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Fewer hogs at the feeder lately
#6784408
06/05/17 07:48 PM
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Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 130
D-Box
OP
Woodsman
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OP
Woodsman
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 130 |
Has anyone else seen a drop off in the frequency of hogs at the feeders lately? Our place is in Lee county, and for the last 4-5 weeks, there have been no big sounders like there normally is, only a few lone bores every 5-6 days on the game cam. Prior to that, there were hogs almost every day, sometimes morning and evening. I know from past experience they will be back, but just wondering what the cause is. Hotter temps? More natural food with spring growth?
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Re: Fewer hogs at the feeder lately
[Re: D-Box]
#6784440
06/05/17 08:19 PM
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Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 140
Eastwood
Woodsman
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Woodsman
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 140 |
Nope, in Bastrop county they are at my feeder all times of the day and night. 20 plus each time.
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Re: Fewer hogs at the feeder lately
[Re: D-Box]
#6784451
06/05/17 08:33 PM
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Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 29,609
SapperTitan
Taking Requests
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Taking Requests
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 29,609 |
Lots of natural food out there for them with the rains we have been getting maybe. Hogs can also move a pretty good distance per day so they may have just moved off to a new spot but I'm sure they will be back.
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Re: Fewer hogs at the feeder lately
[Re: D-Box]
#6784463
06/05/17 08:46 PM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,240
Double Naught Spy
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,240 |
Like deer, hogs don't all do the same thing at the same time. Hogs may move in and out of an area as part of their normal rounds. In the fall, many hogs will stop hitting the feeders and opt for the mast that is on the ground, but not in all areas in part because not all area are loaded with mast.
You may have a trapper working locally that is catching your hogs, or a hunt on another property that has pressured them from the area. For a while Glenn Guess and I hunted the same group of hogs from properties 1/2 mile apart.
Hotter temps won't keep hogs from your feeder, though if you had daylight hogs you might find that they are more active morning, evening, and night with the hotter temps.
If you have had a lot of rain with flooding, your hogs may have been cut off from your area and despite the waters going down, have found a new area to exploit.
I have had hogs disappear at various times of the year. Unless you own the region, you likely won't be able to know what really is the reason they stopped hitting your feeders.
We always joked that they went to Vegas. We would have hogs (or deer) that just up and vanished and might be gone for weeks before returning, if they returned.
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Re: Fewer hogs alt the feeder lately
[Re: D-Box]
#6784481
06/05/17 09:05 PM
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Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 13,614
1860.colt
emoji colt.45
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emoji colt.45
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 13,614 |
warmer weather ya get less movement during the dqy... Hogs dont have sweat glands & unlike a dog they dont pant ta keep cool... They followed the creek beds were i had my set up, deer food plot was at edge of creek & had a spinner feeder as call card... They stay closer ta water during warm weather, mudd packs work two fold, cooling & also keeps the flea, tick, chiggers, & other pests down.... With the advantage of feeder- lights, NV, & thermal, it puts dent in hog more than people will admitt, also big pen traps, i used the lights at feeder, scope over & green lazer under never had hog problems... Even the WMA, my ta-go-to place for hog hunts... At first, the out of way, areas we hot spots for hogs, as the AK's & later the AR's came avalable, hogs got thinned down... If ya knew were ta look, was still good hunting, just tougher if ya hunten for ta & chill... As they say, they'll be back early mornings, coolest part of day... Hunting pressure makes a differance
Last edited by colt.45; 06/05/17 09:08 PM.
i'm postaddic
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Re: Fewer hogs alt the feeder lately
[Re: D-Box]
#6784533
06/05/17 10:19 PM
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Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 2,495
der Teufel
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Nov 2011
Posts: 2,495 |
They wander around, but you know they're still somewhere close by. Here's what I got on my game camera in Lee County a couple of weeks ago …
I have two unwritten rules: 1. 2.
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Re: Fewer hogs alt the feeder lately
[Re: D-Box]
#6784536
06/05/17 10:22 PM
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Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,240
Double Naught Spy
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: May 2011
Posts: 8,240 |
There you go, D-Box, der Teufel has your hogs. Mystery solved.
