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

^^^^^ While a thick shield is not necessarily present on every Boar you encounter, it certainly 'can' be.

As noted in the post right above this one, you might very well need to penetrate 2-3" (or more) of hide, shield, muscle and bone...BEFORE you get to the goodies. And that assumes a 'broadside' shot.

I've also shot hogs (of either sex) that were caked in dried mud. Their hair a matted mess.

Even so....just about any well constructed bullet will penetrate all of this, but it is still something to think about.

I've always suggested a person use a 'heavy for caliber' bullet of rugged construction when going after hogs. Because you just never know what you will be presented with. It could be anything from a slick, shiny 90 lb. Sow to a 300 lb. Boar caked in mud with a 3" shield.

So....I decided I would take advantage of the nice, cool weather we were having here yesterday and go sit on a stand for awhile.

I went to the bait site about 2 p.m. and hand broadcast some corn. This bait site has elevated stands set at 40 & 100 yds from the corn. I intended to sit on the 40 yd. stand because I wanted to try and get a couple of hogs 'in line' and hopefully take two with one shot. I try to be efficient...when I can.

The hogs have been coming in around 7 P.M. so I thought if I got on stand by 6 O'Clock that would be early enough and I wouldn't have to contend with so many mosquitoes. Sundown is about 7:30 p.m. and by 8 O'Clock its pretty much pitch black down there.

So that was my 'plan' all calculated and figured out.....right? Just saunter down there, sit for an hour and enjoy myself. Watch the birds and squirrels and whatever else might come along....until the hogs get there.

Left the house and drove down the pasture...stopping a few hundred yards short of my hunting spot. Walked to my stand, left my rifle there and went to go hook up the battery to the hog light....just in case they came in later. And that is where my 'plan' started to fall apart. I could see where a squirrel (or something) had chewed completely through one of the wires leading up to the light and it was too far up the tree for me to reach it to repair it.

O.K. not ideal...but nothing to fret over. I have a light on my rifle and the pigs would probably come in before dark anyway. A took a quick glance at the feed site and my heart sank. ALL the corn was GONE. Except for some that I threw into the mud-hole it was ALL gone. The hogs had already been there and left. O.K. well..... THIS is not good.

Well...what the heck, I'm already here and there is some chance that the hogs will come back before dark. So I get in my stand.... and the wind that previously was angling toward me is now swirling. Then it changes directions altogether....and starts blowing from my back toward the bait site! Come on....!

At that point...I was thinking 'I might as well get down', this just isn't going to work. Then I thought about it a little more and decided to chance it. Since it was the second day after the front had blown through...as soon as the sun would set the wind would probably settle some. Then IF the hogs would come in from my left I might still get a shot off before they caught my scent. Not too much to ask....right?

Right at sunset the wind began to settle and I heard a few twigs snapping in the distance off to my left but also from BEHIND me. What the heck? I stayed perfectly still and quiet and listened closely.

Sure enough....something was approaching from an angle (to my left and behind me). Surely...this was not the pigs. They would had to have been out in the pasture to be coming from this direction.

Soon I heard the sound of mud 'sucking' at hooves/paws/feet ? And then the first hog appeared, sloshing it's way though the muddiest part of the whole area. They NEVER come from that direction.

They were no more than 25 yds. to my left when they went by my stand. How they didn't smell me I will never know. I just waited and let them come on in. They went directly to the 'mud hole' and starting rooting around in it for any left over kernels of corn.

I got my rifle up and frantically started looking for any two to get close together. I knew they would not be there for long. They were either going to smell me and run....or give up on the corn and leave in short order. Finally...one hog came up behind another but was facing it (creating a 'T'). This looked to be as good as it was going to get.

I would have to hold really high on the back of the first pig in order to hit the second one in the head or neck. So be it.

At the shot....both pigs went down, but the one in the front got right back up and ran 'humped up' about 30 yds., went under the fence line and barely made it to the creek where it expired.

