Not again.......! Feral Hog Control in East Texas - Page 53

bldsmith · December 30, 2012, 05:47 PM

Wonder what a subsonic .22 would do at those ranges????/ Would be interesting to find out. Funny to watch, Thwack, hey why did porkchop just fall asleep? thwack..... Seen coyotes do that, run right up to the one that dropped then thwack again. Usually only works for 2 though.

Eleanor416Rigby · December 30, 2012, 08:03 PM

When I was about 14 years old, I spotted 4 75-pounders feeding/rooting around in a wide open field. I went downwind and then crawled on my belly with a .22 lr single shot and got to within less than 50 yards. The field had been furrowed many years ago, and I followed one of the furrows until I got to the closest point I could. Then, I waited for one to wander a little out of the group, or for the others to have their backs turned. The .22 was muffled up next to the ground. First one, behind the ear, and DRT. The others didn't notice. Second went like the first. When the third one went down, it made a squeal before it died. The fourth froze a second, looked around, and decided to run. I was pretty fast reloading that single shot, and the fourth ran perpendicular to my position rather than away, so it only made it a few steps. They all ended up dead within about 20 yards radius.

I think in the right conditions, a person might be able to take out several young ones with a suppressor and subsonics.

Wes Mantooth · December 31, 2012, 04:07 PM

Hey Flint,

I was down visiting my parents over the weekend in Limestone county, Texas.
On a whim my cousin and I went out just before dark to the land they own along a creek bottom.

As we crossed the cattle guard, we saw a dark shape moving toward his feeder. At first I thought it was a black calf wandering around (the neighbor's cows have gotten in a couple times).

We had to top the hill and get the headlights pointed downhill before we could tell it was a big hog. I'm sure it was a big boar as it was all by himself.

It was so dark I couldn't see the cross hairs through the scope. I took the shot anyway. I'm sure I hit it, but not very well. It ran off but not very fast. My cousin took a shot too, but it was moving. It got into the thick under brush before we could get some more light on it.

Sorry we didn't do our part.

Flintknapper · December 31, 2012, 07:15 PM

^^^^^^^^^^^

You did the best you could. Nothing wrong with that.

Akita1 · January 15, 2013, 09:14 PM

deleted

Akita1 · January 15, 2013, 09:15 PM

They breed at 6 mos old and 2x/year. You will never get rid of all of them unless you clean out all of the breeding males (good luck). We shoot them on a regular basis (every ATV ride is accompanies by a 6.8), trap them, use only soybeans, etc. at our 7k acre hunting camp and they still survive. Smart, resourceful and mean. We've had guys clean out a group with 00 buck at a 50 yard spray and several wounded ones show up the next day at the feeder. Give them a week and they're fine.

I shot a 347 lb big nasty Russian in N. Florida last year with a .50 black powder and still had to put two .45 XST+Ps into his head when I finally found him (yes, I hit him right above/rear shoulder with the first shot).

DammitBoy · January 15, 2013, 09:19 PM

That's a good size pig right there...

turbonoma · January 16, 2013, 07:57 PM

Randy Mitchell directed me to this thread. Mr. Flint I thoroughly enjoyed your posts. Here in Puerto Rico we are seeing a steady rise in the pig population in the central mountainous regions. I will soon be hunting them with a high powered air rifle.

RetiredUSNChief · January 16, 2013, 08:08 PM

One of these days I'd like to go on a boar hunt...with a pistol.

*sigh*

I wonder how many people out there realize that a "feral pig" is nothing like a domesticated pig, except that they're both "pigs"?

Give a domesticated pig a couple generations in the wild and what you get is a pig that has regressed back to their truely wild state. Talking with a lot of people who have experience with them, this isn't like a dog, or the offspring of dogs, going wild. A better analogy would be more like a feral dog turning into a wolf in a couple generations.

I have a brother in Texas, so I have hopes of one day actually getting some extended time to visit and do some pig hunting. I just don't see it in the near future right now.

DammitBoy · January 16, 2013, 11:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetiredUSNChief

One of these days I'd like to go on a boar hunt...with a pistol.

*sigh*

I've hunted them with a pistol many many times. It's a blast.

