Newbie to Hog Hunting. Have some ??

[joshkans]

I am planning on heading down south to some hog hunting spots at the Texas/Oklahoma border in a few months. I have alot of questions about hog hunting. I see a lot of pictures of hogs taken but I haven't heard what methods are best for hogs.

Are hogs called in? Are hogs best hunted spot and stalk? Do you just walk or drive around until you find them and then try and shoot them as they run away?

I process all of my own deer and plan to do the same with hogs. How do you make hams out of hog hind quarters and how do you cure bacon? Anyone have any good recipes? How are whole hogs done best?

I plan on using a 6.8SPC AR. What bullet type would be best? bonded? partition? Vmax? What are opinions on best shot placement?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Tusk1]

Glenn Guess can answer any question you may have about hog hunting and then some.

I will give the bullet ? a try, I like to get good penetration on hogs and they have a hide like an alligator. I shoot triple shocks or accubonds so I get a complete pass through. Now I know that people have killed them with everything, I just like to put em down right where they stand. Shot placement, that is a whole other story.

 

[RayB]

www.texasboars.com Go to the forums.

All you ever wanted to know about hog hunting.

I'm no Glenn Guess but I'll give it a try. They are best hunted near feeders. Usually at night using lights (legal in Texas). You can spot and stalk them but they usually hole up in the thickest, nastiest stuff they can find. Just play the wind like you were deer hunting.

We process all of our hogs just like deer. The backstraps should be done just like a deer. You could split the hog down the back and cut porkchops but it's a lot of work. You won't find much bacon on wild hogs but the hindquarters can be cured like a regular hog. I prefer to split the muscles in the hindquarters and cut the individual muscles into small cutlets. You can then cook them however you want. They are best wrapped in a half piece of bacon with a little piece of onion and jalapeno. Grill until the bacon is done and dip in barbeque sauce with a half jar of red plum jelly mixed in. Lately, I have also taken the whole hindquarter and put it in the deep freeze for about 4 hours. Then I take a recip. saw and a new blade and cut whole steaks, straight through the bone. I cut them about 1 - 2 inches thick. They go great on the grill as steaks. The front shoulders go into the slow cooker, whole with cream of mushroom soup and some veggies. The ribs don't have a lot of meat on them but can be barbequed. The rest gets ground of as sausauge, preferably mixed 50/50 with deer.

One other tip for after the kill. We quarter up the hog and soak in a mixture of ice water, 1 cup of vinegar, and 1 cup of lemon juice. Let it soak for 24 hours and drain off the liquid. Then add more ice, vinegar, and lemon juice. Repeat for 3 days but take the backstraps and tenderloins out after the first day. This will remove all of the smell and gamey taste, even on the largest of nasty boars. There is also a product called Gamefix you can learn about over on Texasboars. I haven't tried it but they say it works.

Where are you hunting in Texas?

 

[joshkans]

Thanks for the help guys. The land I will be hunting is a 15000 acre cattle ranch south-east of Sulphur, Oklahoma. They have a lot of hogs on their property. I think the area is mostly hilly pastures. There wont be an opportunity for me to set up feeders prior to the hunt as its about 7 hours away. I don't know if you can hunt at night in Oklahoma. Ill have to check into that.

Thanks for the recipe info. How do you cure a ham? What spices do you put in your sausage? Do they make a breakfast sausage spice mix or something?

I have 110 grain sierra Pro Hunters. Will they work alright?

Thanks again for the information.

 

[RayB]

I don't know much about the 6.8 but it should be fine. Shoot for the neck. They drop right there and you won't have to track them. It's actually a bigger target than the heart is. Hogs can be extremely hard to track if you don't put them down hard. Bullet wounds close up quick and they don't bleed like a deer does. If your set on a heart shot, the heart is located very low and forward, behind the front shoulder.

As for spices, I usually just use whatever I have in the cabinet. Lots of sage, red pepper, garlic, thyme, etc. I don't really have a recipe, just make it up as I go. The easiest way is to have a frying pan ready when your mixing it. You can fry a little and sample as you go. There's tons of sausage recipes on the net, any will do.

Look for wallows around water. If you find one that's being used, they come to it all day to cool off. If it's cold, you'll have to sit on their food source, whatever that is.

