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spotlighting hogs without spooking them #6438647 09/05/16 03:49 AM
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Mad Max Offline OP
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I'm using a green LED scope light for hog hunting at night, and even though it's a wavelength that they (allegedly) don't see well, the hogs scatter the moment the light goes on, usually without enough time for me to get the crosshairs on a good target. In contrast, when I turn the same light on a herd of deer (just to see how they react to the light, obviously), they just stand and stare. Even coyotes and foxes stand and stare for a moment, while hogs scatter.

Would I be better off with a different color light, or is this just a matter of hogs being more sensitive and responsive to a quick moving shadow (unavoidable) than other animals? Is there some trick to spotlighting hogs, other than the obvious one of getting on your target almost instantaneously?

Re: spotlighting hogs without spooking them [Re: Mad Max] #6438687 09/05/16 05:00 AM
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I have heard that you need to lower the light on them. That they can't see the light, but can tell when something shines directly on them at once.

Re: spotlighting hogs without spooking them [Re: Mad Max] #6438703 09/05/16 05:52 AM
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As said, slowly lower the light on them. That being said if there is hunter pressure in the area from others using lights, they will likely scatter. I've had hogs scatter no matter how careful I was with the light, and I've had them not be bothered at all by light.

Re: spotlighting hogs without spooking them [Re: HuskerB] #6438978 09/05/16 04:47 PM
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Originally Posted By: HuskerB
As said, slowly lower the light on them. That being said if there is hunter pressure in the area from others using lights, they will likely scatter. I've had hogs scatter no matter how careful I was with the light, and I've had them not be bothered at all by light.


I'll try with a dimmer light. Surprisingly, the pigs have no problem at all with the green LED feeder light, but that doesn't generate quite enough light for my crosshairs. I'm guessing that they're not so much reacting to the light itself as to moving shadows from the scope light.

Re: spotlighting hogs without spooking them [Re: Mad Max] #6439160 09/05/16 08:18 PM
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Originally Posted By: Mad Max
Originally Posted By: HuskerB
As said, slowly lower the light on them. That being said if there is hunter pressure in the area from others using lights, they will likely scatter. I've had hogs scatter no matter how careful I was with the light, and I've had them not be bothered at all by light.


I'll try with a dimmer light. Surprisingly, the pigs have no problem at all with the green LED feeder light, but that doesn't generate quite enough light for my crosshairs. I'm guessing that they're not so much reacting to the light itself as to moving shadows from the scope light.


+1

Re: spotlighting hogs without spooking them [Re: HuskerB] #6439161 09/05/16 08:18 PM
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Originally Posted By: HuskerB
I've had hogs scatter no matter how careful I was with the light, and I've had them not be bothered at all by light.


^^^^^^^^^^^^^


This, but best hedge to your bets is what others have mentioned, go to a lower setting and lower the light on them more gradually.

Re: spotlighting hogs without spooking them [Re: Mad Max] #6439280 09/05/16 09:41 PM
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Originally Posted By: Mad Max
Surprisingly, the pigs have no problem at all with the green LED feeder light, but that doesn't generate quite enough light for my crosshairs. I'm guessing that they're not so much reacting to the light itself as to moving shadows from the scope light.

Heck, at your feeder you could run a white, motion sensor light. It'll come on when the hogs are there, be plenty bright, and they'll get used to it pretty fast if you leave it there.


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Re: spotlighting hogs without spooking them [Re: Mad Max] #6439563 09/06/16 01:07 AM
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Put cheap solar pathway/sidewalk lights on your feeder.

Re: spotlighting hogs without spooking them [Re: Mad Max] #6439755 09/06/16 02:38 AM
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Yup, color of the light doesn't matter if they are accustomed to it. They come up to the house and to feeders with white solar lights regularly.
I have scared them off with red and green lights before, as stated they can see moving shadows and illumination just fine.
But I have tried lowering a light on them with some success.
Recently I have become lazy and sick of staying out late hunting pigs. So I let my traps hunt for me all night long. They are much more patient and I get more sleep


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Re: spotlighting hogs without spooking them [Re: Mad Max] #6440482 09/06/16 05:19 PM
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don't let anybody fool you about hogs not being able to see green or red light

they can

some will put up with the light some won't

they can see the red glow of my IR 150 yds away

use constant light source is your best option

Re: spotlighting hogs without spooking them [Re: cabosandinh] #6442439 09/07/16 08:39 PM
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Originally Posted By: cabosandinh
don't let anybody fool you about hogs not being able to see green or red light

they can

some will put up with the light some won't

they can see the red glow of my IR 150 yds away

use constant light source is your best option


They certainly had no problem seeing the green LED beam from my flashlight. I think I'll follow the advice here and switch to a regular motion-sensor white light on the feeder. It will spook the hogs for the first few days or weeks, but then they'll be used to it as animals get used to anything else.

Re: spotlighting hogs without spooking them [Re: Mad Max] #6443205 09/08/16 05:45 AM
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Originally Posted By: Mad Max
Originally Posted By: cabosandinh
don't let anybody fool you about hogs not being able to see green or red light

they can

some will put up with the light some won't

they can see the red glow of my IR 150 yds away

use constant light source is your best option


They certainly had no problem seeing the green LED beam from my flashlight. I think I'll follow the advice here and switch to a regular motion-sensor white light on the feeder. It will spook the hogs for the first few days or weeks, but then they'll be used to it as animals get used to anything else.


Over time they will get used to a feeder light, but often a group won't stick around that long.

I've tried it all different ways over the 30 years I've been hunting hogs and have found that if you choose to use feeder lights...your best results will be if you put the lights on a photocell, not a motion detector.

Each group is different, but in my experience...hogs are more apt to walk under a light that is already ON...than to stay there if suddenly illuminated.

I've watched them many, many times...approach my feeders, hesitate (having seen the light), but decide it poses no threat after a few minutes. Conversely, when suddenly illuminated, they almost always spook. Let the hogs 'choose' to go under a light that they can already see...and you'll do better than 'lighting them up'.

I also place my feeder lights as high up as I can get them, so the 'source' is not as easily seen.

This also reduces the 'shadows' created when hogs walk into the light, which is something that causes them to spook.


Last edited by flintknapper; 09/08/16 05:57 AM.

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Re: spotlighting hogs without spooking them [Re: Mad Max] #6443392 09/08/16 01:51 PM
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Thanks to all for sharing your thoughts and experiences. Sounds like I'll have to experiment on a couple of my feeders until I find a strategy that works for the hogs on my lease.

The upside of it in my case is that I think that I have the same hogs coming by at night repeatedly. For example, the same group of 4 medium and 1 large pig always comes up in the trail camera, albeit at random times of the night. That means that they can probably be habituated over time to different lighting setups.

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