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Flintknapper
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Nix on going this evening. Storm clouds moving in, wind swirling. Not a good set up. Perhaps tomorrow.
Not again.......! Feral Hog Control in East Texas
- Thread starter Flintknapper
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Flintknapper
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The Weather finally settled down and we had a North Wind here last night (perfect for one stand). I had hand-loaded some 160 gr. bullets for the 7mm-08 awhile back and had been wanting to test them out, but really wanted a good size hog to show up..since zipping one through anything under 200 lbs. probably wouldn't tell me much.
Yesterday evening a Boar that I hadn't seen before stepped out of the brush and caught me a little by surprise. I really wasn't expecting to see anything until after dark. He popped out on the old logging road about 100 yds. away and immediately looked towards my Box Blind. I couldn't shoot him at that time because I needed to move the rifle from one window to another and I was afraid he would see the movement.
He was quite nervous acting and was scent checking the whole time. He finally started toward the feeder which to my relief...mean't I wouldn't have to move the rifle.
He clearly wanted to go to the feeder...but seemed to be having 'second thoughts' about it. Still 30 yds. away from it, he locked up...lifted his head and started smelling the air. Then he began to turn as if to go back where he had came from. This briefly presented a 'quartering to me' shot...but I would have to thread it between some trees or wait and hope he didn't RUN back across the logging road.
Since he was standing still (for the moment) I took the Quartering shot and thankfully he went straight down. He kicked for just a few seconds and then lay still.
The bullet entered the 'point' of the onside shoulder and exited about mid-body on the off side. I will have to continue testing...since a 'sample' of one...is far from conclusive...but penetration was good.
It turned out to be a pretty hefty boar. I don't really care what they weigh or how old they are, I just want them gone. But it was a good hog to try this bullet on.
Checked the game camera on that stand this morning and wouldn't you know it...there is already another boar to fill the gap.
Yesterday evening a Boar that I hadn't seen before stepped out of the brush and caught me a little by surprise. I really wasn't expecting to see anything until after dark. He popped out on the old logging road about 100 yds. away and immediately looked towards my Box Blind. I couldn't shoot him at that time because I needed to move the rifle from one window to another and I was afraid he would see the movement.
He was quite nervous acting and was scent checking the whole time. He finally started toward the feeder which to my relief...mean't I wouldn't have to move the rifle.
He clearly wanted to go to the feeder...but seemed to be having 'second thoughts' about it. Still 30 yds. away from it, he locked up...lifted his head and started smelling the air. Then he began to turn as if to go back where he had came from. This briefly presented a 'quartering to me' shot...but I would have to thread it between some trees or wait and hope he didn't RUN back across the logging road.
Since he was standing still (for the moment) I took the Quartering shot and thankfully he went straight down. He kicked for just a few seconds and then lay still.
The bullet entered the 'point' of the onside shoulder and exited about mid-body on the off side. I will have to continue testing...since a 'sample' of one...is far from conclusive...but penetration was good.
It turned out to be a pretty hefty boar. I don't really care what they weigh or how old they are, I just want them gone. But it was a good hog to try this bullet on.
Checked the game camera on that stand this morning and wouldn't you know it...there is already another boar to fill the gap.
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Flintknapper
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Exactly right, good eye.
Much heavier construction than the 140 gr. Combined Technology I use for Deer. Generally, I just use my .458 SOCOM and don't have to worry about shot angles or anything else...BUT those heavy bullets begin to drop like a marble off a table much beyond 150 yds.
When I set up on my bait sites I can have shots from 30 yds. to 150 yds. most often100 yds. But I also have hogs show up in my pasture behind the house at times and I can have shots there of up to 300 yds.
So...I always keep the 7mm-08 handy just in case a shot longer than I want to take with the SOCOM presents itself. To that end...I wanted a heavier bullet to use on hogs. The Federal Trophy Bonded looked like it would work well. Time will tell. I want to get a few pigs 'lined up' at a feeder and see if 'multiples' are possible with this bullet. That is an easy task for the SOCOM with 405 gr. JSP or a hardcast 540 gr. flat point.
I just like having options.
