Stony
Member
Gonna make a two tone out of it eventually if the rains hold off long enough.
Not again.......! Feral Hog Control in East Texas
- Thread starter Flintknapper
- Start date
Ibmikey
Member
What would really set your pick up above the masses would be a boar's skull mounted on front of the hood to show your great hunting skills. Maybe couple of redneck stickers also! 
Stony
Member
Ya think ????
Ole Joe Clark
Member
Now...... that's funny. 
Ibmikey
Member
Well ya finally made the grade.....now I am going to send yo a genuine embroridered Texas flag and a clothes pin for your nose because in 100 degrees that boy is gonna stink!!! Actually I would have mounted a BARE skull but what do I know we do not even have feral hogs in Washington that do not wear parkas year around.
Mikey:banghead:
Mikey:banghead:
OP
OP
Flintknapper
Member
Beastly hot today!
Just under 100° here today...and ridiculous humidity. Severe heat index warnings being broadcast.
My older Brother was here visiting and I told him I had a Boar coming into one of the feeders pretty regularly. We debated going....because it is just so blasted HOT, but figured we could handle 2-3 hours on stand before completely melting down.
Sunset here today would not be until 8:15 p.m. and the Boar had come in at 8:30 the night before, so we figured to be 'on stand' at 7:00 p.m.
We knew it would be a hot 1/4 mile walk to the stand....so I put some wet dish towels in the refrigerator an hour before we left, so we could wrap them around our necks for the walk in.
Neither of us sweated during the walk to the stand, but I didn't think to OPEN the stand earlier in the day to let it air out. It is heavily insulated and the insulation was doing an excellent job.
It was probably 115° inside the box stand. We opened the windows and left the door at the rear open, but there was NO breeze to help dissipate the hot air inside.
We were both dripping wet with sweat within minutes of entering the structure.
The efforts we made to reduce our scent (shower before leaving the house, walk slowly to stand with cool towels around our necks) was all for not!
I wasn't sure I would make it the remaining hour of daylight....before the cooling temps of sunset could give us some relief.
We had been on stand perhaps 10 minutes, briefly discussed what the plan of action would be if the Hog showed up from the road to the East, when my Brother says "There he is right there"!
I looked up and the hog is standing about 6' away from the feeder. There is heavy brush around the bait site....but we can usually see the hogs coming. He just appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
The other thing that caught me off-guard...was that he showed up a full hour before I thought we'd see any movement at all.
Not wanting this opportunity to fall apart for any reason, I urged by Brother to go ahead and take the shot presented (Hog was broadside, 100 yds. with 1/2 of his body exposed).
Just as the shot broke, the Boar took a step forward and the resulting hit was tight behind the shoulder instead of right in the middle of it. The Boar whirled on his back trail and started running. He popped out of the brush and onto an old logging road heading straight away from us. Now at about 140 yds. (and getting farther away fast), I told my Brother to shoot again.
He had already racked another round in the chamber and has made this kind of shot before (aim for the base of the tail to break the animal down), but somehow shot just a bit over the top of the hog. Dust flew up in the road just ahead of the Boar...causing it to veer left into the brush.
As it turns out it had not gone very far. We quickly found it about 15 yds. into the brush. No exit hole in the pig, but the 6.5 creedmoor did take it down. We found only one small spot of blood on the trail the pig had taken. It might have been a difficult trailing job had it been dark. I knew the pig was hit hard by the way it was running and knew we would find it within a hundred yards or so, but the vegetation around here can be nasty. Lots of greenbrier, blackberry, honey locust, etc...
In the end....we didn't have to wait very long for the hog to show up, that was a blessing. But I think I'm going to wait until the end of September before going on any more evening hunts.
One less pig.
Just under 100° here today...and ridiculous humidity. Severe heat index warnings being broadcast.
My older Brother was here visiting and I told him I had a Boar coming into one of the feeders pretty regularly. We debated going....because it is just so blasted HOT, but figured we could handle 2-3 hours on stand before completely melting down.
