Well Warners, first of all, where would you like to go on this hog hunt? There are several states down south where they are very populated and have no set hunting season on them. Hunting year round on them. Unlike cottswald seems to think, hog hunting is a great start to big game hunting. They can be a very wily game animal to hunt. They have a fantastic sense of smell and great hearing as well. Eyesight is pretty pitiful so you have an advantage there. Many are on the fence about the dangers of hogs. They can be a VERY dangerous animal but if you use a bit of caution you should be just fine.
Both of your weapon choices are spot on perfect for hogs. Killed many with the venerable old thuddy thuddy and the 30.06 will be a great one for the longer shots. Have you practiced a lot with both of your weapons in FIELD condition positioning? I don't live very far from you and I do know that ranges around here are few and far between. If you plan on still hunting hogs then you need to practice "snap shots" off hand. It would also be a really good idea to practice defense shots as well in case of a wounded hog charge. That 30/30 will be your weapon of choice for that situation.
As far as where to go and what to avoid, Texas, Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida offers about the best hog hunting in the states. If size matters (trophy class), I guess it would depend on what you are willing to pay for. If you are looking for pure strain Russian boars, they don't get as big as you would think. Ferrel hogs (mixed breed wild hogs) are the ones that get really massive. Texas offers some of the biggest hogs I have seen. Granted I have taken some pretty sizable hogs in the other states I mentioned but the biggest has been in Texas. I don't hunt the fenced hogs only free ranging. Another question that you need to address is STYLE of hunting that you want. Baited, still hunt, hunting with dogs, and elevated stands over known feeding areas are just a few of the common ways. As far as things to avoid, well that is a matter of opinion on some things. Some feel that the high fence operations are the spawn of Satan while others feel that they are just fine. I am in the middle of that one. High fence operations are fine to me as long as there is a lot of acreage inside that fence. Most of your Texas operations are 1000 acres or more inside that fence and, to me anyway, that is MORE than enough to consider those animals about as free ranging as you can get. Of course how the animals are fed, treated and all that has to fall into your mind as well. Are they conditioned to certain times of the "feed truck" coming and associate that with safety or do they vary the times for the extra feed so as not to condition the animals to human presence. Just some things like that to question.
