Are any of the prepackaged hog attractants/baits any better than regular old corn? I don't mind paying for them if they work, but for the equivalent price of 50-100lbs of corn I was wondering it if would be worth it.

Anyone have any experience with these, or if there is a suitable homemade alternative?

I have hogs on the property, but finding them can be difficult at times.


Blake

DIY, I've seen many recipies for hog chow ,some rather weird.Such as corn with some diesel fuel and syrup. experiment and find a good DIY chow.

Have never found a thing that beats corn--I've tried soured corn, corn with Big Red, strawberry jello, and on and on. Even tried cattle cubes and old dog food, creep feed, but they walked right past all of these to the corn the feeder dispensed.

If the pigs are naïve most anything will work. Corn is still the best. Nothing gets more goodness from the sun than corn! This time of year lots of corn hits the ground for deer making em hard to attract and pattern. Business will pick up in a couple of weeks when the feeders spin dry! Knew a man that was close to a professional pig trapper. He used a commercial pelletized pig food. Special feed to wean piglets off the sow in a farrowing operation. I do not remember the brand. I tried is it in a broad cast feeder. It was kind of soft and in really humid weather it would clog the funnel. I had to mix it with corn to keep it slinging. Cant say it was better or worse then plain corn. Another guy a real tinkerer build a special feeder to time drop it. He swore by it! Pigs tore the ground up under the feeder so bad he had to extend the legs and concrete them in. Shot a lot at night with night vision. All that being said: if the pigs are wary, nothing short of starvation will get em to ignore their senses and rush in! Put corn on the ground and wait for naïve ones!!

I may try the pig feed, but commercial baits can run more than 100lbs of corn for a one quart bottle. Just seemed hard to justify.

quote:

Originally posted by dustoffer:
Have never found a thing that beats corn--I've tried soured corn, corn with Big Red, strawberry jello, and on and on. Even tried cattle cubes and old dog food, creep feed, but they walked right past all of these to the corn the feeder dispensed.

I have to agree, and I've tried about everything I can think of or heard about. The packaged pour on "hog bait" was a real hit with the coons, though. Corn works fine.

Pouring corn oil on the corn seems to really make em come in and stay. I have poured a lot of strawberry jello onto this combination. However I have taken many hogs over corn alone.

I would like to hear more about the use of Diesel fuel. Years ago I made a couple of rub posts using folded up canvas soaked in used motor oil and wire wrapped around a Hackberry tree. The hogs rubbed all the canvass away after a couple of years and then killed the tree rubbing the bark off it.

Gunsmoker--the reason for the diesel on the corn is to keep 'coons and deer from eating it, saving it for the hogs.

I've seen hogs rub and rub as you describe on utility poles with creosote on them--I think it probably has to do with helping them out with fleas, ticks, and lice.

We fill a 5 gallon bucket about 3/4 full of corn add a bunch of Kool Aid packets and fill with water and a pound of sugar and let it set for a few days. Pour it on the ground and saturate the ground around it with diesel. Don't worry about getting the diesel in the corn as it will keep the other varmints away.

So the diesel doesn't attract the hogs?

Corn work or corn and diesel is good. We have a lot of coons so use diesel..

quote:

Originally posted by glocker17:
Are any of the prepackaged hog attractants/baits any better than regular old corn? I don't mind paying for them if they work, but for the equivalent price of 50-100lbs of corn I was wondering it if would be worth it.

Anyone have any experience with these, or if there is a suitable homemade alternative?

I have hogs on the property, but finding them can be difficult at times.


Blake

H Blake,

I don't know hoe different are the hog from texas but I can bet they act pretty similar with wild boars that we have here in Romania.
My suggestion is that you better create a feeding place for them considering the following tips.

1. They like very much to dig for their corn. So, put 1/4 of the total quantity on the ground and the rest bury in the ground about 7-10cm.
2. don't locate the food in open places far from the forests or thick bushes.
3. They like to bath and scratch in old diesel engine oil in order to get ride off parasites. Make sure you will not mix the food with the oil!
4. If you don't have a source of fresh water on the property make sure you put some water near feeding place.

If you will do that you will have them every night on that area. I guarantee you!
Good Luck!

I'm a bit late to this thread, but I've been hog hunting since late 70's mostly with handguns.

The type of bait is really not very important compared to how you deliver it to the hogs. Never, ever, put the bait in one small area. The hog(s) can come in and devour it all in seconds and be gone.

You want to trail/trickle a line of bait for hundreds of yards, just a tiny bit at time. If you're using corn, hang the bag off the window sill of your truck and drive around, tickling the corn out as you go. The hogs will follow that line of corn for hours if the trail is long enough. That keeps them out in the open for quite awhile and gives you a lot more opportunity to intercept them.

Tony

Tony:

That would be a great idea, and when in a good area for shooting I'd think throwing a couple handsful around would scatter and keep them occupied longer. Would give more time to do a bit of shooting.

I saw the results after I scattered some further from the feeder in Fla, those mornings. Until then, they were bunched up too much to shoot just one. Buying pigs one at a time and killing several with one shot could get costly at such a place.

George