The small place I hunt has hogs that come in from a creek. Year 1 they were living there on the farm. Cleaned them out. Year 2 I didnt monitor during the summer, come fall another batch came in. Not near the damage but they did do some damage. Cleaned them out over the winter and spring. I did not monitor much last summer. Quiet all fall until a sounder started showing up. Got them regular by throwing corn out by hand when I checked on things, finally broke a drought. After hitting one they disappeared. I'm seeing a lone boar and a small group. Could be part of that last sounder which had 24 shoats, 4 new piglets, and at least 4 adults. Been seeing a lone boar periodically over the last 3 months and a new? bunch. I am assuming it's part of the other sounder. This last week on cam a wet female showed up. Several vids later saw her piglets, about 2 weeks old I guess. At least 10 more pig seeds. All vids are late at night, odd hours.

Question - I'm tempted to set up a small hanging feeder here in a couple months to keep them regular enough to thin them out. I'm allowed to hunt there because I'm keeping the pigs at bay. Putting a feeder in somewhat defeats the purpose. At the same time im noticing more rooting on the farm, and I'm certainly not thinning the ranks. I have not approached the landowners yet but I think theyll be ok with the plan. They know I throw a little every time I come out. I'm thinking they like the farm as history has shown, and they'll show up anyway. Might as well trick them into their grave.

Thoughts?

We have some farm property that we lease. I have thought about hunting hogs there, although the presence of cattle would make it difficult. Every time I go to check on things I get surrounded by cows who think I'm there to feed them.

But, to your question:
I've talked with the lessees about hunting hogs there, and possibly even putting up a feeder. I had the same concerns as you. I don't want to make the problem worse.
Their comments are universal — the hogs come and go, it's unlikely a feeder will make things worse. That's particularly true if you force the hogs to associate visiting the feeder with being shot.

You should check with the landowners first, and of course if they say no, then you can't put up a feeder. Odds are they'll say it's okay, and hopefully you can concentrate the hogs and perhaps even get them on some semblance of a schedule. My limited experience is that sounders with a lot of piglets need a lot of food, and they'll come to feeders with a good amount of regularity.

Good Luck!

In our case, having a feeder away from the wheat fields has stopped the rooting . They root in the mesquite near the feeders but not out in the field.

Thoughts?

Putting in feeders is a double edged sword. On one hand, it helps concentrate the hogs and makes them easier to hunt. On the other hand, you are providing a continuous attractant resource that will potentially bring in hogs or bring in more hogs than might otherwise show up.

If you put up a feeder for the purpose of protecting the property, you need to hunt it regularly. If not, then you may be doing more harm than good.

In my experience, putting up a feeder does absolute nothing to stop, slow, or alter rooting activities. Hogs will root where the resource is under ground. What they are rooting has nothing to do with what the feeder is doing. Some years hogs root the hell out of the meadow near my feeders. Some years (like this year so far), they are rooting elsewhere on the property. Heck, they rooted my rifle range last week. This is the first time any real damage has occurred there in the last 10 years and the feeders have been running longer than that.

Friend of mine trapped 41 over the past couple of weeks at the Dickens County farm...........they were really gettin bad

DNS - restated my thoughts well and I completely understand your points. The third edge of the sword is that I like going out there and shooting hogs. This is the first summer I've even had my cameras out, but they're definitely nocturnal now as opposed to coming out around sunset. I am leaning towards continuing the tease feed as I have been doing and seeing what happens in the fall. I'm going to ask the property owners anyway and see what they say.

Douglas, I don't think there is a "right" answer per se. Hogs tend to do a lot of things and tend not to do others, but what they tend to do or not do is far from certain. In a bait thread a few years ago, a guy mentioned that he used different types of bait on two properties because the hogs seemed to have a different preference on both of the properties. On one, the hogs showed virtually no interest in soured corn, but loved it on the other property. The point being is that you may be doing what works best for you and your situation right now. Or maybe you can make things better. Is what you do different going to be worthwhile? If you like experimenting, then have some fun with it and see what you can do to improve your chances of getting more hogs while hopefully keeping damages minimal.

If hogs were as predictable as people often lead us to believe, we would not have a hog problem.

Truth!

I don't usually have a feeder going on our place, but we have TONS of hogs - and they are FAT. IMO, you'll have lots of hogs if they feel safe. Our woods are so think that we can't walk thru them. In our 140 acres, we have three sounders that bed down during the day - it's like a sanctuary. I can almost always kill a few as they come out in the evening.

They can find plenty food to eat anywhere, but a safe place for them to bed down is what attracts them.

If I was you, I would put the feeder up and hunt it regularly. it won't be counterproductive if you're killing them at the feeder.

JR

Feeder is ok with the landowners. I'm going to hold off and see what the fall brings.

The fall will bring acorns and other mast, which is the time of year when feeders are often rendered useless or nearly useless.

Get out there and put the feeder up and hunt as often as you can. Its fun and clears the mind (well my mind)

On our place, once I find them and shoot a few, they will relocate to some other area - on my place or somebody else’s. At some point they show up again, so I go after them again. Never ending cycle...

There is one thing that I’ve never heard anyone else mention, so I will. When I find an area where the hogs have been digging, I’ll hook up the 3 point tiller and flatten that area out. And the smell of fresh earth will bring them right back to that area, and they will again dig where I tilled, though I can never predict exactly when or if it’ll be night or day. I have noticed that they dig where the ground has more moisture, ignoring the dry dusty tilled patches.