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Flintknapper
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Years ago...all the Farmers/Ranchers around here used to joke saying "A Sow will have a litter of 12... and 13 will survive" !
It was funny (kinda) back then...but you have to wonder if at the same time it wasn't prophetic.
Two sows with 21 piglets between them.
^^^^
Not part of a group/sounder, just these two Sows with all those footballs.
It was funny (kinda) back then...but you have to wonder if at the same time it wasn't prophetic.
Two sows with 21 piglets between them.
^^^^
Not part of a group/sounder, just these two Sows with all those footballs.
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Flintknapper
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Another example of how digging a shallow hole and placing some corn in it....can provide you with a better shot opportunity than you might otherwise get. Often.... once the hog 'commits' they will go down on their knees to get at the corn or sometimes stand in the hole. It's a good technique for a stable shot at a skittish hog and can also be useful to identify the most dominant hog in a bunch...(as generally they will claim the hole).
Once these hogs start coming in a little earlier...I will need to go sit on that stand.
Once these hogs start coming in a little earlier...I will need to go sit on that stand.
Armored farmer
Member
I went out for an evening hunt near Seguin. We saw seven pigs as we pulled off the road to park the truck. We only saw deer after that.
No bacon.
No bacon.
jmorris
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The corn in the hole also minimizes the spread of the destruction. We have had them get so deep, that you couldn’t see the pigs inside it.
The most effective way I have had them stick around is to see them come in using a cellular game camera.
Then call the controller I made and drop the gates.
They will run around for awhile then realize there is no way out. At that point they will wait on you to get there.
Then you get them all.
The most effective way I have had them stick around is to see them come in using a cellular game camera.
Then call the controller I made and drop the gates.
They will run around for awhile then realize there is no way out. At that point they will wait on you to get there.
Then you get them all.
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Flintknapper
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Armored farmer
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I've made some good shots, but tonight wasn't one of them.
A two hundred yard rocky belly-crawl out in the Seguin area wheat field. 7 pigs feeding at 250yds out. I rested on my guide's shoulder(I should have just shot offhand). By the time we got in synch and stopped breathing at the same time....the pigs got spooky and started trotting back towards the hole in the fence. The big black one was moving pretty slow, so I took a poke at his ear-hole with my Ruger American Ranch 7.62x39. Two more Hail Mary's as he ran for the fence.
We looked for blood, but didnt expect to find any, and didnt.
Sorry Texans, I didnt help you with your hog problems, but I durn sure tried! Twice!
We're heading for Illinois tomorrow so good luck.
A two hundred yard rocky belly-crawl out in the Seguin area wheat field. 7 pigs feeding at 250yds out. I rested on my guide's shoulder(I should have just shot offhand). By the time we got in synch and stopped breathing at the same time....the pigs got spooky and started trotting back towards the hole in the fence. The big black one was moving pretty slow, so I took a poke at his ear-hole with my Ruger American Ranch 7.62x39. Two more Hail Mary's as he ran for the fence.
We looked for blood, but didnt expect to find any, and didnt.
Sorry Texans, I didnt help you with your hog problems, but I durn sure tried! Twice!
We're heading for Illinois tomorrow so good luck.
jmorris
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I couldn’t find any photos of the bomb crater looking hole in our bottom hay meadow but did find a couple of a little one beside the road where a few trails meet.
This is when they found it.
Those are piglets in the hole there.
Another method we use that keeps them around awhile but doesn’t get them digging is to put corn in a PVC pipe connected to a tree by cable. A few holes drilled into it, so as it’s turned corn will come out.
This is when they found it.
Those are piglets in the hole there.
Another method we use that keeps them around awhile but doesn’t get them digging is to put corn in a PVC pipe connected to a tree by cable. A few holes drilled into it, so as it’s turned corn will come out.
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Flintknapper
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Hogs or not....we are happy and proud to have had you visit. Hope you will continue to come back. You are the kind of person we love to have in our State. Safe travels home...my friend.
Armored farmer
Member
We drove home yesterday. It was a 16hr drive, we arrived about midnight.
We love tx. It is filled with our kind of people.
We love tx. It is filled with our kind of people.
