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Hot wire around food plot? #7303537 10/02/18 08:35 PM
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EddieWalker Offline OP
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Has anybody run a hot wire around a food plot to keep hogs out? It's about half an acre and I really don't want to put the time or money into build a hog proof fence, so I'm thinking of running a hot wire about a foot off of the ground to keep them out. I'm thinking that the deer will just step over it. I have a fenced are for my horses that has three hot wires on it to keep coyotes out, and the horses off of it. I've seen deer rubs on small trees inside this area, but never actually seen a deer in there.

Pros and cons? I have the stuff to do it, but for some reason, I just came up with the idea the other day, and plan on doing it this weekend and seeing if it works.

Re: Hot wire around food plot? [Re: EddieWalker] #7303558 10/02/18 08:55 PM
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If you fence it for deer to step over the hogs will step over as well.

I ran a hot wire for cattle, worked well. Didn't keep the pigs out, although didn't have many that were on that place.

In my opinion, you will spend as much time keeping the grass off the wire as it would to just run woven or welded panels in the first place. A grounded wire is no good for keeping anything out, and I had trouble with grass and weeds at 18-20 inches grounding the bottom wire.

two options, just hunt hogs more, or just accept the plot will be grazed but probably not tore up by the hogs. I planted wheat on mine and the hogs would graze it but never rooted it up. May be different if you plant tubers other such plants.

Re: Hot wire around food plot? [Re: Texas buckeye] #7303654 10/02/18 10:47 PM
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I agree with buckeye, Hotwire fences are not worth the effort, any where but Kansas. That said, go get some hog or cattle panels, and you will work a lot less, be a lot happier, and have more time to hunt, rather than always worrying over those Hotwire issues/problems, and the resultant hog damage anyway. Just saying, save money, time, hassle, and frustration...and go with fence panels...plus it is easy to take them down and relocate them, if necessary!

Last edited by crapicat; 10/02/18 10:48 PM.
Re: Hot wire around food plot? [Re: EddieWalker] #7304672 10/04/18 01:32 AM
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I have used electric fencing to successfully keep out deer off of food plots to allow them to establish since early 90's. I have also seen farmers on planted fields and ranchers on feeders use electric fencing to keep hogs off crops/feeders. With hogs they did not use a ground wire since the hogs were so short legged they just ran one or two hot wires. For deer your need more charger strength to turn a deer vs. a cow. Google it to see how fences were built.


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Re: Hot wire around food plot? [Re: stxranchman] #7304706 10/04/18 02:18 AM
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Originally Posted By: stxranchman
I have used electric fencing to successfully keep out deer off of food plots to allow them to establish since early 90's. I have also seen farmers on planted fields and ranchers on feeders use electric fencing to keep hogs off crops/feeders. With hogs they did not use a ground wire since the hogs were so short legged they just ran one or two hot wires. For deer your need more charger strength to turn a deer vs. a cow. Google it to see how fences were built.


They do that sort of thing back behind my property on the farm ground, as there are no fences at all. In fact, I have driven by and seen deer/hogs in the fields that were scared to leave the enclosed area! It’s funny, as I stop the truck, get out and make a commotion...to watch the animals run around inside the fences not wanting to leave!

That said on large fields, it is one thing, around feeders with small plots, it is another. A couple dozen panels and some t-posts are no big deal...versus a couple thousand (or more)

Re: Hot wire around food plot? [Re: crapicat] #7304758 10/04/18 03:06 AM
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Originally Posted By: crapicat
Originally Posted By: stxranchman
I have used electric fencing to successfully keep out deer off of food plots to allow them to establish since early 90's. I have also seen farmers on planted fields and ranchers on feeders use electric fencing to keep hogs off crops/feeders. With hogs they did not use a ground wire since the hogs were so short legged they just ran one or two hot wires. For deer your need more charger strength to turn a deer vs. a cow. Google it to see how fences were built.


They do that sort of thing back behind my property on the farm ground, as there are no fences at all. In fact, I have driven by and seen deer/hogs in the fields that were scared to leave the enclosed area! It’s funny, as I stop the truck, get out and make a commotion...to watch the animals run around inside the fences not wanting to leave!