Prophet · January 17, 2013, 12:17 AM

If there was ever a thread proving the legitimate use and ownership of the AR-15 platform, this is it. Good job guys and gals, keep 'em cut down so we don't have to start dealing with them up my way. A huge portion of the economy in my area is agriculture, if the ferals make it up here it would cause a lot of damage.

RetiredUSNChief · January 17, 2013, 12:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DammitBoy

I've hunted them with a pistol many many times. It's a blast.

I haven't got a suitable pistol for this...yet.

I've yet to decide on one with the parameters needed. My Colt 1991A1, Baretta 92FS, and Automag II aren't really suited for that. I suppose a case could be made for my Colt SAA when I get it, but I'm not really looking at running hot loads through that pistol...not really designed for that.

Maybe if I ever get that .475 Wildey I've always wanted...

DammitBoy · January 17, 2013, 12:52 AM

I've used .45 acp, 45 long colt, 30 carbine, 44 mag, and .454 casull all to good effect.

My favorite being my Ruger Blackhawk in 45 long colt with a 7.5" barrel

Patocazador · January 17, 2013, 12:44 PM

I went to a Tennessee hog hunting place for my first hog in 1975. I was so naive I thought they were real 'Rooshun Boars'. I found out quick when I told the guide? "too small" on the first one the dogs bayed up. He whistled once and all the dogs left the hog and went looking for another.
I had a .44 Auto Mag pistol and when a good-sized boar headed towards us with the dogs on his butt, the guide? shinnied up a small tree. I side-stepped the hog and shot it as it passed me dropping it. It was exciting.

Later I found out that this place got all their "Rooshun Boars" from Christmas, Fla. about 60 miles from my house.

rkmitchell · January 18, 2013, 02:26 PM

I've killed a couple with bigbore air guns.....a .50 caliber shooting roundball to the temple, and a smaller juvenile with a 9mm bigbore air pistol. These air guns are custom made, though there are some factory-made airguns that fall in the same category now.

Crosman has the Rogue, a .357 air rifle.
Sam Yang of Korea has .357, .45, and .50 caliber air rifles that are popular in the airgun hunting scene.
And there are a number of custom makers.....notably Dennis Quackenbush, Dan McVey, Jack Haley, and a new guy named Al Avram.

Having hunted big game on two different continents with air rifles, I know that they work. But you DO have to really pay attention to your shot placement since they don't generate the knock-down force of a centerfire. They do put a lot of lead on target if you know your gun well.

Largest airgun I shot was a 20mm air rifle, using a 1005 grain slug.....we had the chance to shoot a pig at about 8 yards in heavy brush. Made a rather large hole, and the critter still ran 30 yards. Those hogs can be tough!

North Texan · January 18, 2013, 11:56 PM

A 9mm will work fine for hogs. Like anything else, you just have to know where the vitals are and be able to hit the vitals. Shots in or just behind the ear from nearly anything kills them graveyard dead.

I've been using my Glock 17 a bunch lately just because I can move quicker, especially in brush, with it in a retention holster vs. a rifle or shotgun.

Capn Jack · January 21, 2013, 05:29 PM

I sure hope you people hunting with Air Rifles carry a handgun and hunt with a partner.

Stay Safe...Jack

rkmitchell · January 22, 2013, 03:14 PM

I confess that I once had a sow rise up in high grass (sort of like a submarine surfacing), and I began looking for a tree!

She headed off at an angle, and I took one of her piglets with a 9mm air pistol.

Wouldn't dream of trying her at 250+ lbs. with an air pistol unless I had one of the souped up models.

What I've learned about hunting with air guns is that it is all about accuracy.....not power levels. I've done African plains game with air guns, whitetail deer, hogs, and have friends who have taken multiple black bears with bigbore air rifles.

I'm convinced that we suffer, at least here in America, from magnumitis.....but I also confess to a more secure feeling when I'm carrying "enough" gun in addition to my chosen hunting weapon.

Randy

TuckerNielson · January 31, 2013, 02:14 PM

Hi Flint! Been about a month since we last heard from you. How goes it?

Flintknapper · January 31, 2013, 10:02 PM

^^^^^^^^^^^

Yeah, sorry guys....just been a really busy year for me. Pretty much covered up with hogs last month...but not much time to go after them.

