I’m heading out this weekend to hunt hogs at a friend’s deer lease. He’s not sure if the feeders will have anything left in them from deer season and/or how long they may have been empty for at this point. I plan to buy at least a couple bags of corn on my way there to either just make some bait piles or throw a bag or two in the feeders.
Do y’all think the pigs will immediately remember the sound of the feeders, after possibly a month or two without corn, or does it take time for them to start finding that as a food source again?

The hogs likely range far enough to encounter other feeders so will be familiar with the sound.

M

Probably all their life. They are aggressive in search of a meal and more intelligent than most would think.

Spread some corn on the ground where you are hunting

Good point, I often forget just how far they can travel in a day, and probably more-so during the winter when natural food is harder to come by.


The more I learn about them the more I’m impressed with just how smart and adaptable they are.


I’m planning on throwing out some by hand further from the tree line to hopefully give me some better opportunities for follow-up shots. I’m sure they’ll eventually find that corn, but I’m wanting to use the sound of the feeders to get their attention so it’s less of a guessing game when they might come around.

The hogs also can likely smell the corn at a much larger distance than they can hear a feeder.

This.

There may not be any hogs in the immediate area of the feeder to hear it when it goes off if it has been empty for a while because they have learned that the feeder is empty and so won't have any reason to be nearby at feeding time.

With that said, often hogs are not waiting nearby for the feeder to go off even when it is fully functioning and spitting corn every day, unless the hogs are really hungry (lack of local resources).

I have feeders going off a bit after dark, but may have hogs come in at 2:00 am. That is what, 8 hours after dark and 5 hours before the morning feed time. Such hogs are not in dire need of corn, but are just making the rounds, getting snacks as they go.

I’ll keep my feeder going probably 8 months a year

Each year when I start feeding in August for the first the pigs show up that evening

I have a lot of pigs tho