I agree with RED these beast are pest.  Pure and simple.  I own property in South Central Texas and they have torn up our property bad.  My cousin ran them with dogs and had 50 of them bayed up and harvested a few of them but the balance got away.  I try to keep my 7mm with me for that clean one shot kill.  The young hogs 125# or less are good eating.  The bigger ones will be shot and left for the coyotes.  I remeber the snipers creed.  One shot one kill.  I have heard of bullets doing that before.  They have so much "armor" on them its scary.  And yes they are very alert and STINKKKKK.  Fencer you come to the farm you better bring your M1A1 and leave your RR at home.  [sniper]

Fencer, Red and I are in country east of Dallas between the Grand Prairie and the Piney Woods.  About 50 miles apart.  In Texas that means in each other's backyard.  There's a difference in hunting tho'.  Creeks where Red lives drain into the Sabine River.  Where I live they flow into the Trinity.  Sabine flows more east toward Louisiana and they've had hogs there longer.  Hogs move up river bottoms into new  territory.  They're a more recent arrival here where I am than where Red lives.  He's got more hogs per acre than we do, but it's just a matter of time here.

Man, you Texas guys have all the fun. Mental note to self...get plane ticket to Texas!

When I was growing up, I lived on some private property that was full of hogs.  They would root up the land pretty bad, and we would kill them every chance we got.  I live in Florida, and you can kill hogs year round on private property.  

What we wouldn't do is just kill them for the hell of it.  Every hog we killed we ate, or found someone that could use it.  If there was 4 hogs in a pack, we wouldn't kill all 4, because there is no way we could use all that meat at once.  They may get to walk today, but there's always tomorrow!  

I also have eaten many hogs over 300 pounds, and there is nothing wrong with the meat.  It's all in how the meat is prepared, and how it's cooked.  It may be a little tougher, but I can live with that.  We don't leave anything for the Coyotes, cause they can fend for themselves!  

We would be honored and might even let ya' cross the border.

Guess I didn't understand hog hunting.  It's got less to do with being a "dumbass cityslicker" than not being familiar hogs or varmint hunting.  EDIT: There's not a lot of that type of hunting in Wisconsin.

Even though I plead my ignorance up front and tried to be nice I still expected some flames.  Thanks for not disappointing me.  [rolleyes]

RedGoat, I appreciate you taking the time to explain this to me and not get bent out of shape.  While I wouldn't consider my self a "cityslicker," I've never owned land or livestock and seen them destroyed by an uncontrolled varmint population.  When these animals slaughter your animals for apparent sport, I can see why they should be terminated with extreme prejudice.  It's either them or your livestock -- they're the aggressors and uncontrolled non-native population, so I'd choose "them" too.

BTW, how does one make bacon?  Aside from butchering them, is there any other process needed?  What other kind of meat comes from wild pigs?  Same as farm raised pigs, or different?  I've seen lots of killed pigs in hunting photos and always wondered you did with them once shot.  They're so nasty looking I wouldn't have imagined that they were good eating.

Learn something new every day....

Come to think of it, IIRC I've heard stories of people hunting wild hogs with handguns (10mm's, etc.).  I think Ted Nugent once wrote in an article about taking one with a stock 10mm Glock.  Now [i]that[/i] would be fun and challenging hunting!!

As the son of a rice farmer.....I will tell you that hogs are very destructive pests. Once you get em...you got em and its time to trap em and sell em or empty a 30 rounder into a bunch of em and hope you kill as many as you can. Eat what you can and sell the rest. LOL. Some of you will never understand. A destructive pest is a destructive pest is a destructive pest.

I can't believe you went after these hogs with .223.  You are clearly in .577 Tyrannosaur territory.

:)

How were these hogs introduced?

You should get an AR-10!!