Hopefully this year will be different.

Not to worry though.....I am still alive and kicking. Will post what I can...as soon as I have time to get into the woods.

Flint.

paintballdude902 · February 3, 2013, 12:09 AM

i will be more than happy to come deplete the hog population that you can no longer responsibly manage

Patocazador · February 3, 2013, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RetiredUSNChief

I haven't got a suitable pistol for this...yet.

I've yet to decide on one with the parameters needed. My Colt 1991A1, Baretta 92FS, and Automag II aren't really suited for that. I suppose a case could be made for my Colt SAA when I get it, but I'm not really looking at running hot loads through that pistol...not really designed for that.

Maybe if I ever get that .475 Wildey I've always wanted...

.45 Colt (20.0 gr, 2400 & a 250 gr. XTP).

Ruger Old Army with 30 gr. 3FG and 255 gr. handcast SWC.

nobody1369 · February 28, 2013, 01:16 PM

Out here in west Texas we have trapped 32 hogs in the last two weeks!
Don't know that we've even put a dent in them.

Black Butte · February 28, 2013, 02:25 PM

Bacon!

calaverasslim · February 28, 2013, 07:29 PM

Last week, about 8PM, my dogs were going crazy outside the house. I went out with a 4" Taurus 44 special. About a 200lb sow just on the other side of the car. I spotted her with an amber spot, range about 15yds and popped her behind the ear. Just had time for one shot and got lucky. I been smelling them for awhile, guess I am gonna get a couple more before it's over.

January 15, 2013, 09:14 PM	#1305
Akita1 Member Join Date: January 4, 2013 Location: Hell (FL) Posts: 580	deleted Last edited by Akita1; January 16, 2013 at 05:20 AM. Reason: accidental repeat

January 15, 2013, 09:15 PM	#1306
Akita1 Member Join Date: January 4, 2013 Location: Hell (FL) Posts: 580	They breed at 6 mos old and 2x/year. You will never get rid of all of them unless you clean out all of the breeding males (good luck). We shoot them on a regular basis (every ATV ride is accompanies by a 6.8), trap them, use only soybeans, etc. at our 7k acre hunting camp and they still survive. Smart, resourceful and mean. We've had guys clean out a group with 00 buck at a 50 yard spray and several wounded ones show up the next day at the feeder. Give them a week and they're fine. I shot a 347 lb big nasty Russian in N. Florida last year with a .50 black powder and still had to put two .45 XST+Ps into his head when I finally found him (yes, I hit him right above/rear shoulder with the first shot). Last edited by Akita1; January 16, 2013 at 05:57 AM.

January 15, 2013, 09:19 PM	#1307
DammitBoy Member Join Date: March 19, 2009 Location: Meridian, Mississippi Posts: 1,938	That's a good size pig right there... __________________ "I shoot my gun at the moon like a primitive hick!" ~ dammitism

January 16, 2013, 07:57 PM	#1308
turbonoma Member Join Date: September 4, 2009 Location: Puerto Rico Posts: 5	New here from Puerto Rico Randy Mitchell directed me to this thread. Mr. Flint I thoroughly enjoyed your posts. Here in Puerto Rico we are seeing a steady rise in the pig population in the central mountainous regions. I will soon be hunting them with a high powered air rifle.

January 16, 2013, 08:08 PM	#1309
RetiredUSNChief Member Join Date: July 9, 2012 Location: East Coast Posts: 635	One of these days I'd like to go on a boar hunt...with a pistol. sigh I wonder how many people out there realize that a "feral pig" is nothing like a domesticated pig, except that they're both "pigs"? Give a domesticated pig a couple generations in the wild and what you get is a pig that has regressed back to their truely wild state. Talking with a lot of people who have experience with them, this isn't like a dog, or the offspring of dogs, going wild. A better analogy would be more like a feral dog turning into a wolf in a couple generations. I have a brother in Texas, so I have hopes of one day actually getting some extended time to visit and do some pig hunting. I just don't see it in the near future right now. __________________ "Good. Bad. I'm the guy with the gun." Ash - Army of Darkness http://youtu.be/0xwzdd-Slo8 I'm the guy with a cannon, too: http://youtu.be/X6xhYELYVDw

December 30, 2012, 05:47 PM	#1301
bldsmith Member Join Date: July 7, 2012 Location: Salem Or Posts: 102	Wonder what a subsonic .22 would do at those ranges????/ Would be interesting to find out. Funny to watch, Thwack, hey why did porkchop just fall asleep? thwack..... Seen coyotes do that, run right up to the one that dropped then thwack again. Usually only works for 2 though.

