Hunt feeder consistantly - tips

[Blancoalex]

Looking for tips on how to effectively hunt 1-2 feeders and yet not train hogs to start staying away after taking a few out. Should I always try to take the leader sow /sounder? How much time in between successful hunts as not to train them or will the corn always convince them to keep coming in.

Guess could also sometimes hunt the travel trail in between the 2 feeders also.

Thanks for your tips.

 

[scrmblr1982cj8]

How far are your feeders from one another?

When I lived in SC and ran 6 sites over 2 counties, I staggered the programed feed times amongst the feeders.

I had a pattern I'd follow in terms of the sequence of feeders visited. I'd set the feeder to drop for 5 seconds. I set the first feeder to go off at 8:00, the second at 8:45, and the others at 45 minute intervals. None of the sites were too far from one another, so 45 minutes between feedings was enough. In my situation, if they didn't come out shortly after the corn dropped, they usually didn't show. I could get through all six locations by 12:30/12:45ish, so I would go back to the first feeder for a 1:00am feed. Sites 2 through 6 followed in 45 minute intervals.

Since you just have 2 feeders, I think you run the risk of running them off if you hunt them too hard. Corn is relatively cheap, so I wouldn't be stingy with it.

I'd take the lead sow out. The piglets are dumb enough to keep coming back out for the corn so you shouldn't have too much trouble getting them.

Good luck!

 

[Orange Dust]

A little secret: Whenever you kill one in a trap or around a feeder, lift up the hog from where it lays, do not drag it off. Then spray all the blood and where he was laying with diesel fuel with a garden sprayer. Do not tell anyone this. It is a secret. You're Welcome.

 

[J E Custom]

I have 6 feeders, 4 have pens (The hogs cant get to the corn ) and 2 that Don't have feed pens. These two feeders only feed at daylight or at 2 PM. What we have found is they will stake out the feeder before it feeds and keep deer away until it goes off. then they will rush in and eat as fast as they can. for sport (And meat) we will wait until more than one line up and take several with one shot, (Good strong bullet are recommended for this) after shooting them they do get feeder shy and won't come back for a short time, but the corn will call them back for some more chances at a shot.

The old sows are the smartest and after a while they will hang back (Like the bigger bucks) and sacrifice there younger relatives. We primarily hunt them for meat, so we look for the best choice for table fair, but if a big bore comes along, it is his bad luck.

The early evening feeding will allow our deer to feed if the hogs won't expose themselves before dark and pressure them into trying their luck when we can hunt. we also found out that by hanging a couple of pieces of aluminum 3 x 6" where the corn will strike it and make a sound that can be heard from a distance they will come running when it goes off (It's like a dinner bell).

Hope some of the tips help.

J E CUSTOM

 

[dwightb]

I have 5 feeders going. Three are for pigs and deer, two are for pigs only. I have battery powered, solar charged lights as I only hunt at night for pigs. Unless you are multiple miles from other feeders and hunters they are already shot at! Two feeders on the same place treat them a one. Again, unless they are miles apart they are the same pigs. What you will attract is mostly lone boars. Every once in awhile a sounder with sows and pigs. Someone shoots or traps the lead sow or sows you will get a sounder of same size pigs. Two sows with pigs, shot one sow and the other pigs will join the other sow. Little pigs with join with a slightly bigger one. On lone boars. Youngers one may travel together. Some time there is a dominate boar. He controls the feeder. A smaller one may try to sneak in early or come in late. Shoot the sneaker and the big boar will be right back another night. Shoot the big boar and the smaller one will be right back. Some don't care about your scent much less left behind blood. Some do. Most daylighters will be evening., right at dark. Mornings may be anytime! You will look at lots of pictures but a game camera helps. I will tell you how often and when they are at the feeder!

 

[Blancoalex]

Thanks for the helpful tips. The feeders are around 1\2 mile apart. Yes the camera relives their pretty much the same group with couple random boars showing up. Have by bunch photos showing how the lead sow just hangs back watching she will be my next target to get. Guess after get her will allow some time for rest to get comfortable again.

