Hog Hunting

[PaulTX]

I may have the opportunity to go wild hog hunting in the near future. I don't think we'll have any dogs. Any tips on hunting these would be appreciated.

[DorGunR]

PaulTX,
I have not been hog hunting in over 30 years but I strongly suggest that along with your long gun you also carry a large caliber hand gun.
It's hard to climb a tree while carrying a long gun and if a hog trees you without a hand gun you just might get stuck up there all night. ;)

Happy hog hunting. :)

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"Lead, follow or get the HELL out of the way."

[Art Eatman]

You need Rob to tell you about his killing a hog with a knife. The story is in the TFL archives, I think...

Art

[PaulTX]

I'm going to be carrying a Marlin 1894P - it's almost as handy as a pistol! I don't have a .357 or .44 mag pistol, so I was thinking about carrying my 9mm - not a first choice, but should have some pentatration.


[This message has been edited by PaulTX (edited August 24, 2000).]

[HukeOKC]

PaulTX, just make sure Rob tells you about it and you don't decide to try it yourself. A boar can rip you to shreds with his tusks and if you see one coming at you, DON'T TRY TO SHOOT IT! Just run up a tree and get out of it's way.

I used to hog hunt down in the swamps of NE Texas. It is a real adrenaline rush to be on the ground about 15 yards from a Boar rooting around in the mud. If you go to www.bowhunting.net (http://www.bowhunting.net) they have good hog hunting stories on there right now.

Look for trees with mud scrapes on the side which will be real close to a wallowing hole. They love that. And a boar will clean his tusks on a tree too. That's where you will get a good idea of the damage they can do.

[HukeOKC]

I would think again about the 9mm. We used to hunt them with a 30/30, 00 buck, or shotgun with slugs. Those wild pigs are pretty tough and a 9mm may not have the kind of knock-down you are looking for. I've seen em take a shot of 00 buck and still not ever find them. No blood trail, nothing.

[This message has been edited by HukeOKC (edited August 24, 2000).]

[PaulTX]

HukeOKC,
Thanks for the information. I was just going to take the 9mm as backup only, loaded with hardball. The primary weapon will be an 1894P Marlin, 44 mag, and will probably have some 305 gr. Cor-Bon pentatrators. In the Marlin that should give me somewhere around 1,700 fpe at the muzzle.

I've never been around the hogs in the wild - I've read enough to give them a great deal of respect! What if there is no tree to climb?

[Art Eatman]

PaulTX: Repeat after me, "Our Father..."

For some, raw terror can focus one's attention to a fantastic degree! Just remember to shoot, not merely crank unfired rounds through the rifle. That does no good whatsoever.

Always work the wind, and move slowly and even more quietly than you think you can. Walk softly a little ways and wait. Repeat until something good happens.

Mid-day, they lay up in thickets, but where they can get some breeze. Not mutually exclusive. Evenings, they'll move to water. If you sit and wait, consider the wind...

FWIW, Art

[HukeOKC]

PaulTX, Good deal on the 9mm. I actually never carried a back-up but that was because I didn't own a good handgun at the time. I would certainly do so now though.

Art is rigth on the "no tree" deal. LMAO. You will probly trip over yourself if you try to run but you won't find many hogs in a no tree area anyways. They like to keep cool and not be out in the blistering sun. So you should have plenty or trees around you. I got winded by a boar when I was about 20 yards away and he just snorted and ran the other way full steam ahead. He hit the river so hard I thought he had knocked a tree down. Hog hunting is fun though that is for sure and the meat is so lean it's truly worth it. My step-dad told me that the Boar meat down in our area was so nasty that there was no need to take them. We just hunted for sows. I have heard of lots of hunters taking boars though so it may have just been in my area. I don't know. You probly should ask someone in the area where you will be hunting.

