Texas Hunting Forum

Impact of night hunting on hogs

Posted By: 603Country

Impact of night hunting on hogs - 06/25/18 08:18 PM

Many folks are hunting pigs these days using the latest in night vision. And the numbers of hogs killed is pretty impressive. Do you think this will put a significant dent in hog populations?
Posted By: Pitchfork Predator

Re: Impact of night hunting on hogs - 06/25/18 08:26 PM

No.

Not enough participation yet.........and even when it becomes more affordable just not enough hunters to keep up with their reproduction pace IMO
Posted By: Double Naught Spy

Re: Impact of night hunting on hogs - 06/25/18 08:50 PM

Hunting has always made a significant dent. I have a could of significant dents in my truck. The problem is that the truck still runs fine. Same with the hog population. The problem is that we have never gotten ahead of hog reproduction. So we have slowed population growth a bit, but have failed to fully curtail it.
Posted By: Pig_Popper

Re: Impact of night hunting on hogs - 06/25/18 10:05 PM

Until Oklahoma and many other states open up to night hunting without restriction we’ll never truly know the impact. Right now we’re just pressuring the hogs to relocate .......
Posted By: Old Stony

Re: Impact of night hunting on hogs - 06/25/18 10:45 PM

I do a significant amount of night hunting myself, but I sincerely think we are barely scratching the surface of the hog problem this way. I don't see any way a person could shoot enough with his night vision to make an impact on the hog population. I do more with my traps by a long shot....and I don't think I am making any meaningful impact that way either. I don't know what the answer is...but I think the hogs are gaining population on a regular basis.
Posted By: SapperTitan

Re: Impact of night hunting on hogs - 06/25/18 10:56 PM

Not enough people willing to put in the time and effort to make a big dent
Posted By: mikei

Re: Impact of night hunting on hogs - 06/25/18 11:29 PM

Originally Posted By: Old Stony
I do a significant amount of night hunting myself, but I sincerely think we are barely scratching the surface of the hog problem this way. I don't see any way a person could shoot enough with his night vision to make an impact on the hog population. I do more with my traps by a long shot....and I don't think I am making any meaningful impact that way either. I don't know what the answer is...but I think the hogs are gaining population on a regular basis.


Yep! What Old Stony said!! Thousands of sows birthing 14 piglets twice a year means we aren't ever going to catch up with them by hunting them at night. Traps; large traps; set correctly and visited regularly can make a big dent in a local population. But unless a whole bunch of people make the financial and time requirement commitment to trapping, the feral hog will continue to win.
Posted By: Espy

Re: Impact of night hunting on hogs - 06/25/18 11:31 PM

I night hunt and trap on several small places 300-500 acres. After trapping and shooting quite a few hogs some of them move to other properties and rebound.
They will stay gone for quite a while but always comeback. Night hunting puts a small dent in the population but I think we are losing the race.
Posted By: SapperTitan

Re: Impact of night hunting on hogs - 06/26/18 12:39 AM

I hunt the area I guide in on Ft Hood. The area is 3500 acres and I have killed atleast 70 hogs in the last 18 months. Not sure how many other hunters have killed in the area or how many hogs have been trapped by the government trapper but I do know nobody else hunts out there as much or like I do with thermal. Still there are tons of hogs. Some come and go and some have permanent residence in the area most the time. Ive also killed 4 pregnant sows. With the pressure it has gotten harder to find them and they don't visit feeders very often but still they are there and in good numbers. If we had crop fields it would be much easier but these are all free range hogs looking for anything to eat so you never know where they might be.
Posted By: thermal time

Re: Impact of night hunting on hogs - 06/26/18 12:44 AM

I hunt on family property in Madison County. This year has been the worse I have seen with the hog population out of control. Only family can hunt the property so it's just me hunting at night for hogs. Every time I go out to hunt I spend about 1 to 2 hours, shoot 2 to 3 hogs and get the heck out. More hogs show up on cameras later in the night. I have given up thinking I am having any impact on the hog population at this time. Have seen too many young hogs this year. Besides the lack of hunters is the lack of property owners allowing folks to hunt on their property. Those that do normally want to charge folks to hunt. Obviously the problem is not bad enough yet for the land owners.

Shot so many hogs this year the vultures, coyotes and bobcats could not clean up fast enough. Stopped shooting coyotes this year in hopes they would help with the clean up duties. We sure need a predator that can get the job done.
Posted By: 8pointdrop

Re: Impact of night hunting on hogs - 06/26/18 02:29 PM

Not sure there is a hunting method that will ever rid us of hogs. With enough pressure I can change their habits on the 600 acres that I hunt. I can’t kill enough to keep up but they become my neighbors problem when they learn to avoid my place.
Posted By: SapperTitan

Re: Impact of night hunting on hogs - 06/26/18 02:44 PM

Too many sanctuaries and just plain nasty places most people don’t want to go
Posted By: rickt300

Re: Impact of night hunting on hogs - 06/26/18 04:25 PM

Originally Posted By: SapperTitan
Too many sanctuaries and just plain nasty places most people don’t want to go


And sanctuary's can mean small tracts of city property, river bottoms right through DFW, parks not to mention the thousands of acres in private land that won't let anyone hunt them.
Posted By: Wacm

Re: Impact of night hunting on hogs - 06/26/18 05:00 PM

I will state the obvious...yes of coarse. It makes a dent. Especially where it matters the most in ag fields. They have to come out into the field to feed. My lease in North Tx had a heathy population. The last 2 years we noticed dead hogs out in the neighboring ag fields. We have not seen hogs on our lease like we used to. I'm sure they get pushed around but they always come out to the fields and always get shot at in our area so HUGE dent.
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