December 30, 2012, 08:03 PM	#1302
Eleanor416Rigby Member Join Date: December 19, 2012 Location: Central Texas Posts: 45	When I was about 14 years old, I spotted 4 75-pounders feeding/rooting around in a wide open field. I went downwind and then crawled on my belly with a .22 lr single shot and got to within less than 50 yards. The field had been furrowed many years ago, and I followed one of the furrows until I got to the closest point I could. Then, I waited for one to wander a little out of the group, or for the others to have their backs turned. The .22 was muffled up next to the ground. First one, behind the ear, and DRT. The others didn't notice. Second went like the first. When the third one went down, it made a squeal before it died. The fourth froze a second, looked around, and decided to run. I was pretty fast reloading that single shot, and the fourth ran perpendicular to my position rather than away, so it only made it a few steps. They all ended up dead within about 20 yards radius. I think in the right conditions, a person might be able to take out several young ones with a suppressor and subsonics.

December 31, 2012, 04:07 PM	#1303
Wes Mantooth Member Join Date: December 16, 2011 Location: Kansas Posts: 64	Hey Flint, I was down visiting my parents over the weekend in Limestone county, Texas. On a whim my cousin and I went out just before dark to the land they own along a creek bottom. As we crossed the cattle guard, we saw a dark shape moving toward his feeder. At first I thought it was a black calf wandering around (the neighbor's cows have gotten in a couple times). We had to top the hill and get the headlights pointed downhill before we could tell it was a big hog. I'm sure it was a big boar as it was all by himself. It was so dark I couldn't see the cross hairs through the scope. I took the shot anyway. I'm sure I hit it, but not very well. It ran off but not very fast. My cousin took a shot too, but it was moving. It got into the thick under brush before we could get some more light on it. Sorry we didn't do our part.

December 31, 2012, 07:15 PM	#1304
Flintknapper Member Join Date: May 11, 2006 Location: Deep East Texas Posts: 1,444	^^^^^^^^^^^ You did the best you could. Nothing wrong with that.

January 17, 2013, 12:17 AM	#1311
Prophet Member Join Date: April 7, 2008 Location: Bitter Clinger from PA Posts: 391	If there was ever a thread proving the legitimate use and ownership of the AR-15 platform, this is it. Good job guys and gals, keep 'em cut down so we don't have to start dealing with them up my way. A huge portion of the economy in my area is agriculture, if the ferals make it up here it would cause a lot of damage. __________________ "The policy of the American government is to leave their citizens free, neither restraining nor aiding them in their pursuits." -Jefferson

January 17, 2013, 12:52 AM	#1313
DammitBoy Member Join Date: March 19, 2009 Location: Meridian, Mississippi Posts: 1,938	I've used .45 acp, 45 long colt, 30 carbine, 44 mag, and .454 casull all to good effect. My favorite being my Ruger Blackhawk in 45 long colt with a 7.5" barrel __________________ "I shoot my gun at the moon like a primitive hick!" ~ dammitism

January 17, 2013, 12:44 PM	#1314
Patocazador Member Join Date: July 8, 2012 Location: Central Florida Posts: 898	I went to a Tennessee hog hunting place for my first hog in 1975. I was so naive I thought they were real 'Rooshun Boars'. I found out quick when I told the guide? "too small" on the first one the dogs bayed up. He whistled once and all the dogs left the hog and went looking for another. I had a .44 Auto Mag pistol and when a good-sized boar headed towards us with the dogs on his butt, the guide? shinnied up a small tree. I side-stepped the hog and shot it as it passed me dropping it. It was exciting. Later I found out that this place got all their "Rooshun Boars" from Christmas, Fla. about 60 miles from my house. __________________ Life's short, have some fun. Bob