Will you be hunting with dogs or anything. We had a blue tick that we thought was retarded. We tried to work with him but all he wanted to do was tackle you and lick you to death. My step-dad gave him to a hog hunter and he turneed out to be the best hog-dog in the area. He was suddenly worth quite a bit of money and the new owner wouldn't take a penny for him. I was glad for the dog though, When I left he was kept on a chain all the time. My step-dad had no idea what he was doing. :(

[PaulTX]

Unfortunately I don't anticipate we'll have any dogs, it would be a lot of fun to work with them.

I've never had wild hog meat, so it will be a new experience if and when I get one of the suckers in my pot.

Okay Art, I'll make sure there is "kick" in between lever actuations! If my first hog is very close when I see him, I may be shooting my Marlin like those guys do at the cowboy competitions (ie. like a semi-auto).

I just got back from the range where I shot the Marlin 1894P again and chronoed a few more loads. A 44 in a carbine is very impressive! If a hog can stand up to one of these well placed rounds, I don't think I'll get past "Our Father. . "! :-) The recoil on the Marlin is quite pleasant. You know you're shooting something, but you can shoot 20-30 rounds with no soreness at all.

My Granddad used to raise and train birddogs. Unfortunately I came along later in my parent's life and missed out on some mighty fine quail hunting in Arkansas.

Thanks for all the good imput!

[Art Eatman]

I've hunted some in the Appalachicola River bottom swamp country around Blountstown, Florida. Beaucoup hogs, there.

The younger shoats are the prime targets for most folks. These weigh, commonly, no more than 50 pounds. Tender critters. Boars are tough; sows are left to produce more shoats.

If eatin'-meat is your first concern, I'd suggest keeping an eye out for the young ones.

FWIW, I saw a photo from a South Texas ranch, of a sow which weighed 549 pounds. Now, that's by-golly big! Another of a boar which weighed around 450.

I saw one hog--and never got a shot--up in the Davis Mountains that was easily 30" high at the shoulder. He looked to me to not weigh a full 300 pounds; I'd guess 200 to 250.

Have fun!

Art

[ArmySon]

450 lbs? Geez, that'd be enough meat to feed me all winter!

[Randy Garrett]

Check out Glen Voorhees' huge Argentinian/Russian boar taken with the 45-70 in Argentina a couple years back at http://www.garrettcartridges.com/5.asp

Best regards, Randy Garrett www.garrettcartridges.com (http://www.garrettcartridges.com)

[huntschool]

If you are huntig south Texas or Texas in general below Austin you are shooting Feral hogs.

These ain't no Russians.

Arts comments are correct. If you want met shoot something in the 60-70lb class. (Art: I know 338's can do the job)

They don't take a bunch of killing. We usually ride and find a bunch and then look them over and pick out a "tasty one".

.223-.270 is plenty of gun and don't bother with the extra weight of a side arm.

I take about six or more a year. Wife and I both like the meat.

I really enjoy the way we hunt them. They will come to feeders like your deer do. Be paitent and pick a "tasty one" One shot in the ear or behind the sholder, high, will put pork on the ground.

Good luck

Huntschool
"single shot shooters only shoot once"

[This message has been edited by huntschool (edited August 27, 2000).]

[ArmySon]

I hope I am misreading what you wrote. You do not bait the hogs with feeders do ya? If that's the case, I don't call that hunting. I hope I'm wrong.

[BadMedicine]

I think what he's saying is that the hogs naturally come to the cattle feeders, kinda like deer will naturally visit cattle salt licks.

[Art Eatman]

ArmySon, you can regard hog hunting as a sport, and it can be as difficult and fair-chase as any other type of hunting.

Given how many wild hogs there are running loose, it is equally legitimate to merely harvest one for its meat, regardless of method. Remember, for many farmers and ranchers, they are nothing more than incredibly destructive pests.

They tear up fences, and will kill lambs and kids. (For the city-slickers who've stumbled in here, a kid is a baby goat.) It doesn't take a large bunch to really tear up a cornfield in one or two nights.

