The Hog Blog

Well, it’s good to know some of you folks are getting out there and killing pigs.  Someone’s gotta do it, and I seem to be really falling down on the job! 

Got this email and video link from a fairly new Hog Blog reader, Rich Mellott.  Looks like Rich got down near Paso Robles with outfitter Craig Cavalletto for some serious hog action!  From the video, I’d say the hogs were plentiful, and Rich ended up with a really nice old sow!  Check it out:

Nice job, Rich!

Big thanks to regular reader, Brian (Carolina Rig) for pointing out that there were some details I had not seen regarding SC’s new regulations… particularly as far as night shooting hogs.  It should serve as a reminder to every hunter to review the actual regulations personally, prior to acting on information posted in a blog (including this one). 

Here is the entire press release from the SC Department of Natural Resources:

The South Carolina General Assembly recently passed a new law that prohibits the removal or transport of feral pigs from the wild without a permit. The law also allows hunters to harvest these highly destructive and invasive animals at night with certain weapons restrictions. This is part of a continuing effort by the S.C. Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to reduce and curtail the expansion of the feral pig population. This effort was supported by many other agencies such as SC Department of Agriculture, SC Department of Health and Environmental Control, Clemson Livestock and Poultry Health, USDA Veterinary and Wildlife Services and the SC Farm Bureau.
           
According to the new law, hogs may be hunted at night with an artificial light that is carried on the hunter’s person, attached to a helmet or hat, or part of a belt system worn by the hunter and with a sidearm that has iron sites, and barrel length not exceeding nine inches. The sidearm may not be equipped with a butt-stock, scope, laser site, or light emitting or light enhancing device. However, hogs may not be hunted at night from a vehicle, or with a centerfire rifle or shotgun, unless specifically permitted by the department. Hogs can be hunted at night using dogs as long as the firearms used comply with the restrictions above.  There are no weapons restrictions for hunting hogs on private land during the day. DNR encourages those who have wild hogs on properties they own or hunt to lethally and legally remove every hog they have the opportunity to remove.
           
A person must now obtain an annual pig transport and release permit from DNR for $50 before transporting and/or releasing a pig from a free roaming population. All pigs must also be tagged as prescribed on the permit with tags provided by the Department.  A permitted pig must be released on the same tract on which it was captured or into a permitted pig enclosure utilized for hunting purposes. Under no circumstances may a live pig removed from the wild be transported through or into another county or be released in a county other than the county in which it was captured.

A pig hunting enclosure owner must now obtain an annual pig enclosure permit from DNR for $50 in order to release wild caught hogs into the enclosure. Hogs must be obtained from someone with a pig transport permit and must be tagged and captured in the county where the enclosure is located. Enclosure operators cannot obtain wild caught hogs from another county.  The enclosure will be inspected by DNR personnel before a permit  is issued in order to ensure any captured pig released into the enclosure is not likely to escape back into the wild.
           
Feral pigs have been called by some an “ecological train wreck” and the destructive nature of this invasive species lends itself easily to such a description. All feral pigs share an unbridled appetite and can destroy hundreds of acres of farmland as well as native plants and wildlife habitat in just a few short nights. Free roaming pigs reproduce at a prodigious rate and are capable of producing two litters of up to a dozen piglets a year.
           
Feral hogs carry diseases such as brucellosis and pseudorabies. Pseudorabies is a viral disease of the central nervous system that can affect domestic hogs, cattle, horses, goats, sheep, dogs and cats, but is not related to the rabies virus and does not cause serious disease in humans. Brucellosis is caused by a bacterium and can infect livestock and humans.  It is a significant threat to commercial swine and can cause a range of symptoms in humans that are similar to the flu.  Wild pigs also have internal parasites including roundworms, liver flukes and, trichinosis. Trichinosis infections in humans are caused by consumption of undercooked, infected pork.

South Carolina’s natural resources are essential for economic development and contribute nearly $30 billion and 230,000 jobs to the state’s economy. Find out why Life’s Better Outdoors.

It’s been so bloody long since I went hunting!

