Hog lights.

How long does it take hogs to get used to motion detector feeder lights?

Motion detectors will spook most on darker nights. Younger ones won't mind until you educate them once or twice. If you get an "always on" light you might be a little more successful.

Ok thanks. Just put one up tonight, had a single boar come in and hold in the tree line when he set it off. Never would come in. If you have one on all the time will they still come in after you put an arrow through one of their buddies or do they learn that quickly?

i have had mine up for almost 2 months and zero hogs have showed up under it yet but the deer hit it every night and it doesnt spook them.

did you put lights & feeder up at the same time, I have always put the feed up and get them coming in, then the light that stays on

I use feeder lights that come on gradually when motion is detected. The critters don't care. Came from an outfit in Conroe.

I use solar motion lights on a pole about 25 ft off the feeder 8-10 ft tall, they give enough light to put scope on.

Unpredictable. 9/10 where I hunt. You shoot they run. BUT I've had a handful of occasions where 1 or 2 will come back. Also there are usually different sounders or solo hogs roaming around. Stay quiet. Stick around. It's hunting not killing.

I used the ones from moultrie, originally they worked good and the hogs did not really care about the light. Bad part is they did not last long, looking at other lights now, I guess you get what you pay for.

it depends on the area/hogs

I have a big beautiful boar that was hitting my bait every night;
my friend put a green light under my feeder and scared him off, my cam video
showed hog came in looked up at the light but would not cross
under the panel. he did this 3 times and then gone since august.
He is hitting another bait station just 200 yds away (no light )

My friend also has green light under his feeder, he has a big boar
that's been coming frequently, he doesn't mind the light, also
get sows and piglets

my advice is if you put it up , put up some cams as well to see
if they're circling the area / spooked by it

I have 10 cams up , so I am learning a lot about their behaviors at my location,
down to individual hog's likes/dis-likes , schedules , bait preference etc ...

I have had the feeder running for over a month at this spot. I am using red lenses on the lights. I put 3 lights on three different feeders all the same day. The newest feeder has only been there about two weeks and the longest 2 years. I am bow hunting primarily, and need the pigs to come under the feeder for clean shots. I left the lights where they come on every night, I'm going to go out next Saturday night and see if they are adapted to it yet. Hopefully I'll be able to start doing some killing, trust me I've put much time and effort into the hunting part. Thanks for the feed back.

Matt

ta THF pretty much same here, except laser-tag. got scope over ta gather light, & laser under. have cellar lights by old timer, replaced with gravity PVC feeder by food plot & creek. an at new spinner feeder, with moonlight & laser can see for shot. if dogs dont presure hogs out. might get hog tanight . best wishes

I have the same lights that Tworod had, I have mine set up 7' in the air where the coons can't get to the wiring. Has been going since September hooked up to their solar panel. Never changed a battery and it still works great. The hogs don't mind them until you start shooting at them! Sometimes it takes a few weeks for them to get use to them. I don't know if some of them are bad or I just got a good one.....I will be putting up a couple more in April.

Don't use the motion detector style. Use two 74 lumen solar lights. Set them about 36" off the ground and aim them at a 45 degree angle back toward the feeder from about 25' away. That way you have two lights angled in in case one light doesn't come on, you still have another working. Give them a couple of weeks to get used to the lights and they will regularly come in. The deer won't mind the lights either.

Capt. Craig, are those lights just normal lights, or do you have them in a certain color? Are they landscape lights?

Also thanks for the welcome.

They are pure white light!!! I buy them at Home Depot. They have a 6 and 10 hour setting. I set them for 6 hours and they provide 70 lumens of light. I included the item number at Home Depot below. In the attached picture. you can see the light appears to be shining at the ground. The feeder is 25 feet away. Really this is ideal you want to light the animal's side, and not their backs. This way from the blind, you get the best lighting in order to place a shot. I don't want my light to hit them in the eyes, I just want it to light the ground and them. I've found that trying to light them like a spotlight bothers them and keeps them away from the feeder. Lighting more of the ground and allowing the light to edge into the feeder means that I light a wide 50 foot pattern with both lights and therefore even if animals won't walk to the feeder, I can still get some light on them.I attach the lights to a post with a bracket I make and then adjust the light until I get a pattern that I am happy with. I use nightvision, so I have to be sure the light doesn't reflect off the feeder too much or it shuts down the nightvision.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Hampton-Bay-O...-CPK1/204471418

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Wow, that is a very cool set up. I always thought white light would scare them off. Thank you for the information. I am going to try that at a different feeder and see if it makes any difference. I think I will collect all the photos and make a comparison. Might even be good info to share.