Ole Joe Clark
Member
We have a lot of relatives in Texas. We went out there, (NE Texas) in 1996 on a genealogy trip, (looking for dead relatives), and the cousins that we stayed with treated us like royalty.
Have a blessed day,
Leon
Have a blessed day,
Leon
Choctaw
Member
I'm glad you at least got to pull the trigger. That hog has probably never been shot at by a hunter from Illinois.
Armored farmer
Member
I didnt represent very well. Looking back, second guessing, any idiot greenhorn should have instinctively assumed a kneeling position for the shot. When my guide offered his shoulder, I said duuuh... okay.I'm glad you at least got to pull the trigger. That hog has probably never been shot at by a hunter from Illinois.
AussieHunter80
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- Mar 24, 2020
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Wish I was a little closer to help you out with that hog situation. Have a few tricks up my sleeve having dealt with them since I was a kid here in Australia. I've recently put up some footage on YouTube showing a little of what we do. Would love it if you checked it out.
Watch "Wild Pigs. Boars. Eradication using. Spotter Plane. Benelli M2" on YouTube
Watch "Wild Pigs. Boars. Eradication using. Spotter Plane. Benelli M2" on YouTube
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Flintknapper
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Interesting choice of shot-shells, seems to be doing a pretty good job though. Thanks for sharing.
If you're near the San Antonio area again and using 7.62X39mm for hunting I'll happily loan you a rifle and give you ammo to use much more suitable for taking 250 yard shots at game like feral hogs (and Axis deer, and whitetail deer, etc) within the limits of your recoil tolerance (starting with .243 Winchester with Norma ammo loaded with 100 grain Oryx bullets as the lowest recoil option, and topping out with 9.3X62mm loaded with 255 grain Geco Plus bullets, with options in between).
Armored farmer
Member
That's very generous of you. Thanks.
I have a couple of other rifles. When booking my hunt, the guide indicated that all the shots would be within 150yds. If course, you know how that works! I am capable at 250, but under the circumstances, I made the shot more difficult than should have been. I was panting from too many clothes for a 150 yd army crawl over tx rocks.
No excuses, but if I could do it over I would assume a kneeling or sitting position.
I should have known better.
Thanks for your offer. I can hardly put the blame on the rifle.
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Flintknapper
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Hah, busted TWICE last night. Went and sat on a stand that I don't use all that often...but has activity right now by a group of hogs and a pair of young boars. A cool front blew in the day before and dropped temperatures. It being the second day after the front...the wind was going to be calm to non-existent after dark.
Got on stand about 7:15 and not 15 minutes later I could hear the sounds of something crossing the creek which is about 75 yds. behind (and downhill) of the stand. Soon thereafter I could hear soft 'grunts' and the sounds of several animals working their way through the thick brush. These would be pigs....no doubt.
Trouble was....I expecting them to come out from in FRONT of me like the game camera videos had suggested they were doing. There wasn't any wind...BUT the temperature was dropping and creating a 'thermal' I could feel. And of course it was settling on the ground and flowing straight downhill to the hogs. They got within 25-30 yds. before stopping and I could hear several of them start sniffing. Then it got very quiet and I could hear them slipping away through the brush.
Oh well...you can't control their movement or where they might approach from, just go with your best guess. It still being early...I wasn't too discouraged knowing that another group or perhaps a lone hog could still show up.
Nothing but Coons and one rabbit until 9:45 when I heard hogs over on the neighbors property. Sounded like they were headed my way and this time would approach from in front of me (Upwind from the settling thermal). The stand I was on this time (one of two for that site) is just 25 yds. from the bait and I use a shotgun or pistol on that stand. I have a second stand about 90 yds. away for rifle use, but these pigs have been bunching up on the corn and I wanted to get several with one shot.
Anyway, the pigs continued to come in. I could hear them now (still in the brush) maybe 40 yds. out. I had already slid the safety off the shotgun and was waiting for them to come out and settle in on the corn. But instead...they moved off to my right and then went in BEHIND me (same group possibly)? Well CRAP...they are going to wind me just like before.
To my surprise, they kept coming toward the bait site but were directly behind me. They would stop frequently and sniff the air. Then a small 75 lb. hog popped out and went directly to the corn. It was standing there 25 yds. away.... all lit up, crunching away on the corn.
