Hog Hunting Public Land

[sea2summit]

I could see making dog food out of them. But even doing that, I don't expect it would take many hogs to make a years supply of food.

I'm kind of surprised how much mine will go through if I let them. It's time consuming though and freezer space being what it is I usually only do 4-5 hogs a year for the dogs. I don't mess with it at all in the summer or early fall when it's always 90+, just when it's cooler and I don't have to stop what I'm doing to process.

 

[Eagle1]

I'm kind of surprised how much mine will go through if I let them. It's time consuming though and freezer space being what it is I usually only do 4-5 hogs a year for the dogs. I don't mess with it at all in the summer or early fall when it's always 90+, just when it's cooler and I don't have to stop what I'm doing to process.

Mine will gorge if I let them. Right now we average about 50 pounds of dog food per week. Got all local hogs to go away, so just beef, deer trimmings for the dogs.

 

[Storm56]

I used to lease some ground in Central Florida for some hog hunting over the winter. They are intelligent creatures and have a great nose. Got most of them over baits. After hunting them for a bit, turned completely nocturnal. I would hunt them from 10 PM unti, 2 AM.

We ate some and the sows and smaller ones were pretty good. Tasted just like a pig but much leaner. Had to be careful not to overcook them or they got tough and dry.

As far as the ones we did not take, they did not go to waste! Lots of creatures around that loved hog meat. They generally about completely disappeared in 24 to 36 hours.

Was a good time but the place got leased out to a regular hunting group that turned it into a club.

 

[oosik]

Thanks for your replies guys. I just have no knowledge of hogs.

 

[gsganzer]

As a courtesy to the rancher, we always try to haul them to the dump pile. We call it the "train station" where all the dead ranch animals, deer gut piles and pigs get dumped. This helps to avoid the rancher feeling the need to investigate circling buzzards on various parts of the property.

When I go out with a thermal at night, I'll always investigate the train station as ironically, it seems a large boar will always stake that area as his turf and will be nearby. If I shoot him, within a few weeks another boar will then claim that area.

 

[Darth_DMack]

Hogs are horrible around my property. I make quick work out of them with the 6.8 SPC.

 

[gsganzer]

That one has a heck of a pot belly.

 

[EddieWalker]

We make dog food out of them, but that’s only when we get ahold of a fresh kill or we shoot it ourselves. I just cut the back straps and hams out. It’s not fancy, but it’s just going into the crock pot.

I like to use the carcass for coyote bait. I’ve gotten a few doubles off of a rotting hog, but if I just get one, I’m pretty happy.

The guy who shoots the hogs on my land got two coyotes a month ago off of some hog piles that had been out there for a week.

 

[LittleBill21]

is there a standard thermal scope most people are happy with it? or is it all over place like a chevy or ford?

 

[gsganzer]

is there a standard thermal scope most people are happy with it? or is it all over place like a chevy or ford?

I've only had Pulsar thermal scopes, monoculars and bino's. I originally started with a Pulsar Trail XQ50 (384 x 288 resolution) and a Pulsar XM30 monocular (320 x 240 resolution). I still have both.

But I've since upgraded to a Pulsar Thermion 2 XP50 (640 x 480 resolution) and a set of Pulsar Merger LRF XP50 bino's (640 x 480).

I'd strongly recommend you go with something in the 640 x 480 resolution. It really helps with making a positive ID, but it partly depends on where/how you're going to hunt. My original gear is perfectly fine for hunting at a feeder, where it's going to be easier to ID what shows up. But I do a lot of walking around at night and I definitely prefer the greater resolution to make a positive ID.

There's starting to be a lot of manufacturers and models on the market, including some models with even higher resolution (1024 x 768) and I expect that the prices will start coming down on the 640 x 480 units.