In Texas Feral Hogs are not just a nuisance they are a destructive and dangerous pest that does millions of dollars damage to both public and private lands. They have also proven to be a health risk in that they contaminate water sources.
So much so that Texas A&M AG actually has a team dedicated to the study of the issues.
Part of the problem with Feral Pigs is the intelligence of the animal, They are extremely smart and in many cases it only takes one missed trapping for a pig to learn what a trap is and avoid it. There are actually documented cases of a matriarch (Sow leader) allowing the smaller pigs in a trap eat up the bait and setting the trap off, she will then open the door from the outside to let them out. I have also had T-Posts that were driven over three feet into the ground and the panels wired to them pulled out of the ground.
A feral pigs eyesight is almost as good as a human's eyesight and even better at night, The hearing and smell is better than that of any dog.
While I do not like it there are times when the only recourse in stopping huge amounts of property damage is to mass hunt and attempt to stress the sounder so much they leave for good or eliminate the sounder completely.
Unfortunately this is what is seen most on Youtube some guys out with AR Semi-autos blasting away into a field with bullets flying all over the place.
There is however a safer and more controlled method that is starting to be used more and more. It will usually if done right result in more kills and is much safer, this method uses silenced weapons with a controlled one shot one kill. Baiting a site with buried bait will usually keep the pigs in the area long enough for a good thinning of the sounder
Part of the key to this being a success is understanding how the hierarchy is structured and how they sound the alarm.
A sounder will almost always consist of a matriarch sow, with younger sows and immature boars in the inner group, An outer group may consist of more mature boars following the sounder attempting to breed.
Like Prairie Dogs there will be usually one or two sentries that will pop up their heads looking for trouble while the others are feeding. The matriarch will most of the time patrol just inside the first ring overwatching her domain and insure the safety of the sounder. If you watch you will actually see her, herding the younger pigs around and sticking her nose in the air, She is the one that will almost always sound the alarm. If she is far enough outside the pack to take out first doing so will lessen the chance of the alarm being sounded greatly
The best approach for population control hunting is to shoot the outsiders first, starting down wind from the pack,
Since this kind of hunting is mostly done at night either night vision or lights are used. If using light the best approach is to use a wide beam green laser that acts almost like a flashlight. It is best if the light is brought down to the shot instead of up from the ground. An alternative is low intensity lights being set out in the hunting area, it is best that they stay on rather than come on when movement is detected as the sudden light will many times startle the sounder into running off.
When a pig is facing slightly away from the shooter aim behind the base if the ear( the angle should be so that the shot will still pass across to the front of the ear on the other side. This shot when done correctly will almost always result is a total freeze up on the pig, it will sit down, arch its back and topple over without a sound.
Since this type of hunting is done a lot with the shooter on the ground there are some dangers that needs to be addressed. As said the larger boars that are trying to breed will be on the outside of the group, They like to move downwind from the group, because of attempting to smell a sow going into heat. If the shooter is not careful the boar can circle around behind them. If there is a wounding shot that results in a distress call, the boar can charge the hunter and become an extreme danger,
In one of my hog hunts I have actually witnessed a 357 shot from a snub nose, glance off the skull of a charging boar.
While Texas feral pigs do not usually grow to the size of russian boars they still can and do very often tip the scales at three hundred pounds with some growing up into the 500 pound range (Though this is unusual) Many will have "cutters" the tusks that can be upwards of three inches long and extremely sharp. They are fast and agile with a very fast darting capabilities. They can hit a wall of bramble bushes without ever slowing down. Many of the older boars and sows will have a shield of scare tissue built up from the shoulders back protecting most of the vitals. This tissue can be close to a inch thick.
Again, I have alway been brought up that If I shoot an animal it should only be done to harvest the meat, as protection when no other choice is present, or to put it out of its misery. However as I have said there are times when there is no other choice. In less than week a sounder of about 8 pigs has dug holes up all over a hay field that are so deep that attempting to cut the field would severely damage the sickle mower and baler.
