HOG HELP

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smokinblue

Member
Joined
May 30, 2007
Messages
18
Location
Lafayette, GA
Im trying to find a hog. Ive never killed one and i have a real bad hankerin to. Ive hunted pinlog but no luck so far, saw some really good sign last year. Any pointers for a would be hog hunter??? And what is your thoughts on tryin to kill one with a .17cal.?
 
Leave the .17 caliber home!!! I have killed hogs with rifle, handgun, bow, and have caught them alive with dogs. Hogs are tough animals and they are mean. If you wound a hog and have to go into one of those dense thickets after it you had better have a weapon with some stopping power. A sow hog with pigs will eat you alive if you get between her and the pigs.....a big boar has razor sharp tusks and he does not mind using them...a sow has tusks too, they are just smaller. Go from middle to south Ga in the eastern half of of the state. Beaver Dam WMA has a lot of hogs. FT Stewart military reservation has a big population of hogs. A lot of farmers in south Ga will let you hunt hogs on their land after deer season is closed for a small fee.
A good place to start looking for hogs is around a water source... small river, stream, or swamp.... that has a lot of fresh rootings around it. Hogs need a lot of water and they find grubs, worms, roots etc to eat in the soft dirt around these areas. When pressured or when the weather is hot hogs go nocturnal. Hogs are extremely smart and have a great sense of smell. Hogs cover a great deal of ground in search of food. They are never very far from that water source I mentioned earlier.
Good luck....
 
Very Good advice from Cathooker!  If yer gonna hunt hogs at least try to do it with something that will keep them off you. A .17 will only pee it off and make it want to come see you in a bad way. I don't know where you are from but if you are in East TN there are a lot of folks that hunt the Ocoee and Tellico WMA's with dogs and most don't mind if you go with them. Just be careful and don't shoot the dogs as they are fairly fond of them.
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 If you are in GA he gave excellent places there. Also there is hogs on Cohutta WMA and other areas in North GA that is good. Just be careful. </p>

 I almost gave up hog hunting when a friend of mine got mauled by a mad boar. Hog killed two dogs and then turned on him. He shot it 3 times with a 44mag. and it still cost him over 400 stiches and permanent disability. A long ride to the hospital when you are bleeding out....</p>
 
I stuck one in the wrong end with an arrow once, and that too will just make them mad. I won the contest, but it was kinda touch and go there for a while before I finally did the job right. Boar can be very dangerous game and you need to be prepared and properly armed!
 
I hate to stir up an issue here, but as it happens, I've taken 3 hogs with a .22 mag. Dropped them colder than a wedge. On the WMA's in Alabama, we can take a hog during a squirrel hunt, but you must use whatever weapons are allowed for that season...a shotgun with #4 or smaller, or a rimfire. A well placed shot with a .22 mag. (right behind the ear) will drop one in a heart-beat!

An old man once told me, when asked what his favorite shot on a deer was, "Right in the ear...Shoot anything right square in the ear and it'll go down."
 
There is no doubt that a well placed shot from a 22 mag will kill a hog or deer.....but for an inexperienced hog hunter in less than ideal conditions what is goin to happen if he is just a little off the mark? Wounded hogs a very dangerous animals. As I have gotten older and hopefully a little wiser I tend to be more cautious.
 
Send me a private message and I will give you some directions to a fair wild hog population not far from LaFayette!!

As far as the weapon of choice?!?!?

I have killed 30-40 wild hogs in my life. Killed all of them with a Ruger Model 77 .22 Magnum with a 3 X 9 Leupold scope. Winchester supreme full metal jacket bullet!

I hunt hogs in January-Feburary slip hunting just like you do for squirrels! Keep the wind in my favor, look for sign, follow it.......

Most of the hogs I killed never had a clue I was any where around!! Their vision is terrible, if you have the wind in your favor, you can almost walk right up on one!

A well placed shot with a .22 magnum will drop a 450 lbs boar without a quiver!!

If I was hunting a mad hog, running one with dogs, one that was fighting for his life, I would not feel safe with a bazooka!!!

