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

[Flintknapper]

jdmerk wrote:

Sorry if this seems a little too presumptuous for my first post...but why not get a pack of hog dogs to patrol the property?

I don't consider it presumptuous at all. Niave......but not presumptuous.

You mention how hogs hate dogs.

True.

You could get a half dozen hounds, spay/neuter them or select all male/female if you are worried about them going feral and displacing the hogs. Keep them as pseudo family pets so they stay accustomed to you...or as dedicated family pets that just roam free.

I have five dogs already...and if letting them loose would control the hogs around here I (and everyone else) would have figured that out and employed the method.

You could pin them up during deer season so they don't run the deer off too.

Yes, but Deer Season is exactly when you least want hogs. Also, Deer Season in Texas runs about 3 full months (including archery season), thats a long time to keep dogs penned up.

Seems like the obvious, least expensive least time consuming solution to the problem..

Until you actually put some thought to it:

1. Dogs have to eat (which means I have to feed a half dozen of them).

2. Dogs have to be trained to hunt hogs (most are not born ready to go).

3. Unless have really good dogs...they will also chase other animals and livestock (something less than desirable).

4. Free roaming dogs (unless on thousands of acres of land) will invariably cross over onto neighboring property. They don't last long that way.

5. Unless you have "catch dogs"...the dogs will only chase and occasionally "bay" the hogs. No hogs are actually KILLED....(does nothing to reduce the population).

6. Every time hogs are chased by dogs (but escape), they learn from the experience and become harder to locate next time.

7. When #6 (above) happens, it only serves to educate the hogs...while at the same time....spreading them out (geographically). So, even if I don't have hogs....now my neighbor does (and so on...). The object is NOT to scare hogs off of my property, but rather to KILL every one of them I can.

that is unless you enjoy the hunting and trapping and destruction that the hogs bring to the property.

Right...............


There is only one solution to the Feral Hog problem that makes any sense:

KILL as many as possible whenever, however...you can. Then urge your neighbors to do the same. Anything short of that....only results in "swapping hogs"....all the while, they are making more. Understand?


Flint.

 

[Mp7]

Awesome thread, just read all 18 pages in one go ......

...now i´m hungry.

Oh, there´s sooo many good recipes for boar.
..in redwine & cherry & chocolate .... yumm!

Good job. Great Documentation!

 

[blackwalnut]

Hogs in Ohio

We have them up here in Ohio. Right now they as I understand are on private land in a few Southeastern counties. The Division of Wildlife is providng info but you must go get persmission to hunt them. They have no closed season of course. They can be hunted with archery equipment or firearms. The state is encouraging hunting of them. I dont know if persons understand the destruction feral animals cause to the ecosystem as well as damaged to agricultural lands.

I work for a natural resource agency and even though we dont have hogs in our area we do have problems with numbers of other non-native invasive species from insects, plants to fish. I am still interested in hunting them and my education so far has come mainly from reading and watching "The Pigman" Brian Quaca (hope it spelled correctly). He hunts them using archery equipment and firearms. Also dogs are used to. To those who are not familiar with him he is down in Texas.

 

[Lightninstrike]

Lightninstrike wrote:

Hi LS,

I hope you have a great time on your hunt.

The .308 is more than enough "gun" for hogs. Shot placement....is key to getting quick, "DRT" kills.

If circumstance permits, I recommend you place the shot anywhere from just behind the jaw....to just in front of the shoulder.

Basically, that is a neck shot...but allows "room for error", while still getting good results.

It doesn't matter the caliber, that is always my preferred shot.

As concerns bullet selection, you don't have go heavier than a 150 grain (the most common weight for the .308), but I would use a well constructed bullet... one that will provide deep penetration.

With factory ammo...you should be able to find something with a Nosler "partition" bullet or something of similar construction. A bullet that will stay together (but expand and penetrate) provides you with "options" in terms of shot angles.

Though I wouldn't try to shoot the South end of a North bound hog....you can ethically and confidently take quartering away (and to you) shots out to 300 yds. Just aim for the spot that will allow the bullet to exit the "off side shoulder" and you should be fine.

