My gunsmith friend gave me a recipe for baiting hogs:

Fill a garbage can with corn, add a little water and some sugar, and a can of beer to start the fermentation process. Let it set until it has a strong odor, then place the contents where you want to attract hogs. He says it's a sure-fire method.

Anyone ever try anything like this?

Its called SOUR MASH, the same stuff you after making some moonshine

I have heard of some guys around here using this as bait on our population of feral hogs.

All kinds of variations on this recipe. I also add some "Hog Wild" to the mix that I get at Academy, and rather than using a beer I like a whole package of baker's yeast like you would use making sourdough bread. Heat is a factor on how long it takes the fermentation process to get to the full aroma potential. In the winter I have to sneak the stuff in the house until my super sleuthy nosed wife catch's even a little hint. I use 5 gallon buckets and seal the lid as tight as possible and transport it OUTSIDE! the cab of the vehicle. Dig a hole with a posthole digger about 2-3 feet deep where you want the hogs to dig, pour a 5 gallon bucket over a couple bags of deer corn and add some more water, cover with dirt and spill a trail of bait around the hole and finish up the second 5 gallon bucket on the loose dirt.
I've seen hogs dig out to 3-4 feet deep to reach the bottom of the baited hole. I also save fish carcasses to "sweeten" the mix with too. Be sure to get off the ground to hunt the baited hole from. Biggest herd we ever saw was about 40-50 piglets, yearlings & 2 yr olds fighting and squealing over the hole. Those little 75-100 lb'ers really are good on the smoker! Once they find it keep adding stuff to keep the hole freshened up like hog or deer carcasses, rotted fruit - we had couple bags of over ripe banana's and pineapples available after the holidays one year - works great too! I'll bet that rotted apples would work, and a buddy swore by out of date institutional sized canned peaches he got from a freight salvage outlet. They ain't picky and they like it stinky or sugarry sweet.
Ron

That's more or less what my friend said. Because it's apparently so irresistable/addictive, he says he can take down a good number before they all leave the scene after the shooting starts.

I read somewhere that hogs are attracted to the smell of gasoline. The article suggested putting some over the corn. Anyone heard of this?

Bog, I think those are road hogs..............sorry I couldn't resist.

Not gasoline, better gas oil splashed over a large surface rounding the bait. By the way, the very best is corn, just a large pile. Hogs get frenzy over the gas oil, the roll over it. We don�t know why, perhaps to kill ticks. Rotten apples work very well too.

Bog: you'd be much better off with kerosine than gasoline...from a safety standpoint if nothing else. Jim

Try corn,water and some vanilla essence poured on.

Bakes

I think you boys are referring to diesel. You can dump diesel over your mash to keep the coons and cows out, but the hogs eat it like ice cream. But hooo-weee if you have never smelled fermenting corn, you are in for a real gut wretcher! The reak from it will gag a magot! You don't need any activator either, fill a 5 gallon bucket with corn and water, cover it and leave in the sun for a week. When you take that lid off, you tell me if you need an activator.

Being somewhat familiar with fermentation processes, i have a question:

Do these sealed 5-gallon buckets need a pressure escape system? A small hole a valve?

After reading this post (over my lunch break) I wonder if anyone has ever had one of these buckets burst or even explode. Would be interesting to take a shot at one that you knew was about ready to blow. That should "seed" a large area in an instant.

Gonzo thats not something you would want to do unless you were faaaaaar away. Ever roadkill a skunk it stays with you if it gets on you. No you don't need a vent hole, just the sun to heat it up.

I know they will come to corn in about any form you want to present it. There really isn't a "wrong" recipie here....but having never tried any with gasoline/oil/etc...I can't help being skeptical of that. But I admit I haven't tried THAT twist.

Rotting apples will work as well.

