. Damn filthy beasties they seem to be.

My grandfather would never eat pork. He always said pigs were filthy. (He was not religious)

Now I'm seeing what he meant.

Like others here I want to thank you for posting your continuing fight with these vermin. I am learning a lot from this thread. Even being entertained some!

I'm sure the pigs won't mind too much about that change in caliber for a few weeks....

[KE6CVH]

Message changed to PM Flint vice leaving a post

[Mike1234567]

Comsec!!

[Flintknapper]

KE6CVH,

You have PM Sir.

[repmurcs]

What optics you shooting that socom ...
i've been looking at the Mueller Quick Shot -- just starting out
Mueller said they sell alot of these to Turkey Hunters.

[Flintknapper]

^^^^^^^^^^ Scope

http://www.adorama.com/WRCE154524G.html

[Nimrod2]

Flint- In your experience, can hogs see hunter orange?
I usually hunt an area where it isn't needed but was wondering about some other places I may be hunting.
Thanks.

[happyret65]

A chicken will eat what a hog will not eat.

[Flintknapper]

Nimrod2 wrote:

Flint- In your experience, can hogs see hunter orange?

They will not (cannot) see orange as we perceive it. Feral Hogs have Dichromatic vision…they are NOT color blind but see only two of the three basic wavelengths of visible light.

They are most sensitive to Blue/Green spectrums…but again… do not see them exactly as we do.

What your question alludes to is the following: Will I stand out “like a beacon” if I wear hunter orange?

The answer is maybe.

Not because the pig sees the orange in the same fluorescent way we do (they can’t), but because of tonal values (regardless of color).

IF the clothing you wear is a solid color, large in area AND contrasts sharply with your surroundings/background, odds are good it will get the pig’s attention. Doesn't mean they will spook, but will probably notice.

Your best bet…is to wear something with a large broken up pattern and match the colors (tonal value) as closely as possible to your surroundings. Obviously, this applies only to situations where there is enough ambient light for the animal to make the distinction.

In my State (Texas) we can legally hunt hogs at night…in which case you can wear anything you like…. (short of a bleached white shirt) and be fine.

The subject of VISION as it applies to hogs…(whether feral or domestic) is complicated… and in some cases not fully understood even by scientists.

You’ll get conflicting reports and experiences from hunters as well. Without delving too deeply into things such as depth perception, spectral vision, nighttime vs. daytime vision, ratio of rods to cones, etc….I will tell you what I think matters most when hunting hogs.

1. Hogs are excellent at pattern recognition, they have an innate ability to recognize when something is out of place. IMO, it goes well beyond just processing shapes/forms and colors.

2. Hogs do not have especially good depth perception (beyond 15-20 degrees either side of their snout) BUT…they have excellent peripheral vision.

3. Hogs look for “movement”…especially lateral movement.

4. Hogs seem to need a relatively sharp contrast in either color or intensity in order to distinguish the color (or light) from the rest of the environment.

5. Hogs have some binocular vision but a total field of view of roughly 260°. So don’t apply what YOU see to what THEY see.

I usually hunt an area where it isn't needed but was wondering about some other places I may be hunting.

If wearing hunter orange will help to keep you safe (or is mandatory)…then by all means wear it.

[Flintknapper]

happyret65 wrote:

A chicken will eat what a hog will not eat.

Chickens...when left to their own devices are nasty and will eat almost anything, but hogs do not come in "second place" with regards to what they find palatable.

If it has a single calorie in it...and a hog can manage to swallow it, they will!

[Mike1234567]

^^^ My dear old dad refused to eat chicken meat. He never said why but he was raised a poor lad on a small ranch in the southwest. He did eat chicken eggs without reservation and gobbled pork meat. Go figure.

[dcarch]

Where I live in Iowa, there are a lot of hog farms. Oddly enough, we have never had any major problems with feral hogs. However, some of the previous posters are 100% correct. Hogs will eat anything. Period. I once saw a hog eat a half-full beer can. Eat, not drink, mind you. Aluminum tab and everything. Gone. Like my grandpa used to say: "They're animals. They'll kill you if they can. And if they can't kill you, they'll poop on everything they can reach."

[gunfreak11]

how much recoil does the socom have??

[Flintknapper]

^^^^^^^^^^^

Depends on what you're shooting through it.

100 grain bullets up through 600 grain bullets and various power levels.

Some of the more popular loading's are 300 to 405 gr. bullets.

Again, depending upon how "hot" the load is....the recoil impulse is not bad, about like a 20 gauge shotgun (my perception).

Also, whether or not the rifle has a mid-length or carbine gas system makes a difference.

http://458socomforums.com/

[Nimrod2]

Flint:
IIRC, you have made remarks about how the presence of hogs has been detrimental to your deer hunting.
I am hunting in an area with dense 2nd growth which provides ideal cover for hogs and deer. I use feeders and food plots to draw the deer out of cover but I am wondering what effect the hog population has on deer movement. My game cameras have caught very little deer movement around the plots/feeders that are used by the hogs.
I know that I can't totally eliminate the hogs but I will be trying to thin them out and/or send them elsewhere.
In your experience, have hog control efforts been noticibly helpful to your deer hunting?
I know that it can't be helpful to have the hogs vacuuming up the acorn crop every fall. I'm just wondering how much their mere presence displaces the local deer population?

