Hunting & Fishing Ambush on feral hogs - advice needed

[Mr Flannel]

Guys

I do a fair bit of feral pest destruction down here in the great southern land but I'm about to try something new. Some property owners I know have an issue with feral hogs rooting up their pasture (both day and night), fouling their dams and recently they picked off a newborn calf

. So, they've asked for the heat and I'm only too happy to oblige, being a feral hog hating conservationist from way back. Anyway, I've shot pigs before but these ones have plenty of state forest to retreat into and aussie feral pigs are crafty bastards with excellent sense of hearing and smell, so I'm not wasting time hunting them on foot in dense bush. Instead, I'm going to try baiting them into the open and shooting them from a hide. I've only done the bait thing once before, using a carcass - and the pigs ate the lot within 2hrs - before I came back to lie up. So, I'd like to seek some advice from the learned SH collegiate on baiting methods.

I was thinking about soaking corn or lupins in a mix of beer and jelly (jello in US speak?) crystals, with maybe a splash of diesel fuel and let the whole mess ferment for a few days before burying it near one of their favourite spots - and maybe spreading a little on the surface. Has anyone tried this or similar bait before and how has it worked out? I'd be particularly interested to know how long it took the pigs to come onto the bait used.

As for the mechanics of shooting, by the looks of the aerial photo map, there's a shed about 300m away where there's been human traffic and the pigs are obviously used to it. That may serve as a shooting point and the system will be a surgeon based 6x47 Lapua shooting 90gr ballistic tips.

That's it. All advice welcomed.

Priest

 

[SnkBit]

Re: Ambush on feral hogs - advice needed

Anything with an overly sweet smell will drive them nuts. We have several commercially available hog baits here in both powder and syrup form. Try the corn with some syrup or something along those lines. What we do is dig a hole with a set of post hole diggers about three foot down and fill it half with treats and top it back off with dirt. Spread a little out on the ground to peak their interest. The post hole will keep them there digging for a while. Also, you may try a trap. I've found that when we get one or two in a trap the others will stay near them until something runs them off. Gives you plenty of time to setup for some good shooting.

 

[ChadTRG42]

Re: Ambush on feral hogs - advice needed

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: SnkBit</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Anything with an overly sweet smell will drive them nuts. We have several commercially available hog baits here in both powder and syrup form. Try the corn with some syrup or something along those lines. What we do is dig a hole with a set of post hole diggers about three foot down and fill it half with treats and top it back off with dirt. Spread a little out on the ground to peak their interest. The post hole will keep them there digging for a while. Also, you may try a trap. I've found that when we get one or two in a trap the others will stay near them until something runs them off. Gives you plenty of time to setup for some good shooting. </div></div>
All good advice. Do the scented corn with your choice of sweet scent (jello, pig out, fruit juice concentrate, etc) and put it out. Keep putting it out every day or so (or with a timed feeder), and they will keep coming back. You can even put it in more than 1 location. Once you blast away on the pigs, it will be a while before they come back to that spot, that's whay I like multiple spots. You can also put up a game camera to patern them to know when they come in and how many. This way you can show up before they get there to be ready. This is what I used to do to hunt them at night. They are most active then. Get a spotting scope mounted to your rifle (or night vision) and go to town.

 

[ejd049]

Re: Ambush on feral hogs - advice needed

Check out http://www.texasboars.com/ for some info.

For hunters it is a good problem to have but for a rancher or farmer they are not.

 

[jeffbird]

Re: Ambush on feral hogs - advice needed

All of the tips above are good advice. Avoid using the diesel though, it can contaminate the soil and water on a long term basis, even in small amounts. One other suggestion if there are some utility poles or very heavy duty fence posts in the area, a burlap bag soaked in used cooking oil tied around a pole will attract them to rub on it.

 

[kingrabbit]

Re: Ambush on feral hogs - advice needed

ejd beat me to it.. texasboars is a good sight .. lots of helpfull folks there..

 

[MikeeBooshay]

Re: Ambush on feral hogs - advice needed

Another lil tip - when shooting a bunch of of piggies, shoot from the back of the pack forward. If you shoot the lead pig, they scatter, but from the back forward, they don't know anything about the mayhem behind them.

