How many of you have ACTUALLY been hog hunting?

[Handsome Rob]

Like, for realsies.....

Edited February 24, 2019 by robtattoo

[Handsome Rob]

I'm asking, because everyone seems to have a lot of misconceptions regarding how big or how vicious every wild hog in the world really is. That idea keeps being reinforced over & over in every new thread inquiring about pigs. Not just here, but on every single hunting forum where the subject is raised.

I hog hunt HARD. I'd miss the whole of deer season for 3 good long weeks chasing pork. 99% of my friends are hardcore pig hunters. Most of them traditional archery dudes too! In 15 years of chasing actual wild pigs on 3 continents I've never seen, experienced or heard first hand any of the usual opinions regarding their savagery! I know of one dude in Texas that got chewed on by an angry Javelina, but I've yet to meet a single person with a pig scar.....

[bersaguy]

17 minutes ago, robtattoo said:

I'm asking, because everyone seems to have a lot of misconceptions regarding how big or how vicious every wild hog in the world really is. That idea keeps being reinforced over & over in every new thread inquiring about pigs. Not just here, but on every single hunting forum where the subject is raised.

I hog hunt HARD. I'd miss the whole of deer season for 3 good long weeks chasing pork. 99% of my friends are hardcore pig hunters. Most of them traditional archery dudes too! In 15 years of chasing actual wild pigs on 3 continents I've never seen, experienced or heard first hand any of the usual opinions regarding their savagery! I know of one dude in Texas that got chewed on by an angry Javelina, but I've yet to meet a single person with a pig scar.....

I agree with you on this rob. A lot of talk but no real proof. I have never been even though I have been offer to go on hunts I have never went. I do wish that even half the people that talk about hunting them would actually hunt them because in many places they are getting out of control and doing some serious damage to farmers crops and land. I did watch a program on TV last week about a bunch of hogs that showed up all at once in an area that didn't have any 6 months ago and they were actually going into peoples yards and doing damage and keeping the people from being able to go outside. Some local hunters and the Wildlife Service in that area organized a hunt and drove the hogs out of the housing area and into open pastures and between the hunters on the ground and the two shooters from Helicopters from Wildlife Service they erradictaed about 90% of the hogs but said that if they didn't get all of them the way they breed and have litters 2-3 times a year they would repopulate that area in a matter of 1 -2 years.  I didn't know they bred that often and had babies that often. It's no wonder they are becoming a major concern in so many areas.

[TomInMN]

1 hour ago, robtattoo said:

Like, for realsies.....

I answered No. I did actually go to SW Wisconsin for a long weekend with a good friend of mine. We did load guns and get into the brush for about two days, saw some sign but no pigs.

 

So, I'll say no, I haven't ever really hunted hogs. Not like I've hunted deer or waterfowl or grouse or pheasants or morels.

[MacGyver]

Most of my time on hogs is in the swamps and bottomlands of South Georgia.  I’ve got family down there, so it’s convenient.  

I’ve been treed by one down there.  But, I wasn’t hunting at the time.  Me and a friend just happened to be pumping water at a spring when some piglets came out of the underbrush.  Mama was not pleased.  

These days I enjoy chasing them around Black Warrior and a couple other spots in northern Alabama. It’s just closer than Valdosta. 

I usually run a 45-70 - because that’s what I pretty much shoot everything in the South with these days.  But, there’s no telling how many I’ve taken with an old model 94 in 30-30. I’ve taken some with 5.56.  I’ve taken one with a 500gr .458 SOCOM round just to see - and it made a real mess.  It’s an unpopular opinion these days - but I’ve shot a bunch of pigs that I knew were headed for the freezer in the neck with a .22 WMR.  

They’re not particularly hard to kill.  But, like you I’d hunt hogs 100% of the time over deer or pretty much anything else here in the South.  

[MacGyver]

I don’t think I’d necessarily be against a preserve - if they had a nice lodge and a good chef...

I’ve just never had reason to do it.  

Just not really my thing, I guess.  

[Omega]

I've hunted hog on a few occasions, always in the wild, no enclosure per se, but once I got one on a military base with a fence around it.  Never had issues, even when I'd run into them in the open in GA. I'd like to hunt them locally, but I can wait until they come into my area if need be.

[Handsome Rob]

Talladega National Forest next weekend! I just found out from a friend, we'll be doing a quick backcountry camping/hog trip. I was hoping to have my .300blk upper by then, but I guess I'll be taking my .223 this time around.

