Tips for a hog hunt

[davidjblythe]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am going on my first ever hog hunt in Florida and I know absolutely nothing about hunting hogs. I'm looking for information on these animals that I can use to make this a successful hunt.

Some questions I have are:

When is the best time of day to hunt?
What sounds do I need to be listening for when I'm sitting or stalking?
What is the best hunting method (stand, blind, stalking?)
Will .30-06 and 8mm Mauser be sufficient or too much?
Where is the best place to shoot on the animal?
How do I differentiate between hogs that are worth shooting and ones that should be left for next season?

Thanks for the information and if you have any more info that will be helpful, please post!

Respectfully,
Corporal David Blythe

 

[El General]

Will .30-06 and 8mm Mauser be sufficient or too much?

Sufficient.

Where is the best place to shoot on the animal?

I prefer the head. I usually draw a line between the eye and the ear and aim in the middle. The heart, behind the shoulder, if a head shot is not practical. The heart is low behind the shoulder compared to a deer.

How do I differentiate between hogs that are worth shooting and ones that should be left for next season?

There is no hog worth saving until next season. The smaller ones taste better. Sows taste better. 150 lb sow is a good combination of lots of meat and taste. Hog hunting and trophy hunting do not combine for me. It is all about the meat. I have shot them between 25lbs and 250lbs

 

[gmhamilton3]

If its legal, throw out some deer corn in an open area where there are lots of tracks, usually early afternoon. They love acorns so an oak mott is good. Set up and wait until dark, watch the wind they can smell alot better than they can see. Shoot then in the head a few inches behind the ear if you want the meat. Any gun will do the trick. Small to medium sized sows without the little ones are the best eating, big boars are too musky to eat but fun to shoot.

 

[glockman19]

When is the best time of day to hunt?

Dawn or Dusk

What sounds do I need to be listening for when I'm sitting or stalking?

IMHO none. Be quiet and stay down wind. Pigs have an excellent ability to smell.

What is the best hunting method (stand, blind, stalking?)

Every hunt has it's own method based upon cover time of day, location, etc...

Will .30-06 and 8mm Mauser be sufficient or too much?

It will be just fine. I pig hunt with a .30-06, .44mag or .357mag.

Where is the best place to shoot on the animal?

Just behind the head/ear and above the shoulder.

How do I differentiate between hogs that are worth shooting and ones that should be left for next season?

Big old fat hogs tend to taste gamey. I like sows in the 150 lb range. Also depending on what natural foods they're eating the taste will change.

I had a friend who was hunting in the los padres forrest north of Santa Barbara near the town of Solvang and the pig he bagged was eating sugar beats. Needless to say it was as sweet as a Honey baked ham.

 

[Ske1etor]

Best time to hunt is actually night time... but since it is illegal in most if not all states, late evening. Don't listen for anything walking. Listen for light snorts. Hogs are pretty much silent while walking. I prefer a small tree stand. The rifle cartridges will be fine... just be sure to load them in a gun first. Hogs don't like things being thrown at them. I normally aim for the ear canal. Clean kill without damaging the good meat. The ones that are worth shooting are the ones you can carry. Leave the big ones alone. Shoot babies. Don't worry about damaging the population, you can't.

 

[FullyLoaded_FLBoy]

You'd be doing all us hunters in FL a great service to shoot and kill every hog you see.

 

[davidjblythe]

I just got back from ym weekend hunt. I managed to get a yearling... but I had a hard time tellings its size, because I was about 100 yards away, looking down. The M1 was probably more gun than needed.... defintely more gun than needed. I think next time I will bring something else.

Also, I passed ALL of these tips on to the two other hog hunting newbies I was with and I think it made a difference.

Thanks for all the help and making my hunt a successful one.

 

[MCgunner]

Congrats! Fire up the charcoal!

BTW, I didn't think hog hunting at night was illegal in very many states. I know it's totally legal in Texas. Year around 24/7, kill all you want...PLEASE!

 

[TehK1w1]

Down here on our lease, our boss only lets us shoot 1 hog a year.. wants to save the rest for the guests...no piglets or sows with piglets...no hunting at night...
The only reason the hogs are still manageable is that the javilina are competing with them.

 

[MCgunner]

That's very interesting. We don't have Javelina up this way, don't get much farther north than Aransas Refuge. I'm in Calhoun county, Port Lavaca and my place is out near Seadrift. It's friggin' ate up with hogs, but I don't mind 'em, really. I'd rather eat 'em than deer. Javelina are more vegetarian and love prickly pear which I don't think hogs have a mouth for. I'd never have thought they'd compete for food, but I haven't seen papers or studied the subject, really never thought about it. Be a great senior problems course idea or master's thesis for a WFS student.

There's some sort of "Wild Boar Expo" up north of Hallettsville on March 1,2 I may attend. I saw the flyer at Eller's Hunting Post in Victoria. They're supposed to have vendors there and I'm needing a hog trap. I don't know if it'll be much of a big deal. Friend of mine went last year and said it was pretty small, but they mentioned traps on the flyer. I can't build one for as cheap as I've seen 'em for sale. Danged angle and cattle panels are high!

I'm really only interested in hogs for the meat. I don't think of 'em as game animals. But.,they are fun to shoot when they attack my feeders and they are year round protein. Run out of deer, you gotta wait till fall. During summer, though, the skeeters are awful down there and with the heat, I'd rather the trap do the huntin'. LOL

 

[TehK1w1]

Javi's are nasty animals. They stink when alive, and when you kill and field dress them it gets a lot worse They make great mounts, although from most accounts the meat isn't very good (never tried it myself). Hogs, on the other hand, are one of my favorite things to hunt. I've only got one that I can take from here though, so I've been waiting for a good chance to stalk one.
I'm down in Brooks county on the King ranch.

 

[MCgunner]

I've shot a couple of Javelina. I have a mount of a good one I got out west of Langtrey on a hunting club lease I used to be in. They call 'em stink pigs for a reason. The meat tastes porky, but it's so dry, it's really best to shred it for tamales. To prep it, I soak it for days on ice water. It takes near a week to get the funk out of it. I change the water out daily. When I can open the cooler without getting knocked over by the funk, I'm ready to cut it up. LOL All in all, I'd MUCH rather shoot a 100 lb feral pig, though, MUCH prefer it. I mean, you can actually GRILL the ribs and they're wonderful!


Down on my place, really, best to watch a feeder and best to do it at night. There's so many of 'em down there, you'll hear 'em mid day fighting back in the motts. But, it's such heavy cover down there, you won't lay eyes on 'em mid day. They move and feed at night. I've taken a couple during my deer hunts, but it is the exception. I'm gonna start night hunting more now that deer season is over. I can't stay up that late, though I gotta quit by midnight. I'm not a night person. LOL I'd really rather just sleep and let the trap do the work, go check it when I need a break during the day or something. I guess I'm a lazy SOB. But, feeder watching ain't that thrilling either, except when something DOES come out. It's easier for me to get out of bed at 3AM to go duck hunting. Weird, I know, but I love duck and goose hunting, grew up doing it. It's in the blood. Feeder watching is better than not hunting, just wish I had the room to spot and stalk, but that's hard to find around here. It's all feeder watching.