Hunting hogs or boars is usually a kind of hunting sport that has been done for generations. It is not like your average hunting or shooting for game birds or deer.
Hogs or wild boars are hunted because they ruin vegetation when they are out in the wild with all the freedom they have.
If you are interested in hunting the hogs down that are destroying your land of crops or other vegetation, this article will tell you everything you need to know about hog hunting.
Then, hopefully, you will no longer have to worry about any hogs ruining your hard work.
6 Things to Know About Hog Hunting
Hogs are also known as wild boars. They are different breeds of pigs that run wild in the woods. Hogs and wild boars are not massively consumed the way pigs are.
Instead, they are mainly hunted to protect plants and other animals.
If you want to go on a hog hunting adventure, then there are many things you need to understand about hogs and various hunting techniques.
These important things to consider are given below:
#1. Importance of Hog Hunting
Hogs are naturally omnivores. They can survive on a variety of foods. But they have a terrible habit of destroying everything in their paths for no good reason.
So, hogs will walk around on green land and uproot plants and ruin the soil’s surface as well. This helps them run around easily, but it is not exactly a necessary measure.
If hogs live around farms, they like targetting various young farm animals.
For example, they will randomly attack and hurt cow calves, lambs, goat kids, etc., and also hurt the weak mother who just gave birth to her young. The wilder hogs won’t hesitate to kill the mothers and their newborns.
They also wander around animals in labor so that they can grab the mother’s placenta and eat it. That can be harmful and even deadly for the mothers after giving birth.
Since they are destroying land and hurting animals, it is crucial to hunt them down to save the ones at risk.
#2. Outsmarting a Hog
As hogs are members of the pig family, they also follow similar traits or personalities. They travel in herds, so it makes it hard to hunt them down together. They are good at baiting you into giving away your intentions.
By any chance, if you do manage to shoot one of the hogs, the rest of the hogs from the herd will become alert immediately.
Not only will they realize what is happening, but they will also memorize your face and what the gun sounded like when you fired it on one of their own.
Hogs are very similar to pet dogs in that way. They can memorize or recognize the hunter after just one encounter.
They will know who is out to hunt them, recognize the gun you use, what you smell like and what your footprints sound like when you pursue them.
If a herd of hogs realizes that you know where they live, they will quickly move to a new home to avoid getting ambushed by hunters.
#3. Skills as a Prey
Hogs usually do not stay in one place for too long. They are always on the move if they are on their feet.
Sleeping is probably the only time they stay in one place, but they make sure to sleep somewhere safe so that running away will not be necessary.
They also become off guard during hot seasons. Since hogs do not have any sweat glands, they easily feel frustrated during the summer heat.
So, they have to find a place that has a lot of mud or water.
To keep themselves cool, they jump into the water or mud. Then, they try to stay there until the temperature drops, which mostly happens once the sun goes down.
Hogs do not have good eyesight, but they make up for that using their strong sense of smell.
They mostly use their nose to guide themselves away from danger or guide themselves towards something they want.
Using their strong sense of hearing, they manage to have their guards up all the time, getting alerted by even the slightest of noises.
Depending on the weather and environment, the scent and noises around the hogs might overwhelm them, so they get confused. That is the perfect time to take the shot while they are vulnerable.
#4. Hunting Weapons
There are various kinds of weapons a hunter could use when hunting down a hog. You could use a firearm, a crossbow, compound bow, etc.
No matter what you decide on, it has to be a weapon that offers long-range attacks, and it has to be very sharp.
Since it will be hard to get near a hog due, it is best to settle with a rifle that is equipped with a long-range scope.
Or you could even use a crossbow or a compound bow if you are not a fan of having gunpowder in your kill. And that crossbow arrow tip must be very sharp.
But, before choosing the weapon, make sure to check the United States gun laws by state.
The skin of a hog is very thick and hard to penetrate. So, firearms of any kind help more in that case.
However, you should never use knives because they will not be able to cut the hog deep enough to kill it.
#5. Food Diet
As we mentioned before, hogs like to attack domestic animals who have given birth and then eat their placenta.
But that is not the only food source for hogs. Hogs are actually omnivores and can eat both plant-based or flesh-based meals.
Some of the things they eat are roots, fruits, nuts and acorns, tree bark, manure, newborn cattle, worms, snakes, bugs, bunnies, etc.
If you want to bait a hog with food, you can try soaking some corn in sugar syrup or beer and hang the corn somewhere for the hogs to eat. Different kinds of nuts and pecans also work.
In case you’re planning to bait them using food, you must remember to leave the food in the same spot for a few days without approaching that spot to make the hogs think that the area has no humans around.
This way, they will feel safe there and start eating the food left out there as bait.
Once you gain the trust of the hogs, you can then set yourself there with your weapons at a distance and shoot them down while they are distracted by the food.
#6. Shooting Strategies
Once you have the hogs in the perfect spot in a vulnerable state and too distracted to notice you hunting them, you can start formulating the strategies for shooting them down.
You must maintain a distance but make sure to have them within your sight.
Many people think shooting the hog from behind is a safer bet since the hog will not be able to spot you from behind.
But that is not wise since shooting the guts won’t always result in a kill. In the worst-case scenario, the injured hog will run away, and you might never see it again.
The best bet is to shoot the hog on the shoulder so that you end up hitting the lungs, and it will end up in an instant kill.
Final Verdict
Everything you need to know about hog hunting has been elaborated above, and now you can start protecting your grounds from wild boars or hogs.
It is a considerable loss when these animals come and uproot all your vegetation or feed off the newborn livestock you have on the farm.
They can harm the entire ecological system that you worked so hard to maintain.