[MacGyver]

I like shooting 300BLK suppressed - but when hunting  I still run 110gr TTSX supers most of the time.  The suppressor quiets them down some.  

Its just a good performer in the field. 

[Chris]

I was hunting hogs just last night. Texas has very sensible rules so it’s night hunting with thermal scopes. Huge fun! Very windy so we didn’t see anything but maybe next time. 

As to them being dangerous, I rarely have problems with them but I did get charged on my very first pig hunt. Dropped him at five feet w a 45-70 (hat tip to kahrman). They can be cantankerous when they get irritated. 

These days I’m running a suppressed ar-10 w pulsar thermal scope. .308 lays them down nicely. 

[Jeb48]

Just curious here since I don't think the hogs have moved in to this part of TN yet. I haven't hunted in years and at my age I don't plan to start again but if a wild hog is on to your property can you shoot it out of season and without a license as a nuisance?

[Handsome Rob]

Yep. As long as it's your property.

[Quavodus]

I've always wanted to but, never got the chance. There's not any in my area, at least not now. Who knows in a few years I may be covered up with them.

[10-Ring]

After hunting pigs I have little interest in deer. 

Actually pig hunting is kind of like deer hunting, for men.  

[Quavodus]

1 hour ago, 10-Ring said:

After hunting pigs I have little interest in deer. 

Actually pig hunting is kind of like deer hunting, for men.  

I think if I ever got started in it, I would love it. I read everything and watch every hunting video I can find.

[Garufa]

Hog hunting is the one type of hunting that I am interested in but have never been.  If I did ever go, I probably would have a Smith & Wesson Model 29 at my side just in case one of those beasts attacks.  

[Bobbyb]

I hog hunted for years with dogs. Had to sew a few dogs up but none of us ever go ripped up. My dad would put them down with one shot from colt single action frontier scout 22 long rifle. Taught me when I was about thirteen. One shot and down they go. I still have that gun forty five years later. Just wish I had the knees I had back then so I could keep up with those dogs.

[Jeb48]

14 hours ago, robtattoo said:

Yep. As long as it's your property.

Thanks, wonder if the wife will let me by a hog gun, just in case.

[Handsome Rob]

I'm thinking we need to organise a group trip to Altamaha, south Georgia.......plenty of pigs, never more than a 20yd shot, thick timber & palmettoes, swampy, snakes & skeeters galore & 100% humidity.

You'll literally love it or die

[Ronald_55]

39 minutes ago, robtattoo said:

I'm thinking we need to organise a group trip to Altamaha, south Georgia.......plenty of pigs, never more than a 20yd shot, thick timber & palmettoes, swampy, snakes & skeeters galore & 100% humidity.

You'll literally love it or die

Now you are talking...I mean the trip, not the 4 foot wing span mosquitos and swamp rot.

[MacGyver]

1 hour ago, robtattoo said:

I'm thinking we need to organise a group trip to Altamaha, south Georgia.......plenty of pigs, never more than a 20yd shot, thick timber & palmettoes, swampy, snakes & skeeters galore & 100% humidity.

You'll literally love it or die

I always tell folks that if I’m ever framed for a crime I didn’t commit, I’m heading to South Georgia to the swamp.  

Doesn’t matter who knows. No one is coming in after me.  

[Handsome Rob]

39 minutes ago, Ronald_55 said:

Now you are talking...I mean the trip, not the 4 foot wing span mosquitos and swamp rot.

If you come back with both feet, you're not trying hard enough.....

Even the dogs climb trees to dry out.

Edited February 26, 2019 by robtattoo

[QuackerSmacker]

I think the poll is flawed, in that guys who have hog hunted are much more likely to answer Yes than everybody else is likely to answer No. 

I seriously doubt if the majority of folks on this forum have hog hunted.

But I do like the discussion and the stories, so thanks for bringing it up.

 

[sybo]

I have..... Hunter Leggett Reservation in Calif. I was not fortunate enough to get a good shot as these are skiddish till you get one cornered. LOTS of signs and LOTS of open country. Not so much luck. I want to do a Texas or Alabama hunt one day. I leave for a (fenced) hunt at Loshbough in Crossville on Sunday! We go every year. A lot of people don’t care for these types of “ hunts”, but we do it for the comradeship and the pork in the freezer! It’s a good outfit by the way.

[MacGyver]

I think I'm lucky.

Whether or not I pull the trigger - I equally enjoy just wandering around the woods whether it be for a few hours or a few days.