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

My family Texas hunt last week went very well... the boys (my stepsons) both got their first ever deer, and we all got some hogs.


Shot this one at 230 yards with my 30-06 and a Winchester 150 grain Deer Season Extreme Point, the ones with the extra large polymer tip... first experience with these, and they didn't disappoint. Dropped him about 5 feet from where he stood. They said this was the biggest boar taken on the ranch so far, about 250 lbs... I had a shot at one about the same size a day or two earlier that did a 180 and ran under the border fence, so I was not able to recover him. I did hear him gving up the ghost a few yards into the trees though, so I know it was a good kill.


My younger stepson (19) took this sow (and the doe about 30 minutes earlier,) at about 80 yards with my Savage 340 30-30 and my 130 grain Hornady Spire Point handloads. They were devastating on both... he later hit a slightly larger boar that ran squealing into the woods, to be found later in the hunt.


Figured I'd throw this proud papa moment in, since we're all hunters here and can relate... either we have taught someone to hunt or were taught ourselves... this was my favorite moment of the 6 day hunt. On day 1, he took his very first deer at right under 90 yards with a perfect double lung and heart shot with the aforementioned Savage 340. The rifle has a peep sight on it, and he dropped the doe in it's tracks like a pro with a scoped magnum.


His older brother (23) got his deer as well, a 153 yard high shoulder shot that also dropped her on the spot, and shot a couple of hogs too. (No pics of his, unfortunately.)

All in all I think we as a group killed anywhere from 15 to 20 pigs over the course of the hunt. Maybe more. We also saw about a 350 pounder laying by the road on the drive home... made mine look like a runt, but it's dead, and that's what counts.

After all is said and done, it was a great hunt. Two new hunters brought into the sport, and two new hog hunting addicts created... both sons are looking at options and saving up for their own rifles for next year!

Thank god we dont have pigs here .
I would take my ak with me everywhere on the property .
Probably try to bait them and kill or wound as many as possible forever.

What an epic thread! I just finished reading the whole thing. It was very captivating. I want to thank Flint for starting this great thread and everyone else who have contributed.

I am certainly glad we don't have a hog problem here in Washington state. However, I'm kind of envious of your target rich environment and the fact that you can hunt a big game animal year round.

Good luck and I can't wait to see some more updates!

Yuck! No way i would even get close to a slimey man-killing snake, the only good snake is a dead one. I live in The Great Northwest and our snakes are slow enough one has time to get out of their way---guess it is the heavy parka they wear that helps keep movements slow----7 degrees right now.

How old do piglets have to be to survive on their own if you shoot the sow?
Those game tracker cameras show a tremendous amount of pigs in some areas. Does anyone ever use a shotgun and buckshot to try and get multiple kills?

redrover1 said:

How old do piglets have to be to survive on their own if you shoot the sow?
Those game tracker cameras show a tremendous amount of pigs in some areas. Does anyone ever use a shotgun and buckshot to try and get multiple kills?

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I'm sure others here have more experience than me on the subject, but I can say that while we were out there a couple weeks ago, we saw several small groups of very young piglets running around with no adults or even older youngsters anywhere nearby. I would imagine that as adaptable and hardy as the little buggers are known to be, they would be pretty much good to go on their own as soon as they are able to forage for themselves.
Barring any encounters with predators, traps, ATVs etc. Quite a few that we saw were football sized... (Kick the pigskin around, anyone?)
As to the buckshot question, there are a few references to it back farther in this thread, but it has been my experience that 'flock shooting,' whether it be birds, pigs, etc. is a sure way to scare off a bunch of critters and see nothing but feathers/fur left behind... you might hit a few but 99% of the time it won't be a good hit. Better to aim for a kill shot at one and hope for a double as they line themselves up, or at least a quick follow up shot on the slow one.

Finally picked up a few little kids this morning. They have been really quiet around here lately..hiding back in the deep woods snacking on acorns. This takes my count on this property to #560..

i don't understand the groups of young pigs running around without adults. Not sure they are orphans or what. We very seldom trap a lactating sow. Those pigs are not savvy and they are vulnerable to predators. i once ran into a group of 14 pigs that weighed 20-30 pounds except for one that weighed 45-50 pounds. That big pig was the leader of the pack. In two evenings i killed all except the 50 pounder with a .22.

The three little guys I got this morning are part of a group of about 20, but there are some large ones in the group. Ones sow looks about to explode she is so pregnant. I don't normally see little ones running by themselves.

I have been seeing this little fella pretty regularly at one of my feeders lately, and would love to introduce him to Mr. Creedmore, but mother nature just isn't cooperating with me. The nights lately have been running 16-18 degrees and it's just too doggone cold for this old guy to be sitting out there in the dark. Hopefully we are going to warm up this next week and I'll get out and see if I can punch a hole in him. Don't pay any attention to the date on the photo, my computer seems to send pictures to odd places in my picture program...makes it a pain to find them sometimes. I'm not too computer savvy and just bumble around on it.

