Estimating area wild hog population

jglass

LSB Member
I lease 140 acres of wooded jungle In Florida. The topic frequently comes up, how many wild hogs are on that property. My trail camera was in the same jungle area for roughly 3 months and I figure I photographed roughly 25 different hogs with distinguishable markings and sizes. Take into consideration several black hogs were counted as one black hog but you have the idea. Unless you saw 5 black hogs at one time then you know there are at least 5 black hogs.

A local neighbor claims there are at least 200 wild hogs in that 140 acre area. I would like to take the 25 different hogs my trail camera photographed and double or triple that number for a total wild hog count so my estimate is somewhere between 50 and 75 hogs in that area. Of course the total hog count may change day by day as well. In 2016 I saw with my own eyes sounders of 20 to 30 hogs at a time. That did not happen in
2017.

I would be interested to know how you guys estimate wild hog population?
 

Chopperdrvr

Deep East Tx
SUS VENATOR CLUB
Because of the nomadic nature of hogs, it would be very difficult to put a number on the population. Just when you think you have a number, it is likely to change. 140 acres isn't big enough for them to stay full time.
 

FrankT

Destin FL
LSB TURKEY BUZZARD PRESERVATION SOCIETY
LoneStarBoars Supporter
I hunt 100 of the surrounding 300 acres in the middle of a 2000 acre lease and see 30-40 at a feeder at one time. Funny 1/2 mile away and my buddy sees a lot of hogs and most are different than mine we seldom see each others. They come and go out of the ares and depends on who is feeding what and when. I am guessing I see 200+ different hogs throughout the year and some go and never come back and some stay most of the time and new ones are coming in every week or 2.. There really is no way to tell the total count.

140 acres is too small to hold many for long but you have different ones spending time there different times of the year and going in and out
 

jglass

LSB Member
Interesting. So at times the neighbor's estimate is correct and other times my estimate is correct and other times we are both wrong.
My lease is surrounded by thousands of acres of prime hog habitat. I spoke to a buddy that lives there and he says they are seeing hogs crossing the roads almost every day during daylight hours, something I rarely see when I'm there during the winter.
 

FrankT

Destin FL
LSB TURKEY BUZZARD PRESERVATION SOCIETY
LoneStarBoars Supporter
We always see them less during deer season, too much activity and food is in every feeder really scatters them out. Now they are everywhere and thick. I feed year round and that helps keep them coming in.
 

Brian Shaffer

Hog Hunter
SUS VENATOR CLUB
LoneStarBoars Supporter
What Chopperdrvr said is correct.

Interesting. So at times the neighbor's estimate is correct and other times my estimate is correct and other times we are both wrong.

Well actually, both of you are apt to be wrong most all of the time, except by random chance. Neither of you have made estimates of a hog population in your 140 acres at a given time. You have basically made a count of different hogs that venture through, but you never know how many are actually ever there at any one time. Your neighbor sounds like he is pulling numbers out of the air. For all the hogs he sees going into the property, how many are leaving on the other sides where he can't see???

I could guess that there are 36 hogs on your property right now and be correct either of y'all for the same reason that you might be correct. The point is that NONE of us has actually done a real-time census.

Instead of worrying about how many hogs are on the property, I think I would focus more on how much traffic you have on the property. From the sounds of it, you are in a fairly high traffic area. The real numbers don't really matter since they are apt to change continually based on hog movements and population dynamics.
 

cincoranchhntr

LSB Member
Great points made by all. The 150 acres of river bottom we hunt in south Texas has hogs all the time, but you can bet that most are temporary 'squatters'. The population numbers and specific sounders change several times during a 12 month period based on year round game cam observations. If I had to guess, I would say a particular group of hogs or large lone boars may hang around approx one month on average, then move on, with others coming and going constantly.
 
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