Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Tom Anderson on January 7, 2010 at 2:55pm

I went on a deer hunt near Laredo, TX a few years ago. Bagged a buck the first day and had 2 more days to kill while my brother and cousin worked to bag theirs. My guide set me up on a stand one evening and told me to kill all the small hogs I could shoot as they were really tearing up the ranch. (only the small ones so we could load them in the truck). I shot 18, which we took back to the ranch house to put in the freezer for the cowboys that lived there.

Permalink Reply by Carl M on February 6, 2010 at 3:54pm

I was just watching a special on the "pig bomb". Apparently there is a huge population explosion of wild/feral pigs in the USA and other parts of the world. There is also some evidence that the feral pigs that were in the USA are being crossbred with Russian Boar, creating pigs with a radical wild behavior. Very aggressive and prolific. They are also tearing up the habitat. Seems some people are illegally introducing Russian Boar to get this crossbreed. It was amazing that they have to kill 7 out of 10 pigs just to keep the population at the same numbers.
We don't have any wild or feral pigs in MT but I sure would like to give pig hunting a try. And then there is the pig roast afterwards. Gotta be a great experience

Permalink Reply by GreatWhiteBuffalo on February 15, 2010 at 11:33pm

Yeah, they are almost like Jackrabbits. They CAN be really good.

Permalink Reply by Paul on June 13, 2010 at 12:46am

From the sounds of it, it sounds really fun. I've heard some stories from guys down south, about being charged and all.

I'm hunting these things as soon as I can.

Permalink Reply by LShieldes on July 7, 2010 at 2:49pm

And like that, I have been invited to go on a hunt in central/east texas next weekend. I'll let yall know how it goes. 5 of us will hopefully create a reckoning for the hogs

Permalink Reply by LShieldes on July 19, 2010 at 10:08am

It was a freakin blast. Took my rifle out early in the morning on saturday and found that I needed the onsite smith to do a bore sighting(after 5 wasted rounds). Took it back out, and took 3 shots unsupported, 3rd got bull, I was happy(and out of time).



Ended up finding out half way out there, this wasn't land of a friend, this was a pay to hunt place, $50 a hunt then a $ a pound of live weight on each hog you shoot. To say I was pissed off was an understatement, sometimes ti really sucks having friends that are loaded and/or oblivious, but they said they would hook me up(paid for beer, gas, food and one of my two hunts as well as lodging).



Got out to the stand maybe a little late, saw tons of deer, and out about 150 yards saw a massive boar. Unfortunately it was down a shooting lane I wasn't prepared for and the guy in the stand with me was too late to move around. One of the other guys got a tasty 50lb one that we ate the hell out of that night. STayed up drinking until about 2-3 and I passed out.



Up at 4:45, loaded up at about 5:30 back out in the stand. Had more deer everywhere, one buck was close enough to almost pet, stupid youngster. Woke up leaning against the rifle only to find a small hog about 240 yards slowly walking, just as I got the scope on him he took off.



Later that morning we all gathered up and did a stalk. Land owners two sons and 7 of us fanned out and went all over the land, through thick scrub, worked as much of the land as we could. Scared out several good hogs but the guys kept missing. Then it was just me and one of the sons way, way out there, finding snakes, seeing tons of signs, round a corner and can see some grass moving just right. Did the ol pincer move on it to flush it out, boom, here comes a little 40-50#er running full speed under thick brush, got two shots off with my revolver at about 25-30 feet, stupid adrenaline and quick ass pig I missed, .44 spl would have taken it down nicely.



Was a blast, want to do it again, but next time hopefully where I don't have to worry about cost and can enjoy it more. Asked a billion questions while out there and learned a lot, can't wait to try some stuff out at my friend's land that I normally go to for deer/rabbits/playing around.

Permalink Reply by True on December 5, 2012 at 1:08pm

Male vs female is not a real concern. Age and size can be depending on the hogs diet and range. A large male that lives in rough terrain feeding mainly on acorns will taste pretty rough and will be tougher than your uncle Charley's favorite pair of Dan Post boots. A hog of similar size that lives an easier life in flat terrain with nearby water and lots of available grain or veg crop feed will be quite tender and tasty.

That said, if your goal is meat and you are looking at a sounder (the name for a herd of pigs) your best bet is to take a sub-100lb pig vs a more mature animal. If you are aiding a landowner in controlling the population your goal is different. Per CA DFG, you should take out the Alpha male and female. This will scatter the sounder while the younger animals fight to be alpha which will reduce focal nature of their damage and slow the birth-rate of the group.