I live near MAGAzine, Arkansas and would like to get into hog hunting. I don't really see me spending big money on it until I know if it's something will become a regular pastime. I figured that I would use either my AK in 7,62x39 or the M1 Garand in 30-06. Do y'all suppose an electronic call would help? What other gear would be necessary? Thanks for any good advice given.

You need bait and a thermal.

Game cameras and locate hogs first. Scout lot’s of areas. Creek and river bottoms are always good.

Many people start hog hunting with what they have.

The AK and a red or green light will kill hogs at night.  You can kill plenty in the day time too.

If you like it you'll end up spending tons on thermal and night vision.

I started off, a few moons ago, with a bolt action 270 and a red light. Had a LOT of fun! Once thermals became a thing it changed the way we hunted and we were on so many more hogs than ever.

My set up now is a suppressed 308 with a thermal and wouldn't change it up.

Try the red spot light method to start off, as it is cheap, or find someone who can introduce you to thermals and it will change your life.

A hog hunting addiction can be worse than crack, beware.

With most types of night hunting, you can't shoot what you can't detect. A thermal scanner is almost a must for virtually all types of night hunting. The one exception can be if hunting over a bait site where the animals are coming to you. Even then, thermal is great, but not as critical.

7.62x39 or 30.06 are great calibers for hog hunting. I recommend setting up a corn feeder with a timer and game camera. You can use calls and hog-specific bait, but you'll see more success with a corn feeder and game camera while hunting from a blind or tree stand.

Hogs are mostly nocturnal, so you could set up "hog lights" on your feeder and get the animals accustomed to the light, or you can use spot lights with a two man team and/or rifle mounted lights if your solo. If you have a big budget you could use a thermal scanner and thermal scope/night vision scope or helmet mounted nv and red dot/passive ir laser, or you could cheap out and get a NV100 clip-on device and use a standard scope (like me). I sometimes use the NV100 as a handheld observation device and use a powerful rifle mounted light to take the shot. I've seen best results with bonded 180gr 30.06, with no hog (or any animal) being unrecovered. 7.62x39 is better than 5.56 for hogs (from my personal experiences), even when using heavy bthp or bonded. I really wanted 5.56 to be my goto for hogs, but it isnt.

I've seen great results with using "sour mash", "sour corn" or what my wife calls it "hog wine". You take a 5-gallon bucket with lid and fill it 3/4 of the way with deer corn, add 5-6 cups of sugar, 2-4 packets of yeast, 8-10 packets of cherry koolaid and fill with water. Let the bucket sit for 2-3 days in 70degree or more temperature and it will begin to ferment and become mildly alcoholic. Dump this bait on the ground in a pile, or dig a hole and bury most of it, or if you want them to stick around for a good while you can full up a PVC tube with holes drilled in the sides and chain it to a t-post.

Also remember hogs are smart and have a very good sense of smell. They will also charge and can be dangerous.