August 20, 2018, 09:43 AM | #1 |
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New to hog hunting
So I recently moved to New Mexico and I know there is good hog hunting between this state and Texas. I never hunted hog before, but want to get into it. From the limited research I've done, it sounds like the best time is at night using a night vision optic. Is it any good during the day too? Or should I just start saving up for said optic? What are good entry level night vision optics? Any other tips-&-tricks would be appreciated. Thanks!
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August 20, 2018, 07:21 PM | #2 |
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In general hogs can be had from dusk til dawn, but they aren’t specifically nocturnal (often do though when there’s hunting pressure on them).
Don’t know what you know about them but you’ll need to check out their vital organs locations. A bit different than a deer. |
August 20, 2018, 07:54 PM | #3 |
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For local area information, I'd ask at seed'n'feed stores and gun shops.
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August 20, 2018, 08:36 PM | #4 |
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When talking about night vision, the words "entry level" imply starting at a much higher price point than with ordinary optics. Before investing in any night stuff, be sure to check your local laws.
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August 21, 2018, 05:58 AM | #5 |
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Florida is practically over run with wild hogs. Spanish explorers introduced them more than 200 years ago and they're thriving. I have never shot a wild hog in the morning hours. Typically, my shots are taken between 5PM and dusk. I hunt with a Mossberg 464 in 30-30 fitted with a Simmons scope featuring 2-7X settings. This outfit is TOPS for me!
Jack
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August 21, 2018, 06:29 AM | #6 |
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Jack, I could show you a nice morning hog spot on Duette.
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August 21, 2018, 07:35 AM | #7 |
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I have had very good luck with Sight Mark night scopes. I currently have two of them set up on different rifles. They are very simple to use, work on two AA batteries and hold their zero very well. You can find them under the 600.00 mark.
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August 21, 2018, 08:47 AM | #8 |
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I just checked both New Mexico and Texas and legal shooting hours for both states are the standard 1/2 hr before sunrise and 1/2 hr after sunset. I just see so many videos and discussions on hog hunting at night, it gave me the impression that's the only good time to go. I'm assuming a lot of these night hunts take place on paid trips on private land...
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August 21, 2018, 09:00 AM | #9 | |
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As to only finding hogs at night, every hog I've killed has been in the daylight. However, that being said hogs do tend to be more active at night in some situations. Down here in the south, hot weather is one condition which will turn hogs nocturnal. They simply sleep during the heat of the day and feed at night. |
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August 21, 2018, 10:06 AM | #10 |
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Texas has no rules on hog hunting other than having a license. You can shoot them any time of day/night, use any choice of weapon (even a spear?), use bait, use lights, and with no bag limit. They aren’t considered a game animal.
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August 21, 2018, 10:51 AM | #11 | |
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August 21, 2018, 12:06 PM | #12 |
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You won't get on public land to hunt without first getting a permit from TPWD. With out the permit, it is a no go.
And, I am not aware of any public land that allows hunting after sundown. There are other restrictions, rules and regulations that apply as well. Look them up at the TPWD website. |
August 21, 2018, 06:16 PM | #13 | |
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August 22, 2018, 06:10 AM | #14 |
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Raccoons are the only critters in New Mexico for night hunting and it is limited. If there is a feral hog population in New Mexico it is small and localized, I've been looking.
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August 24, 2018, 10:33 AM | #15 |
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Thanks for the info so far. I'm assuming the camo pattern isn't really a big issue (i.e. any of my hunting outfits that match the area will suffice)?
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August 24, 2018, 12:37 PM | #16 |
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Blue, hogs have very poor eyesight (very near sighted). They can distinguish movement pretty well but you could wear pretty much anything and get away with it if you stay still. It is their noses you have to worry about. I remember one time 2 of us were walking into a hunt area just as it was getting daylight. We spotted a big boar about 250 yds out in the pasture to our right. While we were squatting down debating whether or not to make noise and shoot him then or stay quiet and hope for deer, a very slight breeze changed direction and put us upwind of him. Within seconds, he lifted his nose up towards us and trotted back into the woods. That very slight breeze took our scent 250 yds and it was enough to spook him away.