Actually, here in Florida, a lot of the "Rednecks" go hog hunting on Saturday nights. The way they hunt hogs is with dogs, not weapons.  Basically the whole idea is to capture them alive and uninjured.  For some reason, they do this at night in the middle of the woods?  I've gone a couple times, and it is a bit scary when you hear the dogs start barking.  As soon as they start barking, you know they have a hog held up.  You take off running in the dark, through the woods, until you find the dog or dogs.  If it's a small hog, the dog will grab it by the neck and pin it down.  If it's a larger hog, the dog will circle the hog, and try to keep it in one place.  Once you get there, you grab the hog by the hind legs and proceed to tie his ass up.  It's some pretty crazy shit, but it's a lot of fun.  They say their dogs get cut a lot, but none were hurt the times I went.  The hogs are usually transported off property to a pen, and corn fed until they are fit to eat.  

I'm sure there are some people here that do it, and can explain it better than I can, but I thought I would share my experiences.  

[size=2]Man, oh, man.  I [b][i]GOTTA[/b][/i] get to Texas...[:P]

[/size=2]

Woah y'all wait a min we ain't got room for all these extra guns.  And we kilt a 300# boar one time we caught in a live trap and when you walked up to the trap the smell made you puke on the spot.  I ain't eating nothing that nasty.  Sides we have cattle and they tear up the pasture (sandy loam) looking for grubs and grass so any hog I see is going down.  I believe in conservation but this things are like gophers.  A varmint and fair game.

How about one of Reds original questions about the bullet turning 90 degrees.  I've seen pictures somewhere on the web where .223 do 180s in ballistig gel.

Shok

Other than the obvious answer that it was a one-night fling...

Feral hogs are not a native specie to this part of Texas.  Feral hogs started arriving in this part of the country about ten-fifteen years ago.  As a population, they move up major rivers from the southeast.  RedGoat's creeks flow into the Sabine River.  The Sabine flows southeast to the Texas/Louisiana border.  Lot's o' hogs in south louisiana.  They just follow the water upstream.  Where I live the water flows into the Trinity River which flows almost due south.  There's a lot of territory between the Sabine and the Trinity that's too dry to easily support hogs.  They got here, it just took 'em longer because of the gap between the two tivers' drainage areas.  BTW javelina's are another species of hog that lives in West and far south Texas and are purely mean critters.

Well I guess I have to chime back in, again. I am no city slicker either. We have a family farm of 400+ acres in Green County. There are 50 head of cattle there that occassionally get set upon by wild domestic dogs. Yes, it is strange but they are essentially family or barn pets that pack up and start to kill livestock. Some of them wear collars. I have hunted them but I never opened up on them in an uncontrolled manner. I was just never taught  to shoot or try to kill anything in that way.
It was always at least an attempt at 1 shot 1 kill.

BTW: an AR is great on a dog but on a boar I would be a lot more comfortable with my Tromix .50 AE or the Savage Scout in .308.

I enjoyed all the flames, as usual the ones who claim to know it all, and make assumptions and derogitory names about people whom they have never met, are the ones acting like a loud mouth.

I simply pointed out that it did not seem right to be firing at wild animals like that and that I thought it was sickening. It goes against everything I was ever taught about hunting.

[thinking]

-elliott

Yeah, hogs aren't really game animals in my book. If populations go unchecked in some rural areas, they can present a real danger to younger kids out hunting rabbits, etc.

Dude, I think me and my SAR1 AK have some hog hunting coming in our future.  A couple of my uncles do it all the time down south of here (Ga), think I'll try to tag along or something.  They do it with deer rifles and take home everything they kill though.

I like the idea of a little forest combat with my AK vs multiple Hogs a little better...

Anyone know if Hogs are a varmit here in Georgia as well?  My uncles seem to be killing them alot so I am assuming they are...

I'm sure Georgia is the same!

Damn, I wish we had critters like that up here. I'd love to open up on something that needed a good ass-kicking.

Need any more volunteers for "Fire Team Alpha?"

Hey Redgoat some day I would love to come and give you a hand getting these Feral Hogs. May be I could take the trip off on my taxes. I have read how much damage they do to land and livestock. But you should do what I use to do.  