Sunset here today would not be until 8:15 p.m. and the Boar had come in at 8:30 the night before, so we figured to be 'on stand' at 7:00 p.m.
We knew it would be a hot 1/4 mile walk to the stand....so I put some wet dish towels in the refrigerator an hour before we left, so we could wrap them around our necks for the walk in.
Neither of us sweated during the walk to the stand, but I didn't think to OPEN the stand earlier in the day to let it air out. It is heavily insulated and the insulation was doing an excellent job.
It was probably 115° inside the box stand. We opened the windows and left the door at the rear open, but there was NO breeze to help dissipate the hot air inside.
We were both dripping wet with sweat within minutes of entering the structure.
The efforts we made to reduce our scent (shower before leaving the house, walk slowly to stand with cool towels around our necks) was all for not!
I wasn't sure I would make it the remaining hour of daylight....before the cooling temps of sunset could give us some relief.
We had been on stand perhaps 10 minutes, briefly discussed what the plan of action would be if the Hog showed up from the road to the East, when my Brother says "There he is right there"!
I looked up and the hog is standing about 6' away from the feeder. There is heavy brush around the bait site....but we can usually see the hogs coming. He just appeared seemingly out of nowhere.
The other thing that caught me off-guard...was that he showed up a full hour before I thought we'd see any movement at all.
Not wanting this opportunity to fall apart for any reason, I urged by Brother to go ahead and take the shot presented (Hog was broadside, 100 yds. with 1/2 of his body exposed).
Just as the shot broke, the Boar took a step forward and the resulting hit was tight behind the shoulder instead of right in the middle of it. The Boar whirled on his back trail and started running. He popped out of the brush and onto an old logging road heading straight away from us. Now at about 140 yds. (and getting farther away fast), I told my Brother to shoot again.
He had already racked another round in the chamber and has made this kind of shot before (aim for the base of the tail to break the animal down), but somehow shot just a bit over the top of the hog. Dust flew up in the road just ahead of the Boar...causing it to veer left into the brush.
As it turns out it had not gone very far. We quickly found it about 15 yds. into the brush. No exit hole in the pig, but the 6.5 creedmoor did take it down. We found only one small spot of blood on the trail the pig had taken. It might have been a difficult trailing job had it been dark. I knew the pig was hit hard by the way it was running and knew we would find it within a hundred yards or so, but the vegetation around here can be nasty. Lots of greenbrier, blackberry, honey locust, etc...
In the end....we didn't have to wait very long for the hog to show up, that was a blessing. But I think I'm going to wait until the end of September before going on any more evening hunts.
One less pig.
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Stony
Member
Good job!! I can really relate to your whole situation, we are really feeling the heat as well. I have a couple boars showing up at one feeder, but I am waiting for a little heat relief before I go after them.
Those Creedmores sure seem like the ticket for hogs from what I have seen so far...I really like them.
Our heat index was 105 yesterday.....not a good time for an old guy to go out and sit in a hot box. Our hogs aren't moving much at all right now and I don't blame them.
Those Creedmores sure seem like the ticket for hogs from what I have seen so far...I really like them.
Our heat index was 105 yesterday.....not a good time for an old guy to go out and sit in a hot box. Our hogs aren't moving much at all right now and I don't blame them.
OP
OP
Flintknapper
Member
Coyotes and Buzzards made short work of the 'recycling' process of the Boar my Brother dispatched.
Thought I'd go check and see what was left. After only 48 hrs...the only things I could find were the Skull and Mandible, one shoulder blade, one hoof and bunch of hair on the ground.
Otherwise...you'd never know we put a 200+ lb. pig out in the pasture.
It always amazes me how quickly they consume/clean up the carcass.
Saved the Skull for my Brother. It will need to 'bleach out' in the Sun for awhile.
Thought I'd go check and see what was left. After only 48 hrs...the only things I could find were the Skull and Mandible, one shoulder blade, one hoof and bunch of hair on the ground.
Otherwise...you'd never know we put a 200+ lb. pig out in the pasture.
