Guess I have been at this too long and am now over thinking it. I have become really interested in pig movement with no way to satisfy that interest! One bigger place with fewer neighbors pigs cycle in and out. Once a lone boar starts feeding he will come back, maybe to leave to chase a sow. Sows and pigs repeat cycle. My place, 167 acres, long narrow with lots of neighbors. I have pictures of distinct pigs two or three times and then never come back! I am not shooting and running them off! They just never show back up. The blonde Russian lookers, one black boar with a white spot on his left hip, the big sow, and now a pinto bean colored bunch! A&M needs to study these things and help me out!!

Just some stuff I have picked up thru personal observations and discussions.

Feral hogs seem to have pretty large home ranges and can or will disappear for varying lengths of time or altogether if other pigs displace them or the sounders get broken up by trappers/hunters.

I am not sure anyone has ever really studied feral hog movement enough to have any clear answers.

I know I have seen groups on one property for several days or maybe a couple of weeks in a row and then just disappear and then see members of the same group show up dozens of miles away, mixe4d in with a completely different group of pigs.

Might be the feed isn't there they prefer, or
none to be found.

George

If your place is narrow or small then it may not be anything to do with your property but rather what your neighbours are doing.

Hunting pressure and food/habitat are the main drivers for sows and mob pig movement behaviour. Food, Sows and hunting pressure for the boars.

I sure get the impression that a hog hunt is never a sure thing just reading this forum, having never seen a feral hog myself. It seems they are not just "invasive brutes" but nuanced and very intellient creatures in tune with the land, food sources, moisture, cover and human activity. Worthy adversaries in many cases. I envy you who "live among 'em."

quote:

I sure get the impression that a hog hunt is never a sure thing just reading this forum, having never seen a feral hog myself. It seems they are not just "invasive brutes" but nuanced and very intellient creatures in tune with the land, food sources, moisture, cover and human activity. Worthy adversaries in many cases. I envy you who "live among 'em."

If folks will just take time to read your response Bill, you encapsulated the situation pretty well.

If they could be managed and their numbers kept within reasonable limits, they add a dimension to any hunt that is exciting on a certain level.

But they are so unpredictable in their habits and movements, that is why I will not guarantee my clients success, even to the point in a recent event where I had been baiting the one trap I run from time to time as a just in case the person that was supposed to be hunting with me didn't get one from the stand.

Turned out that person was not able to come out so I went out and even though the pigs had cleaned up all the feed, thety did so With Out triggering the trap.

That worked out okay as I ended up not having to mess with any dead pigs.

They are intelligent, prolific, invasive, unpredictible and the big one have the real potential to be as dangerous as hell if things went sideways.

quote:

big one have the real potential to be as dangerous as hell if things went sideways.

A friend is an accomplished pistolero and I have seen his videos of him blasting running boars on the run from dogs. Two .454 Casull body hits did not stop the boar, so he shot it in the head at 50 yards. Naturally, the chase dogs attacked it with gusto.

One of his unarmed companions was once badly mauled by a boar so he never ventures into hog country unarmed. He has some hairy tales about mixing it up with unruly boars. Respect them for what they are and remember that pig farmers NEVER let their kids in pens with adult hogs.

Last year from about now thru early April I entertained myself with about three trail cameras, when I could keep them going. Sometimes I would just sit in the stand to see them for myself. I had all the meat in the freezer I wanted, and the local farmers keep them thinned out anyway.

I watched several different sounders/groups come and go. Sometimes the same bunch would show up two or three nights in a row, then another group would show. Many of the hogs were colored distinctly enough so I could recognize them on repeat visits.

Interestingly, most of them in the groups were all about the same size, so I assume siblings. Sometimes a large boar would show up, sometimes alone, sometimes he just joined in, but the others maintained clearance. Some old, large sows demanded clearance too. The big boars were unpredictable as to when and where they would show.

The groups had sows and boars up until about mid march, then the sows showed with no boars in the group, and the young boars came in separately as a group, to scrounge leftovers. They were a noisy bunch. I could hear them coming at dusk from what seemed 2 or 3 hundred yards when I sat on the stand.

Then the sows disappeared. After about a week - 10 days, they showed up with litters. Sometimes there were 30-40 pigs/hogs at the corn at one time, and the sows must have kept the boars away. Interestingly, there were nannies - females with no piglets.

