Don't get your hopes up, it's not much... but I'll share what I know. I've been fortunate enough to live in a part of the country where wild hogs (feral hogs) are an overpopulated nuisance. I say fortunate because as a hunter and not a land owner, they don't directly affect my income and I've been able to harvest somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 pigs with very little money out of pocket. Perhaps my favorite time of the year to hunt pigs is the spring/summer months when they love the water. These animals are becoming wide spread and lots of hunters all over the country are beginning to add them to their list of bowhuntable animals. I don't claim to know much and there are several other guys in this forum that have lots of knowledge as well, to those guys, please feel free to add anything I might have overlooked. I'll try to show photos of what I'm talking about, but my hard drive crashed last fall and I lost nearly all my photos... I'll do my best. Shot Placement My first word of advice when it comes to killing pigs with archery tackle is, "Don't shoot them where you would shoot a deer." The vitals sit MUCH further forward than that of a whitetail. As most of us know there is a significant amount of room behind the shoulder and in front of the diaphragm on any species of deer. It's quite the contrary with pigs. Literally, the diaphragm sits maybe 2" behind the front shoulder, the heart sits directly between the two from shoulders. The ideal shot is quartering away. It may sound ridiculous but a quartering to shot on a pig is not a bad shot. Straight through the shoulders (I'll take the heat for this) is also a very lethal shot. One of my personal favorite shots is to place your arrow right at the base of the jaw and back about 2". The jugular, spine, and trachea all come together right here and aren't protected by any bones. After the shot Unlike a deer that will lay down, a pig will run until it falls over. I've never found a pig in the bedded position as it if layed down to die. The recovery rate for pigs with less than stellar shots is far less than that of a deer. Let's begin with Hogs 101 The Basics Hogs are fairly simple animals and like anything else, they seek water, food, and shelter. The very large majority of the pigs found in the United States are feral pigs, not Russian boars as they are often called. There are some Russian boars or cross breeds and these generally come from hogs that were in a fenced ranch that have either escaped or turned loose. This hog has a little bit of Russain in him, you can tell by the very high back (Razorback) and the steep forehead. The average adult pig weighs somewhere in the neighborhood of 175lbs in my experience. Frequently, their size is over estimated because they look so big... a very easy oversight to make. I've personally only killed one pig that was for sure over 300 lbs. Many people refer to hogs as stupid or dumb animal. This is as untrue a statement as can be made. Hogs have an excellent sense of smell and they hear very well also. Their eyesight is poor but they are far from blind. Pigs make a ridiculous amount of noise when they feed and when they travel. In the majority of the regions that they inhabit the only natural predators that can kill an adult hog are probably alligators and mountain lions. They aren't stupid they just don't pay as much attention because they don't have a lot to fear. Like deer, hogs run in groups with the exception of very large old boars. Much like a deer, you'll often find the mature males alone. Where there are lots of hogs, it's not uncommon to find 40 pigs in one group. And they populate much quicker. Sows have the ability to have a litter every six months and they can have their first litter at the age of six months. So... for example lets say a sow has a litter on January 1st of 10 piglets. For easy figuring we'll say that half of those are male and half are female. On June 1st that sow can have another 10 piglets and the sows from her first litter can have their first litter. So from a single sow you can have almost 60 piglets annually!! Granted, they have bigger litters because they have a smaller survival rate than, say... deer. Both of these piglets were caught and raised on a farm Habits Obviously the best way to find pigs is by sign, but what do you look for than the obvious tracks and droppings? And how do you distinguish the difference between deer and hog sign? Hog tracks are much more "square" than deer tracks and the split hooves are much more easily splayed than that of a deer. After you've seen a few they're fairly easy to identify. This image was stolen from Yahoo, but you can see the difference... much less pointy. Hog droppings are much much different than a deer.
Excellent write up dubs....very nicely done. You're sure right about the thick stuff......Good lord, first of all.......I've never seen anything that thick, let alone see something run through it....How's that skin graft coming? Mine is healing quite nicely. LOL The only other thing I could possibly add from my incredibly limited experience is this.....Man is that some kind of fun!!
Dustin, that my friend is the stuff that makes hunting buddies for life! Thank you for taking the time to write that piece-educate us, if you will. Truly, hunting means nothing if it cannot be shared or passed on. You have opened a flood gate of minds... Awesome!
Nice write-up (great pics to help). Would like to see the same from others on other big game I have never had chance to hunt (elk, pronghorn, moose, bear, etc)...guess I could do one on frog giggin'
Nicely done Dubbya. Pretty much exactly what I gathered about hogs from being in the woods with you a few short days hunting these "ghost"!! :D
Awesome write-up Dubbya. For those of us who've never had the opportunity, reading that makes want to head South for a trip even more. Maybe some day I'll have the $$ to pull it off. One question I have for you guys that have harvested a hog or two... flavor wise, are they about the same as a farm raised pig? Or is more like the difference between wild and domestic turkey...wild is just that much better?
As far as the taste goes, I have had really good tasting and had some very gamey wild taste. Most say if your shooting to eat, (all I do btw) stay away from boars over 100 lbs or so, but I had a 200 lb boar taste just fine. Then turn around and get a 100 lb sow and it was just nasty. I think it really depends on the individual diet of each pig at least thats my opinion. I cut the back straps and make little steaks out of them and smoke each quarter when I am ready to eat them. In my area, once you shoot a pig or two off the same area/feeder, they usually do not return anytime soon. I actually had a spot set up with the 2' hole as dub said, shot 1 sow and they have not returned to the spot 3 years later. In Texas, there are alot of people spotlighting them at night (legal in Texas). Some do it for meat, others do it because as Dub said, they reak havoc on peoples farms. I visited a lease one time with a group of over 100 pigs that were detroying a wheat feild. The farmer hired 6 or so guys and they would spot them and open up with rifles letting most lay. I went a cleaned several. Trapping is also a big sport around here. Again, alot trap for meat, some trap to resale, and others just for the nuisance factor. I actually built a trap at one point and planned on trapping a couple and feeding them out to try to get the game taste out a little but it turned into a carry cage for goats, calves, and dogs. In the heat of the summer, there are also those who rig area lights around their feeders and are powered by solar power. If I had access to alot of pigs, I would go this option. Once the heat hits, pigs feed after midnight all the way up to sun break here. I've always thought it would be cool to sit under startlight waiting on the little oinkers! Nice write up dub, I love hunting a little bacon.