So...in the end when the bad and good luck were weighed...the 'good luck' (AKA dumb luck) tipped in my favor and we were able to get two more pigs out of the population.

Game camera just happened to get most of it. Had to edit the video (lighten it) so you can see it. It was actually MUCH darker in real life.

Keyfer 55 said:

Those hogs like chicken compost!!

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Hogs like everything. If it contains at least one calorie and they can get their mouth around it, they'll eat it.

And this little piggy did NOT go 'Wee-Wee-Wee' all the way home.

I was sitting at the computer this evening a bit after sundown. Looking up some information, when I heard my wife ask 'is that a group of hogs at the end of the pasture'?

I got up and looked out the window...and sure enough there were six hogs rooting up the pasture about 275 yds. out.

I went and grabbed the 7mm-08, told my wife to not the let the Dachshunds go to the door leading to the back porch.

I stepped out on the porch cranked the scope back down to 10 power (wouldn't need 15 for this), lit up the reticle and started surveying the group. All looked to be about the same size...so I just settled in on the one most in the open.

I had no sooner pushed the safety off...when I heard one of our dogs barking at the top of its lungs from somewhere in the living room.

'Maddie' the oldest Dachshund had jumped up in the rocking chair to look out the window and see what I was doing. Well...she spotted the hogs out in HER pasture and was not happy about that.

The hogs of course heard the barking...even through double paned windows and being more than 250 yds. distant.

It alarmed them just enough to start them moving toward the tree line. I took a walking shot on a sow that was moving the slowest, but still hit her about 4"-5" behind the shoulder. I think I had my lead right...but just pulled the shot (rifle kinda rested on the porch rail).

Anyway, I could tell by the way the hog was running it wasn't going to go far...and in fact it crumpled just 20 yds. later.

Hogs are getting pretty bold when they start coming up around the house. Coyotes know better.

MCgunner said:

Heck, man, I shot one not long ago in the back yard not 40 yards from my porch! But, it's thick woods here, no place to SEE over 100 yards except down the road out front. I think I mentioned that one further back in this thread, so I won't rehash it.

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Yes, I seem to remember that you had 'moved' recently (in the last couple of years?) and that your new property and surrounding properties were pretty thick. I am right in the middle of the 'Piney Woods' so except for pasture land, power-lines or pipelines....you can't see very far.

Keep after them. You and I will never put much of a dent in them, but we have to do what we can...right?

3Crows said:

I am all for shooting them and eating them but I wonder if they really multiply this fast or are they being released into the wild to be hunted?

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Yes and Yes depending upon the State and current population.

In Texas and other States with well established populations....the reproduction rate of the hogs is something that has proven unmanageable in terms of control.

In other States (pretty much anything North of Oklahoma) the population increase (and spread) is most certainly due to folks bringing them in illegally and releasing them.

I live in Deep East Texas which has had a population of wild/feral hogs since before the 1700's. BUT they were not large in number nor widely spread. In my area....we used to have what were called (colloquially) 'Pineywoods Rooters'.

Typically, they were solid black, had long hair and a notably longer snout than the feral pigs we see today. Additionally, most had a distinctly different disposition than the pigs I see here now. Didn't matter whether it was a Boar or a Sow....about 50% of them required YOU to move/give way the others would leave first of their own accord. Unfortunately...their willingness to 'stand their ground' resulted in their demise.

Pretty much everything I encounter now will beat a retreat at the first sign of danger.

But what happened here (peaking in the mid 80's to early 90's) was 'Hog Doggers' would catch and release the hogs into different areas. Some would even raise pigs and release them into the wild so they would have something to run their dogs on.

After those hogs became established....populations exploded and hunters (but NOT landowners) were thrilled to have something new to hunt. So...a somewhat 'tolerant' attitude allowed the hogs to spread further. To me they are a scourge, but some folks want them. In any case, they are here to stay now. Not unlike fire-ants.

Tinybob said:

The only difference, it's hard to eat fire ants.

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They're just not very 'filling'.