So...at this point I'm thinking maybe that hog will draw the others in. The rest of the group amazingly kept coming until several of them were no farther than 15 feet from my stand. They just stood there testing the air for probably 5 minutes. I couldn't move a muscle. Then... I guess the faint scent they were detecting (I always get squeaky clean before hunts) was too much for them. One the pigs let out an alarm grunt and the pig that was out on the corn trotted off into the brush. The others slowly and quietly slipped away.
At one point before the others got too close for me to move...I could have shot the one pig (bird in hand), but I didn't want to pull the trigger on a load of 'Dixie Tri-Ball' to kill one small pig. I'll just have to let things settle down for a night or two and go back in there. If they continue to come in from behind me, I'll have to switch to the rifle stand.
So...last night the pigs won.
Got on stand about 7:15 and not 15 minutes later I could hear the sounds of something crossing the creek which is about 75 yds. behind (and downhill) of the stand. Soon thereafter I could hear soft 'grunts' and the sounds of several animals working their way through the thick brush. These would be pigs....no doubt.
Trouble was....I expecting them to come out from in FRONT of me like the game camera videos had suggested they were doing. There wasn't any wind...BUT the temperature was dropping and creating a 'thermal' I could feel. And of course it was settling on the ground and flowing straight downhill to the hogs. They got within 25-30 yds. before stopping and I could hear several of them start sniffing. Then it got very quiet and I could hear them slipping away through the brush.
Oh well...you can't control their movement or where they might approach from, just go with your best guess. It still being early...I wasn't too discouraged knowing that another group or perhaps a lone hog could still show up.
Nothing but Coons and one rabbit until 9:45 when I heard hogs over on the neighbors property. Sounded like they were headed my way and this time would approach from in front of me (Upwind from the settling thermal). The stand I was on this time (one of two for that site) is just 25 yds. from the bait and I use a shotgun or pistol on that stand. I have a second stand about 90 yds. away for rifle use, but these pigs have been bunching up on the corn and I wanted to get several with one shot.
Anyway, the pigs continued to come in. I could hear them now (still in the brush) maybe 40 yds. out. I had already slid the safety off the shotgun and was waiting for them to come out and settle in on the corn. But instead...they moved off to my right and then went in BEHIND me (same group possibly)? Well CRAP...they are going to wind me just like before.
To my surprise, they kept coming toward the bait site but were directly behind me. They would stop frequently and sniff the air. Then a small 75 lb. hog popped out and went directly to the corn. It was standing there 25 yds. away.... all lit up, crunching away on the corn.
So...at this point I'm thinking maybe that hog will draw the others in. The rest of the group amazingly kept coming until several of them were no farther than 15 feet from my stand. They just stood there testing the air for probably 5 minutes. I couldn't move a muscle. Then... I guess the faint scent they were detecting (I always get squeaky clean before hunts) was too much for them. One the pigs let out an alarm grunt and the pig that was out on the corn trotted off into the brush. The others slowly and quietly slipped away.
At one point before the others got too close for me to move...I could have shot the one pig (bird in hand), but I didn't want to pull the trigger on a load of 'Dixie Tri-Ball' to kill one small pig. I'll just have to let things settle down for a night or two and go back in there. If they continue to come in from behind me, I'll have to switch to the rifle stand.
So...last night the pigs won.
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Double Naught Spy
Sus Venator
We all get busted now and then. Dixie Tri-Ball on one small pig would have been very interesting....just sayin'.
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Flintknapper
Member
We all get busted now and then. Dixie Tri-Ball on one small pig would have been very interesting....just sayin'.
Yes, but it's a punishing round to shoot on my end too .....so if I'm going to risk having my retinas detached or fillings knocked out of my teeth..I want to have several pigs close together and make it worth my while.
OUCHYes, but it's a punishing round to shoot on my end too .....so if I'm going to risk having my retinas detached or fillings knocked out of my teeth..I want to have several pigs close together and make it worth my while.
View attachment 904849
1 oz. slugs are brutal for me, what could 2+ oz. feel like