And traps are good - cleaning up afterwards... not so much. 20 pig carcasses is work, anyway you do it. For sure, you'll see some ticks and fleas.


I love shooting pigs...pics please!

 

[snewhouse]

Re: Ambush on feral hogs - advice needed

We mix this stuff called Hog wild and mix it up with corn to attract hogs when i hunt hog in florida. It is very sweet smelling and the hogs love it . Unfortunately the bears love it too. burying molasses will work too

 

[Mr Flannel]

Re: Ambush on feral hogs - advice needed

Cheers guys - thanks a lot for the feedback

What I'll do is not use the diesel and will either use jelly crystals or molasses in corn feed, maybe with some beer to turn it nice and rank. I'll dig the stuff in - about 3 holes with maybe 10kg or so into each hole, with some spread on the surface.

I'd like to use a trap or feeder(s) but don't have access to any. This is all going to be low-tech. Given it's a 2hr drive to the property and I can only get there on weekends, I might get the owners to lay some of the bait in the week beforehand to give the pigs time to catch the scent and find it. Hopefully by the time I roll in and dig more in, the pigs will be primed for attandance and subsequent 'retirement'. I'm sure if I get a chance to shoot some of them, the rest will be spooked off for a time but I'll take the advice offered here to try and minimise the chance of that.

Nothing quite like a well-planned and executed hit. Hopefully, there'll be a result...

 

[rrflyer]

Re: Ambush on feral hogs - advice needed

A trick a buddy of mine used is to get a log and bury the corn/jello mix in a line in front of the log. That way a few will line up and you can get some pass through hits.

 

[kingrabbit]

Re: Ambush on feral hogs - advice needed

for low tech ive read about folks using pig pipes.. guess it is a larger piece of pvc pipe capped off on both ends with holes drilled through out the pipe so corn rolls out as the hogs throw it around. use a chain at one end through a spike or something in the ground to keep the pipe in one area.. i will look for the link for you..


here ya go... http://www.texasboars.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=16976

 

[Mr Flannel]

Re: Ambush on feral hogs - advice needed

Hmmm, pig pipe - never heard of that. Cheers - might be worth a try. Will do some research and thanks for the steer.

 

[ChadTRG42]

Re: Ambush on feral hogs - advice needed

The pig pipe I've seen used is in a black flex tube that can withstand being abused by pigs. These PVC pipes can easily break. I think it's some kind of underground drainage pipe with holes already in it. Look for that to use.

 

[kingrabbit]

Re: Ambush on feral hogs - advice needed

good call.. never used the pipes personally.. so wouldnt know.. also heard rumor of a pig barrel out there.. either a 50 gallon drum or one of those tough water barrels...

 

[50calibercruiser]

Re: Ambush on feral hogs - advice needed

I just happen to have my barrel at the house for repairs. The holes are 1/2" and I tried to make a pattern, I don't think it matters what so ever. The biggest thing is making sure the pigs can't twist the chain up. The chain swivels at the barrel and to attach it to the ground I drive a 6' piece of re-bar through the metal ring on the other end. This set up works real well as it keeps the hogs occupied for long periods of time. They don't just eat all the corn on the ground and leave, they have to work for it. As a side benefit, they make a ton of noise and are really per-occupied when they work it, making it very easy to sneak up on them. Two #40 sacks of dry corn lasts about two weeks around here.

 

[Mr Flannel]

Re: Ambush on feral hogs - advice needed

Now that's a good idea, easy to construct and you can see how it should keep the pigs occupied.

 

[c1steve]

Re: Ambush on feral hogs - advice needed

I have heard that 150 or so old doughnuts is one of their favorite foods. You just have to find a doughnut shop that is willing to give up their old products for a good cause.

 

[Super Bee 950]

Re: Ambush on feral hogs - advice needed

I mix raw molassis with the corn and it works great. Its very sweet smelling, and you wont vomit everytime you get near it. It also washes off easy, and its very cheap! I dump this on the ground when I show up to hunt, and let the wind carry the smell.

I dont know if its available in your area, but we can buy apple scented corn. Its basically corn with an apple flavored powder coating. Since I put that out, I have had hogs every night (literally). Non scented corn used to pile up on the ground.

The pig pipe works great for me as well.