I would sit in an Ambulance I worked a 1600-0700hr shift in Harlem. I would have a pellet gun. You take a red lens flashlight, .put some food out and snipe the rats. Also I use to try and get them when they pop out of the sewer. On a quiet night I killed close to 75 of the little suckers. Then I take a red bag clean em up. Bring them to the Sanitation dept and get rid of them.

[url]http://7mwildboar.homestead.com/7m.html[url/]

Try trapping and selling. There is a very good market for live wild hogs. Just think, rodents to fund a new ar-15....fullclip

hey EDPMEDIC, I've seen hogs devour dead squirrels, birds and anything in their path when they are hungry.  I had a friend that had some wild hogs penned up and I noticed that they would eat anything.  Even the little piglets would go hog crazy (ha ha)over a dead bird. NO feathers no nothing left. Craziest thing I ever seen.  Just think what they would do with those rats of yours.  



They'd be in HOG HEAVEN.    HA HA HA

MMMMM, hog meat.  But the question is...

[size=5]Is it Kosher?[/size=5]

First, hogs rank up there on the list of "bleeders".

Second, my father was always into .300 and .338 mags, and he always had one thing to say about the .22 line of bullets (.22 hornet, .222, .223, 22-250, .224 wby. mag, .220 swift)  They go into the chest fast, then come out your ass even faster. Then would babble about the potential in that.

I just checked Florida laws regarding hunting, particularly hogs, and it LOOKS to me like hogs taken on private property may be exempt from Florida's 5 round magazine rule.   Hogs on private property are considered livestock and apparently anything goes if it meets with the approval of the landowner.  

On public lands, though, hogs have specific seasons and must be taken with, among other restrictions, no more than 5 round capacity mags.   But there is no limit on how MANY 5 round mags you can carry, and it doesn't take but a second or two to swap mags if you just dump them and slam a new one in, worrying about picking the old one up later.   I'd paint them blaze orange just in case.

I think I'll be attending the next hunter safety course and hopefully hook up with some private landowners and experienced hunters who'll walk me through an intro to hunting.

CJ

I killed a hog down in south GA this season as well as a real nice meat doe both with my AR.  Damn I wish my 458 SOCOM was here before season ended. Ah, but next year some pigs and deer are going down with a big boom!

In GA the deer regulations are basically if its brown put it down!! No worrying about horns or no horns!!  Also no mag restrictions on deer or any other game animal unless hunting with a shotgun(5 only).  Hogs are feral animals and should always be killed with extreme prejudice!! The one I killed was ~200lbs and really not fit for eating. Ideally we try to kill the little ones ~30-50 pounders are excellent and dont have the same gamey taste!

[beer]

Hogs and Javelinas!  You ain't lived until you hunt them with a handgun.

First rule of thumb is to make sure you stay close to a tree.  

Second is make sure it's a thick tree to hold your silly carcass if you get treed.

Zed used to hunt hogs with a pistol.  Haven't heard from Zed for a while.  Maybe we ought'a go check the trees on the back 40...[:\]

Lots of posts, I will try to get to all the questions.

First, I live in Canton, Texas.  The hog hunting is being done on the Kaufman/Van Zandt county line.  If (and that is a big IF) I can get permission I will try to get a couple of AR15ers at a time down for a hunt.  Arock's idea of baiting is a great one.  If/When I can work out the details I will get in touch with folks via email.

As for what meat you can get from a wild hog, bacon is possible on the larger, fatter sows.  Younger one are good for pit roasting, larger pigs (even the big boars) make great sausage.

The hind legs make great hams, roasts.  Ribs on the larger hogs are also good.  Take the center loin and make it into pork chops, stuff them with the homemade sausage and grill, yumm yumm!

I'll stand by my orginal intent on firing into the crowd, kill 'em all, those that are recovered are eaten.  You simply don't go into the Texas brush looking for wounded hogs with night falling and only a handgun.

That being said, I have spent many a Friday/Saturday night crashing through the brush with a light on my head, pistol drawn, trying to get to a bayed hog.  Carzy fun, lots of foolish adrenaline.