I got a hog huntin’ jones
Got a hog huntin’ jones oh baby, oo oo ooo

Yes, I am the victim of a hog huntin’ jones
Ever since I was a little baby, I always be hog huntin’
In fact, I was the huntinest hog hunter in the whole neighborhood
Then, one day, my papa bought me a hog rifle
And I loved that hog rifle
I took that hog rifle with me everywhere I went
That hog rifle was like a hog rifle to me

I even put that hog rifle underneath my pillow
Maybe that’s why I can’t sleep at night
I need help, ladies and gentlemen
I need someone to stand behind me
I need, I need someone to spot that big boar for me across the canyon
Someone to call the range
Someone to help me drag him out
and not poop out on me in the first hell hole
So huntin’ groupies, help me out

(hunting groupies sing repeatedly…)
(Hog huntin’ jones, I got a hog huntin’ jones)
(I got a hog huntin’ jones, oh baby, oo oo ooo)

Oh, that sounds so sweet
Sign it on out
Come on Mike Waddell, Pig Man, sing along with me
That be bad, hunter
Yeah
I want everybody in the whole canyon to stand up and sing with us
Oh yeah, sing it out like you’re proud
All right, everybody huntin’ coast-to-coast, sing along with us
Uncle Ted, sing along with us
Keith Warren, sing along with us
Jackie Bushman, don’t sing nothin’

Oh it feels so good
Give me a hog
I’ll take him with a knife, left handed
I could shoot him with the bow between my toes
I could slip the arrow between his ribs, take off a quarter leave fifteen cents change
I could
I could pop him from a mile away, with one eye poked out and the other covered with my trigger finger
I’m bad, I could shoot him through the eye at 200 paces with a rubberband and a spaghetti noodle
’cause I got a hog huntin’ jones.  Here I come, I could pull the trigger with my eyebrow Yeah
I could shoot him with my nose.  I’m, I’m bad as King Kong, give me the gun, I’m hot, I’m hot as…

(Hog huntin’ Jones, I got a Hog huntin’ Jones, I got a Hog huntin’ Jones, Hog huntin’ Jones)
(Hog huntin’ Jones, I got a Hog huntin’ Jones, I got a Hog huntin’ Jones, Hog huntin’ Jones)
(Hog huntin’ Jones, I got a Hog huntin’ Jones, I got a Hog huntin’ Jones, Hog huntin’ Jones)
(Hog huntin’ Jones, I got a Hog huntin’ Jones, I got a Hog huntin’ Jones, Hog huntin’ Jones)

By the way, I blame Rex for this madness.

Still catching up with my friends’ blogs out there, and saw that the guys at Cypress Creek hunting lodge in South Carolina are running hog hunts all summer long.  Now I know they have some good pigs down there, but I didn’t expect anything like this sucker they took back in mid-May! 

My friend, Jeff, writes in the Skinning Shed blog that the folks at Cypress Creek are busy getting ready for the August 15 deer season opener too.  They’re hanging stands and scouting, in between summertime hog hunts.  They just wrapped up a long-range rifle clinic as well, and are considering a second one in September.  Check ‘em out and schedule a hunt.  Tell Jeff I sent ya!

Personally, I’m not all that enthused about an August deer hunt or long range rifle shooting… but man, I’d love to get a whack at a big boar like that!  I do love some hog huntin’!

Hey all you folks in Southern California, it looks like those of you who’ve been wishing for huntable hogs can stop wishing and start hunting!  Check this out, from the San Diego Union Tribune.

It’s been more than seven months since the first documented kill of a wild hog in San Diego County.

Plenty have been killed since, especially by private landowners who don’t need wild-pig tags to kill them. Now there is a confirmed report of another kill, this one an estimated 200-pound sow taken on public land in the foothills of Palomar Mountain.

Along with everything else going on last week, Kat was off exploring Germany with her daughter, Jessica, and a friend.  She just got home Tuesday night.

I sure missed her, but it sounds like she had a really great time.  She’s nearly convinced me to go back to see Munich with her sometime.  I wonder if boar hunting season and Oktoberfest coincide?  Any magazine editors out there need a good piece about hunting wild boar in Germany?  I bet we can work out a good deal.

On a totally different topic…

Albert Quackenbush, over at the SoCal Bowhunter blog, sent me an email regarding a big promotion over at the Thermacell site.  I have written about Thermacell insect repellent units a time or two, including this old gear review post.  I’m a huge fan of this gadget.  The damned thing works. 

Anyway, Thermacell is giving away a lantern every day for the merry month of May (hey, a rhyme!).  Go sign up and win one for yourself.  And, when you go to the site and sign up, there’s a spot where they ask if you were referred by a friend.  Check the box, and enter Albert’s reference code, FXSLPC.  Let’s see if we can give him a boost toward winning the most referrals prize (I think it’s a $300 gift certificate to Bass Pro)!

