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Quick hog hunting question for y'all

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  • juwaba98

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    May 9, 2008
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    North Zulch, TX
    OK, so it came up today that I've got hogs coming on my place in the early evening. My property is really brushy and no big open areas which they will come into. So my scoped 30-06 isn't the best choice in weapon as it was difficult to see them in the low light of thick brush and confined space we were in especially since they were on the move (and my dad missed with my Sig P220). So the only other option I have is my Maverick 88 12ga pump with a cylinder bore 20" barrel and 7+1 capacity. So here is my question:

    What is my best ammo choice for a moving pig probably no more than 25 yards or so? Should I go with slugs or would buck shot be better. My concern obviously is penetration more than a well placed shot as I am quite proficient with a shotgun on a moving target. Brand suggestions and slug/buckshot recommendations are what I am seeking from those who are likely more experienced. Also buckshot size as well 00 or 000 for example.

    Thanks in advance for your time!
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    drj3828

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    Mar 4, 2008
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    Grimes County, TX
    Go to Academy in College Station and buy your self some 3" 000 buckshot for your scatter gun it works great I know this because I use the same stuff up on the Navasota river bottom not to far from you.
    DRJ
     

    juwaba98

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    May 9, 2008
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    North Zulch, TX
    I do have water on my place, but it is near the houses on the property and subsequently dogs and other animals that keep them away. I've seen some dumb and brazen hogs but never any that will water 30 feet from a house surrounded by domesticated animals. Plus there is water just a few hundred yards (probably farther) away on another property that appears to be their current favorite waterin' hole. I've seen upwards of 40 hogs in one group for the past two mornings crossing that place within 2-300 yds of mine around 9:30-10:00 am I can watch them for about an hour before I lose sight of them on yet another nearby property.

    Time to get to know my neighbors a lot better than I do now.
     

    picketeer

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    Jul 26, 2008
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    Got any FUZZY PICS of them hogs???????
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    JoeinTX

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    Aug 17, 2008
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    Off topic, but still about "hoggin'"....


    I've been out 3 of the last 5 weekends and while running into whitetails each and every day I was out..............nothing other than one dropping's worth of evidence has turned up any wild hogs. In September they were everywhere, we ran across a bunch of 30 or so right off of the road, and they were tearing-up plots left to right. Now, nada. Neighboring owners are saying the same.


    I've been down in the creek bottoms waiting them out.......driving......walking.........nothing. They are there somewhere but just trying to figure out where.


    Most of the time I carry a sported Enfield carbine (I love the Enfield) but I also tag a CZ .223 carbine along for longer jaunts since it's so light.
     

    juwaba98

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    May 9, 2008
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    North Zulch, TX
    Off topic, but still about "hoggin'"....


    I've been out 3 of the last 5 weekends and while running into whitetails each and every day I was out..............nothing other than one dropping's worth of evidence has turned up any wild hogs. In September they were everywhere, we ran across a bunch of 30 or so right off of the road, and they were tearing-up plots left to right. Now, nada. Neighboring owners are saying the same.


    I've been down in the creek bottoms waiting them out.......driving......walking.........nothing. They are there somewhere but just trying to figure out where.


    Most of the time I carry a sported Enfield carbine (I love the Enfield) but I also tag a CZ .223 carbine along for longer jaunts since it's so light.


    Yeah, they've all but dissappeared on us too. We've seen some light signs but no actual sightings.
     

    JoeinTX

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    Aug 17, 2008
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    Wild hogs do love water and you should be able to trace their movement, and thus your hunting places, by the water sources available. Be patient. We've been very dry here in N. Texas over the last year so much of our pig population has contracted.....staying near sure sources of water and such......so my hunts since September have proved largely without a hint of them. I went last weekend and saw more than I had in the previous 6 months combined.


    I hunt them walking and I simply travel tank-to-tank, creek-to-creek, often finding good places just off of their trail to sit and wait for them to pass. Again, be patient, as I may sit for hours and wait for the best times to catch them which could be hours away. Pigs are tough creatures to catch off-guard......I've run across far more deer in my hunting than I have pigs but I'm not a deer hunter.
     

    kingofwylietx

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    Feb 29, 2008
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    DFW area.....Wylie.
    I don't know how large your property is, but sometimes the hogs will change their travel patterns (assuming there was a pattern). At our ranch, we used to hunt out front, towards the road. The past two years, they have been in the back of our property. Why? I don't know. I do know that you can waste a lot of time looking for hogs in the front, or you can go snag a few in the back fairly easily. Maybe they have changed because of intrusion by other hunters, appearance or disappearance of a preferred food source or water source. If your current tactic isn't working, maybe you can change that by doing something different? Good luck.
     

    kville79

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    May 24, 2008
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    Hogs have no home range, unlike deer, more than likely over a period of time you'll see more than one group of hogs on your property.. that could account for behavior changes that you notice.
     

    JoeinTX

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    Aug 17, 2008
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    Hogs have no home range, unlike deer, more than likely over a period of time you'll see more than one group of hogs on your property.. that could account for behavior changes that you notice.


    True. Hogs are not territorial like so many animals, they are great at moving and adapting and adjusting. Hogs are trail animals....they pack and move along existing trails most of which are from water source-to-water source especially in dry periods. In wetter periods you will see them adjust and move about a little more scattered.


    Our place is only 1000 acres so it's not huge by any means. Hogs love roots and tubers......obvious from their activity in hay fields, food plots, etc.....and right now they are eating a lot of cat-tails in our tanks. Not the plant itself, just the roots, but they are aggresively doing so as their other food sources run out. Thus, I today am haunting their water sources as they look for ways to exist.
     

    JoeinTX

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    Aug 17, 2008
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    As a follow on to my post above I've spent the last few trips concentrating on the tanks where the hogs are watering/wallowing/rooting rather than a lot of walking and today I finally hit paydirt.

    I was checking a few of the tanks where we'd seen recent evidence of activity and as I slowly edged upped the dam of one them as I approached I caught sight of a large black mass just as I was able to see over the dam. I checked him through the scope but really couldn't make out what end of him I was seeing through the cattails so I took another half-step up to get a better picture and that's when I noticed the other half-dozen or so milling around in the mud totally unaware of my presence. As I rolled the safety switch back on my rifle (I rarely chamber a round and rely on the safety but I did today for some reason) something caught my eye to the left. A very black hog, mid-sized, was standing full-broadsided to me at around 20 yards so I swung around and fired round one which impacted squarely behind his front haunches. As he began to squeal I worked the bolt quickly and lined up on another pig that was either confused or lazy because he wasn't moving very fast and hit him in the neck. By this time they were scattering like house cats and I took a wild shot at one running towards the brush that rolled but then got up and carried on into the treeline. Don't know about him.


    I was carrying my CZ carbine in .223 today and it did fine work on both the them. Great little gun for utility purposes.
     

    juwaba98

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    May 9, 2008
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    North Zulch, TX
    So what ever happened? They show back up again and was there a bar-b-que?

    Unfortunately, a whole bunch of nuthin'. They came and went almost with equal speed. I just haven't seen them.

    There is, however, quite regularly some bbqing/grilling goin on at my house. Just not with any of these hogs. I've still got some meat left from the ones we managed to get down in S. Texas around the first of the year but I'm running low.
     

    Big country

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    Mar 6, 2009
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    At least you have a place to try. I can't find any thing around hear that I don't have to drop $200 on. What ever happened to farmers and ranchers just letting you pic off 1 or 2 just to keep property damage down? Keep trying they'll come back they tend to have a cycle that they will rotate on, they will hit different fields in a big circle in my humble opinion they be back. Good Luck!
     
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