It always amazes me how quickly they consume/clean up the carcass.
Saved the Skull for my Brother. It will need to 'bleach out' in the Sun for awhile.
OP
OP
Flintknapper
Member
^^^^^^^ Exactly how I picked them up out of the pasture, haven't done a thing to them. They still have sort of a 'greasy' feel to them and a not so pleasant odor.
It is typical to find the bones stripped to that degree (where I live). Everything from Coyotes to Buzzards to Crows, Fox and Insects....get a turn at it.
The bones might be scattered over a 50 yd. radius.
It is typical to find the bones stripped to that degree (where I live). Everything from Coyotes to Buzzards to Crows, Fox and Insects....get a turn at it.
The bones might be scattered over a 50 yd. radius.
iceman7668
Member
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2013
- Messages
- 17
That's amazing, up here in Indiana that would be 5-6 months or better.
Resist Evil
Member
That's amazing!
OP
OP
Flintknapper
Member
I guess I'm on the other end of the 'amazement' spectrum.
In my area of Texas....a carcass will be cleaned up in a matter of days (sometimes hours). I can't fathom something taking 'months' to be consumed, but that is the diversity in scavenger participation...one locale to another I suppose.
In my location....I am not exaggerating to say that 50-60 Buzzards (easily), will descend on a carcass and strip it within two days.
If the carcass is put out late in the day (or at night), then Coyotes/Fox/Possum will take a good portion of the entrails and the easily accessible meat (Hams, Shoulders, Neck).
But the majority of the carcass is stripped by the scavenger birds. The Coyotes then come back and carry off the bones and certain parts of the hide.
When watching hunting shows on TV....I am always amazed that in some parts of the country... hunters will elect not to trail an animal (usually deer) that they suspect was poorly hit...until sometime the next day.
I can guarantee you....you'll not find an 'intact' deer the next day in Deep East Texas. Coyotes will have have found it....just about every time. Same thing is true in South Texas.
Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
Yeah, right now, I am having whole hogs disappear inside of two days with maybe a couple of random bones left behind, fur, and a grease spot.
Flint, what you described above, are the initial stages of "taphonomy" or the transition of the skeletal material biosphere to the lithosphere (term coined by I.A. Efremov in 1940). So everything that happens to the remains after the animal dies is taphonomy including the disarticulation, damage or destruction (gnawed, broken, consumed, etc.), dispersal, and eventual degradation/deterioration or preservation/fossilization.
http://www.academia.dk/BiologiskAntropologi/Tafonomi/Efremov_1940.php
(The article looks like J. A. Efremov but his first name is Ivan)
Flint, what you described above, are the initial stages of "taphonomy" or the transition of the skeletal material biosphere to the lithosphere (term coined by I.A. Efremov in 1940). So everything that happens to the remains after the animal dies is taphonomy including the disarticulation, damage or destruction (gnawed, broken, consumed, etc.), dispersal, and eventual degradation/deterioration or preservation/fossilization.
http://www.academia.dk/BiologiskAntropologi/Tafonomi/Efremov_1940.php
(The article looks like J. A. Efremov but his first name is Ivan)
hey, I did not weigh this guy when I shot him last December. Don't have a scale that large ;-) Any guesses on weight?
https://1drv.ms/i/s!AsOC3YKqu76-g9EhpMWPS9iOjvTs_Q
The dogs around him were in the 75-95 pound range. They were along for the ride and did not help with finding that brute.
https://1drv.ms/i/s!AsOC3YKqu76-g9EhpMWPS9iOjvTs_Q
The dogs around him were in the 75-95 pound range. They were along for the ride and did not help with finding that brute.
Stony
Member
I generally leave carcasses in one particular area as it helps me from having so many buzzards around a lake area where they can sure make a mess. Most of the hogs I dump there are gone the first night....but occasionally one of the really big ones can make it two nights. You can find bones scattered in a large area around the dumping spot. Normally you will just find a bald spot on the ground with some occasional corn from the stomach left there.
der Teufel
Member
Indeed! We cut off the leg quarters and backstraps, and dump the rest. Typically the next morning will see 20+ buzzards working the carcass, with easily another 100 sitting in the trees or circling overhead waiting their turn.
