Is bow hunting hogs any good in the summer time? As an avid hog hunter, I get asked all the time about how the weather and conditions affect hogs and the ability to hunt them. To better answer this question, I've done some of my own scholarly research and compiled it with my personal experiences to share with others looking to make hog hunting a successful year-round sport. On the surface, it comes down to the physiological make-up of hogs. While most warm blooded animals cool themselves in the summer by perspiration, hogs lack this feature. Hogs don't sweat. Thus, to cool themselves they roll in the mud and swim in creeks, streams, and rivers. How does this help us hunt hogs year round? It sounds simple, go to the water sources. There's actually more to it than that. You can read the remainder of my blog post, where I go into more detail here: Hog Hunting In The Summer
Hi Will. You certainly don’t need LED lights to hunt hogs, but it is important to understand their behavior and character traits for more successful hunts in the long run. The more advantages you have in your favor, the better your chances are. I hope this helps you in your future hunts. Have a good day sir.
I know, I was being flippant. I hunt hogs year round, usually kill around 20-30 a year, and I don’t see any noticeable difference in their behavior early mornings or evenings.
That’s strange. In Texas, we see significant behavior changes from winter to summer. During the winter, you have a good chance at seeing hogs any time of the day and they venture out away from the streams, creeks, rivers, etc. I supposed this is due to their inability to perspirate. In the summer, it is pretty rare to see hogs running around during the day time and if they do they are generally pretty close to a water source to cool off. They are almost entirely nocturnal in the heat of the summer unless you know what to look for in terms of living conditions. I hope you were able to read the whole article, but at the end I hit on finding the right summer time environment near a water source. We often see them gathering in thick brush during the day time.
My goal for the property this year is 30. So far we are only up to 6. Last year we got 11. I'm hoping that trapping them gets me closer to my goal.... first year to trap. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
We had good luck trapping them initially but shortly thereafter it quit working and hasn’t worked since. They’ll eat corn all around the trip but won’t ever go in. I’d like to set up a camera to video their shenanigans.
Sometimes I’ll go sit and not even shoot one if they are all too big. I’m generally by myself and retrieving the big ones 350lb plus is getting old fast.
lol, I stayed out of that discussion. I personally don't like the idea of poisoning b/c I'd hate to affect other animals and I consume the meat. But also I'm not on farmland: hog presence affects my deer hunting not my income or agriculture production. I'm sure I'd be throwing everything I had at them if it affected my income. I'm hoping trapping gets me where I want to be but I'm also sure it probably wont. They are fun to hunt but there is absolutely no way that hunting on its own will cull the population. I'm optimistic...
There is less residual sodium nitrite in the muscle of a poisoned hog than in a ham. Pretty sure coyotes and buzzards will eat a ham with no problem and/or side effects.
I have noticed in the spring and fall that hogs will come out during the early afternoon hours and root around in the woods during a full moon. I have shot quite a few just sneaking around the woods on a lunch break. I am up to 38 this year alone between trapping and hunting. My hunting spot sits not to far from a river and two large lakes with tributaries that run through my place. Creeks and rivers= hog highways
Wow 38 already! Sounds like a lot of freakin work.... I'd have to be out there constantly to get my numbers that high by May! I don't live on the property so I'm sure that's the difference (it's 2 hrs away) I'll be getting my trap re-established this weekend. Hopefully I can get multiple traps running in future years but for now I have only 1. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
I run two coral traps and night hunt when I get a chance. I have a new Ruger Scout rifle in .308 with a suppressor and a night vision scope, I'm getting my moneys worth out of it. I will hit them with the bow when given the opportunity but that's mainly in the fall. As far as baiting traps goes.. I sour corn with bread yeast and sugar in five gallon buckets with cheap molasses. When you think it is done give it another week and dump a couple of cheap beers in it before baiting. Make sure that if you use cow panels to line the inside facing side with chicken wire so the little ones don't get out. I have had some larger ones crawl out over the top but I also get curious deer in the trap more often than not so I have not wired across the top.
Ha! I'm not a good enough trapper yet but we did manage to trap 4 hogs last week.... as Okiebob said, the big ass boar managed to climb out of the trap so we only killed 3 of them. Time to modify the trap I see you're not that far from me if your in Newton (I'm in Zavalla)
