Hogs have left the area

jglass

LSB Member
Been baiting hogs for over a week now and nothing. Area seems to be void of wild hogs. Normally there are wild hog signs visible when driving the car around. I have seen my bait pile go cold plenty of times but other parts of my lease will host a few hogs. Looks like wild hogs have left Florida, I know that's not possible, but that's how it looks. Deer seem to be scarce as well. My trail camera shows a coyote almost every night and a few coons, only one deer one time.
 

Bakester

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Same at our place in NW LA. Had a couple buddies from AZ come out for a hunt for the 4th year in a row. We killed 37 last year and only 7 this year. One guy was so pouty about it he may not be back haha.
 

J BAR K

Just trying to make a day.
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Same at my place in Northeast Texas. Still have a few deer on cameras but at different time than normal. Have one medium sized boar that shows up every 2-3 days at very irregular times. Pretty weird.
 

lonepunman

LSB Active Member
LoneStarBoars Supporter
It happens.

I’m now officially on my longest dry spell with no hogs sighted in my last five outings in the hill country.

My theory is with the heavy rains and the ensuing bumper acorn crop, standing water and undergrowth expansion they don’t need to travel and are staying in the thicket.

Hang tough.
 

J BAR K

Just trying to make a day.
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Guess I spoke too soon. Checked game cameras this morning and hogs at all my bait spots. Looks like the hunt is back on!
 

der Teufel

Livin' the Dream …
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There are 'always' hogs in the area I hunt, although they might not be making their presence known at any given time. Right now, with deer season in full swing and acorns still on the ground, the hogs aren't bothering to come eat the corn I offer. After the first of the year that will likely change as hunting pressure decreases and a lot of deer feeders quit operating.
Basically, they move around and it's tough to predict their behavior with any real accuracy.
 

jglass

LSB Member
Thanks for the replies. Must be a food issue in my area. No one around to shoot the hogs. The acorn situation makes sense because I noticed tons of acorns on the ground here in the campground. Considered raking them up and using them for bait I have only been in Florida for the past 10 days. I think they have had lots of rain here in Western Florida that could have an effect.

Had plenty time to get my hog blind built and tree stand setup. Going to Daytona for
Thanksgiving with Bro-in-law and Sis-in-law for 4 days. That will allow my bait pile a break from me tromping around
 
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Chopperdrvr

Deep East Tx
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Thanks for the replies. Must be a food issue in my area. No one around to shoot the hogs. The acorn situation makes sense because I noticed tons of acorns on the ground here in the campground. Considered racking them up and using them for bait I have only been in Florida for the past 10 days. I think they have had lots of rain here in Western Florida that could have an effect.
Lots of rain is probably an understatement. My son lives a few miles south of you and he was absolutely sick of the rain by the end of the summer. I think he started growing webbed feet.
 

jglass

LSB Member
2 weeks have passed and no hogs on my Crystal River lease. However we spent Thanksgiving weekend with in-laws in Palm Coast Florida.
Learned they have a wild hog problem. They have a 3000 acre Grayham swamp/forest preserve that has become flooded after all the rain. The hogs have moved to higher ground which happens to be Palm Coast. Hunting the hogs is out of the question but they have trapped 25. Hogs have destroyed manicured lawns and $1500 to repair each one. Some subdivisions require the lawns repaired at home owners expense. If a home owner gets hit twice by the hogs,,,,,,,do the math.

Got me thinking I think Crystal River had a storm surge from hurricane Michael. Wonder if the high water drove the hogs out. This area is still void of wild hogs. On my trail camera seeing more deer, more coyote, coon, possum, armadillo but no hogs. Brewed up some hog mash (soured corn), buried some of it. Putting apples out with the corn to spice up the bait pile.

Leaving now to check the trail camera
 

lonepunman

LSB Active Member
LoneStarBoars Supporter
Anyone hitting the mash and apples?
 

jglass

LSB Member
Surprise you asked about mash and apples. I brewed up some mash and also placed out apples. I have had a trail camera on my bait pile for almost 4 weeks and not even a picture of a hog. Lots of deer, raccoons, possum on the camera, no hogs. The coyotes seem to have left the area. The deer or some animal enjoyed the apples though. I setup another bait pile and camera a half mile away and no activity at all on that camera not even a raccoon.

I rode my 10-speed bike through the Homosassa WMA and saw no wildlife at all even though the habitat looked ideal for hogs. Drove through the Gulf Hammock WMA, ideal habitat for hog but saw no evidences of hog activity. Met some hunters and they suggested
Goethe state forest. Drove up hwy 121 and found rutting along the highway but not very much. In the past 4 weeks only 3 hogs were reported seen in the area, one in woods by a fellow hunter, 2 hogs seen crossing a highway into my lease. This is such a disappoint after last year when I saw hogs almost every day and night. Going back to Illinois for Christmas then return after Christmas.

If the hogs don't return after Chrstimas I'm taking up fishing.
 

Ratdog68

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jglass

LSB Member
Last year hog hunting was amazing. Wife and I on our way out to dinner would drive past the bait pile, if you knew just where to look through the jungle could see hogs in the bait pile an hour before sundown. My wife was not the least bit impressed. With my thermo imaging scope I could see hogs in the bait pile walking out to the tree stand. I saw hogs during the day out of the corner of my eye while working on my blind. Reminds me I need to post a picture of the blind.

This month I can't even get a picture of a hog. I'll be back after Christmas, I hope the hogs have the acorn ate up by then.


I built this blind single handedly. The roof was a new addition this year. The roof already kept me dry during a brief rain. The main idea of a roof was to keep the blind materials dry as possible.




The roof lowers to help shed water and resist winds.

Last is my AR-15 mounting for the blind. Those small brass thumb screws are for elevation adjustments. It also swivels for looking left and right. The Pulsar XQ38 thermo imaging scope has a WIFI connection so I can look through the scope with my cell phone while sitting in a padded lawn chair. That may sound good but it works best holding the rifle and viewing through the scope. All I need is some wild hogs


 

lonepunman

LSB Active Member
LoneStarBoars Supporter
Very impressive work.

I’m in a dry spell myself, and have learned to resist the temptation to purchase more stuff during a slump.

Instead, I improve the gear I already have.

In your case, run a PVC pipe from the stand down into a buried coffee can and urine bizness...
 

jglass

LSB Member
Very impressive work.

I’m in a dry spell myself, and have learned to resist the temptation to purchase more stuff during a slump.

Instead, I improve the gear I already have.

In your case, run a PVC pipe from the stand down into a buried coffee can and urine bizness...

Thanks

Would it be worth trying different bait besides corn? If hog like acorns so much should I collect them to be used as bait for another
time?
 

desmond

"runnin' with sasquatch"
I recently put up my game cam on a new pig trail. I will throw down some corn to watch the action. One pig can eat the corn so I dropped a mineral block to see what would happen. I know the corn was gone and the hogs will still come and sniff around. But the block is worn, could be from rain, but in the pics the hogs are all around it. Again, the pigs will show up if I spit on the ground, but I am going to put mineral blocks at some more places.12010285.JPG 12010286.JPG 12010298.JPG 12010303.JPG
 
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