Here are your Oklahoma Hog Hunting regs. Looks like you cannot hunt them at night unless you get a special permit. You should come to Texas, our rules for hogs are simple. Kill them and kill them all, by whatever means possible. Trap, gun, knife, dog, helicopter, plane, run them over, or blow them up. Day or night. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Oklahoma Regs http://www.wildlifedepartment.com/huntregs.htm

HOG (Feral Swine) REGULATIONS

Hog Definition

Hogs are defined as any hogs, including Russian and European wild boar, which are running at large, free-roaming or wild.


Hog Hunting on Private Lands

Hogs may be taken year-round on private land during daylight hours with the landowner’s permission.

Resident & Nonresident License Requirements: No hunting license required, except during youth deer gun, deer muzzleloader, deer gun, holiday antlerless deer gun (in open zones), elk gun (in open counties) and antelope (in open areas) seasons, hunters must possess a filled or unfilled license appropriate for the current season, unless otherwise exempt. A Legacy permit is also required unless exempt.

Landowners may obtain a free hog hunting permit from the local game warden for use during those deer seasons listed above.

Hog Hunting on Public Lands, except Honobia Creek, Three Rivers & Broken Bow WMAs

On WMAs open during any regular hunting season, hunters will be allowed to harvest hogs by whatever means legal during that season. Hunters must comply with all other current season and WMA regulations. However, hogs may not be taken by the aid of a light or light enhancement device (night scope).

Resident & Nonresident License Requirements: All hog hunters must possess a hunting license and a Legacy permit, unless otherwise exempt. In addition, on WMAs open during youth deer gun, deer muzzleloader, deer gun and/or holiday antlerless deer gun seasons, hunters must possess either a filled or unfilled deer license appropriate for the current season, unless otherwise exempt.

Hog Hunting on Three Rivers, Honobia Creek & Broken Bow WMAs

Honobia Creek, Three Rivers and Broken Bow WMAs will only be open to hog hunting during deer archery, youth deer gun, deer muzzleloader and deer gun season, with the appropriate means of take for that deer season. Hunters also must comply with all deer season and WMA regulations, including the required land access permit.

Resident & Nonresident License Requirements: All hog hunters must possess a hunting license and a Legacy permit, unless otherwise exempt. In addition, on WMAs open during youth deer gun, deer muzzleloader, deer gun and/or holiday antlerless deer gun seasons, hunters must possess either a filled or unfilled deer license appropriate for the current season, unless otherwise exempt.

Landowner Depredation Provision

Landowners may obtain a special night-shooting permit from the local game warden to hunt nuisance hogs.

Shooting Hours

One-half hour before official sunrise to one-half hour after official sunset.

Shotgun Pellet Size Restrictions

If hunting hogs with a shotgun, no person in the field may possess or attempt to harvest hogs using shot larger than conventional BB (.180 in. dia.).

Hunter Orange

When youth deer gun, deer muzzleloader, deer gun, holiday antlerless deer gun (in open zones), elk gun (in open counties) and antelope (in open areas) seasons occur, all hog hunters must conspicuously wear either a head covering or an outer garment above the waistline consisting of hunter orange.

Releasing Hogs

No person may willfully release any hog to live in a feral state on public or private lands.

 

[Howard Nguyen]

Quote:
I am planning on heading down south to some hog hunting spots at the Texas/Oklahoma border in a few months. I have alot of questions about hog hunting. I see a lot of pictures of hogs taken but I haven't heard what methods are best for hogs.

Are hogs called in? Are hogs best hunted spot and stalk? Do you just walk or drive around until you find them and then try and shoot them as they run away?


Any help would be greatly appreciated.



On my farm there are a lot of hogs and they usually come in herds of at least a dozen. They move around a lot and stay in thick brush. Despite of hunting pressure they thrive and multiply and get very smart. They feed mostly at night. I see new rooting all over my 75 acres farm but rarely saw hogs during daylight hour.

This winter I built a 10x10 deck five feet above ground and about 60 yards from the deer feeder. I put a 9x7 tent on it with a lawn chair inside and couple of air beds. My sons and I would stay in this tent from 4pm until 8am taking turn watching the deer feeder. I set up a motion detector, which has an LED light, at the deer feeder. When pigs come out to feed, the LED light (blue color) came on. This light is not bright enough to show the pigs. It is just a signal to tell us someone is at the feeder. The person who is on watch would wake the other two up. We had Maglite 3D flash lights on top of our scopes. At the count of three all three of us switch our lights on and it is the best 15 seconds of shooting at running pigs.

That is about the only productive way to ambush these pigs. My next door neighbor use traps and he catches on the average about 120 pigs a year on his 100 acres farm. I do not care for trapping even though it is the most productive method.