Most hog hunters here divide into two camps.  Those that eat what they kill, and those that don't.   Most hog hunters either sell the live ones or shoot them and leave them to rot.  I like the meat, I don't mind the work to process the meat, and I have a facility to do so.

Hogs bring .40 cents to .75 live weight.  You need to either trap them or use dogs to bay them if you plan to resell them.  Dead ones don't sell, so I process my own.

As for methods used, I have seen it all.  Trapping, dogs for baying, ropes, knives, pistols, rifles.  To each his own.  

When I first started, I carried a deer rifle (.270 savage) the wieght was a bit much, so I switched to my AR.  I eventually quit carrying the AR and have recently begun carriying only the Sigma .40 for my weapon.  Since we areusing dogs, most shots would be in close, and probably only used to finish a hog after catching and tying him/her.

As for how you do that, you gotta be quick, brave and stupid.  Dash/sneak in while the dogs have the hogs attention/ear.  Grab a back leg and lift, they fall over real easy.  Tie the legs up and stay away from the head.

Lately, I have been hunting alone and have switched back the the AR15.  Lightweight firepower.  

I feel real confident with 30 very LOUD rounds between myself and any mad boars.  I screwed up and did not carry any extra mags on this last 'hunt.'

I did not expect to see any hogs.  I carried my AR around all day and had used 7-10 rounds against turtles (no flames turtle lovers).  

I had planned to just show MrsRedGoat (who is not a hog hunter) what a hog wallow looked like.  She was not wearing camo and we were chatting about hogs, hunting, methods, etc. when the hogs were heard through the brush.

I handed her my backup piece (the Sigma) and I wish now I had closed another 40 yards to the herd to get better shots.

TheRedGoat

Ps, oh yeah, the original question, I still have not processed the entire front shoulder area.  Once I do so I will have a better idea of what happened to the bullet(s).

KNIVES!!!!   You're a better man than me!  The handgun alone is an adrenaline rush.  But I don't know about knives.  I know my limitations, and I'll stick to guns.   I'd rather be a live chicken than a dead duck!!!

Damn!! I'm craving some bacon wrapped pork chops now!![:P]

My thoughts exactly.  My opinion is that I wouldn't want to "wound" anything - not even a mouse - just the way I was raised.  Exceptions made for two legged critters who wish to do me, my family, or my country harm - then it's time for "get some, yeah, get some, get some".  I eat what I kill - if edible - or give it away (ONLY if the freezer is FULL). [:D]

Arock - Zed id doing well, as is his family.  He moved to south of Brackettville, about 45 miles east of Del Rio and two hours west of the outer loop around San Antonio, west of Uvalde.  Zed has a new job on the Anacacho Ranch.

Note - last year on the way back from a hog hunt (successful - pig on ice), got pulled over by TDPS - speeding - very nice officer - got to talking about hog hunting - he said that one landowner who he knows has a big metal plate on the forward bottom portion of his truck specifically for hogs - a hog "skid plate" if you will.  when the landowner sees a herd in a pasture, he just turns the steering wheel and floors it.  The officer had witnessed this while hunting on that owner's land.  Ain't that a helluva thing! [:O]

SMALL AND SWEET IS GOOD TO EAT - *and* - BIG HOGS IS BIG HAMS, RIBS, AND CHOPS!

HOGS IS GOOD FOR THE TUMMY!

Congrats, TheRedGoat!  Eat 'em up.

Tate

Tate...that "hog skid plate" thing...many years ago when I drove an 18-wheeler one of the things you understood was take a ditch before you hit a hog.  They're so solid they'll take the front axle out from under you.  I can imagine the shape of that skid plate!

RedGoat:

So, I was uninformed on the whole hog thing, but shooting turtles?  Are they a varmint too?  What's up with that?

Geez, WTF is going on with plugging turtles?

If they're "in season" and you eat them, cool.  But if you're just shooting at things to kill them....

Reserving judgement....

What's with you man?  Got a St. Francis of Assissi complex?  You spend precious time worrying about poisoning insects too?

Well, I have hunted them with only a pistol, it certainly gets the blood pumping.  

