wingseek

We have a large family farm in the southeastern US. Heavily
wooded with some swamp bottoms and huge oak bottoms
mixed with native pine. This is solely a recreational farm
for game hunting. Within the last year, wild hogs have shown
up on the place. From all that I can read this is a huge problem
in the making. Can anyone offer any tips about formulating
a plan to at least put a dent into these things. I am worried
they will compete with our deer herd and eventually run the
deer off. We are talking roughly a 1,000 acres.

I need any and all advice as to a weapon of choice, trapping
baiting etc

We are highly seasoned hunters but ZERO experience with
these hogs.

der Teufel

For starters, I suggest reading this thread:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=449721

It will be impossible to hunt them out of existence, although you may be able, with diligence, to keep them mostly off of your property. However, that just makes them a problem for your neighbors, and they'll keep coming back. They'll return no matter what you do if there's anything at all for them to eat.

Trapping is most effective. The cardinal rule of hog trapping is "Never let one out of the trap alive"!

As my father-in-law says, "Where there's one hog, there's two hogs. And where there are two hogs, there are LOTS of hogs"!

Good Luck

hoghunter59

build you some corral traps from t post and cattle panels, agree with the above, don't let any out alive less you're goin to sell them. you might have to move the traps around after catchin some in them.
the hogs will completely take over land, moving deer and othe game out of the area.

cabledad

I don't think one land owner can do it ,I think everybody has to work it to cut down the number of hogs.Night hunting is absolutly necessary.In North Texas large land owners don't want you on there land at all.everybody is afraid you will kill a trophy buck on there property while hunting hogs.The government wants to keep control of there land.In Grayson County we have thousands of acres that is covered with hogs and no hog hunting is allowed or so restricted that you kill very few if you go out.Good luck on your family land.Kill a bunch of hogs. Chuck

Big Bullets

I have watched many TV shows and other sources on the subject. I just do not believe trapping is the answer. It seems tedious and dangerous for the number removed.

If I was going to do this for a business, I would invest in night scopes and suppressors. That way, I think that hog after hog could be shot without running them off. From what I have seen, baiting would be necessary to make them come to the chosen spots.

Since I want them dead with one shot, I would chose a 30 caliber round that could be suppressed most efficiently in a semi-auto rifle.

westtexducks

I am going to have to disagree with you Big Bullets about trapping. There is no way a person is going to be able to consistently take out 2-20 pigs every night by hunting them alone. I know a guy thats family farms for a living and they night hunt and shoot them every chance they get but they admit that the method that removes the most pigs is a good trap. He said they have caught upwards of 20 in one trap and when you have enough traps set out it really adds up. But if you build a trap do not underestimate the power of them. Build it sturdy enough that a 300 lbs brute can not break free and release any other pig that is in the trap with him. But by far the most effective way to remove pigs from an area (at least down here where it is open) is by helicopter. Our local golf course was having problems with hogs rooting up the greens and they brought in a helicopter and killed 30+ hogs in one day of shooting. They have yet to return so you might look into this option, but from the sound of the trees this will not be possible.

Big Bullets

You are closer to the problem than I am but, I have watched them trap hogs and then try to tie them up and all the time the hog was fighting. Watched them use dogs and that was worse. All kinds of fuss for little result.

I guess if you bait an area for a week and get them used to going into the cage, that traps them. Do you just shoot them there or wrestle them into a truck?

I figured that you could shoot (with proper equirment) most of those that show up. If that were done repeatedly, you should run low on hogs. The real trick would be using suppressors so that, they do not run while the shooting is dropping them.

Red Jacket has suppressed a 308 which, is what I was thinking of using.

westtexducks

Heck no they dont mess with tying them up they just shoot them in the trap and then eat the little ones. And your idea would work but would be labor intensive having to hunt them every night and they arent always on the property every night. So it would be hit and miss but with a trap you just drive by and check it every morning. I do know some people that will shoot all of them but a little 20 pounder and then they will put it in a pen and fatten it up like a domestic pig and then butcher it. But not very many people that I know have done that. And another method for killing hogs is to take a sow in a pen and use her for bait and shoot the hogs when they come visiting. We shot some last year outside of the pen of our show pigs that were visiting there cousins. And my uncle has done the same on his farm where he was fattening up a pig he shot 4 before they could get out of dodge. But I dont know very many people who have used this method. We used it by accident but it worked pretty good.