Florida Hogs

[winniedonkey]

Im living in Florida now, out the the Marines and would like to get into hunting these piggies. I know they can be found all over but does anybody out in cyber land have any good hunting area tips, gear recommendations? Looking to do my hunting by stalk.

 

[Packrat 6]

Yes!..If stalking, be vewy, vewy quiet....


Welcome aboard, but unfortunately, am in Arizona so don't know the Florida scene! Do know this - I hunt thick brush in Texas and am now going to be wearing Chainsaw Pants (Amazon) and I always use a Semi-auto over Iron sights. Bolt action won't cycle fast enough if they decide to get up close and personal! AND they have! Depends on how close you intend getting when stalking. When in the brush I seldom get to shoot over 30 yds. usually much shorter. Am using and antiquated M-60 Machine gun with a 100 round belt!.....Just kidding, but I would if I could get my hands on one.....

Packrat

 

[earlcurtis67]

Where in fl. are you? To begin, you may want to look up "myfwc.com" and find a management area near you. Many of these areas are quota hunt only so you'll have to aply for a permit. Some areas are "general use" and only require a hunting liscence and a management area stamp. In Fl. hogs are considered small game so the season is pretty long, nov. thru march.
As far as equipment, bug spray, light clothing and comfortable boots are a must as well as staying hydrated. what gun you use in my opion would be dictated by the rules of the management area and/or the terrain. Down here in so. fl. the Kissimee river management area is shotgun only for big game and shotgun and rimfire for small game. My gun of choice is a Remungton 11-87 shooting 7/8 oz. slugs through a mod. choke. For open terrain and where allowed just about any center fire rifle will do the job.
Best advise I could give you is to get you"re self a scatter gun, some buck shot, find a place near you, scout it and then go hunting... oh, and if you have kids, take them too
E

 

[winniedonkey]

Thanks for the tips, looking forward to hog hunting, will be bringing the boys for sure.

 

[Snookkatcher]

I would STRONGLY suggest that if you are going to use a shotgun, by choice or regulations, to forget the buckshot and use a good rifled slug load. Sabot slugs of various makes thru a rifled barrel, or a 'solid' slug thru a smoothbore, for max penetration. By 'solid', I mean a Brenneke or Rottweil slug. These have a cylindrical solid lead body, not a hollow 'dome' composition like almost all 'Foster' types loaded by Win., Rem, Federal, ect.

 

[snox801]

I would STRONGLY suggest that if you are going to use a shotgun, by choice or regulations, to forget the buckshot and use a good rifled slug load. Sabot slugs of various makes thru a rifled barrel, or a 'solid' slug thru a smoothbore, for max penetration. By 'solid', I mean a Brenneke or Rottweil slug. These have a cylindrical solid lead body, not a hollow 'dome' composition like almost all 'Foster' types loaded by Win., Rem, Federal, ect.

I second that. I brought my kelp-tec this year just to try out buckshot and they make alot of noise when you hit them but they run like crazy. If you have a rifled slug gun try a accutip. If not any rifle with the right bullet will do the job. Remington now loads hog hammers for almost all calibers. They are loaded with Barnes.
as for other tips hunt like deer. They cannot see or hear worth the ****, but they can smell so watch the wind or use scent loc.

 

[lookingforthewayback]

I live in the fl panhandle and hunt them in the swamps just off my pasture. I use a lever action puma in 454 or a marlin in 45-70. The puma is open sights and the marlin has a 2.5 Leupold scout scope. Both work just fine.

 

[Snookkatcher]

I second that. I brought my kelp-tec this year just to try out buckshot and they make alot of noise when you hit them but they run like crazy. If you have a rifled slug gun try a accutip. If not any rifle with the right bullet will do the job. Remington now loads hog hammers for almost all calibers. They are loaded with Barnes.
as for other tips hunt like deer. They cannot see or hear worth the ****, but they can smell so watch the wind or use scent loc.

Actually, their hearing is pretty good, but they make a lot of noise themselves when in a group ( a 'sounder' ) rooting around and feeding. For slugs, I use Brenneke 'Special Forces Short Magnum' slugs thru my Rem. 870's with ghost ring sights. Those slugs are made with a very hard lead alloy, intended for Military or Police SWAT teams to penetrate heavy wood doors, car bodies, ect. Rifles in the 30/30 class and up, or handguns .357 and up with heavy, hard-cast bullets will work well. Soft lead buckshot or common Foster-type slugs flatten-out on the heavy skull bones or thick gristle-plate 'shield' and won't penetrate. That, and most people think the vitals are in the same place as a deer, and gut-shoot them. The heart is much lower, and heart and lungs are way more forward in the chest cavity than a deer. A shot 4 to 6 inches or so behind the shoulders on a broadside shot is right thru the paunch, not the lungs like a deer.
Pigs are a lot more intelligent than most any other animal, so that is a factor to consider too.

 

[snox801]

Yes I believe i said that wrong. As compared to deer hunting in Michigan I feel they can't hear worth the ****. But they can hear well compared to other animals

 

[Snookkatcher]

Speaking of Michigan, I'm going to be deer hunting there, for the first time, this coming Thanksgiving holiday for a week or so. My wife grew up there ( Port Huron ), and all her relatives hunt. Her sisters husband has a cabin and property in the West Lake area, so we are all going up to have Thanksgiving there and hunt. My nephew shot a nice 9 point there on the second day of last season, and there were a bunch of other really nice bucks seen. I'm stoked to get a crack at a monster! ( Relative to Fla. deer... My wife always chides me for chasing ' Greyhounds with tiny horns' thru the swamps! ) I'm in the process of researching availability of additional doe permits, limits, Regs. in general, ect. Probably taking my Rem. 700 SS in .270 Win., w/ 4.5-14x Weaver Grand Slam scope. 3/4 MOA all day with std. factory CoreLocts, and Hornady Superformance 140 SST's.

 

[snox801]

Don't get to excited. Michigan needs some work on the qdm. Although we do get some nice ones to. Depending on the area lots of doe are available. I have pretty close to unlimited tags.

 

[Snookkatcher]

Sounds good RE: doe permits. I'm more of a meat hunter than a dedicated 'trophy chaser'. There is a good number of nice bucks on the property, so we'll see what the trail cams have to say leading up to the season. I won't hold back for a 'record' that doesn't exist there. I'm going to have a good time just being there toting a rifle in the woods with family anyway!

 

[Packrat 6]

WHAT! Their trusting Floridians with guns now?...Next they'll be allowing Michigonians to hunt hogs!...........

What next??????

Packrat

 

[Snookkatcher]

The Lib's don't call us ' the Gunshine State' for nothing! LOL!
' Lions and Tigers and Bears, oh my!' ;-)
( Just for the record, the only 'shiny' gun/rifle I own is my new Weatherby...!)