Not many hog carcasses last more than two days. Usually we'll find a few pieces of the rib cage, some vertebrae, a hoof or two, and that's all. Once it's broken down into pieces, the coyotes haul the remnants into the brush.
Stony
Member
Lunch
My war dept. decided we needed some pork backstrap for lunch. She wrapped some up with bacon, put it in the oven and basted it with apple juice, spicy mustard, brown sugar and a little cinnamon. Served over rice it's absolutely yummy.
My war dept. decided we needed some pork backstrap for lunch. She wrapped some up with bacon, put it in the oven and basted it with apple juice, spicy mustard, brown sugar and a little cinnamon. Served over rice it's absolutely yummy.
Ole Joe Clark
Member
Stony,
That is a good looking dish. What time did you say supper was?
I thought you guys had given up posting about hogs, but I still check every day.
Have a blessed evening,
Leon
That is a good looking dish. What time did you say supper was?
I thought you guys had given up posting about hogs, but I still check every day.
Have a blessed evening,
Leon
Stony
Member
Ole Joe,
Still after the hogs on a regular basis, but they haven't been cooperating much lately. I have been seeing a little more activity around the traps and feeders the past few days, but I think the hot weather we were having has kept them deep in the woods and river bottoms more than usual. About all I see around lately on the cameras are old boars wandering one at a time. I did spend some time in a stand a few nights ago and punched a hole in a pretty good sized boar at close to 1 am, but those nights sure take a toll on my old body.
With any luck, there should be something waiting in a trap this morning as they were in one yesterday, but the door hung up and didn't drop.
Still after the hogs on a regular basis, but they haven't been cooperating much lately. I have been seeing a little more activity around the traps and feeders the past few days, but I think the hot weather we were having has kept them deep in the woods and river bottoms more than usual. About all I see around lately on the cameras are old boars wandering one at a time. I did spend some time in a stand a few nights ago and punched a hole in a pretty good sized boar at close to 1 am, but those nights sure take a toll on my old body.
With any luck, there should be something waiting in a trap this morning as they were in one yesterday, but the door hung up and didn't drop.
Ole Joe Clark
Member
If it is as hot in Texas as it has been in Alabama, it's just about to hot for anything outside. I know about the toll on the body, I'm about to turn 73, and I can't do, or want to do a lot of the things I used to do.
Have a blessed day,
Leon
Have a blessed day,
Leon
JGarduna
Member
Longtime Lurker 1st time poster
My story is long and I hope not to boar you [pun intended]….
I live in a subdivision just outside of San Antonio TX [7th largest city in the US (who knew?!)]
I’m 52 and have been an avid hunter my whole adult life.
By avid, I mean I would pay for dove hunts most every year and hope that someone would allow me to deer hunt with them, which wasn’t that often but was grateful every chance I got.
My son is now 23 and he caught the hunting fever too and we always hunt together.
If one of us gets invited we always ask if the other can go too.
I’ve always dreamt of owning some land that we could hunt on but things never worked out, until this year. We bought a small 10 acre plot of land off a 177 acre plot in Atascosa County about one hour and 15 min from my house. Our land is right in the middle of miles of Corn and Milo fields.
It is a ¼ mile long and only a few 100 yards wide but I have no neighbors on any side of me.
It is filled with mesquite trees and grass and my heart is filled with pride every time I think of our little slice of Texas. To all of you that own 100’s of acres of land this little spec of land may not seem like much but to me is a gift from God that our family will cherish for years.
We paid cash, only $60k and I have the title in my gun safe.
We bought it in the beginning of July and went straight to work getting the land ready to safely hunt.
I bought the biggest zero turn riding mower I could afford 52”, a 14 foot trailer, 4 seater lifted golf cart to get around the property and one 14 foot deer feeder.
