Im going hog hunting. Have a few questions.

I second J.KSa reply about ammo changing. If you are using FMJ or FMJ HP, it may be a tad better for getting through the shield of the bigger breeder boars.

Shoot 120# and under for the better meat... You might get 5 hogs into the 3 coolers.

Shoot the bigger boars and sows to help the land owner get the most efficient breeders out of the way.

Brent
 
Taking Hogs:

I would shoot the 50-100 lbs porkers as they are extremely tasty and easier to clean and drag out. The larger boars? I would just leave them where they lay (although I have personally never left anything in the woods after shooting it). If I pull the trigger, I am going to eat it in the end.
But I understand the owner wanting to rid himself of the nuisance hogs.
Why doesn't he just have a hog trapper come in and take em out? Of course you would lose the opportunity of being able to hunt them.
 
Why doesn't he just have a hog trapper come in and take em out?
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Hogs are quick learners. A few bigger brood hogs may end up in a trap but for the most part, you trap just the smaller pigs which removes feed competition from the larger ones so they breed more prolific when their offspring are gone.

I trapped to get "trainer" pigs for the dogs when I first started doggin'. After I had decent dogs, I only trapped in places I couldn't regularly run dogs... Never really put a dent in them with traps.

Brent
 
dont shoot the big ones for food they aren't as good and when you shoot a hog you want to eat, try to hit it in the head. If you hit the boiler room and it feels the pain it'll start running and foul the meat up with adrenaline.
 
hog trapper?

Are there "hog trapper" out there? Are they free? Me and my .44 mag services are free to the farmer. Does he dispatch the animal? Trapping an animal and releasing it somewhere else is a useless endeavor. Doesn't solve or help anything.

Trust me, I despise killing something and not having me or someone else eat it. But when you release the damage done, not just by pig's but iguana's, python's, bee's and other translated animals and plants you see that it is a necessary evil.
 
i wouldnt call it a necessary evil. About 20% of the country is currently in the throws of a massive hog invasion. Killing them indiscriminately, every dead hog may save a native species. It's a glorious form of conservation and target practice. Just, the smaller ones are better for eating, they are actually pretty good if you kill the right pig. If you kill a big old pig that aint good for eating, you can refrain from wasting the meat by using it as bait to further conserve the native species. At the rate things are going, we aught to get the army's artillery involved in conservation. It would make some good sense to do that, but its unconstitutional and i can't support it ;) .
 
The one guy that we clear hogs for wants us to leave the hogs where they fall. We got 6 pigs the other night and left them right where they fell. He wants them left there for coyote bait I guess, so we oblidge. There is a problem with pigs around here; we found one area, about three acres, that was completely rooted up and wallered on. We're going out again this weekend and hopefully we will get some more.

On another place that I hunt, they actually brought helicopters in to dispatch hogs. After the 'hunt' they piled them all up and just left them there to rot. If I get a small pig, I will usually take it home with me and make sausage out of it, but when they get bigger they just start to taste like crap.
 
Hog trap

A hog trap is simple and effective. Build pen out of heavy wire livestock panels and t-posts. On one end put two panels together in a V shape pointing into the pen. Bait the trap with corn. Leave the point of the V open for the first few days. Gradually bring the panels closer together until hogs get used to forcing their way in and out. Then bring the panels together to make a V. It's kind of like a huge fish trap. My father and his buddy have killed truck loads of hogs this way. Hogs varied from pigletts to a 350 boar with big tusks.

If the hogs start to figure out how to get out tie the panels in the V with parachute cord leaving enough slack to come in but not enough to get out.

Be careful when dipatching the large boars. All you need is a .22LR but if you miss their brain they will try to run through the panels at you.
 
Since this has turned into an all purpose hog thread, I do have a question. My family and I have recently hunted our 900 acres in central Texas extremely hard, and for the past week we haven't seen any hogs. It may be that they've got some very elusive hiding places but I doubt it because we know the land well. Obviously central Texas has tonnes of hogs, so does anyone know if it's even possible to run them off for any amount of time? They are after all like the 2nd smartest mammal in North America or something, so maybe they did catch on.

edit: Reason I ask is that though I know they're destructive, I enjoy me a good hog hunt, so I'm half ashamed to actually kill them off our land.
 
I live in south central Pennsylvania. If we have hogs, I sure as heck haven't seen any. I watch a lot of hunting and national geo. shows and according to them, these hogs are a heck of a problem!!

Here's what gets me, I go every year to our local outdoors show (eastern sportsmans outdoor show) and notice these outfitters charging 400-$500 for 1 kill!

Let me tell you somethin, If I had a farm or ground that was being overrun and torn up by these hogs, I would love to get to know some good people that would help take care of these things.
From what I understand, I could be wrong, but these animals can produce up to 30 piglets/year??!!

If there's any farmers out there that would like some help, my brother and I help a few locals around here get rid of varmints and crop damage problems. Send me a message, we'll be glad to come out for a week or so.
 
Are there "hog trapper" out there? Are they free? Me and my .44 mag services are free to the farmer. Does he dispatch the animal? Trapping an animal and releasing it somewhere else is a useless endeavor. Doesn't solve or help anything.
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Where I am in north Texas, there are at least two guys in my county that wil trap for free. They are in competition with one another. And no, they don't then release the hogs. They won't go to the trouble and expense of setting up, baiting, checking, harvesting, and maintaining traps, then hassle and expense of transporting, only then to release the hogs. They slaughter them for a profit.
 
To be safe I would get a license, kill all the hogs that you can, they are a very destructive and invasive species here in Texas. you can probably get away with out one if you work for the land owner, but a license is cheaper than a fine or a lawyer.
 
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