That said on large fields, it is one thing, around feeders with small plots, it is another. A couple dozen panels and some t-posts are no big deal...versus a couple thousand (or more)

The farmers in Medina County fenced various sizes of farmed ground to keep out hogs. I fence smaller 1/2 to 7.5 acre size food plots to keep deer for 5-7 weeks till established. Only time deer got in was when the batter got low on the fence charger or a deer was forced to jump the fence when running from danger or predator. Getting one out of plot was big issue since they did not want to touch the fence. We had to lay a section down to get the deer back out. This what we used on one ranch for about 10 yrs to fence around 60 acres of fall plots and 90 acres of spring.
These photos are of the same plot but about 3 weeks apart. First photos are 3-4 weeks after planting and then last ones are right before taking fences down to allow deer in them at about 6.5 weeks or so. All 5 wire ropes are hot and top one was bottom of my shirt pocket high. This plot was about 3.5 acres in size. Lab Lab would be belt high or bit taller when fences came down. There were no hogs on this ranch. All the electric fencing was put up and taken down every time a plot was planted. Took 1.5-2 days to do that with 2 people. Key was getting up right after planting before plots were up and then making sure that there was spacing between brush edge and fencing to allow deer space to turn or see fence if running towards it.






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Re: Hot wire around food plot? [Re: stxranchman] #7304783 10/04/18 03:31 AM
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That is good information for the poster and a good way to handle larger plots. Have you ever tried this type fence where hog were abundant? Seems like you went through some trial and error or extensive research (or both) in your final result. In addition to the buffer zone, have you ever tried to put flags on the fence for the deer to see? Seen that done, for cattle (and people) just never knew if it was effective.

Re: Hot wire around food plot? [Re: crapicat] #7304799 10/04/18 03:57 AM
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Originally Posted By: crapicat
That is good information for the poster and a good way to handle larger plots. Have you ever tried this type fence where hog were abundant? Seems like you went through some trial and error or extensive research (or both) in your final result. In addition to the buffer zone, have you ever tried to put flags on the fence for the deer to see? Seen that done, for cattle (and people) just never knew if it was effective.

I built these on plots from 1/2 acre size and up to make sure the deer did not wipe them out till they were rooted and established well to take pressure. I used orange survey tape on the fencing to mark them back in the early 90's when I did a 2 fence system of 3 wire polywire. The 3 fence system worked well also but was not very tall 30" or so but used depth perception to fool deer since deer have poor depth perception. I have seen what farmers to used to keep hogs off their planted crops. They put 2 hi-tensil wires with one about 6-8" off the ground and another one about 10-14" above that wire. They put posts a bit closer and had great results. Some used survey tape for flagging also on theirs. I seen where a man had elk and whitetails with hog on the ranch and protein feeders. His problem was a tall enough fence to keep elk out then just high enough off the ground to let deer under. Then throw in hogs so he went out about 45' from panels pen and built a 2 strand hot wire low to the ground to keep hogs out a not very tall(16-18" at most on top wire). It worked perfectly to keep his hogs out and allowed elk and deer stepped over the hot wire. I seen a variaton of single or double strand hot wire fence spaced 24" to 30" off a good net wire low fence or 7 strand barbwire that would keep deer in or out of a ranch or field including axis deer.
With any animal the key that I found was immediate fencing after plot was planted and not growing and then at least one hot wire at nose height for animal you are wanting to keep out. Once a deer or hog hits the tip of their nose and gets zapped they are not going anywhere near a fence. It will even take some several days to adapt to the wire being down or taken away. I fenced my yard with one single hot wire to keep cattle out of it and the deer went over or under it to get to corn feeder. After I took the fence down the deer still tried to jump or go under what was not there for a long time.


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Re: Hot wire around food plot? [Re: stxranchman] #7304856 10/04/18 11:35 AM
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You look like you got those hot wire fences figured out...that tape wire seems to be the ticket, and easy to take down and move. One thing for sure, I learned to buy the best hot wire chargers they made, and it didn’t take long to figure it out, either! I agree about having to put it up right after you plant, as it takes a bit to train the animals to it.

I used to use hot wire for various purposes, mostly cattle related. I just got tired of always having to check it, repair it, and fix it, and the yearlings would never respect it, unless I trained them on 110 first. I mostly used the battery powered stuff, which added more hassle factor, as did weedeating under the fence (did I mention I hate to weedeat?). Got to where I was just checking the hot wires more than the cattle. And I don’t know if it was just bad luck or what, but everytime I failed to check the fence, and it was a daily chore, occasionally twice a day, it would quit working. It seemed like the cattle knew the minute it went down, and would go through it. So I just gave up, and built permanent fences.