You wont hogs try this, stop by your friendly farm supply store and pick up a bag of hog feed, put about 8 quarts in a five gallon bucket an enough water to cover it, let it sit until it swells, then add some more water and let it sit for two days,then dump it out where the hogs are using. Put out some shelled or on the cob corn also. Take an old blanket or some kind of cloth and wrap it around a tree and soak it with diesel fuel and burnt motor oil, wrap it about 18 to 20 in. off the ground, ( we used gunny sacks) that is a burlap bag for all you city slickers. Keep the site worked two or three times a week and make plenty of noise when you add feed and corn. For you lazy hunters you can call the hogs each time you put the feed out and in two or three weeks the hogs will come in just as soon as you move back away from the feed pile, then you can take your pick. Some words of advice, after the hogs get used to you being around they may not run at the sound of a gun shot or an arrow strike but will get mean as h--- at the smell of blood.

I'll second the use of "Hog Wild!" lure. It has a very "BERRY" smell, not at all unpleasant, and is also easy to use, as you can mix it in with your bait corn, and it also can be added to corn in an electronic feeder. (think grape Cool-Aid would work?)We are now eating on a 250 pounder I took using Hog Wild. I just heard about putting diesel on corn a couple weeks ago. Doesn't make any sense to me, so I'll remain skeptical, until I try it. But, I will try it. I'll bet it would keep other animals away from your corn, though. Anyone know if it keeps coons away? Sounds like it would be just the thing to use in a PVC Y type feeder, for hogs. You don't need an "accellerant" to sour corn, but soured milk, beer, or yeast, just hurries it up a bit. About any type of pelleted stock feed will also sour like corn, but it just makes a mush, and needs to be used in a post-hole bait. Y'all keep the ideas comming. this could get to be a classic thread, worth saving!>>>>>>>>>>>>>Bug.

Used motor oil on corn has worked great when I trap hogs. It helps keep the deer out of the corn and the trap (they really freakout if they get trapped). During a six week period last year I trapped 40 hogs and pigs in three traps in one pasture using oiled corn. My best day's total was 16, in three 4'x8' traps. Over one thousand pounds total.

Hog Killer, I thought that was a joke the frist time I heard someone mention pouring used oil over corn to get hogs. Guess it works.

I have used diesel sprayed over corn for a long time...it really does work! Believe me....I was very skeptical at first but gave in and tried it....now it's standard practice for trapping hogs on my property.

Think you guys are complicating the process. I stalk hunt hogs, screw the bait. I keep them off my deer corn with a load of buckshot. BTW, hog carcasses make a good 'yote lure.

Would this same fermented corn mix bring in bears as well?

Just add some molasses or honey to it to sweeten it. Cover it real good so that it gets almost gooey.

this sour mash formula works for girls in alabama & Tennessee too!

Hi,
Is there a particular reason why baiting hogs is so popular? I don't want to start a the Great Bait Debate again, but wonder if you guys use bait/lights just to remove hogs from your land or because they cannot be shot otherwise?

I thought using politicians, liberals, and Democrates were the proper bait for hogs, since they are all related.
Jim

Where I have hunted in West and East Texas most of the hog movement in at night ...and the Game Warden really frowns on anybody do'in anything after dark. So to get the critters to make themselves available during shooting hours where they can be observed we are not shy about using bait. One of the landowners I used to hunt with said that the natural gas pipeline company he worked for put out a notice to look for any kind of hog rooting activity anywhere around the pipelines as the hogs sensitive nose could find leaks faster than a Field tester. So there must really be something to the hogs attraction to petroleum products.
Ron

It sounds like those hogs are just looking for a cheap buzz ! ! !

this hog baiting is interesting, but i have a question about it. i read an article somewhere on the internet about this. as i recall, the article said that baiting only works on currently resident hogs. in other words, it attracts hogs that are already in the vicinity, but hogs won't normally migrate into your area due to baiting.

any truth to this.........

if not, from how far away do you suppose a well placed bait will attract hogs? i wouldn't want to inadvertantly draw some guys domestic hogs off his farm. that kinda thing will get you in some big trouble where i live.

Is there anybody that has "health" concerns about eating a hog after the hog has been feeding on diesel or motor oil in other words, I would like to eat the wild hog that has been baited with used motor oil or diesel, but I'm concern that I could get sick or poison.

LC 92
Don't cover the corn while it is fermenting and it won't smell so bad and the mold on top won't be as bad. Cheap pancake syrup makes a great starter. After fermentation you can keep it covered for months without any deterioration. Just pour off the funky stuff on top and the rest will be just fine.