Hog hunting

[EC121]

Hogs go nocturnal pretty fast if any pressure is put on them.  The most productive hunting is at night.  That isn't a good situation for open sights.  If I was going to travel very far to hunt, I would go to a guided hunt for a better chance of scoring. 
     Around here hunting hogs is about like hunting deer.  No guarantee of success.  Even with bait you spend more hunts looking than getting a shot. 

[MuskratMike]

Thanks to all. I will digest all this and if I do go on this guided Texas hog hunt I will bring the .40 along. If hunting from a ground blind I can shoot small hogs with the 40, bigger ones will get the .54. I have no desire to shoot the big old boar hogs as they will taste like $#@*.
If all else fails I will just go to Idaho and shoot a black bear. That will be done with the .54 only.

[Darkhorse]

I've never had a large boar that tasted like #$&@! Even though those were the tales I grew up hearing. It depends on how fast you get those guts out and how fast you get the skin off and how fast you get it on ice. Preparation is a key factor. The wife cooked a large ham in a roasting oven. I had rubbed seasoning on the surface and added cut carrots, celery, onions and potatoes. After about 4 hours the meat could be flicked off with a fork it was so tender.

Some landowners might try to exploit them as a commodity but that's not really the problem. Hunting has proven to not be very effective at hog control. And the majority of landowners don't want to give permission for access for any reason. Trapping comes in second for effectiveness. But you turn some hog dogs and catch dogs loose and that will run them off the property quick and it takes awhile for them to come back.

I only sold a few and  those were the biggest ones. I was getting so many I gave as many away as possible. Dead or alive, your choice. Sometimes we just shot them in the trap and drug them away with an ATV to rot. What a waste. And all that still didn't seem to help curb the problem. In the end we used electrified barb wire to keep them off the areas we didn't want them. That works good.
Nowaday's I will only kill one with a flintlock, and it must be a good one. Mostly I don't really want anything to do with them.

[Longknife]

So while the hogs are a serious threat to native habitat they are being exploited/supported by landowners as a commodity? I don't see a good ending to this story. Must explain why Missouri has banned any/all hunting of these critters and uses professional exterminators only. The 'Show Me' state living up to its motto.

Currently, MDC bans all feral hog hunting on its lands, maintaining that it is more effective to trap and kill large groups of destructive feral hogs than allow hunters to try to shoot the wild pigs. Shooting them tends to scatter the group and lessens the effectiveness of trapping entire "sounders," or groups of hogs, according to MDC. Feral hogs can still be hunted on private property.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/forest-service-decision-on-feral-hog-hunting-prompts-major-change-in-mdc-policy/ar-BBY0n46

[Pukka Bundook]

Longknife,

What you say is the way it is with Fish and Wildlife up here in Alberta.
They want to catch the whole lot, not scatter them by hunting.
I'd love to hunt them, and there is no law to say you can't, but the Fish cops would rather have professionals deal with them.

A close neighbour caught a whole litter one time.  they were feeding with cows and he put up netting and trapped them.   They were pretty small and he was feeding them and going to butcher them when big enough, but the fish cops found out, and came and shot the lot!
We all thought it a terrible waste.
These were the near black Russian /Prussian type, not feral.

[sqrldog]

I have no love for hogs running loose in the wild. They are really destructive to habitat and agriculture. I enjoy hunting them as most everyone knows by now. I find it hard to believe that hogs will be effectively controlled until a safe ( to other wildlife and fish) chemical to either kill the hogs or cause some form of reproductive control is developed as a bait. The bait could then be distributed in areas populated by hogs. My experience has been that trapping controls local populations temporarily but there are always a few that are trap shy or just don't get caught and a few is all it takes for a population rebound. Good luck to the agencies trying to eradicate hogs off of public lands. I think it is a futile effort but time will tell. Tim

[madmtmike]

I'll trap them & shoot them.
Pretty good eating.
madmtmike

[okawbow]

Every year I hunt hogs on a Texas cattle ranch. There are good numbers of hogs, but they seem to do little if any real damage to the pastures or fences. The hogs are fenced out of the deer feeders, but come in to pick up the few grains of corn that make it through the fence. They don’t seem to bother the cattle or deer,and the ranch owner makes several thousand a year from archery pig hunters.