Wow... That looks more like a short legged cow than a pig.
Can't wat to see him laid out in the daylight...

I tried for that big guy last night, but by midnight I was running out of steam....so I just shot this guy (about 150 lbs) , went home and went to bed. Maybe I'll try it again tonight as I have an idea he will be back before long.

I live in eastern georgia, in savannah river drainage.. many pigs here. There are some hogs here also. They have established in a lot of prime deer hunting land. There was an incident that happened in the local paper where a man went out to feed his dog and was ovverun by a pack of swine. He needed over a hundred stitches to get his wounds taken care of. Having several adult hogs can mean big trouble. Lot of these hogs are on private land where tree huggers oppose removal of them. Some of these hogs can get to unreal sizes.
After hogs get to a certain size, they get real aggresive and become a predator. Have went to big bores and heavy for caliber bullets. My neighbor went to shoot a hog in head with 22 bullet after he went in trap, and just made hog mad after shooting between the eyes. Evidently as hogs age and they get larger grissle plates and bones get thicker. They can revert to the wild after escaping farms in one generation. These hogs ruin pastures and lawns. Read on another forum where boar defeated complete penetration from 35 whelen with heavy bullet (250 gr). Hog needed another shot!

Ttexastom said:

My neighbor went to shoot a hog in head with 22 bullet after he went in trap, and just made hog mad after shooting between the eyes. Evidently as hogs age and they get larger grissle plates and bones get thicker. They can revert to the wild after escaping farms in one generation. These hogs ruin pastures and lawns. Read on another forum where boar defeated complete penetration from 35 whelen with heavy bullet (250 gr). Hog needed another shot!

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I've killed a lot of hogs of about all sizes in traps with a .22, and I'm sorry, but I think your neighbor just shot it at the wrong angle. When shooting between their eyes and a hog has his head down, you will miss the brain and won't do the damage to it's CNS necessary to drop him. You hit the brain and they drop immediately with only a .22. Get them to look right at you and shoot between the eyes and it's lights out. Unfortunately there are a lot of old wives tales that circulate about how tough a hog is and how much bullet it takes to drop one.
No offense meant....I hear these tales all the time and most of them originate as a tale told to impress others about a friend/relative/acquaintance and their experience.

No offense taken

Flintknapper said:

P.S. Stony.....you need to get that big black and white one you posted. Looks more like a fatted steer calf than a pig. Wow!

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Agreed... very curious to see what Stony's pig weighs out at...
Hope you get that blotchy booger soon, Flint! Sounds like a worthy adversary. He's putting you to the test...

Flint, you sound like me with a particular coyote I would continually miss by as little as 15 min. I needed a better bait. Do you have the resources to place a vanilla/molasses oriented bait site for about two weeks to get him coming in regular? Watching him for 6-8months must be quite the frustration! I'm quite intrigued and wish you the best of luck sir!

Flintknapper said:

P.S. Stony.....you need to get that big black and white one you posted. Looks more like a fatted steer calf than a pig. Wow!

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I've spent two nights after that big one so far, and like yours, he isn't keeping any regular schedule. The last night I spent out watching for him, I sat out till midnight, and the next day found a pic of him at another feeder! Unfortunately, lately I've had some stuff keeping me busy in the daytime and been working on 3 to 4 hrs. sleep a night when I'm out watching feeders. I'll get back to it soon and see if I can get a hole poked in him.
As you obviously know, they can be elusive......

Thought long and hard before making a reply to above post. Don't know much news media reaches into texas from georgia. No old wives tales, know my credibility has been questioned much so. Would you believe history channel or national geographic. Southeast has some big hogs, probably not common knowledge. Try googling hogzilla and see what you come up with. Anniston alabama had a 1200 lb hog killed and verified by a wildlife biologist, as being wild not a domestic hog gone wild. These are not little barbecue pigs. By the way try shooting something that ways over a half ton with a small rifle. Seems to me if nothing seen but mostly piglets, don't that signal that someone near your locality is releasing these pigs into the wild. Swine under 150 pounds are called shoats in this part of the world, not hogs. Look at where nat geo went to south georgia and exhumed hogzilla and verified that he existed! My largest hog has went 512 lbs, but i see these larger bruins occasionally. Those hogs weigh close to what grizzly bears weigh. Not wives tales!!!

"Seems to me if nothing seen but mostly piglets, don't that signal that someone near your locality is releasing these pigs into the wild."

Pigs are often orphaned when their mothers are killed. When dogged the sounder sometimes runs off leaving little pigs behind. Bubba is still releasing pigs in this area but they are larger, 50 pounds and up.

Can't seem to connect with this guy. I've been playing tag with him for a while now but he always seems to be going to a different feeder than I am set up at. Guess I'll try again tonight as it's supposed to be fairly good weather.