Back in the late 1960s and in the 1970s, more than one rancher of the general area around Leakey, Texas, set trip-wire dynamite traps at known hogs' fence-crossings. This was occasionally a bit rough on coyotes and javelinas...

As usual, Art

[BadMedicine]

If anybody happens to have a video of what art was desribing above "hog's fence-croosings" please send it to me, I would pay to see that :eek:

[Art Eatman]

BadMedicine, sheep and goat fence is four-foot high mesh wire, with one or more strands of barbed wire on top. The crossings are underneath, where the hogs have rooted out a little washed-out spot. I have even seen deer use them.

One year on our deer lease, a trapper caught a young four-point in a snare at one of these "crawl-unders". A buddy of mine and I tied the deer's feet, undid him from the snare, tossed him in the back of the truck, and hauled him to camp. "Well, whadja find?", someone asked. "A little buck." "Where is he?" "Right here," I said as I undid the calf-roping-style clove hitch and let the deer leap into the group...Deer camp is fun!

:), Art

[BadMedicine]

Sheep and goat fences I've seen, I was refering to the trip-wire dinomite :)

[LoneStar]

Art,
Now I would definately pay to see that! Thanks, now when I'm sittin in my deerstand this year I just know I'm gonna try and figure out how to get a live one back to camp - we've got a whole pack of jokers, but that would take the cake. :)

Deercamp is Fun!

-L

[BMiracle]

Art, despite what the picture from Texas said (don't know who was trying to pull this one off!) the Texas state record for a feral hog is 375 pounds. If those two hogs that you are referring to were REALLY that big (549 and 450 pounds) and documented in a photo, how come they were never validated as a state record holder? Anyways, if you have ever seen a 375 boar, it is HUGE! The ones I have seen are only around 200 pounds and they will still pucker your arse!

[ckurts]

Hope this doesn't get you riled up, ArmySon, as you seem to have a definite idea of what hunting should be, but lots of meat hunters (like me) down here in Texas shoot game from stands overlooking feeders. I know some folks consider this to be slob hunting, but it makes for good game management and herd thinning. Game is larger and healthier.

Also- you likely wouldn't be able to stand the smell of the meat from that 450 lb hog. I wouldn't shoot one for meat that ran more than 125 lbs. The rule I usually follow is the hog should be no more than knee high at the shoulder. What I do is check out a few prickly pear clusters in my stand area for calibration to knee height. Works for me. I've found a nice little deer gut pile will draw hogs in like a charm, but you need to keep your eyes open for predators.

[ArmySon]

From what you guys stated, it sounds like you have an over-abundance of hogs in your area. If that's the case, there's no quarrel on my part with your hunting methods.

I'm just so used to the stalk, wait, stalk, wait, stalk, wait, shoot around here.

[Art Eatman]

BMiracle, the photos were probably from before folks worried about records. It was in the earliest days of some then-new hog-hunting society; sometime back in the '70s...I saw the photos in an ad in a newsletter-type hog-hunting magazine. The big one certainly looked like it could go well over any 400 pounds; I didn't question the claim to 549. (The odd-ball number just stuck in my mind, mostly because this sow outweighed the boar.)

Bad Medicine: Join the Army, go to Ordnance school--and learn all manner of fun things! :)

Lone Star: Position yourself in a tree stand so that if a deer walks underneath you, you can just jump on him and catch him! Just like calf-roping, but the deer is lighter! :) Oh, er, ah, where's y'all's camp?

Art

[BMiracle]

I can go with that Art. Either way, thems big pigs! Would hate to get one mad!

[HukeOKC]

Just in case you thought that all this about pigs being fierce and destructive was not for real, I found this on that bowhunting site. (Aug 26)

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Today's Hog Hunt
I left to hunt earlier than usual. My neighbor was working in the field and I drove over to say hello. The wild hogs are making him nuts. They are tearing his fences up and his cattle are crossing the river. He has set several electric fences but he has to make repairs to them almost daily. He said several people around here have been seriously injured. One fella started climbing a tree when a big sow charged him. The sow jumped up and bit him on the leg and yanked him down and then cut him to the bone, from his knee to his hip.
I hunted the treestand near where the fight was. Several hog groups came up but they were on the far river bank.[/quote]



[This message has been edited by HukeOKC (edited August 31, 2000).]