For that rancher and the hog hunters, it’s a win-win situation. I’d love to have wild pigs on my property if it were legal.

[EC121]

They won't bother cattle or deer very much, but they will destroy planted crops.

[BOB HILL]

A big hog can carry a lot of lead if wounded. Use your .54 and carefully place your shot. We usually used two baydogs to find and bay the hog and a catchdog to catch. Our goal was to catch the hog and tie it without damaging  it. It was then taken home alive. The big boars were then castrated and made into sausage after a couple of months. I know this is not what you see on youtube today, but this was how it was done when this was a food source. This way the hog could be dispatched easily with a well placed shot to the head from a .22 rimfire.

[Sweeney]

So while the hogs are a serious threat to native habitat they are being exploited/supported by landowners as a commodity? I don't see a good ending to this story. Must explain why Missouri has banned any/all hunting of these critters and uses professional exterminators only. The 'Show Me' state living up to its motto.

Currently, MDC bans all feral hog hunting on its lands, maintaining that it is more effective to trap and kill large groups of destructive feral hogs than allow hunters to try to shoot the wild pigs. Shooting them tends to scatter the group and lessens the effectiveness of trapping entire "sounders," or groups of hogs, according to MDC. Feral hogs can still be hunted on private property.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/lifestyle-buzz/forest-service-decision-on-feral-hog-hunting-prompts-major-change-in-mdc-policy/ar-BBY0n46







Thanks for clarifying. Reckon I will check with some of my Missouri pals for private land hunting that wants to rid these 'pests' without charging me a fee. Would much enjoy unleashing my .58 flinter on a porker. And would help get through the drudgery of February and March.

[Bull Shannon]

First of all, most wild hogs in the US are a mix of domestic gone feral with a small percentage of Russian. You cannot tell how much Russian boar they have by their looks and they may be just one generation away from the farm. Only genetic testing can tell how much Russian, if any, a wild hog has. There are only two places in the country that have a captive population of 100% Russian boar; that's it. These are fenced ranches where  the fence goes several feet into the ground and is too high for hogs to jump. And yes, they can jump if motivated to. I saw this with my own eyes and I have witnesses who were there. Three to four feet is no problem. One thing to remember is that a hog's anatomy is different from a deer and the hogs heart is lower in the chest than a deer. Those who are experienced deer hunters tend to shoot their first hog too high and end up having to track it a long distance. A buddy of mine shot a good size boar through both lungs, leaving plenty of pink frothy blood on the tree it was standing next to. After a mile the blood trail went onto the neighboring property which we were not allowed passage on. I'm quite sure that hog was still running by the time we left the next day. The other spot to shoot a hog is right behind the ear which drops them in their tracks. A wounded hog will attack if it is defending young shoats or you're just too close. I shot a sow, breaking both front legs. I got too close and she lunged at me using only her back legs and almost got a piece of me before I dispatched her. Any wounded animal can harm or kill you so always exercise caution. This shows you the anatomy of a hog quite well;
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3Dwn00xvV5gL8&ved=2ahUKEwi1vL-n98XmAhVNZc0KHaYWCZEQwqsBMBB6BAgLEAs&usg=AOvVaw3SlC0Q9WywUppc-wcaOA7o
As has been stated, the thing to do so there's no gamey taste is to gut the hog as soon as is possible and cool down the carcass. If there isn't a freezer on site then after gutting and cleaning including skinning, removing the head and lower legs place a bag or two of dry ice into the body cavity, then place everything in a large cooler.
For what it's worth, don't ever, ever gut shoot a hog! Yes, you can save the meat with careful work but if you think they smell bad on the outside then you're in for a shock when you get a whiff of their innermost self! I've cleaning more than a few hogs for clients during my brief time as a guide but I told them it they gut shot their hogs then they'd be cleaning it themselves. Never, never again and one was too much!

[Bob McBride]

....a lot of Javalinas in the mix as well....

Yall are so lucky down there. I'm so torn between enjoying having my pastures undemolished, and daydreaming of laying prone at the edge of a demolished pasture just at sunup, with a Bubba cup full of coffee and a pocket full of handwarmers....

