I recently went hunting on this fellas land, had an ad on craigslist, $100 no bag limit, no size limit, non-canned hunt. I showed up around 5:30AM sat in a blind for about 3 hours, only heard turkeys and squirrels. Walked quietly around some of the trails seeing if I could locate a hog but no luck. Previous morning it rained clearing all the tracks out, so all the tracks the morning I was there were fresh, and man were there alot, probably about a sign of a hog every 2-10ft heavy rooting around feeders aswell. After I tried to stalk for about 4 hours and about 80 acres, nada. Didnt see or stir one hog. It rained about 5pm so I grabbed a bite to eat and when the rain stopped I sat up in a stand till dark and then bam, the woods/swamp came alive with grunts and squeals (figures as I had my 7mm rem mag, and my scope doesnt pickup enough light for me acquire and land a clean shot in the brush) so I called it a day. Forgot to mention, I heavily doused myself in scent killer about once every two hours.
What was I doing wrong? not going into the palmettos deep enough? not looking hard enough? How do you guys hunt them during a hot summer day? Also, next time i'm NOT taking my 7mm, I have a shotgun with a rifled barrel (aswell as a smoothbore barrel for it). What load/barrel would you suggest for hogs? Or I have an AK I could bring. Thoughts opinions & tips appreciated. Thanks.
They were probably buried up in the palmettos to ride out the heat of the day
Ive spent a lot of time up in my ladder in past 6+ months and I learned not to waste my time looking during middle of the day. I usually start to see them about 1 hour before dark and about 2 hours after sun rise. They are most active during the night. During the day I think they are in the thick palmetto/brushes keeping out of sun to keep cool. I know dogs will sniff them out and chase them into the bushes but I think it's too thick for people to get close.
As for weapon, I guess anything will work if you can hit your target. For me, I prefer rifle over shotgun as I don't trust the buckshots beyond about 25 yards and slugs are not accurate enought for my taste beyond 50 yards.
This is based on my very limited knowledge of hog hunting.
They were probably buried up in the palmettos to ride out the heat of the day
Correct! :toast
They were probably buried up in the palmettos to ride out the heat of the day
Yea, that's what the property owner said, also said that they're so well hidden that you almost have to step on them to notice one. gonna go back tuesday and see if i will have any luck, maybe it was just a bad day.
