Hog Hunting in Northern FL

DPA

New member
Just got access to 6,000 acres in northern fl to hunt. they say they have hogs but I know nothing about hunting them. I assume you bait them? hunt at night or during the day? any help would be great. thanks and merry Christmas!
 
Bait, night/day ,dogs, night vision,thermal, stalk, trap.
The easiest way is probably to put a feeder up or bait for a few days in an area they are using, then sit over it. You can put bait in open areas and stalk or drive from one site to another glassing or using thermal/nv. Corn, wheat, peanuts all work well.Dusk and dawn are better times, or night if you have the gear. Night is definitely better in hot weather. Cameras will tell you when they are coming in, and feeders can help train them to certain times.

Most people that hunt nv/thermals or dogs would be more than happy to meet you and hunt with you as well. If you want company, holler when you're headed south. I hunt quite a bit after deer season and not afraid to travel a little. I've got dogs and thermal gear.
 
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Originally Posted By: canuroper Bait, night/day ,dogs, night vision,thermal, stalk, trap.
The easiest way is probably to put a feeder up or bait for a few days in an area they are using, then sit over it. You can put bait in open areas and stalk or drive from one site to another glassing or using thermal/nv. Corn, wheat, peanuts all work well.Dusk and dawn are better times, or night if you have the gear. Night is definitely better in hot weather. Cameras will tell you when they are coming in, and feeders can help train them to certain times.

All good info from canuroper.

The most productive for me is hunting feeders. I hunt for deer hunters that have hog problems at their feeder plots. These are usually clearings in wooded areas and the hunting is close range most of the time. I sometimes bring in my feeder so I can set my own feed times and use a cell camera to send the pics to my phone in real time. A large majority of my hunting requires a 60 to 120 mile round trip so the cell camera more than pays for itself in wasted time checking sim cards and gas.

You did not say what type of land you will be hunting? Plots will always work but if you are on agricultural land then you can spot and stalk the fields. If it is a dark night and you can stalk quietly from the downwind side then you can get closer than you probably want to be once they start running after the first shot. It's all about the WIND with hogs.

Hogs are mainly nocturnal so night time is best. A thermal scanner and scope is the best equipment to use. Spend some time over on the Night Calling Forum and there is plenty of information about Night Vision and Thermal technology.



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Like the guys above have said, Hogs will frequently come to the sound feeders make, once they figure out they're dispensing corn, if they're holding close enough to hear corn rattle off the feeder disk. Cameras will tell you when they're coming in, good luck trying to pattern them. Gman is on to the right approach with real time updates on the cameras. Since it is legal to hunt them with light at night, you might consider a feeder light to aide in shooting, but that's only going to be good for the first shot, after which you're typically shooting at black targets, in the dark, going every direction under the sun.

Downside to the feeder scenario is keeping the bear from destroying your feeders in North Florida.


Merry Christmas DPA!
 
Originally Posted By: Rocky1 Downside to the feeder scenario is keeping the bear from destroying your feeders in North Florida.


Oh yea.......saw tracks from this guy today. He is still hanging around so we have had to switch to hanging feeders.

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What are you hanging them from Gman? Guys up here in one spot wound up with galvanized steel lamp posts, with about 2 yards of concrete for a footer. Probably $2500 - $3000 to suspend a deer feeder where the bear couldn't wreck it.

Bear was climbing the existing wood pole and they wrapped it in tin, so he pushed it over. They put an electric fence around it, and he dug under that and pushed it over again. Was a pretty intelligent bear! So they made it bearproof. Had a beeyard a quarter mile down the road, he hoed a path almost 3 foot wide under the fence all the way around the beeyard for us, tried to push the corner post over but it was cut short enough he couldn't get any leverage on it. Even tried to pull the loop over the gate post with his teeth. Left teeth marks to prove it.
 
Wow.....that is one tenacious bear. He's pretty smart too....you should check around...it sounds like he might have escaped from the Circus.
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We just have a few feeders in this area and used a pole arm and bracket like they hang heavy electrical equipment with. Took a ladder up high and bolted it to a tree and then bolted a winch on to run it up with.
 
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PITA more than anything; I have dealt with worse. That one tried a few tricks, he just wasn't persistent enough or maybe intelligent enough to figure it out on our end. Typically once they start scratching around, they'll dig a hole and go under the fence. We've learned over the years to set our bottom wire low and weed eat frequently, it helps curb their desire to go under the fence. Telephone poles with 50 gallons of corn suspended, in wet ground, he figured out. And, those guys didn't have 40 years experience building bear fences.

Bear in question is no longer around however... He wandered a few miles north into Georgia, inexperienced beekeeper up there set his bees to close to the fence. The bear reached through and drug the pallet of bees into the fence, shorting it out, after which he (with help from other bears, I'm sure) destroyed the entire beeyard. He apparently sprouted wings after that adventure, because he quit leaving tracks on the road. Haven't seen anything of him since.

Cant find the rest, but here's a few pictures of his trying to find a way in. Yard in the bottom photo he went all the way around the fence in 2 nights, that was the first night's effort...





 
Originally Posted By: Rocky1 The bear reached through and drug the pallet of bees into the fence, shorting it out, after which he (with help from other bears, I'm sure) destroyed the entire beeyard. He apparently sprouted wings after that adventure, because he quit leaving tracks on the road. Haven't seen anything of him since.

My guess is that the beekeeper sent him to bear heaven after getting his bee yard destroyed.
 

[/quote] My guess is that the beekeeper sent him to bear heaven after getting his bee yard destroyed.[/quote]


Yep, probably "Sprouted wings" alright. And a matching halo!

Hogs will tear down feeders almost as bad as bears, they just can't reach as high. I quit using tripods and went to hanging feeders. And metal drums for the squirrels.
 
Honestly don't have a clue where he went guys, we aren't in the woods with the bees but about 2 1/2 months out the year. He was there 3 - 4 years, walking the same route every week - 10 days. He got into this routine, then the pole got pushed over in the feedplot, and when I came back the next spring it was pushed over in a different spot, with electric fence around it, and the steel pole was up. Knowing what those guys were paying for their lease, and how far they were driving to hunt, I thought they had taken him out, and I wouldn't have blamed them in the least if they shot him either. Didn't learn about the beeyard until some time later. And, he may have been killed during the Georgia Bear Season. I really don't know. All I know is he disappeared.

Yeah, hogs can be hard on feeders as well, especially tripod feeders, but they aren't nearly as aggravating as an educated old bear. About 350 lbs. they start getting really intellgient. Almost spooky at times.
 
Thanks guys for all the help. I really am not sure of the land lay out yet as I haven't been there and the guy that owns it isn't a hunter. lol I know that it boarders a big national forest on one side.
 
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