More Hog Hunting Tips and Tricks
Boarmasters Wildlife Attractants 10.26.11
Boarmasters has graciously provided us with some more of their proven boar hunting tips. Check out their guide for baiting and luring here.
Don’t pile your bait up on top of the ground! Use a post hole digger and dig a hole as narrow and deep as you can, then fill it up with your bait. Hogs will gobble it up within minutes. If the bait is hard to get to, they will have to take turns. This makes them hang around longer and forces them to sneak in during daylight hours to beat the crowd. This will increase your odds of taking one.
Trail cams have become a valuable hunting tool. They can help you predict the future and save you time in the field. I use them constantly for research and predictability. I like to check my pictures as much as I do hunting! I suggest investing in a good digital one, they can take hundreds of pictures and video as well. It is almost a sport itself. We also came up with some great ways to keep your trail cams safe. In the image below, the top one was made out of an old ammo can; the bottom out of a cash box.
If you use a stand or blind, camo it please! Hogs don’t have the best eyesight in the animal kingdom but they aren’t stupid either.
Shooting lanes, trails, high lines, pipelines etc, are great places to stalk hogs and look for signs. You can walk quietly and see them from a distance. If you want to bait them in these places, scatter it out over a long distance to make them keep coming back to find it. I use my 4-wheeler with an auto feeder on the back to scatter bait here and there along trails.
Wild boar love to rub on trees and wallow in the mud to rid themselves of lice, blow flies and other pests. Telephone poles are their favorite because they contain creosole (a preservative and bug repellent). I cut one up that fell in my yard during Hurricane Rita and took it to the woods for the hogs, they use it constantly. You can see the bed they have made beside the bottom picture.
Put your stand where the hogs are if you’re going to stand hunt. If you want to be successful, you have to be willing to work, and get dirty! I have to wade to this stand sometimes, but I stick them in the pump station regularly.
Dominant boar are like an old buck, they like to be by themselves. Every now and then you will catch one in the daylight showing his authority. Hunting them can be difficult and challenging because they are loaners, and they are well educated to survival. Large tracks that are by themselves usually indicate a dominant boar. In the picture below we are using Russian Mix by Boarmasters, developed and tested on our 5,000 acres to mask the bitter taste of added vitamins and minerals. Not only did it perform its purpose, we also noticed a 50% increase in daytime feedings. Four ounces will flavor up to 250lbs of feed or corn.
Stake down any feeder that you use. This boar picked up my barrel that weighs about 500lbs when full with his snout. It was cracked.
When you see baby hog tracks, it’s time to hunt. Momma hogs have a hard time keeping up with the babies and feeding them, they love to eat. Not only does nursing deplete a mother bog’s calcium and make her eat more often, but the babies are learning to eat real food and are not educated on rules of survival. They will lead the whole heard into the daylight. They want to eat and the herd wants to protect them. Hunt them down now!
Whether you’re hunting with a camera, setting a trapline, or just want to increase your interactions with wildlife make sure to check us out on the web at www.boarmasters.com.