If the place you plan to hunt will allow you to night hunt (legal in Texas for hogs), then by all means do so. Shots will usually be 100 yds and under.

I hope you have great success....but more than that, a GOOD TIME.

Be safe and welcome to Texas... Sir!


Flint.

Another good choice is the Barnes TSX (my personal favorite), but there can be concerns with over-penetration using this bullet. Just be sure you know what is beyond your hog…if you chose this one.

150 grain TSX:
http://www.midsouthshooterssupply.com/product_images/129-P308V.jpg?SSImageQuality=Full

I returned from my hog bunting trip to Texas this week. I did enjoy it, thanks. Some of my observations below. More experienced hog hunters feel free to comment. This was on a ranch near San Antonio.

Not surprisingly during the hotter part of the day the hogs go to ground. If you are going to hunt them at that time then be prepared to walk. Lower, wetter areas are good places to look but I also had good luck with single boars in higher areas under shade. There is a broad leafed plant that grows about knee high in shady areas under scrub trees that the local folks called pigleaf. The hogs sometimes hide under this growth. I found two that way. Any similar growth would probably do the trick in another area.

Early evening, night or early morning are Ok for blind or tree stand hunting but you need the right gear. I was unprepared for this. No NVG's or lights with enough candle power. My brother and I picked up an LED lantern from the local Walmart and hung it in a tree near a trail where we baited with deer corn for a night hunt in a blind. Hogs tended to stay on the outer edges of the pool of light. Not sure if this was intentional on their part or just my bad luck. Even with the big moon, it was too dark to see how big they were or get decent shot placement so we passed.

Lesson: Get decent NVG equipment or lights for night hunts.

Firearm choice. What a question. Ask 10 guys, get 10 answers. There were a half dozen people in our party and it was about evenly split between 12 gauge shotguns with slugs and rifles in various calibers. I brought a 12 gauge but ended up sticking with my Savage in .308 equipped with a scope. I did miss an opportunity when a small hog ran across the trail about 10 feet in front of me and I was unable to get the rifle on target in time to take a shot. Maybe with a shotgun I could have taken the shot but I still saw enough pigs at range to convince me to stick with the long gun.

Lesson: Go with what you are comfortable with as long as it is enough gun and practice shooting off hand !!!

I also noted that those who took hogs with slugs and hit them anywhere other than the head damaged a lot of meat. Not an issue if you are hunting for land management reasons, but since this was for meat and sport it was a factor.

I'll post a couple of pics below.

 

[Lightninstrike]

Couple of pics.

The hog in the left pic was taken by my .308. The cartridge was a Federal JHP with 150 grain Barnes TSX bullet. The hog was quartering away from me when I took the shot. Hard to see in the picture but the bullet entered the left side just aft of the ribcage and angled through the body to impact the off side shoulder. I didn't get the DRT affect you associate with a central nervous system hit but the hog only staggered a few feet before collapsing and expiring. Clacked his cutters at me a couple of times and that was it. Never even squealed, just grunted when the bullet impacted.

Flint, you were right, those Barnes TSX have pretty good penetration. The off side shoulder in this small hog was pretty banged up. Not recoverable for meat.


Second pic, hog taken by my brother's Marlin lever rifle in .444. Smaller hog, right to left through the body near the shoulder.

 

[Flintknapper]

Good job LS!

If you guys have the opportunity to come back and hunt again, you might consider a rifle/shotgun mounted light for night time hunts.

This is what I use on my AR:
http://www.thebowlite.com/Rifle-Light-Kits/

It's throws a good light out to about 100 yds.

I hope every one had a good time and that you will come back and visit our State again, we were pleased to have you.

Thanks for the report and the pics. I hope you didn't encounter too many snakes.

Flint

 

[Lightninstrike]

Thanks for the link. I am planning another trip this fall when it gets a little cooler. I will definitely take a look because I will need something better. 100 yards is plenty for illumination I think. The hogs I saw (barely) from the blind were no farther than that. I just couldn't see them well enough for a shot.