[ArmySon]

I'd be in heaven knocking off those hogs. If that was me living in that situation, I'd be very wary if I had kids. Wild hogs are very scarce in this state.

[Calif Hunter]

I certainly could be wrong, and I have been before (!), but I've hunted hogs for years and have never heard of them attacking people unprovoked. Now, this provocation could simply be getting between a sow and her piglets, you've jumped one and you're in its path or you have the audacity to hurt one with projectiles or sharp objects and then fail to get out of the way fast enough if you don't kill it outright. They have very poor eyesight, and when they are trying to get away, they will run over or through anything in their way. Out of a couple dozen hogs, the only one to charge me was a mean old, scarred up boar that I wounded. He started running away from me, but when I hit him the second time, I guess he'd had enough. The third (somewhat rattled) shot killed him.

[HukeOKC]

I would imagine that that sow had to be protecting young. I can't see any other reason to attack a human. If it was a boar then I'd understand a little better but a SOW!!??

[BadMedicine]

You bow hunt for them eh? My dad bowhunts and has shot many deer and plans on getting a moose. I asked him if he's going to go grizzly hunting with his bow(many do.) He said "son, when I shot my grizzly it took 7 shots in the chest from a .338. Next time I go into the woods for one of these fellas, I'll be carrying more than a sharp stick!"

[LoneStar]

Art,
I've often considered the "Rambo" approach to deer hunting, but would prefer to see you do it first :).

Camp is just a few miles outside of Eden, or about 35 miles west of Brady. Ya, know, down there at the end of that caliche (sp?) road, next to the mesquite tree ;). no hogs, but some good deer and turkey, and a bumper crop of racoons - but I'm workin on 'em.

Well, I'm headin out to Uvalde this evening for the Dove Opener tomorrow, and If I were anymore excited I just couldn't stand myself. Man huntin' season takes it's own sweet time gettin here.

Ya'll take care!
-L

[Art Eatman]

Calif Hunter, I imagine you're correct. I think that sort of situation is why some folks think javelina attack...

Art

[OkieGentleman]

I have a friend in Amarillo that goes hunting for hogs down south of Amarillo. He told me the ranchers welcome them with open arms when they find out they are hunting feral hogs. He and some friends went hunting down that way last year and killed about 20. He told me that they used a 4 wheel drive and a rope to pull them up in a line next to the river and left them for the buzzards. I don't remember what caliber he used, but they all carried backup hand guns and nothing less than a .45. He told me you need a heavy bullet with deep penetration to get through the tough shoulder hide of the big ones. He only keeps the meat from the younger pigs as the old boars and sows are tough as a boot and the meat stinks.

[Art Eatman]

1. Let us just be glad that FUD doesn't live in hog country.

2. Somebody invite him on a hog hunt. We need more good stories!!!

:), Art

[Jack M]

Long as you guys are talking hogs, any books/videos on dressing out a feral hog? I used to shoot a few down around Rockport, but everybody there takes them to the processer. My uncle wants me to come down to his place near Victoria and take a few later this year, and the crotchety old coot has already said "you shoot, you clean it" about a million times. So, where do I learn how, so the old guy doesn't give me a ration of s*** for messing up any meat?

[BadMedicine]

Do you have a ban saw? we process alot of meat with one of those, Bone-in. You just chill the meat prety-frim and then cut into steaks, or roast or what-ever.

[Art Eatman]

Jack M, most any game animal is disassembled in pretty much the same manner. The thing with hogs and javelinas is that the hide is tough, and it helps to have more than one very sharp knife.

