new hog hunter questions

[theconz]

Hi, all. I think a lot of you folks are in Cali and I am in SC but hogs is hogs so I thought I might ask a couple of questions about moon, weather and hog behavior.

What effect do the cycles of the moon, heat, cold, wind, rain, etc., have on hog movement and hunting prospects. Same as deer? Lay low in wind? I have heard pigs like rain but again all hearsay.

Had my fist encounter with a hog the other day. Never saw it but I heard it snorting for about 30 seconds or more. I swore someone was keeping a pig in a pen so much so that I even checked with a guy in a mobile home just a bit down the road but he said no one raises pigs there. So I guess it was a wild hog. My first time tracking them too. It was something!

Found some scat on the trail after the snorting stopped and I looked down (no, its not mine, but almost!) Looks like it might just be clumped deer scat but maybe pig scat?

Any help is appreciated. Thank you all and good luck!

 

[easymoney]

Welcome...
Your questions are somewhat area specific. Yes, hogs are hogs and very opportunistic and will eat most anything. But out here water is king, pigs need to water every day and sometimes in drought years(like this one) when water is more scarce concentrating the game you would have to focus on those sources. Also out here they are very nocturnal, feeding when it is cooler(and less hunters), personally I do not think that the moon affects them as much as other game animals, they do not like wind but tolerate the heat and cold very well and they love the rain as it softens up the ground and sprouts the grains. Pig poop tends to look almost human like ( in size and shape)depending on what they are feeding on and clumps are not unusual at all. Out here I see bear scat that looks very similar to the pigs.
And out here pigs can be found anywhere in any type of terrain and habitat. We mainly see them out on the big ranches where they grow barley or oats and have water tanks for their cattle, but they tend to bed in the thick nasty stuff on the adjoining public land.
Good luck, hope this was helpful. Look up at the top of the pages for links on most all game species and hunting tips, put there to help all of us...

 

[theconz]

Thanks Easy. The pics of hog scat I have seen did look like human poop moreso than anything else, I agree.

We had a tough drought year here in the Southeast as well but its rained some the last couple of weeks. Mast crop was so/so the good stuff like white oaks didn't drop due to a late freeze last spring but the pin oaks and water oaks did okay. I am hunting pigs around swamps but they seem to be moving into everywhere!

I tell you when I heard that snorting I couldn't believe it. I was trying to think of what else it could be cause I just couldn't believe I'd run into hogs on my first trip. But it had to be. I have never heard that sound before live. I have heard bucks grunt, all kinds of birds, turkeys, yotes, bobcats, suirrels, etc. it wasn't anything I have heard before. Now I have never heard a bear and there are bear in that area but I do not think a bear sounds like a pig. It really got my blood pumping, I can say that.

I also read on one of Jesse's links that a .357 is not enough gun to stop a hog. I was a little suprised. I carry a .357 Model 60 as a backup sidearm if things get dicey. But the article said .44 mag was the smallest handgun round that would stop a hog. I thought a .357 would stop anything! Time to upgrade my backup sidearm to .44 mag or .45 acp I guess.

Thanks again for the info and the welcome!

 

[easymoney]

As to firepower, there are so many good calibersand loads to use on big game and more coming out each year this could take a long time...
IMHO, a 30 cal will stop all the big game in the lower 48, but I have even seen a wild boar killed with a pellet rifle... Personally I use a 300 win mag 180 grn or a 264 win mag 140 grn with hand load noslers for my big game hunting. One shot kills most times... Pistols have always been a back up for "close range" firepower. But in the right hands and with right loads a pistol can be very good... That being said, at close range a 357 is deadly and a head shot is as well. But, I don't like to get too close to big boars who are pissed off, they have the choppers and speed to do real damage. With my bow, I like shots in the 15-30 yard range, close enough but not so close and they usualy can't hear or smell me...
Just my two cents.
The sounds pigs make, the classic oink/grunt is unmistakeable, but I have heard bears that sounded like them, a sort of huffing and grunting...

 

[Speckmisser]

Welcome aboard, Conz.

I think Easymoney hit most of your questions as well as any Cali guy could do. What part of SC are you in?

Definitely looks like hog crap to me, and there are tons of them in SC. Hog grunting is pretty distinctive too. You can go hear the same thing in any pig pen.

Those swamps can be tough hunting, because there's tons of water and food all over the place. Word I got from southeastern SC is that the acorns dropped late and plentiful, so I can imagine they're pretty scattered.

As far as what to shoot... the .357 will be OK if you're up close and personal, which you should be in that habitat. I'd prefer something with more oomph, though. I carry a .44 mag for handgun hunting. I'd also avoid direct frontal shots if you can, as you'll get better penetration at the base of the ear. With smaller hogs, that .357 with a good penetrating bullet (like the Gold Dot, Nosler, or a cast bullet like the Cor-Bon) will kill fine in the boiler room. It wouldn't be my first choice as a primary gun, but it'll be fine for "backup".

If you don't mind using bait, it's a good way to get the pigs to move consistently in a specific area. We can't do it here in CA, and it's not my favorite method anyway, but it does work in situations like you've got there. Unfortunately, if the acorns are still dropping you may have a hard time competing, since they seem to prefer acorns over corn piles.

Good luck, and post up your success (it looks like you're getting pretty close).

 

[sfhoghunter]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (theconz @ Dec 23 2007, 10:31 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

I tell you when I heard that snorting I couldn't believe it. I was trying to think of what else it could be cause I just couldn't believe I'd run into hogs on my first trip. But it had to be.[/b]

If you think it was, then it was. As mentioned, the sound of hogs grunting and squeeling is unmistakeable. It almost sounds like a cartoon or movie soundbite - exactly what you'd imagine a hog to sound like. It definitely does get your blood going! Good luck with your hunting.

 

[theconz]

Thanks guys. I am in the "upstate" of SC, Greenville area, but travel all over. I'm a transplanted New Yawker.

I spent 5 hours scouting today on some public land where a friend said he saw some sign. I didn't find the sign he saw but I walked the edge of the swamp and found a lot of fresh rooting right on the edge. I was walking for 5 hours and getting discouraged but that last hour made it all worthwhile. But I was too pooped to hunt it. Its a good hour back to the swamp and Ihad togo back to the jeep for my climber if Iwanted tohunt it. But now I know where in general to go and the cool off will do it some good.

Oh, and I saw 3 or 4 trees with these gouges or cuts about a foot up. Wondering if that maybe is a boar doing that. Saw the wallows, the rooting.Almost every root area had a tree in or near it with mud. But it wasn't a lot of rooting, maybe 6 or 7 10' X 10' areas. Anyway if I bait is that where I should do it? My didgital camera busted I need toget a new one I will post the pics of the sign.

Yeah, I can't imagine the sound I heard was anything but a hog. I am rifle hunting with my .308 I just carry the pistol for emergency. The edge of the swamp was high grass with rteial running into it and I could see the rooting right on the edge but I was still nervous. I stayed about 10 yards into the swamp from the edge and slung the rifle and had the pistol out. If I got bum rushed the pistol would do better in close quarters. But nothing happened.

I stayed off the trails leading back into the grass so as not to leave my scent. I am gonna set up a climber on the other side of swamp in the am. Its only about 100 yds wide and thats not a bad shot for the .308. But a lot of guys say the pigs have gone nocturnal so I may have to bait or move closer near the beds to catch them coming to bed in the am or heading out in the pm. But well start backed off and then see whats what and adjust. I don't want to crowd them right off the bat.

Thanks again for the feedback!