Now days, where I have small areas, needing temporary fencing, I just use wire panels. Coupled with a good heavy post driver, a tpost puller, and a good pair of fence pliers, and you are set. After a while you get a good stock of them and it’s no big deal...the best thing I ever saw for feeders was goat panels. Not too high, and keep the hogs out. Plus you could buy 3 and 5foot gates...little more price involved than a wire panel, but they sure last a long time, and if you lose a lease, you can go gather them up yourself, if you have to. I enjoyed seeing your pictures...one of these days I need to learn how to post pics from this IPhone. Later

Re: Hot wire around food plot? [Re: EddieWalker] #7304936 10/04/18 01:44 PM
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Thanks for the replies. I already have a 2 joule charger that sends out a pulse, so grass touching the wires is not an issue. I also keep the current fence line mowed and sprayed with round up, which also helps. The area that I'm wanting to fence will be three sides. The forth side is already fenced for my horses and where I will be tapping in to the existing hot wire.

Money wise, I'm thinking that this is a $100 project since I already have some 6 foot T posts for my corners, and plastic hot wire posts are just $1.69 each. I have two rolls of wire already, and a bag of T post wire holders.

Panels or a roll of fencing will make this a $500 project and create something that I really would rather not have in the middle of my land right now. My long term goal is to fence out the hogs completely. There is no way to shoot enough of them to keep the others off of the land. I've been doing it for a decade now and I'm tired of wasting the ammo shooting them.

They do not tear up the food plot, but they do scare off the deer. I can see in my game cameras that there will be a dozen different deer coming in to there, and then the hogs show up and they deer numbers decline. The ones that keep showing up will only be there after the hogs are gone. Last year on opening day, we had a nice buck walking around the edge of the tree line, and several hogs in the food plot keeping the deer away. Eventually the hog walked to the buck and scared it off.

At a foot off of the ground, how will a hog get over that without touching it? I'm thinking that they will walk right into it, get zapped and either run away, or go right through the wire. I'll have to fix it a few times until they learn to stay away.

Re: Hot wire around food plot? [Re: EddieWalker] #7304959 10/04/18 02:13 PM
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Hogs can jump to a certain height once they learn. These are 2 companies we bought fencing supplies from with most from the first company. You can shop other brands that are similar locally at a better price also. There used to be a chart on how many volts it takes to turn a cow, deer, sheep, hog or horse but I can't find it.
https://www.premier1supplies.com/garden_wildlife/fencing.php and another company https://gallagherelectricfencing.com/collections/n-gallagher-food-plot-wildlife-fencing


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Re: Hot wire around food plot? [Re: EddieWalker] #7305036 10/04/18 03:58 PM
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Im with Stx, electric fence is quick, cost effective, transportable and effective. Most times a fence "fails", is because of bad grounding, going over kill on grounding properly will get the rated shock.

Eddie, we used high strength tinsel wire, strong and thick and rolls back up pretty good, 20 mile charger. Might be better to run 2 wires hot since you will have to set the post anyway and will have the room, say one run at 8-12" and one at 16-20", should get piglets and larger this way. BTW, we used a pulse charger back then (low fire threat) 120v


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Re: Hot wire around food plot? [Re: Western] #7305252 10/04/18 08:53 PM
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Hey Western, you are right to a degree, grounding gumbo, at my place, that is dry is sometimes trick. I used to use three 8 foot ground rods, sometimes that still didn’t do enough if that danged ground was really dry. No problem when it’s wet, though.

Re: Hot wire around food plot? [Re: EddieWalker] #7305774 10/05/18 03:10 PM
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I have three ground rods set ten feet apart, and from what I've seen when the horses have touched it, it's a pretty good hit. I originally put it out to keep coyotes and racoons away from my ducks, and it's been perfect. You can see their tracks as they walk around the outside f the fence, and every now and then, where one touched it and tore up the ground getting away.

Two wires might be better. I'm hoping to get the plot planted this weekend since we are now up to an 80% chance for rain on Sunday, and then 80% for Tuesday.

Re: Hot wire around food plot? [Re: EddieWalker] #7305849 10/05/18 04:52 PM
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I would be hesitant to put up the hot wire. Deer are pretty skittish critters and the first time they accidentally got zapped by that hot wire they probably wouldn't wanna hit it again. Also, I would think to have any effect on a hog's thick hide, you might need a pretty stiff charge like for a bull fence. I have been hit by one of bull fences before and believe me you won't hit it a second time. A zap that hard to a deer might send him running for the hills and make them not want to come back. That's just my thoughts.

Re: Hot wire around food plot? [Re: EddieWalker] #7305855 10/05/18 05:01 PM
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If leasing, I'd check with landowner, if they have cattle or other animals, then they are probably not in favor of it.

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