And if somebody doesn't like how *you* do it, they should be made to feel perfectly welcome to show you how to do it correctly!

:), Art

[rr41mag]

Paul, I have never hog hunted, but I think if I took to the field to hunt something that could wind up hunting me :eek:I would do some serious target shooting. Maybe even trying to hit clay targets rolled across the ground at say 20 yards. The only other recommendation is that you come back from the hunt with a good story.

[PaulTX]

rr41mag,

The thought of being on the receiving end of the deal has crossed my mind! I've been to the range twice with the Marlin 1894P, mainly just working up loads, chronographing, and getting used to the rifle. I'll be working on accuracy now - plus I'm doing research for a scope, something like 1.5x-5x. I hope not to get very close to those piggies until they are ready to be "processed."

A good story to tell friends and the kids would be great - as long as it has a happy ending.

I was reading the other thread about lever actions and there was a comment or two about using a .30-30 instead of a .44 mag for hunting. I could be wrong, but my opinion right now is I'd rather have the .44 out to about 100-150 yards. Those fat, blunt bullets pack a wallop!

[kjm]

Just so the non-Texans know: Feral hogs are a hugely destructive beast in Texas. I attended a meeting of local farmers concerning them. One farmer said he'd lost 40 thousand dollars to them.
There isn't any method of hunting them that is banned as far as I know. You can bait them, spotlight them, dynamite them, snare them, trap them, laser beam them, AT-4 them, bazooka them, machinegun them, electrocute them...
Since we kill them to prevent huge losses on the ranch, we don't like leaving any reproductives around. We kill them all. The big nasty ones we leave lay. The little tasty ones we take to the processor. I think under 60lbs are the best.
We BBQ them, roast them, broil them, fry them, smoke them... :D

[Jarhead_22]

I was told by a game warden that a small herd of hogs can root up an ACRE of crops in a day. They are straight-out varmints here in Texas.

In 1995 I went on a pistol javelina hunt in Arizona. All I had at the time was a Sig P226, so I went out and bought some Hydra-shoks for it. When I got my shot, I put one just behind the shoulder, and the sucker just walked into a cave there in the draw. It took three more shots in the pitch black cave, and being charged twice, before I got my tag on him. Of course, I was hunting with a bunch of other Jarheads and all I got was abuse for having to shoot him four times. "Jeeze, Smitty, why didn't you just roll a grenade in there if you wanted to tear him up like that?"

One caution I would give: watch for that musk gland on the back, up between the shoulders. Don't get it on your clothes or you won't be welcome back in camp, and don't cut it when you're skinning it or the meat will be no good to anyone.

Jarhead

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The gun you surrender will be melted down to form the chains you will wear from then on.

[BadMedicine]

I like the size that you can BBQ whole, and then eat right off the cob :D
But seriously, I know you guys can't leave any in the wild, piggies, or not, but have you ever heard of anyone taking the piggies and penning them and making them domestic again? they may be nasty little suckers, but people raised them before (a few generations ago). what do ya think? I wish we had feral hogs in alaska, from a hunters point of view. I'm not a farmer or I'd probably sing a different tune. Maybe I'll go down there some day and have me a little hunt.

[kjm]

One of the better ideas I've heard of was from my brother-in-law. He's from East Texas, and said that they like to shoot the adults, pen the juveniles, castrate them, cut their tails off, and turn them loose. Later in the year, they have free and tasty pork, and didn't have to do much to raise them.
When you are in a place that has proper facilities, hogs can be raised and there's some small successes at re-domesticating them. Here in Kerrville, there's several people who buy live, wild hogs. Where our ranch is, it isn't a possibility. We just leave 'em lay.

[BadMedicine]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>turn them loose. Later in the year, they have free and tasty pork[/quote]

Yeah, free to them, I bet the farmers in the area love it. "hey jebediah, you mind coming over to shoot a couple of the 20 or so TAILESS PIGS that are rooting up my crop"

[Al Thompson]

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