[Hungry Horse]

 IMO, fish, and wildlife, agencies treating wild hogs as game animals is stupid. They breed to fast, have little or no natural enemies, and can contaminate food crops. I believe constant continuous trapping is our only hope of containing this epidemic.
 I just attended a funeral for a WWII vet in Northern California. The veterans circle that honors veterans in this cemetery looked like somebody had run a giant tiller over it. They said they were continually reworking things to secure the area from hog damage, but, so far nothing stops them.

  Hungry Horse

[smokepole45cal]

Given the mass, tusks, and nasty disposition of some feral hogs I would want .45 no less and a revolver as back up.

Now if you're open to travel...go to Kauai (far western island of Hawaiian chain). You can hunt ferals on the cheap with spears and dogs!!

[Craig Wilcox]

It generally takes about 3+ generations for hogs to go completely feral.  Totally feral hogs have lost the kink in their tail.
Our native Javelina is a particularly aggressive species. They will charge with no provocation at all.  If you do need to escape one, go up.  They have a hard time seeing things above themselves.

Several have commented here about keeping the meat good - that all starts with rapid gutting and trying to cool the carcass.  Couple bags of ice from a convenience store, stuffed into the body cavity, will help a lot with that, but that is true of about any animal, from Aardvark to Zebra.
Florida does not consider feral swine to be sport.  You can generally hunt them anywhere that it is safe to discharge a firearm.

[bob in the woods]

Russian boars have started to spread across Ontario as a result of some escaping from a "farm" raising exotic animals.
They are spreading rapidly and the Ministry of Natural Resources here has asked to be notified of any sightings .
They have asked hunters to keep a lookout, and we are encouraged to shoot them if possible, and then notify the MNR
Sightings have occurred in my area of Eastern Ontario  [ Sharbot Lake , Westport ] north of Kingston and north of us in Renfrew county. The Ontario MNR is bracing for what they call an ecological catastrophe .  Brings to mind the situation regarding pythons in Florida       These Russians really tear things up. From photos I've seen, it looks as though an excavator went through the area !   I guess that wild hog will soon be on the menu .

[Craig Wilcox]

Bob, on New Years Eve, 1981, I killed a huge sow - totally feral.  It was late, and very cold for Florida - 25 that night as I recall.  Gutted her on the spot, then using some rope and a handy tree, got her loaded into the back of the truck.
As it was quite late, and as I said, quite cold, I hung her in our pump house, with the stomach propped open.  Butchered her the next morning, and got 380 lb of boneless meat!  I was living in a State Park at the time, and managed to fill all 6 freezers in the park.
Absolutely GREAT eating!
Soon, you will be able to go to your "in-the-Woods" and get yourself some fine eating meat.  And since you live in eastern Canada, about due north of me, I will be able to drive up and help you and Ontario a wee bit.

[Darkhorse]

Our area always held a good population of feral hogs but some 40 years ago a good dose of European, or Russian, blood was introduced to the population. A hunting club on the Ocmulgee river had purchased a large group of both sows and boars from a hunting operation. The idea was to raise the russian strain for hunting on their lease and they built holding pens designed to hold them. Trouble was they didn't really know what they were doing and all the hogs escaped, breeding up and down the river and up every creek and branch flowing into the river.
I was young, fearless and greatly desired to hunt these creatures at the time. I was told one way to tell if piggy's had a high percentage of Russian blood was that they would be striped like chipmunks. I had access to some prime bottom land during archery season and I did see numerous piggy's with those stripes.
It seemed to me the boars I ran across in those times were a little more aggressive, a little larger and rangier, and feared humans a little less than was the norm. I'm sure most of that blood is well thinned out by now but occasionally a boar shows up that just looks the part.
An old wive's tale I've heard since teenager days is that large wild hogs will indeed do harm to the extent of killing and eating other animals like deer, cows and horses. I have no evidence one way or the other about this. But this I do know; If you have hunting property with a good deer population and wild hogs move into your area and make it home, then in a year or so most all the deer will have vanished. This is just one of the reasons I know of for practicing hog eradication as most of the time they breed faster than we can catch or kill them.

[Hungry Horse]

Dark horse, the deer move out because the pigs eat all the new fawns. And, the coyotes, and in some areas wolves, move in to follow the sounders and pick off the young pigs.

  Hungry Horse