So much so that Texas A&M AG actually has a team dedicated to the study of the issues.
Part of the problem with Feral Pigs is the intelligence of the animal, They are extremely smart and in many cases it only takes one missed trapping for a pig to learn what a trap is and avoid it. There are actually documented cases of a matriarch (Sow leader) allowing the smaller pigs in a trap eat up the bait and setting the trap off, she will then open the door from the outside to let them out. I have also had T-Posts that were driven over three feet into the ground and the panels wired to them pulled out of the ground.
A feral pigs eyesight is almost as good as a human's eyesight and even better at night, The hearing and smell is better than that of any dog.
While I do not like it there are times when the only recourse in stopping huge amounts of property damage is to mass hunt and attempt to stress the sounder so much they leave for good or eliminate the sounder completely.
Unfortunately this is what is seen most on Youtube some guys out with AR Semi-autos blasting away into a field with bullets flying all over the place.
There is however a safer and more controlled method that is starting to be used more and more. It will usually if done right result in more kills and is much safer, this method uses silenced weapons with a controlled one shot one kill. Baiting a site with buried bait will usually keep the pigs in the area long enough for a good thinning of the sounder
Part of the key to this being a success is understanding how the hierarchy is structured and how they sound the alarm.
A sounder will almost always consist of a matriarch sow, with younger sows and immature boars in the inner group, An outer group may consist of more mature boars following the sounder attempting to breed.
Like Prairie Dogs there will be usually one or two sentries that will pop up their heads looking for trouble while the others are feeding. The matriarch will most of the time patrol just inside the first ring overwatching her domain and insure the safety of the sounder. If you watch you will actually see her, herding the younger pigs around and sticking her nose in the air, She is the one that will almost always sound the alarm. If she is far enough outside the pack to take out first doing so will lessen the chance of the alarm being sounded greatly
The best approach for population control hunting is to shoot the outsiders first, starting down wind from the pack,
Since this kind of hunting is mostly done at night either night vision or lights are used. If using light the best approach is to use a wide beam green laser that acts almost like a flashlight. It is best if the light is brought down to the shot instead of up from the ground. An alternative is low intensity lights being set out in the hunting area, it is best that they stay on rather than come on when movement is detected as the sudden light will many times startle the sounder into running off.
When a pig is facing slightly away from the shooter aim behind the base if the ear( the angle should be so that the shot will still pass across to the front of the ear on the other side. This shot when done correctly will almost always result is a total freeze up on the pig, it will sit down, arch its back and topple over without a sound.
Since this type of hunting is done a lot with the shooter on the ground there are some dangers that needs to be addressed. As said the larger boars that are trying to breed will be on the outside of the group, They like to move downwind from the group, because of attempting to smell a sow going into heat. If the shooter is not careful the boar can circle around behind them. If there is a wounding shot that results in a distress call, the boar can charge the hunter and become an extreme danger,
In one of my hog hunts I have actually witnessed a 357 shot from a snub nose, glance off the skull of a charging boar.
While Texas feral pigs do not usually grow to the size of russian boars they still can and do very often tip the scales at three hundred pounds with some growing up into the 500 pound range (Though this is unusual) Many will have "cutters" the tusks that can be upwards of three inches long and extremely sharp. They are fast and agile with a very fast darting capabilities. They can hit a wall of bramble bushes without ever slowing down. Many of the older boars and sows will have a shield of scare tissue built up from the shoulders back protecting most of the vitals. This tissue can be close to a inch thick.
Again, I have alway been brought up that If I shoot an animal it should only be done to harvest the meat, as protection when no other choice is present, or to put it out of its misery. However as I have said there are times when there is no other choice. In less than week a sounder of about 8 pigs has dug holes up all over a hay field that are so deep that attempting to cut the field would severely damage the sickle mower and baler.