There is a well travel trail connecting the 2 feeders so will try staggering the feeder times to allow them travel time to get to other one. This would give me a third unexpected option for them. But will have to find pretty open spot to allow for more reaction time as sure they will be moving quickly .

How would putting rubbing tree/ post halfway work to slow them when traveling to next feeder?

Thanks

 

[davidu]

I have a similar two feeder set up. Set the timers to feed at night trying to minimize the deer eating all the corn. But the deer just come at night too. I've been shooting hogs at these two feeders for about 6 years. I have cameras (SPYPOINT) send pictures two times a day looking for hog feeding patterns. The boars pattern pretty well. The sounds of hogs don't. They are just random. I have a cabin on the place with one feeder within shooting distance. The hogs seem indifferent to daytime activity, but I try to minimize spreading my scent when I'm there to kill hogs. I'll set the cameras to every detection when I'm staying the night and when alerted either shoot them off the porch or sneak to other feeder. The wind direction is the wild card.
I pick up the dead ones with a loader. New boars usually take the place of the dead one within a couple of days. I assume the alpha boar, that's now dead, suppress the lesser boars from coming around as I rarely see two boars hanging out together.

 

[Brett Bracken]

I'm kinduv late to this party but thought I'd comment.

Hog hunting is not rocket science. I have 3 feeders on my property (250 acres) set to go off one hour before sunset and one hour after sunrise. I also have other bait holes that I bait, with corn, when I'm on the property. Game cams are very helpful in that you learn very quickly that hogs cannot be patterned like deer. A group may come in to one feeder around the same time for a few nights and then for whatever reason come in at a completely different time or just move off....only to return a week later. Pigs are where they are when they are there. Don't worry about too many feeders or how close they are...of course you don't want to put them right on top of each other. It's nothing unusual to have hogs at all 3 of my feeders at the same time.....and have a hog or 2 at one of my other bait holes. Hogs are gluttons and opportunistic. They have a very hard time resisting food. Yes....the bigger sows and boars get fairly cagey but eventually they come around. You just have to be at the right place at the right time.

As far as covering your tracks with diesel or washing the blood away.......sorry....but that is not necessary. I have a set-up on my ranch where I shoot from my porch down a long sendero (830 yds). I have 2 spots that are lighted up with solar powered lights (very bright white lights)...one at 454 yds and the other at 830 yds. I shot the 2 hogs in the first picture 45 mins apart. The one at the top was shot at 8:30 at night and the other was shot at 9:15. Other dead pigs, blood or whatever...doesn't matter. The worst thing you can do is immediately go our and recover a hog. All that does is make noise and spread your scent around the place. The 3 hogs in the second picture were all shot on the same night. The 2 bigger hogs were shot about an hour and a half apart at 454 yds and then about another 2 hours later I shot the little hog at 830 yds. Picked up all 3 the next morning with my tractor. Then I shot the hog in the 3 picture the following night at 454 yds again.

My point is don't over think it. Put some corn out, the more the better where ever you want., be patient and have fun.

 

[Blancoalex]

Thanks Brett, slowly finding out what you just said here by using my cameras. Having to redo oldest location so that can get into stand without detection by noise and swirly winds. Creating a new location that has high overlook and not have wind issues and quite entry for it. Like that you have long distance opportunity for your feeders.

 

[JMW67]

as far as morning hog killing I have found it best so set the feeder to go off about 10 minutes before I can see through the scope that way the pigs arrive in the dark and are very calm and the sun coming up slowly does not spook them I have had much better AM results this way

 

[davidu]

Don't worry about blood
This is a boar eating corn off of a dead boar I had shot earlier

 

[SixDemonBag]

Shoot suppressed if you are able, it seems like it increases my follow on opportunities. I have shot a pig at a feed only to have them all run off and then come back about 15 minutes later for me to be able to pick off 2 more. And this is with the first one of them having sprayed blood all over the place like firehose (diesel fuel needed you say?).

As always, everything is wind dependent so keep that in your face if you can.

 

[Orange Dust]

The ones we have are more skidding. No idea why, but what I said is true IMO

 

[Orange Dust]

Shiddish nailed again by phone spell check