As Big Bud, one of Arkansas' greatest hog hunters once told me, "If a hog charges you, DO NOT MOVE, he will miss you EVERY time!!!emoLaugh
 
What has been said is true. Hogs have been taken and so have bear and deer and everything else. Its not always the gun but the one behind it that matters. </p>

 I have also taken a hog with a regular 22 long rifle and 22 magnum. But for a person that is asking advise on a first hunt, I would rather them be safe than sorry. So I stick with my original staement. Leave the 17 at home and use enough gun for the job.</p>

 If one is chargin, I wouldn't want to be the first in line to stand there. I have hunted with dogs and still hunted both. We have taken them live with the dogs and its a lot of fun. Just have to really know yer dog. </p>

My old dog was a cross between a leapard curr and a plott. If I was the first to the hog and could keep talking to him he would hang on for dear life. But he also let go of a few on a couple of guys that he didn't know and then they had a rather bad time of it.
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fisherpal2k - 8/15/2007 10:45 AM



 But for a person that is asking advise on a first hunt, I would rather them be safe than sorry. border="0" /></p>

fisherpal,

I agree with you 100%

When it comes to a hog that has been riled up by dogs or a chase!!

I have killed the most of mine on slip hunts, caught many with dogs, never killed a wild hog with a big gun!!Most of the hogs I have killed have been in the Saline River bottoms in Arkansas, have killed one a year here in Georgia, and I have to say, the wild hogs in Northwest Georgia aint real big or mean from my past experiences!

Here is a copy paste of "part" of my advice to smokin on hunting hogs!!
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Cold weather is the secret to finding wild hog sign in the woods, the colder it gets, the more they feed.

The best trick in the book to find hogs is......"slippin covers"

On a cold night, hogs will bed up in groups of 10-20. The hogs on the outside of the group will get cold, and try to move to the center of the bed..........they will fight over the warm spots in the middle, you can hear this for miles!!!

Get out very early on a cold morning, listen, you will hear them!!!
 
Hundreds of Hogs close by! Sylco Creek area is over run with hogs. Go to the Sylco Campground (free camping year round) and follow the trail down the creek toward the lake (Parksville). You can see meadows across the creek and watch the hogs.

Stay Hidden. They'll run if they see you, even 200 yards away.

To get in the middle of them, follow the creek, not the trail, and explore the fields on both sides; so many hogs the fields look like they've been plowed by a drunk farmer. There is a ridge on the east side of the creek with lots of trees and boulders to hide behind.

Here's my camp guard. She likes to sleep 30 to 50 feet away from my camp and guard it. She taught herself this trick. I don't worry about bears but I don't mind the insurance either.
 
digitalcb - 8/16/2007 9:53 AM Hundreds of Hogs close by! Sylco Creek area is over run with hogs. Go to the Sylco Campground (free camping year round) and follow the trail down the creek toward the lake (Parksville). You can see meadows across the creek and watch the hogs. Stay Hidden. They'll run if they see you, even 200 yards away. To get in the middle of them, follow the creek, not the trail, and explore the fields on both sides; so many hogs the fields look like they've been plowed by a drunk farmer. There is a ridge on the east side of the creek with lots of trees and boulders to hide behind. Here's my camp guard. She likes to sleep 30 to 50 feet away from my camp and guard it. She taught herself this trick. I don't worry about bears but I don't mind the insurance either.
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What are the regs for hunting there? Hog hunting is one of my favorites! I grewed up in South Fl, and hogs get big and MEAN there!</p>
 
A note of caution.

The Sylco area has a pretty high bear population. I have personally seen two Black Bear a quarter mile apart within 20 minutes. One was definitely checking out a van with a cooler inside that was parked at the top of one of the trails leading down to the Ocoee White Water Center.

This year they're bound to be concentrated near water and cranky because of competition for food in the areas where they're concentrated I carry a pocket full or those small, loud firecrackers when I'm out (in addition to the .45)

I imagine the Rangers will be enforcing their rules about food storage in an effort to keep us safe. They are good sensible rules.
 


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