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Re: Fewer hogs alt the feeder lately
[Re: D-Box]
#6785480
06/06/17 08:23 PM
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,467
bassfishinglawyer
Veteran Tracker
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Veteran Tracker
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,467 |
We had 15 - 20 all day long for 3 - 4 days and they haven't been back in 3 - 4 days. SO, after sneaking up on one at 4:00 in the afternoon and taking him with my iron sights, I've spent 20+ hours sitting in a treestand seeing nothing! Ours are so unpredictable it is crazy. You can spend days and nights without seeing one and the night you take off is the night they all show up.
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Re: Fewer hogs alt the feeder lately
[Re: D-Box]
#6786400
06/07/17 05:31 PM
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Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 130
D-Box
OP
Woodsman
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OP
Woodsman
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 130 |
Very interesting variety of responses. Like I said, I know they will be back, but just looking for patterns to help understand their behavior. I'm sure they will be back in force right around October when I want them gone for deer season.
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Re: Fewer hogs alt the feeder lately
[Re: D-Box]
#6789341
06/10/17 04:39 PM
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Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 788
TEXAN1970
Tracker
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Tracker
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 788 |
It's normal to not see them , they move around , but they will be back.
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Re: Fewer hogs alt the feeder lately
[Re: D-Box]
#6867953
08/25/17 02:29 AM
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Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 130
D-Box
OP
Woodsman
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OP
Woodsman
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 130 |
I started this thread in early June and the hogs just came back last week right after I changed the feeder from 2 seconds twice a day to 3 seconds twice a day. I walked back to the feeder today without a gun, and of course, big hog at the feeder. Good to have them back, my freezer is almost empty.
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Re: Fewer hogs alt the feeder lately
[Re: D-Box]
#6868006
08/25/17 03:56 AM
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Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 5,169
flintknapper
THF Trophy Hunter
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THF Trophy Hunter
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 5,169 |
No pattern to our pigs at all right now. They come at anytime of the day or night. One group is starting to show up in a 'window' of between 5-8 p.m., then come back later at night, early morning different times, mid day, you name it.
I'm just not going to sit down there in the heat and mosquitoes for nothing more predictable than that.
May put out a few snares, they work 24/7.
Spartans ask not...how many, but where!
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Re: Fewer hogs alt the feeder lately
[Re: D-Box]
#6868268
08/25/17 02:34 PM
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Joined: May 2016
Posts: 1,091
Wacm
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 1,091 |
Here in Wimberley we got scorched. The whole landscape turned brown. I had hogs at all 7 of my feeders. Then we got a few rain storms and it greened up a bit. I lost a few of the lone boars but the sows and younger ones keep coming.
I've been at it a while. Temp and pressure are the biggest factors in what time they move.
Browse no available food decide whether or not they hit feeders usually.
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Re: Fewer hogs alt the feeder lately
[Re: D-Box]
#6868808
08/25/17 10:47 PM
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Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 1,012
Old Stony
Pro Tracker
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Pro Tracker
Joined: Jul 2016
Posts: 1,012 |
One thing I've found about predicting their routines, is they don't have any. They sure can be unpredictable. Just when you think you have a groups pattern figured out...they disappear. I was doing a little work lopping off some limbs today to make a better shooting lane at one of my feeders, and I noticed the foliage was loaded with acorns....so it could effect the wildlife movements like it did in my area last year.
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Re: Fewer hogs at the feeder lately
[Re: D-Box]
#6879298
09/05/17 08:51 PM
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Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 130
D-Box
OP
Woodsman
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OP
Woodsman
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 130 |
After many days of flood clean up here in Houston (we got about an inch in the house), I needed a break and headed out to the property over the weekend. There had been some lone bores at the feeder, almost every day for the last couple of weeks. It hasn't been like before with large sounders, 20+ hogs at one time, but still decent odds of putting some meat in the almost empty freezer. Sat evening, I watched some nice 10pt bucks, but no hogs came out. Sunday, I got lucky and a 200lb bore showed up. I got a good neck shot and he dropped immediately. This is the largest hog I've ever shot in the 3 years of hunting at our place. Sleeping like a baby...
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Re: Fewer hogs at the feeder lately
[Re: D-Box]
#6879305
09/05/17 08:59 PM
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Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 130
D-Box
OP
Woodsman
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OP
Woodsman
Joined: Sep 2015
Posts: 130 |
Picture didn't post for some reason.
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