Got a call yesterday from my friend Shane, owner/operator/chief bottle washer at Border Bandit Hunting Services.  After rehashing our recent hunt, he mentioned he had a new hog hunting property coming available and wondered if I’d pass it along on the Hog Blog.  Well, I’m always happy to help out a friend, especially one who takes such great care of me when I’m down in Texas, so here goes.

The new place is a 10,ooo acre ranch, about 30 miles or so, southwest of Uvalde, Texas (less than two hours from the San Antonio International Airport).  This is the Texas Brush Country, not the Hill Country, but it’s loaded with hogs and deer, as well as the occasional javelina.  There are 28 blinds on the place, with feeders set up strategically around the area. 

The hunt would be for three full days of hunting (e.g. arrive Thursday evening, hunt all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and depart on Monday morning).  There’s a large, and very comfortable lodge on the ranch that can accomodate up to around 20 hunters, although Shane is looking for groups of 8 to 12 hunters.  This should allow folks to pick and change blinds as needed without getting too crowded. 

Cost for the hunt is $850/hunter, and that includes everything except food.  However, there is a big kitchen area, as well as outdoor cooking facilities, so with a little planning, a group could pick up groceries in Uvalde, and do it up in grand style. 

The hunt also includes one hog per day, per hunter.  If three hogs aren’t enough, you can add more at $100/ea. 

Remember that Texas has no tag requirement and no limit for wild hogs.  Non-residents simply have to buy a short-term hunting license to shoot as many hogs and exotics as they want.  A five-day non-resident license will run you $48.  (As I understand it, TX residents don’t even need a license to shoot hogs on private land. )

It’s a pretty good deal for a lot of great hunting.  Give Shane a call at:  830-275-2199 if you’re interested in setting something up.

Well, the little adventure this weekend didn’t really pan out… which is just as well, I suppose.  I’ve got a freezer full of meat, and a Texas trip coming up at the end of this week.  But it looks like I’m not the only one who’s been out in the field lately.

First of all, there’s my friend Bruce (a friend I’ve yet to meet in person) over in Hawaii.  Bruce has been living the life over there on the Big Island… hunting hogs, goats, and all sorts of birds at one moment, and then out pulling in big fish from the clear, Pacific waters.  Here’s a recent report…

Went up on Mauna Kea yesterday and took a nice pig and a sheep.  I shot the pig with a .270 Nosler Ballistic Tip, the third time I’ve used that particular bullet in the past several weeks to take a hog.  I think it is possibly the worst bullet in the world to use on big hogs and I can back up my claim.  Is there a section on your blog to post such commentary and if so, what is the protocol?

Going back up tomorrow [Friday] to try for a big ram.  We’re experiencing a terrible drought and many animals have moved down into the jungles on the east side of the island.  You need dogs to hunt there and that ain’t my bag.  It’s also turkey season, so I’ll bring along a shotgun.  I saw 50+ turkeys but was way too pooped after a tough hike at 8000 feet to stalk them.  I’ll take some photos or video this time if you’re interested in them.  That pig yesterday was my 46th since I started hunting here 3 1/2 years ago. 

Hope all is well.  I’m really enjoying your hunting site, slowly working my way through it.

There are a couple of interesting points here, beginning with Bruce’s comments regarding the Ballistic Tips… 

My own experience with these bullets hasn’t been great either.  On the one hand, everything I’ve shot with them died quickly, and they were extremely accurate out of my 30-06.  But they were also extremely destructive bullets, and I hate meat loss.  So Bruce, here’s your opportunity to tell us about your experience… 

But you should know we’re going to temper our empathy for your misfortunes with a hot stroke of jealousy… 46 pigs in 3 1/2 years! 

Of course, you should know that Bruce has been enlisted by several neighbors to help with porcine raiders hitting their gardens and yards.  That’s the mixed blessing of being a hog hunter in a place like Hawaii, I guess.  One of these days, I swear I’m going to take him up on the offer to show me around over there. 

Several thousand miles away from Bruce, regular Hog Blog reader and commenter, Brian (Carolina Rig) made a trip into the South Carolina swamps for sus scrofa, and it sounds like he did great too!

