Cold weather behavior?

[kodiakoutdoors]

How do hogs behave when the weather is cold/wet or in the snow? Are they more active all day or do they tend to stay bedded in thick brush? I've heard different opinions, but nothing convincing. I'm only talking California hogs, specifically up at Tejon Ranch. Thanks!

 

[Speckmisser]

Kodiak,

I've only got two experiences at Tejon so far, and the weather was almost opposite each time.

First trip was a May hunt, and the weather was warm and dry. The most movement I saw the entire weekend was first and last light, as the hogs moved to and from water and food (food is everywhere up there).

The next trip was last March, as a winter storm was rolling in. We saw hogs active in the open from mid-day through dusk. At least one big herd of hogs moved past me during the peak of the storm, probably within 40-50 yards at one point on the other side of a ridge and I never heard them due to the high winds and driving rain/sleet. As soon as the storm lulled, they started moving out to feed. They literally came out of the woodwork.

The best I can tell from Tejon and other areas I've hunted, the weather moves them a lot like deer. They don't want to be out in really nasty stuff, but right before and after a system moves through they get real active.

The only time I've hunted them in snow they fed like crazy right before the storm hit (I could hear them all through the woods from my camp... talk about hard to sleep!), but in the morning while the snow was falling they disappeared completely. The snow stopped in mid-afternoon, and I started spotting fresh sign again. Unfortunately, it got dark before I could get on the pigs for a shot.

 

[BLASTMASTER]

A biologist at CR told me that they hunker-down in the extreme cold (ice/snow) but just a little rain will warm it up enough for them to come out.
From my experience, they at least hang close to overhead cover when it's raining heavy, but sprinkles don't bother them.