Feeder Contest

[chutesnreloads]

If there were a contest for the feeder between deer and hogs....who gets the corn?Had four bucks under the feeder last week(where were they during the season?)that were really nervous.Didn't seem to be paying me any notice but something in the bushes had 'em jumpy.I'd have thought the hogs would run the deer off but maybe those racks of horns??Anyone seen how this contest plays out?

[Land_Owner]

Ordinarily, hogs run off everything, even big racked bucks.  Being omnivores, and real bad sports about sharing, hogs tend toward bad attitudes one with the other.  I saw a sow toss her piglet 20 feet just by shaking her head when the sow wanted what her offspring was eating.  I have seen boars rip one another side to side with those incredible tusks.  No deer has the fortitude to tangle with one, much less several feral hogs intent on feeding.  The name and its stigma - Pig - is quite fitting for this animal.

[jmayton]

I agree with Land_Owner.  Every time I've seen deer and pigs in the same area, the deer always run off and the pigs take over.  My father-in-law and I were out huting hogs one day when we saw a great looking buck a couple of hundred yards away.  As he walked toward us, he suddenly stopped and went on full alert.  I thought he had seen or smelled us, but then a big boar that we hadn't seen came out of the cedars next to the buck.  The buck nearly fell over itself getting away.  Sadly, we both missed the hog once the deer was out of the way.

[Mohawk]

  My experiences mirror those of LandOwner. But, fortunately, the hogs have moved off of our place the last few years so it hasn't been a problem.

[gstewart44]

I have seen what Landowner is talking about.   We used to have a great deer hunting area until the hogs migrated in a few years ago.   At first we would see the deer bolt at the sound of the incoming group of swine.   Now after 4 years the deer don't come in any more.  They have moved to other areas where they can feed in piece.   

If you have ever seen two ornery hogs fighting for food it is a sight that will stick in your mind, especially if you are after them on the ground.

[Land_Owner]

I have and have always had hogs routinely and deer sporatically.  The deer participate more often today due in part to my planting of food plots.  The pigs are inclined to the corn feeder (deer not so much), the plowed ground of the food plots (but not necessarily the food plot plantings), grubbing for worms, and acorns in season. 

I eat both deer and pigs with clock-like regularity.  When my freezer is full I have to stop hunting.  That just isn't going to happen very often.  I give away a LOT of processed meat.  I do that for self preservation so I can continue to hunt.  (I think) I would GO POSTAL otherwise.

I can't imagine having only one or the other - although when I hunt in South Carolina it is only in deer season and (thank goodness) they only have deer.   I try to kill all pigs when they are encountered although if I am actively hunting for deer on my land then I may (stress 'may') pass on shooting pigs.

[chutesnreloads]

Thanks for the replies.That's kinda what I'd figured.So this week the feeder goes off and I wait an hour with nothing showing up but birds.Nothing unusual there.Then a little boar crosses the lane right where I killed the last one but he doesn't dawdle and I don't get the sights on him quick enough.OK I figure he'll circle around and come up to the feeder.Another hour later and still no hog.That's it,I go to the feeder just to see what I all ready know....There is corn on the ground .....and four deer bust out of the woods across the lane.HHHMMMM....maybe they didn't come to the feeder because of the pig......but why doesn't the pig come in?Guessing the pigs are getting enough of something else to not need the corn and just hitting the feeder when they feel like it.Pigs are definately there...There's rooting all over the place.

[jmayton]

I don't hunt feeders, but here in central Texas, we aren't seeing the hogs like we were this time last year.  There are plenty of signs, just no hogs.  I've been out 3 times last month and just the other day finally saw some hogs.  That's at a place I killed 48 off of last year!  I think it's the drought....they're becoming more nocturnal than normal.

[Oldshooter]

Where I hunt there are low hog fences around the feeders to keep hogs out. Usually a fifty to seventy ft circle so they cant get to the feeders or they will trash them. Deer get over but no hogs. However, when hogs are around the deer will leave.

[gstewart44]

I have also noticed that the hogs usually avoid the corn feeders when the acorns are plentiful on the ground. 

[chutesnreloads]

That's just it...I'm in central Texas too.Maybe your hogs moved here.Last year was a bumper crop of acorns.So many it was a waste to run the feeders.Corn just fell on the ground and rotted.And no sign of hogs all last year.This year there's virtually no acorns although there's still plenty rotton ones left over from last year.The hogs are there....Got one before deer season opened ..two during the season and two more since the season ended....They're there.They just don't seem to be hitting the feeder like they have in the past.Another plus is you can catch 'em around the stock tanks since that's the only water with so little rain.

[jmayton]

chutes, yeah 2 years ago, the water was the place, but this year, they don't seem to be hanging out around the water holes as much.  This is a ranch that has 7 major springs on it and even during the worst droughts many of the creeks have water....so water isn't a problem where I hunt.  I know that they're there, I'm just not seeing them like I have in the past.

[WESTTX4570]

I'll send ya some from West Texas, where we are over run with the pests. I dont use feeders for them, just a little bait. Winter and early spring we use a 3 foot section of 4  inch pvc capped at one end. Bury it with only 6 inches left sticking out of the ground then fill it with corn, a couple of bottles of mollasses and a couple pkgs of yeast, topped off with a little water or beer. After a few days it will start to ferment , then night after night the hogs will repeatadly come back to root around it trying to eat. Summer and into the fall we will bury 6 foot sections of telephone poles in the ground and saturate them with old motor oil. The hogs love to rub on these to get the ticks and lice off of them and repeatadly come back night after night. As far as paying to hunt hoggs ing this area....no way. All you ahve to do is ask any peanut farmer during planting season and most likely they will pay you to get rid of them. jmtc

Brandon