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August 25, 2018, 09:39 AM | #17 | ||||||
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If you are familiar with hog calling, Glenn Guess is a big name in that area. Glenn really turned me on to the notion that hogs see well. He raises hogs and experiments with them, harvest sounds from them, etc. I have watched hogs run 20-30 mph through the woods at NIGHT after being shot at and NOT run into trees. Try that with a human. The hogs are not smelling the trees to avoid them. There is no indication that they use echolocation either. I am convinced people believe this popular myth because of hog behavior. They feel that if they can approach hogs, that hogs must be blind, otherwise they would run away, right?. However, physical blindness is not the issue. Part of the issue is their low FOV, low eyes and head position relative to higher grass. Part of the issue is behavioral, hogs having little to fear in terms of predators anymore...other than humans and they have to learn that. Another part of the issue is what is called inattentional blindness. Just because something is in the field of view of the animal does not mean it will be noticed so long as the animal's attention is on something specific. It has been studied in humans and there has been some related testing in animals. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/scien...ness-17339778/ The point here is that if you have a hog focused on seeing kernels of corn on the ground, rooting tubers, etc., it is more apt to miss you walking up on it than if it is just walking through a field. It is important to keep in mind that their peripheral vision is not nearly as good as their binocular vision, but that their binocular vision is very good. If you can approach a hog from the back side, its ability to see you will be greatly diminished. Approaching the hog laterally is less ideal, but that this the location from which most hunters like to shoot. Probably the least idea direction to approach from is the front. Quote:
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Being "winded" is the most common claim for getting busted by hogs (and probably for deer) and it has some merit. However, without being able to interview the hog, it is hard to know what caused the hog to leave the area. There are many things in a hog's environment that may spook it other than humans. Numerous times I have hunted with folks, gotten busted, only to have them exclaim that "we must have been winded." Maybe we were, or maybe it was because my partner kept banging his shooting sticks against his rifle when he made his approach, kept talking too loudly, or we moved too fast, etc. Hunters often don't like to admit that their field craft is less than ideal. Better to blame something they can't control and can't comprehend as well as the prey. I have been down wind (and up hill on a ridge top, looking down) of hogs numerous times at night (which is when I hunt) and seen them spook and knew it was not because they winded me and not because anybody else was with 800 yards of the hogs. Sometimes hogs will simply spook for reasons we cannot know and that is just the reality of hunting. Happens with deer as well. I have been upwind of hogs and gotten to within 75-100 yards of them and had them not react to me. Does that mean that they don't have a very good sense of smell? Maybe I use that special clothing, spray, bathwash, laundry soap, ozone machine, and run my breath through a rebreather so no air from my lungs makes it to the atmosphere? Nope and Nope. It just means that they didn't act on the stimulus. Hogs also have very good hearing, but often will not react to audible clues to their near-immediate demise. Other times, they will bolt when the safety is snicked off on the rifle (which I assume is a learned sound). Whether or not hogs react negatively to visual, olfactory, or audible stimuli will often depend on their comfort levels with the area where they are and this can be very situational. I find it MUCH easy to stalk up on a sounder in an open field at night with a couple dozen noses, pairs of eyes, and pairs of ears than I find it is to stalk up on a lone boar usually. A sounder of 24 has much better capabilities than a single individual, but they apparently feel safe in their group and they are not as security conscious. They have a lot of sound going on around them as it is and so noise is less of a factor than it would be with a lone boar. It isn't because boars are better sentinels or have better senses. Boars in sounders are just as easy to approach as the rest of the sounder. Do play the wind when you hunt. Noise discipline is also important. Camo isn't necessary, but the less you stand out visually, the better. That isn't to say that you can't approach hogs downwind of you, making noise, wearing a bright shirt and moving too quickly. I have walked into a clearing where there were hogs at a feeder and was carrying an idling weedeater and made it 25 yards or so before they took off. You can do it, but your chances are not nearly as good as when you control for those factors.
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August 25, 2018, 01:30 PM | #18 | |
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August 25, 2018, 05:10 PM | #19 | |
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In Texas, we have a bunch - noted already In New Mexico, there are a bunch - noted already
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"If you look through your scope and see your shoe, aim higher." -- said to me by my 11 year old daughter before going out for hogs 8/13/2011 My Hunting Videos https://www.youtube.com/user/HornHillRange |
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August 26, 2018, 12:32 PM | #20 | |
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Maybe its an unnatural sound. It's happened to me several times since. |
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