As to snakes I wore calf-high snake boots. Saw a few trails and one copperhead but that's about it.

P.S. 40 deet and Thermacell are your friends.

 

[Flintknapper]

LS wrote:

P.S. 40 deet and Thermacell are your friends.

Yeah, the "Mosquito" in Texas is actually our "State Bird" too.

A hunt in the fall will likely be more productive in terms of hog movement.

Did you guys drive down?

 

[Lightninstrike]

I'm thinking the fall will be better too. Nice to hear your thoughts agree.

We both drove. Its a little over 800 miles from Kansas and anything less than 1000 miles I drive nowadays. My brother lives in Houston area so it was a short trip for him.

Looking forward to this fall.

 

[Kingslayer]

Yes, as much as is possible I try to utilize the meat resource.

I understand completely. I already have two freezers full. But I have no problems leaving them right where they lay. I'll use them to kill two birds with one stone and leave them lie until the coyotes come in.

I'm in the same boat as you. I can't tell you how much never-ending damage they do to the orange grove. I can't tell you how many miles, literally MILES, of sprinkler pvc we've had to replace. I can't tell you how many truckloads of oranges we lose.

What I can tell you is that it's terminate with extreme prejudice. Shoot them, trap them, smack em on the head with a ball peen.

As far as illumination goes...I built a hog light. I took a 16 Red LED trailer brake light I bought at Tractor Supply, a 12v SLA battery, 12v solar charger, and a light sensitive switch. The hogs can barely see the red light but I can see fine. Once it's dark the light turns on automatically and off at dawn then charges all day. I don't know about you guys but we have to have permission from Florida FWC in order to hunt at night.

 

[Cougfan2]

This has been the most entertaining thread I have ever read.

I think you should co-author a book with Correia "Monster Hog Hunters International".

 

[Nokin3D]

Amazing thread! Enjoyed ALL 18 pages of reading and pictures.

 

[ddtaylor]

I just read the all 18 pages and enjoied it alot it made my night shift at work blaze past. I don't have any hunting expreince but my parents have been complaining of something tearing up their orchid I looked at the pictures you posted of what the hogs had done to your land and it looks alot like what is going on at my parents house. They have a cotton field that my uncle owns right behind their house with a creek in the woods behind the field. Last time I went out there I didn't see any kinda of foot prints would hogs travel all the way past the cotton field to the orchid? I would say it is about half a mile or so.

 

[stsimons]

Fantastic Read! In 1988 my granddad and I spent 3 weeks removing a bunch of feral hogs from his 120 acre farm in Fouke, Arkansas. Ever since then I have always had respect for how cunning and evasive hogs can be. Give em a good dirt nap!

 

[Flintknapper]

stsimons wrote:

In 1988 my granddad and I spent 3 weeks removing a bunch of feral hogs from his 120 acre farm in Fouke, Arkansas. Ever since then I have always had respect for how cunning and evasive hogs can be.

Agreed.

If there one thing that impresses me about feral hogs, it is how quickly they learn.

Hogs are smart.

I don't mean to suggest that they actually "reason" things out....or are capable of abstract thought, but they make "associations" very quickly and react to stimulus much faster than most animals.

Crows run a close "second", but don't get me started on crows.

 

[68wj]

Oh how I miss the Angelina Rifle and Pistol Club! And some good wild sausage too.

 

[Flintknapper]

68wj wrote:

Oh how I miss the Angelina Rifle and Pistol Club! And some good wild sausage too.

Well.....its still there.

I've been a member for quite a few years.

They make improvements annually.

Give me a shout next time you're back this way, we'll go shoot a bit.

 

[68wj]

Will do!

 

[Lightninstrike]

Crows run a close "second", but don't get me started on crows.

Sounds like a need for a new thread to me.

 

[TylerPearce]

By far the most interesting thread ever. I just watched a show on the history channel or discovery channel or something about the hog problem. But your problem seems worse than any examples on that show.

 

[Rail Driver]

The pics in the original post look like a good reason for a tree stand and a select fire .308

 

[joeq]

This is by far my favorite thread on this whole site.

