Dr. Bob's BigWoods Hog Hunting Primer

 Fair chase wild boar hunting can be frustrating as the animals are supremely intelligent, wary, and, if you do get a shot, can take a lot of punishment and keep on truckin’. Given our vast experience hunting this wily critter at The BigWoods, what follows below is intended to help the hunter know what to expect when he goes afield and also to give him a better chance of going home with meat.

 First, a few basic pointers about porkers: they are nearly blind, and as a result rely much more on their sense of smell and hearing, than say, deer that can also see. Any hunting of hogs that does not take into account their keen sense of smell is doomed to miniscule success rates. Also, hogs are very intelligent; under heavy hunting pressure, they learn to pattern the hunting, amongst other things, quickly adapt by patronizing corn feeders only after dark. Hogs are stout compact animals. As such, they can take terrific punishment as a result of poor bullet placement. One last elementary point: hogs, almost as much as a nekkid person, hate cold weather.

 To make our hunters successful, we at The BigWoods employ multiple stratagems:

1.   We bait randomly around stands, rather than just using feeders. We often begin the baiting process off in the woods and then bring the corn out near the feeder. By varying routines, the hogs have more trouble figuring out how not to get shot. If only baited from a feeder, they learn very quickly not to come out till after dark.

2.   Most of our hog stands face on some side into the woods or into a cul-de-sac as hogs tend not to come out into big openings till daylight leaves.

3.   To counter act the hogs keen sense of smell, we try to position the hunter so that the hog will present himself upwind.

4.   During the winter, we take over 80% of our hogs in the afternoon. On a cold day, a hunter is usually wasting his time going out at daylight. It is much more profitable to sleep in and go out late in the morning from about 9:30 AM till Noon, rather than from dawn till 10 AM. Hogs just don’t move in the morning when it’s cold; thus, we encourage our hunters to sleep and hunt late when it’s cold. In addition, even during the warm months, hogs tend to move the most right at dusk.  The graph below showing hog activity is monitored by electronic bracelets and shows that the peak activity is right at dusk and extends into the next 30 minutes or so after dark.  We have found that a hunter who has a portable red spotlight attached to his scope often has increased success, as compared to a hunter who has to leave the stand when dark falls.  The Night Blaster Light appears to be one of the cheapest and best models of this type

5.   Likewise, we prohibit hunters from going up to the feeder and “spinning” it or walking around the stand prior to the hunt as both of these activities will ensure that the hog will smell the hunter and not come out of hiding. We have heard of some hunting ranches that give the hunter a baggie full of corn to put out before he gets into his stand; this of course is retarded, because in addition to the corn you put out, you are also putting out your scent, thus notifying the hogs that their worst nightmare is up a tree nearby.

 We encourage hunters to hunt with 22 cal center fire rifles (.223, .220 Swift, 22-250, etc.) rather than bigger calibers. This stamps on the hunter the necessity for head shots. Also, most hunters shoot more accurately if there is little recoil. If a hunter is not going for a head shot, he should take a large .300 caliber magnum to be certain he’ll find his animal after shooting it. Hogs baited over corn are seldom running, so shooting at a running animal is not a big consideration as it might be for deer hunting. As an aside, we have probably lost more hogs shot with a .270 than any other caliber: for a body shot on a pig, it’s just doesn’t pack enough punch.

 By keeping these simple thoughts in mind, your chances of getting a hog should be above 90%, which is what we consistently achieve at The BigWoods. To simplify my points: don’t stink up the place and shoot ‘em in the head.