We cut a road along one side and then cut a road diagonally about 200 yards and set the feed at the far end. Mind you, this was right in the middle of a Texas summer. No rain but humid as all get out and temperatures pushing 100F every day.
After reading Flintnappers’ stories and seeing his pictures I knew we needed a game cam.
We attached one on a tree right next to the feeder but didn’t think to clear the field of view and a small bush would set it off with every slight breeze that would blow through. (In 1 week we had 2048 picts, mostly of that dumb brush, but there was some game picts too)
Anyway, in one pict we caught what we called “Hogzilla”.
It was the biggest pig I had ever seen, not that I’ve seen a lot before, really I haven’t but this one seemed very large to us newbies.
[Notice size in relation to a 5 Gal bucket]
[continued]
My story is long and I hope not to boar you [pun intended]….
I live in a subdivision just outside of San Antonio TX [7th largest city in the US (who knew?!)]
I’m 52 and have been an avid hunter my whole adult life.
By avid, I mean I would pay for dove hunts most every year and hope that someone would allow me to deer hunt with them, which wasn’t that often but was grateful every chance I got.
My son is now 23 and he caught the hunting fever too and we always hunt together.
If one of us gets invited we always ask if the other can go too.
I’ve always dreamt of owning some land that we could hunt on but things never worked out, until this year. We bought a small 10 acre plot of land off a 177 acre plot in Atascosa County about one hour and 15 min from my house. Our land is right in the middle of miles of Corn and Milo fields.
It is a ¼ mile long and only a few 100 yards wide but I have no neighbors on any side of me.
It is filled with mesquite trees and grass and my heart is filled with pride every time I think of our little slice of Texas. To all of you that own 100’s of acres of land this little spec of land may not seem like much but to me is a gift from God that our family will cherish for years.
We paid cash, only $60k and I have the title in my gun safe.
We bought it in the beginning of July and went straight to work getting the land ready to safely hunt.
I bought the biggest zero turn riding mower I could afford 52”, a 14 foot trailer, 4 seater lifted golf cart to get around the property and one 14 foot deer feeder.
We cut a road along one side and then cut a road diagonally about 200 yards and set the feed at the far end. Mind you, this was right in the middle of a Texas summer. No rain but humid as all get out and temperatures pushing 100F every day.
After reading Flintnappers’ stories and seeing his pictures I knew we needed a game cam.
We attached one on a tree right next to the feeder but didn’t think to clear the field of view and a small bush would set it off with every slight breeze that would blow through. (In 1 week we had 2048 picts, mostly of that dumb brush, but there was some game picts too)
Anyway, in one pict we caught what we called “Hogzilla”.
It was the biggest pig I had ever seen, not that I’ve seen a lot before, really I haven’t but this one seemed very large to us newbies.
[Notice size in relation to a 5 Gal bucket]
[continued]
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JGarduna
Member
Longtime Lurker 1st time poster [Cont]
We saw tracks of all manner but we weren’t sure how old they were or even what they were. [I learned from this thread how to tell the difference between hog and deer tracks]
Our cam caught Pigs, Deer, Rabbits and Coyotes. We were so excited and blessed that the land that we purchased wasn’t a barren waste of good money.
We have been going out there every weekend and spending time clearing and making sure the feeder was operating well. [Had lots of problems with the digital timer but got it all worked out]
I went out last Wednesday pulled the latest pictures from the cam and picked a good spot to setup our blind. The hogs seem to have driven off the deer. And I really only see one buck who comes in every morning.
[Continue]
We saw tracks of all manner but we weren’t sure how old they were or even what they were. [I learned from this thread how to tell the difference between hog and deer tracks
]Our cam caught Pigs, Deer, Rabbits and Coyotes. We were so excited and blessed that the land that we purchased wasn’t a barren waste of good money.
We have been going out there every weekend and spending time clearing and making sure the feeder was operating well. [Had lots of problems with the digital timer but got it all worked out]
I went out last Wednesday pulled the latest pictures from the cam and picked a good spot to setup our blind. The hogs seem to have driven off the deer. And I really only see one buck who comes in every morning.
[Continue]