Now, nightime, only a pistol, dogs baying, you crashing through the woods after them,,, gotta love it.

I prefer the Carbine though...

TheRedGoat

Well, when you start [i]hunting fucking turtles[/i] for sport, then there's something else going on.

You're basically using whatever living creature you can find as a target, aren't you?

When it's a destructive wild hog, I can see laying waste to the whole herd (believe it or not, even just wounding as many as you can).  I say that cause I can see how that's pest management.  And it protects your livestock.

But shooting at whatever the fuck happens to be alive and look like a fun thing to shoot at?

Arock, if I were to make to the BRC (which I probably will not be able to do), I was actually kind of looking forward to meeting you.  So what's up with jumping my shit when I ask a question?

I think it's wrong to just kill every little thing that happens to crawl in your path just for sheer sport.

Shooting fucking turtles?  Do you tie dogs to a post and shoot them too?

PS  I'm still waiting to hear from RedGoat on this.  And, once again, I'm outa here for the night.  See you all in the morning or tomorrow night.

Corey - I know that turtles will eat up a stringer of fish - that's the beef *I* have with them.  Other than that - I've stopped my car a few times out in the boonies to help turtles across a busy road - soft heart [O:)].

A guy who's pond I fish on with my cousin for Florida Bluegills (delicious!) specifically asked us to blast the turtles if we saw them.  Don't know why - but he did ask specifically.  And we did.

ALL hogs are tasty - little - big - ALL

Tate

Shoot turtles for hunting?...what kind of fool sh!t is that?  I shoot water turtles cause they're a PEST.  Land terrapins are treated kindly around here but water turtles are another thing.  Ever hear of bass fishing, crappie fishing, stripers or whatever?  Know what eats those fish if I don't...you got it...turtles.  Two critters will get shot on any pond around here...snakes and turtles.  Don't want my kids bit by either, don't want my game fish eaten either.  Learn the difference between hunting and pest control.  You live too close to Madison.

*Edited to say I've got NRA Instructor workshop this weekend.  Get back on when I can.  Keep the faith.

Hello Corey.

I shoot turtles (water turtles) because they eat small game fish.  I enjoy fishing without the nuisance of catching huge snapping turtles on my bait.

I also shoot feral cats.  I have dispatched five in the last month.  All were 15 pound+ tomcats.  None had a collar, all were on my property attacking MY cat.  I kill them because they eat young rabbits.  Which I enjoy eating myself.

since my neighbor and lyself have been actively reducing the feral cat population we have seen a dramatic rise in the number of rabbits on our property.  Three years ago there were NO rabbits.  In the last three years we have killed 15-20 feral cats and have seen the rabbit population rise accordingly.  In the past, shining a large spolight on the pasture revealed cats, now you see rabbits in their place.

As for you question about tying dogs to a post, I have done this only once.  It was my own dog and had begun as a puppy eating my chickens.  I tried everything I could to break him of the habit.  I read books, I consulted folks in the dog training business, family and friends.  When my neighbor came to me with information that indicated my pup had upgraded to small goats, I decided to do the humane thing and kill the dog.  I could have wimped out and let the Animal Control folks do the deed, but I sucked it up, wiped away the tears and killed him myself.

To make it easier to complain to me Corey here is a list of my Wanted List of Pests that I shoot on sight, clean kill not required:

1.  Snakes (I shoot only the poisonous ones, grass snakes are A-Ok.)
2.  Water Turtles
3.  Feral Cats
4.  Coyotes
5.  Wild Hogs

I see myself as the top predator/pest control on my property.  If something is eating what I want to eat, or destroying native habitat for animals I like to eat, then I pull the trigger.

I do not shoot whatever "happens to be alive and look like a fun thing to shoot at."

I am not sure why you made this accusation.

FWIW, ponds are not a natural part of a habitat.  Without proper management then they will not be clean, productive places to water livestock, take a swim, or catch your dinner.  

