Feral hog hunting, best strategy?

[yukonjasper]

Anyone here gone Hog hunting? What can you share about the best approach? Would you recommend arranging a hunt through a guide? What states and regions are best to research? What caliber is minimum for the purpose?

[Jackpine Savage]

I'm in for information.

An Amish neighbor goes to a place in Texas that charges them $250 for a cabin, I think for a week. All the pigs you can shoot. The Amish neighbor got night vision before I did

It seems though that in general it is difficult to find a place to hunt without getting charged an arm and a leg, even though they complain about the hog damage.

[Rip Van Winkle]

I'm in for information.

An Amish neighbor goes to a place in Texas that charges them $250 for a cabin, I think for a week. All the pigs you can shoot. The Amish neighbor got night vision before I did

It seems though that in general it is difficult to find a place to hunt without getting charged an arm and a leg, even though they complain about the hog damage.

Just curious, how long does it take your Amish neighbor to get to Texas in his buggy?

[Ghost]

I'm in for information.

An Amish neighbor goes to a place in Texas that charges them $250 for a cabin, I think for a week. All the pigs you can shoot. The Amish neighbor got night vision before I did

It seems though that in general it is difficult to find a place to hunt without getting charged an arm and a leg, even though they complain about the hog damage.

Just curious, how long does it take your Amish neighbor to get to Texas in his buggy?

I see Amish on planes all the time.

[Rip Van Winkle]

This is the way I want to go hog hunting.

[Rip Van Winkle]

I see Amish on planes all the time.

Interesting.

I wonder how that jives with the whole shunning technology thing?

[crbutler]

The guys I know who have hunted hogs have either gone with the arm and a leg guide services or had friends get them in on their lease.

Mostly in Texas, but one in Florida.

The guided hunts are much higher success rates. The helicopter shoots are supposedly a lot of fun.

The one guy went with an outfitter that provided thermal imaging on AR rifles. They shot a lot, but his bill ended up close to $10k with the per hog kills over a 4 day weekend. His group shot a few hundred pigs.

The guys who go to friends get a pig 3/4 of the time it seems.

The only time I did one was coincident to an exotic hunt.

In Argentina they often go in with dogs and kill the pig with a knife.

The guys who shoot a lot of them often use .223’s, but they head shoot them and tend not to worry about losing a few as they are vermin. They have a thick hard gristle plate, and while most are sub 100#, they do shoot the occasional 3-400 pound big one, and we have all seen the “hogzilla” photos. Mine I shot with the .30-06 I was using for other game.

If you are good enough to hit them right, .223 on up work.

If you don’t want to worry, anything bigger than a 6mm/.243 with decent penetrating hunting bullets will work. Lots of guys get short brush carbines for them in .30-30 or big bores. If I was going on a dedicated hog shoot, I’d probably take a .308 AR and whatever short range thumper I felt like bringing.

[Jackpine Savage]

I'm in for information.

An Amish neighbor goes to a place in Texas that charges them $250 for a cabin, I think for a week. All the pigs you can shoot. The Amish neighbor got night vision before I did

It seems though that in general it is difficult to find a place to hunt without getting charged an arm and a leg, even though they complain about the hog damage.

Just curious, how long does it take your Amish neighbor to get to Texas in his buggy?

Ha, they hire a driver. Driving the Amish around provides several full time jobs around here.

[warrlac]

Anyone here gone Hog hunting? What can you share about the best approach? Would you recommend arranging a hunt through a guide? What states and regions are best to research? What caliber is minimum for the purpose?

Hi -- I've hunted hogs in Texas twice in the last 11 months. Texas trespass laws are harsh and unforgiving, so for this reason alone I recommend using an outfitter. If you are interested I can PM you the names of the companies that I've used.

To maximize your chances of killing hogs I recommend putting a thermal scope on your rifle. Hogs are smart and hunting over a feeder with green LED lights may get you a single chance at killing a hog. Once you shoot, they are NOT coming back anytime soon. A thermal scope lets you stalk and kill hogs in total darkness. They have poor eyesight but very good smell and pretty good hearing. You can set-up on the edge of a field that they are known to be using and then sneak them or just shoot from your stand... Here are a few photos...

[Ghost]

Thermal, night vision and IR lasers are game changers.

[wasfuzz]

I see Amish on planes all the time.

Interesting.

I wonder how that jives with the whole shunning technology thing?

They can ride in them - just not own them. My Brother in law lives in NW WI near many Amish, he drives them all over the USA so they can attend weddings, funerals, trade shows, etc. Some now even have phones - just not in the house, they build a little outhouse looking thing and put the phone in there. Many own tractors, just not with rubber tires - has to have steel wheels. Can you imagine the smeel stuck on a plane with them - the only thing they really shun seems to be soap and water!
Sorry OP for the Post Hijack!

[Rip Van Winkle]

I see Amish on planes all the time.

Interesting.

I wonder how that jives with the whole shunning technology thing?

They can ride in them - just not own them. My Brother in law lives in NW WI near many Amish, he drives them all over the USA so they can attend weddings, funerals, trade shows, etc. Some now even have phones - just not in the house, they build a little outhouse looking thing and put the phone in there. Many own tractors, just not with rubber tires - has to have steel wheels. Can you imagine the smeel stuck on a plane with them - the only thing they really shun seems to be soap and water!
Sorry OP for the Post Hijack!

I didn't know that. Thanks for enlightening me.

[OldmanFCSA]

Back to Topic:

Farmers trying to get rid of Feral Hogs have no qualms about using Tannerite buckets near a food source. Large amounts is required to achieve a large result.

Ethical hunting - NO, but will reduce crop damages and other hogs will clean up the carnage.

[hard h2o]

I'm in for information.

An Amish neighbor goes to a place in Texas that charges them $250 for a cabin, I think for a week. All the pigs you can shoot. The Amish neighbor got night vision before I did

It seems though that in general it is difficult to find a place to hunt without getting charged an arm and a leg, even though they complain about the hog damage.

They complain about damage due to the hogs but a lot of those hogs are not truly wild. Many of those places play fast and loose. Those hogs just might be domestic hogs bought and released just so someone can pay to shoot them.

[crbutler]

Back to Topic:

Farmers trying to get rid of Feral Hogs have no qualms about using Tannerite buckets near a food source. Large amounts is required to achieve a large result.

Ethical hunting - NO, but will reduce crop damages and other hogs will clean up the carnage.

With all respect, that’s nonsense.

Firstly, high explosives alone aren’t particularly effective killers- you need to get some sort of projectiles- and that is bomb making- and going to damage the crops too, as well as possibly kill people.

Secondly, baiting the area (whether to draw them into the kill zone or leaving the carcasses for other pigs to feed on defeats the purpose. Using Tannerite in this method is entertainment, and when you think of it that way, it’s pretty sick, given that you wound a bunch more than you kill.

If the farmers want the pigs off, there are two methods that work best. Trapping (most do live trapping so you can harvest the hogs) or poison. Poison is by far the most effective, but the bykill tends to cause problems, so it’s mostly illegal also.

Shooting can control them to an extent, but really what the money is about is compensation for hog damage... and talking to Texas ranchers, the damage from letting every Tom, Dick, and Harry on to shoot pigs is often worse than the pigs themselves. A motivated, ethical, responsible Hunter isn’t the problem, but most folks are not, if it isn’t their land. The rancher doesn’t know you, and the numbers you would have to let on to get control is substantial , so you have automatically ensured a number of slobs are on if you do that.

I also dislike the fact that they want that much money, but it is what it is.