If you think about it, it is very similar to a full moon night. You can see in the photos, the pigs do not mind getting close to the feeder. Even when they would typically step out of the light of a feeder mounted light, my set up still has them well lit. You can see the light ring extends far beyond where they are standing. I get about 50 feet of light. They are actually better lit the farther from the feeder and the closer to the light.

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That actually might be a perfect solution for me. I wonder if I set them out pointing away from my tree stand, would it also help blind them from movement my way?

Yes it will. When the animals feed, their heads are obviously looking at the ground. Picking their heads up slightly to check their surroundings doesn't bother them, but they don't really want to look up too high as the light is strong enough to bother their eyes. Setting the lights at 45 degrees off of the direct path from blind to feeder fill help to cover small quiet movements. Depending on the height of your stand, you may want to raise the lights. My blinds are 3 feet off the ground and so I set the lights at 3 feet to give my a good view of their sides. If you are higher, you may want to elevate your lights more to light the animal better. Go out one night and take a cardboard box about the size of the pigs you are hunting. And, take a buddy!! Get in your blind and have him position your box like an animal feeding. Next have him place and raise and adjust the lights until you get the best possible view of the "animal". That will give you a good idea of what you need to mount for height and angle and so forth.

Thanks for the info.

We use one green kill light at one of our feeders, and it stays on (when the sun sets). We also use red scope-mounted lights; aim high then drop it down on them. Both seem to work well.

couple 5#ers in thick area. never did come inta feeder. posts not going threw

Does this light setup affect other critters? For I stance, do coons still hang around, and what about other varmints? Will coyotes or cats come up to these lights?

Capt Craig is dead on. From the type of light, the angle and all. My installation consist of a T-post and strapping the light to it with tie wire.
I came up with same conclusions after years of playing with lights.
I use the Lowes landscape light since they are near me. Lowes landscape light

It is basically the same thing as the Home depot one. They stay on for about four hours which is longer than I care to stay. In the summer they last longer since they get to charge longer.
I have shot many coons under these lights too.

I am planning on doing this setup on my main bow feeder. It seems like a great idea. I will post updates. Thanks for the info.

I have deer, hogs, coons, possums, rabbits all come in at night. Recently I have had a coyote coming in and laying off to the side watching the feeder. He will not walk through the light, but he does walk by to see what might be there eating. I haven't had any cats on cam yet.

You ihad chance ta get set up? Last night heard hogs in distance. They didnt come my way. Two of my cellar lights are out. Thinking its batteres. best wishes

Try the green Kill Lights..dusk till dawn..has magnets on it..use a solar panel to keep the batteries up and running..

Haven't had a chance yet. I'm going to the lease this weekend to hunt. Went to fill feeders and check game cams last weekend. Had pictures of one of the sounder right under the feeder with the light shining on them. I guess it took them about three days to get brazen enough, but it was nightly after that. Thanks for all the great info. I'm definitely going to get a set up like the captains soon. I'll post updates.

Best wishes. My tree stand sit right on trail that comes from food plot, were have the lights, the old spinner feeder, & were have pvc gravity feeder, & comes out were trail cam sits facing new spinner feeder & deer stand. Two days in row found hog tracks in trail were cleared leaves away. My lights been their on old tent poles for few years. Just gotta be their at right time.

Glad it is working out for you. Here is the second part of the equation. When the pigs come in, let them feed for about 4-5 minutes. Real minutes, not the 45 seconds that feels like 5 minutes. This allows the pigs to get calm and for you to slow your heart rate and breathing. Pigs can't tell time, but they can get shy of a feeder if the moment they approach, a gunshot goes off. Since they can't tell time, 5 minutes allows them to approach, not get shot at and then start feeding. After they are actively eating, they relax and their heads are down. This way they won't see a flash and they won't associate the shot with walking in. They will walk in many nights you aren't there hunting. The goal is to avoid having anyone shoot while they approach!!

Thanks for the advice captain Craig. I will hold off until they are comfortable. I'm taking my 11 year old son to try and get him his first hog, I hope it all works out. I can't imagine how long those five minutes will feel to him.

Here's what I've used:

http://www.harborfreight.com/60-led-solar-security-light-69643.html

They seem to last a couple of years, depending upon the weather. The hogs where I hunt don't seem to mind the light.

These guys just want the corn, and the light shining from the left (just out of view in this photo) doesn't bother them.