 

[308win]

Columbus station runs piece on Ohio feral hog problem

http://www.10tv.com/live/content/lo.../story-gallipolis-usda-wild-hogs.html?sid=102

Wild Boars Invade Ohio, Destroy Crops
Thursday, July 22, 2010 6:00 PM
Print StoryE-mail StoryGALLIPOLIS, Ohio — One of the most destructive pests is quickly spreading through central Ohio, getting closer to Columbus.

The animals are causing damage and putting up a fight for the wildlife biologists trying to control them, 10TV's Kurt Ludlow reported on Thursday.

Armed with a machete and a tracker's eye, U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Biologist Craig Hicks goes on the hunt for one the most unwanted and destructive creatures on four legs.

"Russian boar, piney woods rooter, razorback, feral hog, feral swine, pig," Hicks said. ""Even one hog, having one hog running around in Ohio's landscape is bad. They cause a lot of destruction, a lot of damage and a lot of disease concerns."

No matter what you call it, wild boars have invaded Ohio and wildlife officials say they have got to go.

No one knows how many wild hogs are in Ohio, Ludlow reported. Some simply escaped confinement, but others were illegally released in order to be hunted.

So far they have been spotted in at least two dozen counties, often in some of the roughest terrain Ohio has to offer.

"The thing is, there are plenty of hogs out here," Hicks said. "But as you can see you've got to get off the road to find them."

We recently went on a daytime hunt in Gallia County.

"They should be sleeping right now, but there have been times that I've come up over here and startled them out of this brush and jumped them up and running," Hicks said.

No hogs were seen, but there was no doubt that they were there.

"Here we go, there's a hog track," Hicks said.

The track is a near a muddy wallow, created by a hog in order to stay cool, Ludlow reported.

"At one point a hog was laying in here, pulling up this nice soft mud, and like I say, 'That'll cool you down,'" Hicks said.

Wallows destroy habitat. They range in size and cause damage when they root around for food.

"They're digging for grubs, tubers, roots, things like that to eat and in the process they overturn the ground and for that reason they've been nicknamed the living rototiller," Hicks said.

Hicks recently photographed four hogs near a cornfield, mowing down the stalks in a matter of minutes.

For biologists, it is the diseases the pigs carry that concern them the most.

"They can carry up to 30 different diseases and up to 37 different parasites that can affect people, pets, livestock, and wildlife," Hicks said.

For that reason, feral hogs are allowed to be hunted year-round in Ohio, Ludlow reported.

"So when you're in here trying to find this elusive animal, and you've got to look for it at nighttime and you've got to look for it in this rugged terrain and you've got to look for it in this dense vegetation, it's very difficult," Hicks said.

The hogs are experts at navigating steep hillsides, deep ravines, and heavy underbrush.

U.S.D.A. officials sometimes set up bait station, with soured corn and a scent that is used to lure hogs out of the woods.

Then they will set a trap for the hogs, to humanely euthanize the animals, and test them for diseases.

The meat is donated to needy families, Ludlow reported.

"It's a needle in a haystack in here, and there are plenty of needles, but trying to find them is very difficult," Hicks said.

The U.S.D.A. will work with landowners and farmers to capture the hogs.

Watch 10TV News HD and refresh 10TV.com for additional information.

More Information:

•USDA Wildlife Services
•Ohio Department of Natural Resources

 

[Flintknapper]

Ohio wildlife officials and biologists need to consult with those from Texas, Florida and Georgia.

I have no doubt.....the personnel in Ohio are competent....but hogs are a "whole 'nother critter" and efforts to control them in Ohio is in it's infancy.

If the problem is not corrected quickly, Ohio will have a PERMANENT feral hog population (not a good thing).

The situation must be taken with all seriousness and every resource used.

There isn't time for Wildlife Biologists to go through a "learning curve".

The hogs will establish themselves before Wildlife Officials learn all the tricks of the trade.

I hope they will contact other States and seek advice.

 

[fields]

truck

Was that a Ford truck? Did you buy it new?

richard