Hog sign. What to look for.

TEXASLAWMAN

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These are what we call clues in my line of work. If you find one or more of these you have hogs!

First off the basic tracks.


Second you will find wallering holes where they cool off and cover themselves with mud for protection against insect bites.


 

TEXASLAWMAN

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Third you will find rubs. These are trees and post where they scratch, and coat themselves in sap or ceosote.





 

TEXASLAWMAN

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Fourth you will find scat/poop. It has been my experience if you find a large amount of scat in one area you have found a bedding area. Unlike other animal they seem to poop where they live. So large amounts of poop and you have found hog heaven and you need to set up shop!





 

TEXASLAWMAN

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Finally hog nest yes they make them! First time I found one it looked like the nest out of the movie jurassic park minus the eggs! These are also a gold mine of activity and a definite bedding area. You have found their safe zone. In E. Texas they seem to prefer the pine needles over anything else. Other places with out the pines they seem to like the bamboo and reeds. But I have seen them in just old oak leaves.





 

pruhdlr

Cantonment,Fla.
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TLM........this is a great addition to this forum. I find that 80%+ of even the experienced and dedicated hog hunters do not know what these items look like and consequently what to look for during their scouting adventures. Most do not know the differance between deer and hog prints.

Please allow me to add: In my area(extreme NW Fla)of the country this is what I have learned about the above.
1. The scat will smell like......well.....crap. In the swamps or feeding thru the bottoms, hogs will go after worms,grubs,moles,lizards,snakes,etc. This will make their scat somewhat darker and smelly. Sometimes you can actually smell it while it is on the ground. It will be sticky,pasty,slimy. If they are feeding on vegitation it will be more like horse scat. Dry,and will be easily seperated if moved with a stick. Like a black bear,if it is 2" in diameter the hog is approximately 200lbs. Usually +/- 10lbs or so. It cannot be used to lure or help draw other hogs into an area. I have tried this. Most of the hog scat that I have seen both in the swamps and in the pine barrens is somewhat rounded and they are individual pieces,not attached to each other. This....depending on their diet. Here,in the swamps and oak filled bottoms they love to feast on white oak accorns and wild pecans. They pass up this years crop and root for the already fermented last years crop that has bee buried by leaves for a year or so. They absolutely love these.
2. Nests/Beds..... They are made of shredded saw palmetto fans or bamboo/cane leaves as shown above. How the hogs shred these is unknown to me. I have heard sounds in the swamps that could have been this in the early AM,just before sunrise. Usually on the small "islands" in the swamp. In my experience the hogs do not use these same beds night after night. This could have quite easily been my fault. (?)
3. Rubs.....They love to rub long leaf pines. Also cut them using their cutters or chew them using their teeth. They don't actually eat it IMO. But if they do, it is small amounts of the very outer bark. They do this to get it's sap flowing. They are more prone to do this during the hottest days of the year. I have used a pulp hook to make these cuts to a pine and the hogs WILL use it. The hogs also LOVE the creosote power poles. If you have a piece of property or a hunting club that has these,if you have hogs in the area,these WILL be rubbed. I have cut these into pieces,installed them into the ground(with concrete)and the hogs will start rubbing them. Use KRESO-D to enhance the smell. Cut it 1oz to 1gal of rain water.
4. Rooting..... IMO the hogs root in soil with the "PERFECT" moisture content. Partly due to the ease of rooting,but mainly because the moisture content dictates what bugs/worms are how close to the surface. Or..that bugs have hatched into the adult form. I have seen hogs root in pure white sand,standing in belly deep water rooting in the underwater soft mud,and in the rocky road side. I have seen hogs rooting. They ran off when they saw me. I took my shovel out of my truck and started digging. I did not find anything that I would consider hog food. (HUH ??)

I love learning new things about hog behavior. I have a written list of things to ask a wildlife biologist if I can ever pin one down. HOWEVER......I will listen to real world experience before a college boy. Find a old world hog hunter from the most rural part of your state. That is where the real knowledge is. ---- pruhdlr
 
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TEXASLAWMAN

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I know one thing. No more shaking your hand after you are holding that hog poop !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOL was not my hand!
 

FrankT

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Funny I was thinking it was TLM's hand and committed to memory to do a fist bump instead of hand shaking...
 

Ratdog68

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LOL was not my hand!
That's his story, and he's stickin' to it. LOL. Almost as bad as the AF&G cop that was known for handling bear scat or rotting carcasses while eating his sammich. LOL
 

TEXASLAWMAN

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Look at those hands they are calloused! Im a government employee my hand are soft as silk! :rolleyes:
 

Ratdog68

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I hear ya... been almost 04 years since I swung a hammer daily. My paws have lost some of that old strength and toughness too.
 

Angler-Hi

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I've been searching for the last two months for feral hogs. I have come across plenty of tracks and trails, but no signs of wallows, scat or even rooting. I am at a total loss. Any ideas on where to go from here? Thanks.
 

FrankT

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All you can do is keep looking, go deeper in the tough stuff and off the beaten track. Some places/ pockets/areas just don't have them.
 

TEXASLAWMAN

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I've been searching for the last two months for feral hogs. I have come across plenty of tracks and trails, but no signs of wallows, scat or even rooting. I am at a total loss. Any ideas on where to go from here? Thanks.
Try putting some bait out on the trails with tracks and a game camera watching the bait. See if you can get some pictures of them and the times they are moving.
 

Shooter

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A lot of it has to do with your terrain. What area are you in ?
 

G-Ret

Pinellas County, Florida
I hunt Southwest Florida So I spend a lot of time in swamps. I have yet to get a hog kill. I have found fresh tracks, fresh rooting, wallows, hog beds, hog rubs, hog mud rubs, and even hog nests. Still no success. I have yet to find any scat. Has anyone else had this issue of finding everything except scat and hogs? Thanks, G-Ret
 

TEXASLAWMAN

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Sounds like you are on the right track. The most scat I find is in bedding areas. Can you bait where your hunting? If so start baiting a worn trail maybe put out a trail camera. Out here once you find a worn trail its just a matter of time before you find the hogs.
 
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