January 18, 2013, 02:26 PM	#1315
rkmitchell Member Join Date: January 11, 2013 Posts: 14	I've killed a couple with bigbore air guns.....a .50 caliber shooting roundball to the temple, and a smaller juvenile with a 9mm bigbore air pistol. These air guns are custom made, though there are some factory-made airguns that fall in the same category now. Crosman has the Rogue, a .357 air rifle. Sam Yang of Korea has .357, .45, and .50 caliber air rifles that are popular in the airgun hunting scene. And there are a number of custom makers.....notably Dennis Quackenbush, Dan McVey, Jack Haley, and a new guy named Al Avram. Having hunted big game on two different continents with air rifles, I know that they work. But you DO have to really pay attention to your shot placement since they don't generate the knock-down force of a centerfire. They do put a lot of lead on target if you know your gun well. Largest airgun I shot was a 20mm air rifle, using a 1005 grain slug.....we had the chance to shoot a pig at about 8 yards in heavy brush. Made a rather large hole, and the critter still ran 30 yards. Those hogs can be tough!

January 18, 2013, 11:56 PM	#1316
North Texan Member Join Date: July 24, 2005 Location: Capitol of Cow Country Posts: 82	A 9mm will work fine for hogs. Like anything else, you just have to know where the vitals are and be able to hit the vitals. Shots in or just behind the ear from nearly anything kills them graveyard dead. I've been using my Glock 17 a bunch lately just because I can move quicker, especially in brush, with it in a retention holster vs. a rifle or shotgun.

January 21, 2013, 05:29 PM	#1317
Capn Jack Member Join Date: October 20, 2009 Posts: 10	I sure hope you people hunting with Air Rifles carry a handgun and hunt with a partner. Stay Safe...Jack

January 22, 2013, 03:14 PM	#1318
rkmitchell Member Join Date: January 11, 2013 Posts: 14	Jack.....I do ..... most of the time! I confess that I once had a sow rise up in high grass (sort of like a submarine surfacing), and I began looking for a tree! She headed off at an angle, and I took one of her piglets with a 9mm air pistol. Wouldn't dream of trying her at 250+ lbs. with an air pistol unless I had one of the souped up models. What I've learned about hunting with air guns is that it is all about accuracy.....not power levels. I've done African plains game with air guns, whitetail deer, hogs, and have friends who have taken multiple black bears with bigbore air rifles. I'm convinced that we suffer, at least here in America, from magnumitis.....but I also confess to a more secure feeling when I'm carrying "enough" gun in addition to my chosen hunting weapon. Randy

January 31, 2013, 02:14 PM	#1319
TuckerNielson Member Join Date: May 17, 2009 Posts: 42	Hi Flint! Been about a month since we last heard from you. How goes it?

January 31, 2013, 10:02 PM	#1320
Flintknapper Member Join Date: May 11, 2006 Location: Deep East Texas Posts: 1,444	^^^^^^^^^^^ Yeah, sorry guys....just been a really busy year for me. Pretty much covered up with hogs last month...but not much time to go after them. Hopefully this year will be different. Not to worry though.....I am still alive and kicking. Will post what I can...as soon as I have time to get into the woods. Flint.

February 3, 2013, 12:09 AM	#1321
paintballdude902 Member Join Date: June 30, 2007 Location: eastern NC is home but florida is base Posts: 2,724	i will be more than happy to come deplete the hog population that you can no longer responsibly manage __________________ I'm willing to die trying to keep them; Are you willing to die trying to take them? The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.-Eleanor Roosevelt

February 28, 2013, 01:16 PM	#1323
nobody1369 Member Join Date: February 6, 2011 Location: central texas Posts: 50	Out here in west Texas we have trapped 32 hogs in the last two weeks! Don't know that we've even put a dent in them.

February 28, 2013, 07:29 PM	#1325
calaverasslim Member Join Date: July 20, 2005 Location: S. Texas Posts: 775	Last week, about 8PM, my dogs were going crazy outside the house. I went out with a 4" Taurus 44 special. About a 200lb sow just on the other side of the car. I spotted her with an amber spot, range about 15yds and popped her behind the ear. Just had time for one shot and got lucky. I been smelling them for awhile, guess I am gonna get a couple more before it's over.