So after no pigs for 5 years on our property, we checked one of our cameras last night and counted 15+ pigs in a plot. I’ve heard they can really tear shit up and I have no experience in dealing with them. I’ll be damned if they tear up the land we just bush-hogged and planted. Too much time and money.
How have you dealt with them?
Traps?
AR-15 time?
I know in Mississippi which is where I’m located, you can hunt them at night.
Really wish I had a NOD and a suppressor right about now.
Sounds like a good opportunity to test the terminal ballistics of 223/5.56.
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Yea, that was my initial thought. I guess I’m more interested in successful tactics like what time of day, calls, bait, long range shooting, up close ect…
I wish I could say I have a lot of experience with piggys, but I don’t. I’ve been trying to find a place to use my 6.8 in MO for months, but to no avail.
I do know you need to check with your local dept of wildlife if you haven’t already. I live in KS and they are illegal to shoot, but right across the border in MO it is “shoot on sight” with no hunting license required. Weird.
There is a lot of information on hog hunting on the 6.8 forums, you might want to check that out.
Best of luck getting rid of them.
They’re fun to hunt, but they do a lot of damage to land/crops. Your best bet is a combination of hunting them and trapping them. It seems like they go nocturnal once you start shooting at them. You can always put lights on your feeders to shoot them in the night - although night vision makes things easier… and fun!
If you’re looking to recover the hogs for meat, then I’d recommend the 62gr or 70gr Barnes TSX (.223/5.56 AR). They aren’t cheap, but they’ll stop them in their tracks. The Winchester 64gr PP is a good alternative… at a lower price.
Lookout because they reproduce really fast!
Even though the picture was taken at night, I got this one on 10/14/11 at around 6:00pm, sun was just starting to go down, shot it with 55gr FMJ at about 50 Yards he jumped a little and ran for about 30 yards and then dropped. This is in Texas also, so temp was about 80ish.
Before I shot this one, I counted about 14 others including about 4 hoglets. Only reason I even heard this group was because two big males were fighting in some heavy growth and the rest started moving.
If you know a location about where they are bedding down at, I would say to put up a tripod feeder and put some corn in it, and then underneath it put some smelly food product to attract them to that feeder. If you can set up a camera facing the feeder that would help to learn the times they go to it. Then just set up with some friends an hour or so before they come and wait for them to come up.
If you can, take out the sow’s first, helps to keep them from reproducing.
Makes me really want a suppressor and some night vision equipment…
If you really want to get rid of them, start trapping.
If you want to have fun, shoot them.
I guess a combo of trapping and shooting with more emphasis on trapping would be best if trapping is the more effective. I’m sure they’re fun to shoot but I really just want them gone asap so we can focus on deer.
About how close can you get to them before they run off? Is it possible to take more than one at a time once the element of surprise is given up? I know deer do that from time to time if they are in a group as they aren’t aware of whats happening. Sometimes you can get two.
Would you recommend a scope over a red dot on the AR?
Hogs are a big problem here in Texas. Many folks have been convinced they need a “hog light” or night vision to be successful hunting at night. I have found a SureFire with a red lens cover is plenty of light for the alignment of my Trijicon front sight bead on my AR. You can also get a red cover for a spotlight so as to nail three or four at a time when working with a partner.
As you mentioned trapping is very effect. It can be somewhat labor intensive after a while, but it works. You can find hog traps at all of the local hardware stores, that’s how prevalent the problem is here. Happy hunting!
one of the greatest hunts in america is feral hog hunting with a revolver.
FWIW:
If you want thin them out , the following is based on 6 years in Central Europe , 4 of them with NATO resident Bavarian or Hessian hunting licenes and a couple or 3 Belgian nonresident permits.
Shoot the females , leave the males alone . It’s a lot easier to post than it is to do . The ideal within the German system is based on thinning out the young females very hard and leaving the males alone until they are harvest ripe . Within that system the ideal top tier trophy boar is a very big animal with large tusks just past his prime. The ideal conservation trophy would be an old , over ripe boar , buck ram , or stag that is well past his prime , has eluded hunters for a season or two ( or more ) and is likely to go to waste if not taken down . It’s a completely different mindset than ours but it works well for them.
Germany has a lot of pigs , significant but limited property & enviornmental damage and historically , the hunting rocked. Obviously the US wild pig situation is completely different.
The temptation is too shoot every pig you see . IMO that will never work . The hogs get smart too fast and they can multiple faster than they can be killed indiscriminately . Besides , the sows are better groceries . Dead pigs make great hog bait , but just leaving dead pigs laying around unattended ( not covered by fire periodically ) is completely self defeating . More high grade food equals faster multiplying . Hogs move around a lot , which makes controling them even tougher. Pigs in the US are likely to be a significant PITA for a long time.
FWIW and good luck.
Trapping is the best way to decimate the population as fast as possible. A buddy in South Ark/North Texas built a 20’ x 8’ trap out of an old low goose neck trailer. He welded angle iron about every 4 feet and put heavy fencing on the sides and top. He put a door at the back on a hinge that closed to a 45 degree angle. So a piggy push in but not get out. He left it out and over a week trapped 16 hogs. On the second night he had 4 hogs in the trap and one walking around trying to get in. From there a 22 mag rifle makes for A LOT of tasty bacon.
Next on the effective list is someone with hog dogs that knows how to work them at night. More fun than trapping and more effective then trying to walk around and find them yourself.
I have zero experience with trapping hogs . , but that sounds good to me. The innards could make good bait in & around the trap.It might be worthwhile to turn a male loose from time to time.
Sounds crazy , but hogs will draw hogs and a live wild decoy that came back to the trap from time to time could be very effective.
It’s not too complicated OP. Just set up some bait, post up, and pop em behind the ear at dusk.
Save your money on the feeder and just dig a hole (post hole) about 3’ deep, put some corn in and a little water. Fermenting corn will draw piggies from afar.
A good scope with a big front end can extend dusk for a surpriseingly long time. Legal shooting for deer species in both Hessia & Bavaria was an hour before sunup and and an hour after sundown. Pigs could legally be shot 24 hours a day . Germans would team up and basically camp out in those treehouse hunting stands all night , especially during a full moon with snow on the ground. A good team could put some pigs on the ground . No snow in your state , but any kind of a light-colored background can make a difference , even if it’s only a couple of minutes. I wouldn’t even try any kind of white light : worse than useless , IMO.
I agree.
If you don’t want to hunt them down, I am sure there are plenty of hunters near you who will love to do it.
The Iraqis have a unique way of killing the few hogs they have- they electrocute them at the watering holes by using generators!
exactly 
Look into a “figure 6” or “9” trap (depending on where you’re standing:p) its made from cattle/hog panels. It allows them get in contenously, but doesnt let them out.
If you dont know, wild hogs are some damn fine eating.
You can usually find someone with dogs that are especially trained to “run” hogs. Internet search would be a good idea. I hunt in Ms myself and have seen the damage hogs do. I use to see alot of deer, but I belive the hogs have moved them out of my area…which is a shame.
Get in touch with BayedSolid depending on where you live, they should be able to point you to an experienced hog dogger in your state. My uncle works for TR, and has some of the best hog dogs there are.
Nothing more exciting than jumping in the fray with a pissed pig, 2 pitbulls, 4 mountain curs and a bowie knife.