Got back last night from the annual public land trip down to SC.  This is the third year in a row I’ve made it down for the SC March hog season.  Its relatively inexpensive for a non-resident ($40 for 3 day license, $76 for WMA permit) since you don’t have to get a ‘big game’ license.  For a DIY’er its great.  26,000 acres of sandy pine ridges, oak flats, and cypress swamp bottoms offer plenty of room to get away from crowds.  The crew I convinced to come down with me managed numerous sightings, and have 10 on the board right now (two guys are still down there!)  Sizes ranged from 15lbs shoats to 150lbs boars. 

Yummy.  As always camping with friends, and wildlife sightings made the trip….including a scat trifecta.  You ever seen a deer, pig, and turkey shit so close to eachother?!  Got another trip planned with family for mid March with an outfitter.  Taking a couple first time hog hunters….I remember my first time…I haven’t been the same since.

Oh, and one last note from the East Coast.  Every week day, I try to keep up on the newspaper from back home, the Wilmington Star News.  The sports pages offer a small section of outdoor reporting, and it’s how I get a regular dose of homesickness remedy (you’d think after almost 16 years, I’d be over that, right?).  Right now is that slow time of year, with hunting seasons ended and still too cold for most offshore fishing… but I still check in.

One Star News feature I often enjoy is a column and blog by reporter Amy Hotz, called It’s Hotz Outside.  Amy isn’t a hunter yet, but it looks like she’s getting ready to change that on Wednesday, with a feral hog hunt in Brunswick County.  When I left NC, feral hogs really hadn’t come back into the area in huntable numbers, so I have to admit I’ve been reading her recent posts about the planned hunt with a touch of envy.

All this talk of jealousy… seriously, I’m glad to see folks out there doing it up, and really looking forward to hearing from more of you.

Heading out in about an hour to meet up with Holly, the NorCal Cazadora.  We’re going to take a look at some private property where the hogs have been making a nuisance of themselves (as they’re wont to do), and maybe help the landowner out by taking a couple of pests home for dinner. .. or at least come up with a plan to eliminate some of them later.   

I haven’t been out to this place before, so besides some basic reports from Holly and a little Google Earth scouting, I’m definitely going in cold.  We’ll see how it all pans out.  See ya’ll when I get home!

In the meantime, if you’d like to check out a great little fable about pigs, check this out.  (Sorry, they disabled the embedding for this one… and that’s a shame!)

What a difference a week makes!

After the previous weekend’s tough hunting at Tejon Ranch, with nine hunters coming away with only three hogs, I was a little concerned going into the past weekend’s hunt.  However, on this last hunt, there were a number of different factors involved.  

First, the weather turned cold and wet.  The beautiful, sunny days of the previous hunt quickly became pleasant memories when the rain and fog bored into the hills.  The persistent, icy rain turned the roads into sloppy goo and worked its way right through the best gear.  Even before the rain, the cold wind on Friday night nearly drove me off of my favorite ridgetop. 

The bright side is, the changing weather got the animals moving.  We started spotting pigs by 1130, right out of camp on Friday, and when the fog allowed any visibility at all, we continued to see hogs.  During the previous hunt, hogs were moving almost completely at night, leaving a frustrating amount of sign but heading back to their beds before first light.

The other big difference was the group of hunters on this trip.  The previous trip consisted of nine guys, only two of whom (myself and Ron Gayer) had any experience on the ranch.  Few of the others had much hog hunting experience, especially not in a place like Tejon. 

The group this weekend consisted of 12 guys, mostly long-time hog hunters who have been coming to Tejon for several years.  They came with “honey holes” already picked out.  They knew how to get to the good spots, how to hunt them, and in the end, it all paid off.  The group rolled out of the gates on the last day with a total of 10 hogs for 12 hunters.  Everyone had taken at least one shot (a couple of guys took more than one shot). 

For me, a big part of the pleasure this weekend was hunting with my friend, T. Michael Riddle from Native Hunt.  I’d told him for years about how much I loved hunting the Tejon Ranch, and he said he’d always wanted to get out there.  I think Michael quickly found that everything he’d heard about the place was true.  It’s simply a phenomenal piece of land, loaded with all the bounty and beauty Nature can provide. 

After a couple of false starts, we were able to hang both our tags on a couple of fat sows.  (I’ll write a little more about those false starts over on the Native Hunt blog.) 

And then there were pork chops, and there was much rejoicing!