[Flintknapper]

Nimrod2 wrote:

Flint:
IIRC, you have made remarks about how the presence of hogs has been detrimental to your deer hunting.

Yes, in a number of ways.

I am hunting in an area with dense 2nd growth which provides ideal cover for hogs and deer. I use feeders and food plots to draw the deer out of cover but I am wondering what effect the hog population has on deer movement.

This is a difficult question to answer definitively except to say, IF you have a significant population of hogs for a period of time exceeding a few days, deer “movement” will be affected.

The question then becomes to what degree.

It is up the person hunting/managing the land to analyze the potential effect hogs can have on ALL native species, not just deer.

In order to do this…we need to know in what ways Feral Hogs disturb, displace or compete with the more desirable animals.

As concerns deer:

1. Behaviorally, deer and Feral Hogs are incompatible; deer do NOT like to be in close proximity to hogs. It is the central theme to remember… and in large part the reason deer are temporarily displaced.

2. Where broadcast feeders are used, Feral Hogs will often find them and consume the feed intended for the deer. To make matters worse, (unless disturbed)…the hogs will eat ALL of the available feed… leaving none for the deer.

3. The same holds true in areas where hard mast is available (acorns primarily). Hogs will move into an area and literally clean up all viable mast, then move on to the next source. In many areas…deer rely heavily on the mast crop to put on fat deposits for the winter.

4. Feral Hogs will compete with deer for other food sources as well. Much of what is planted in food plots for deer is also palatable to hogs.

5. Water sources (if small) can be severely degraded because of hogs wallowing in them. This can cause deer to seek water elsewhere.

6. Hogs may compete with deer for prime bedding areas. This could be a significant problem during the fawning season if a Doe is forced to hide her fawn(s) in an area less safe.


There are many other ways that Feral Hogs impact deer (and other wildlife), the list above touches only on some of the more intrusive.

My game cameras have caught very little deer movement around the plots/feeders that are used by the hogs.

Ample evidence they are being impacted by the hogs. An exception being… a more favorable food source became available to the deer (usually seasonal).

I know that I can't totally eliminate the hogs but I will be trying to thin them out and/or send them elsewhere.
In your experience, have hog control efforts been noticeably helpful to your deer hunting?

No question about it.

If I get on the hogs early in the season I can force them into a strictly nocturnal pattern, which doesn’t eliminate their presence…but allows the deer undisturbed daytime movement (except for hunting pressure).

Of course, reducing the number of hogs will pay the most dividends (and is a year ‘round chore where I am located), but anything you do to pressure the hogs can help.

I know that it can't be helpful to have the hogs vacuuming up the acorn crop every fall. I'm just wondering how much their mere presence displaces the local deer population?

In large numbers…they can have a decided effect. Also, if the property you hunt/manage is naturally attractive to hogs…then chances are you will always have a problem.

Hogs are transient by nature and you will not have the same group of hogs forever….(even if you did nothing), but new hogs will replace them, especially if your neighbors are not trying to control them too.

Sometimes…. you can accomplish nothing more than running them off for a while, but the goal should ALWAYS be to kill as many as possible, since “swapping hogs” with your neighbor(s) does little good in the long run.

Best of luck to you,

Flint.

[thecarfarmer]

Ya' know, I've been lurking here on THR for several months now; reading threads as they come up on google searches for info.

About four days ago, I did a search about hunting feral hogs... and have been on this thread since.

This has been real eye-opening for a guy who's lived in cities his whole life. I guess that feral hogs aren't the game to learn how to hunt on!

But more than anything, I wanted to say this thread is what reached the tipping point and made me sign up. An epic read; full of lots of info and very little off-topic stuff.

(now that starting off by hunting boars may not be a great idea, it's time to figure out what else to do with a lever-action 45/70)

-Bill

[irondavy]

I learned to hunt while hunting hogs. The first time I cut up an animal and put it into my freezer, it was a hog. If you really want to learn to hunt though get on the hunting mentor thread. Lots of good people in there, my mentor just happened to be my neighbor, no internet needed.

Flint how is this crazy warm summer er winter affecting your hogging? I would have thought that with the warmer weather I would be getting lots more kills but neither my game cameras nor I have seen a hog in weeks. Normally I would be happy with this but the ole trigger finger is getting kinda itchy. If I don't start seeing some hogs I think the gopher population is going to suffer.

for the whole deer season hogs flooded the feeders and my cameras were busy all day and night clicking away as hogs went back and forth scaring away the deer. I didn't get a single deer all season Now the deer season is over and I am back on the hogs they are gone and I have a wonderful herd of does and yearlings coming to my feeders regularly. I guess this is good for the future but in the now I am getting kinda bored.

How has the weather been on your side of the state and how has the hog hunting been?

Thanks
ID

[MrDig]

So the first question is, If a guy wants to drive down from Minnesota would you be willing to accept their assistance shooting these invaders?
The Second would be, Is a Lever Gun in 44 Magnum an acceptable hog Round?
Oh yeah I guess there is a Third question, can I donate some of the meat to a food shelf if I manage to shoot any of these nasty little beasts?
The last question is how soon do you want me to come down?

[gathert]

I think he has said he doesn't let people come shoot on his land due to various reasons. He seems to be whacking quite a few of them on his own though.