As for why you are irritated with Arock, it might be based upon your decision to pass judgement before getting all the facts.  I take it with a grain of salt that you accused me of shooting at whatever "happens to be alive and look like a fun thing to shoot at."

You might consider being a little slower on the trigger when it comes to making character attacks.  

As for your decision to no longer wish to meet Arock, I can honestly say this is your loss.  Arock is a great guy with lots to offer to the firearms community.  He has been an integral part of most DFW AR15.com meets, get togethers, and lunches.  You would be hard pressed to find a nicer guy.

TheRedGoat

RedGoat:

Thank once again for your explanation.  My bad.  I guess I am just a damned cityslicker after all.  I apologize for jumping the gun.  (And I did jump the gun -- open mouth, insert foot.  I even try not to do that very much.... [:\] )

I wasn't accusing you of anything, I was kind of using that as a "for example."  I actually appreciate all that you've taught me in this thread.

As for Arock, I never said that I didn't want to meet him.  Actually, I was trying to say that with everything I knew about him, he sounded really neat and I did want to meet him.  I guess I was just kind'a miffed at why he was being so direct in calling me a cityslicker.  I didn't know if he was trying to pick a fight.  Well, I've finally figured out why (see first paragraph).

I never realized that living on a southern ranch required that much wildlife management.  I've only been around a few farms (and briefly at that) around the midwest, but it doesn't seem like the pest problem is as bad as what you have down south.

Guess now I'd like to meet you both in person if only to apologize for jumping the gun on something that I was so wrong (and uninformed) about.  [:I]  I hope that you both accept my sincere apology.

Looks like I have a lot to learn about being a cowboy, huh?  [B)]

EDITED for typo.

NP here Corey.

No apology required.  Living in the South does require that one manages wildlife properly.  I suppose it is because the climate is warmer, but feral animals, especially formerly domesticated animals, tend to get out of hand rather quickly.

Man upsets the balance of nature in his day to day interaction with her.  Unless you do your part to put things back in place, it will spiral out of control.  

There is no way to completely reverse the damage that man does to his environment.  I heard/read something once, that we try to make the world safe for "People and Cows."  Sad, but true that we spend most of our time destroying wildlife habits just to make room for walking Big-Macs.  

Ironic that we don't go out and blast cows en masse to make room for more deer/wildlife.  Instead we bulldoze timber and complain about hogs rooting up the forests.  Duality, anyone?

Since the game is a balancing act, it is difficult to explain all the reasons why some things are killed, and others are given free rein.  It is even harder to explain to someone who is not involved in livestock/wildlife management.  Again, no need for an apology, I appreciate you taking the time to listen to my point of view.

As for you needing to meet with Arock and myself, how soon can you get here?  Door is always open in Texas.  Heck, with about a week's notice we can put on one heck of a BBQ to boot!

TheRedGoat

PS, made bacon this morning (8lbs), salt/sugar curing the hams (15lbs each) as we speak.  I am heading out to do some more whittling on the sow.  Will post later about the bullet path.  

TheRedGoat, I've never hunted hog before. I was wondering if you had to take any special procautions when processing pigs,so that you don't get tricinosis or any other diseases or afflictions? CAPITALIST

Hi RTA ask Waverunner about the rats we have around here. I don't think a hog would have a chance. Some of these rats had names. I would see certain ones that kept getting away. They were taunting me. They would stand on their hind legs, look at me and I swear gave me a FU with their front legs. They don't call me EDP-MEDIC for nothing.

Cook everything very well done.  Wear gloves when processing he carcass.

Hey NOT WITHOUT ME! Maybe us Az boys should venture out next door and do some pig killin. I always wanted to justify calling my K-BAR a "pigsticker"

All I have to say is this is one of the most interesting and educational threads I've read on here in a while. I've never hunted anything in my life and I want to get in on the action now!

USPC40

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I wonder if NY has any animals like that
probably not
I think the reason some people have posted having a problem with opening up on the herd is that there's nothing similar in their state.
Take NY for example, can't even use a rifle to hunt in most of the state, tight limits on the number of animals taken in their respective seasons, etc.