By the time the mosquitoes got too bad, we had pigs everywhere.

Naturally, it took a lot of corn to help with all that observation. Over 3000 lbs. I've fed 2600 lbs so far this year and plan to continue until at least mid-march. Of course it's not just for the hogs. I have feeders that are used exclusively by deer. Only the feeders near the creek are used by hogs.

Right now there are pigs/hogs coming in to the feeders, but I'm not taking pictures yet, and haven't shot any yet. I've got two buddies from Texas, coming in a week to hunt for a few days, and I'll let them shoot whatever hogs they can get in their sights. That will probably be all or more than I want. I'm sure they are not interested in the hogs because they have more than they want in Texas. They want a nice buck.

Sitting on the stand was awkward, and not taking a shot because it's difficult to leave without being noticed. I managed.

I've got two large dogs, and they love to roam. So, for their safety I've had to make them house dogs. When I take them out to run, I have to use the training collars to keep them close to the yard. I'm sure they can smell and hear the hogs squealing - plus there's deer. I've heard the hogs from my yard myself, and deer blowing too. There are also hunting clubs across the creek, and I think they would shoot a dog on sight and hide the evidence, and I would just never see my dog again.

Thanks for sharing those insights -- and for keeping your dogs safe.

The different reactions to free roaming dogs are interesting. Most landowners where I have hunted want me to shoot any coyotes I see, and some even request that I shoot any loose dogs. In some cases it has been because of livestock predation or game predation, or ruining gardens or just fear of large loose carnivores.

When in high school, my hometown police and sheriffs were recruited to destroy packs of loose dogs and they asked help from the citizenry. Within a month the packs were no more. There were good reasons that early settlers reduced the number of wolf packs in North America.

quote:

Originally posted by Bill/Oregon:
I sure get the impression that a hog hunt is never a sure thing just reading this forum, having never seen a feral hog myself. It seems they are not just "invasive brutes" but nuanced and very intellient creatures in tune with the land, food sources, moisture, cover and human activity. Worthy adversaries in many cases. I envy you who "live among 'em."

I've a friend that is a federal wildlife control agent. He traps hogs and has killed as many as 300 a day out of helicopters. His opinion is that an old boar is much smarter than an old white-tailed buck deer.

I have noticed lately that it would seem that the pigs that frequent the 1,700 acre "pasture" where we have feeders set up are acutely aware when there is an increase in motor vehicle traffic. I will have pix on game cam from dark-thirty until just before shooting light, daily. However once there are three or four guys in camp that use trucks or 4 wheelers to get to their stands by accessing the main road though the property, there will be no game camera activity until a day or so after things settle down.

As has been pointed out, the large boars are generally solitary. The sounders seem to be made up of sows and juveniles and shoats.

The largest boars that I kill are caught in snares, at night when they are in transit.

I've pretty much been hunting hogs at the same 5 or 6 stands for the last 14 years. When I set up a feeder/stand, most times I do not hunt it for several months. I want the pigs to get it into their piggy brains that this is where the groceries are. Most times I will not hunt a stand for a month after killing.

I'm getting older and have not been logging as many hours in the stand this year. Been sleeping in more in the mornings, but it sure seems from the half dozen cameras I keep set out that their travel patterns have changed. Last two trips I've had two traps, one pen and 7 snares set out. Not one trap or snare were sprung. In addition, it seems that they have pretty much gone completely nocturnal. They are wily, crafty critters.

ya!


GWB

Glenn, something I noticed up in this area years ago concerning deer, hogs, coyotes and vehicles on places where the landowners or their emplyoyees are going in and out multiple times daily/weekly or moving around on the property for extended periods of time, the critters seem to get used to such activities as long as it is being done in pick ups.

In this area landowners and their workers really don't depend on 4 wheelers that much except in really nasty weather.

4 wheelers being used by hunters are a different matter and even if a critter can not see the thing if they can hear one they get nervous or just take off running.

Also, at least in this area, as long as a pick up whether on a county road or pasture road keeps moving at a steady speed deer don't pay a lot of attention, pigs and coyotes normally haul ass because the ones that don't end up being the little dark mounds seen laying out in the fields.