Author Topic: which state offers the mulitple tags and the best chance ... (Read 1208 times)

myronman3 · « **on:** December 20, 2003, 07:09:39 PM »

at free range hogs? a friend and i want to go hunting for some pigs (eaters,preferably) in january or february 2005. we would like to be able to legally take more than one animal, and maybe even a javalina or other types of game. we want to hunt free range only; maybe have someone to assist us in butchering as we dont know squat about pigs. we are trying to keep the hunt from being too expensive, or tenitive budget is 1100 per person and we would like to hunt for about a week. we were thinking texas. at least someplace warm. and we would like to use handguns. so where do you guys think we ought to narrow it down to?

GBO MGMT · « **Reply #1 on:** December 21, 2003, 04:54:40 AM »

Tags?

? :eek: You don't need no stinking tags fer hogs. I'm not aware of any state with a wild free ranging population that has tags. Your biggest problem is land access. Most of them are on private land most places. Yeah there are public land places in most states with them that have hogs but there are always draw backs to that.

In TX almost all land is private and you'll be hard pressed to find anyone willing to let you hunt private land within your budget. There is public land there in very limited amounts and some of it even has hogs but I doubt you'll find javelina there also. For that you're looking at private land in TX and further west where they are on public land there are no hogs.

FL has lots of them in their WMAs on public land but I'm not familiar with the rules there. We have them on WMAs here in Bama but you don't want to come here for them as our rules on the WMAs for them are too stupid. You can only hunt them during some other game animal open season and then ONLY with the gun or guns legal for that game. So that means unless it is deer season you'll be using shotguns with bird shot or rimfire rifles.

TN might be your best bet. They have a lot in National Forest areas which should have fewer rules.

I hope you are thinking that you're gonna go out to a free range habitat and just mop up on hogs. Ain't gonna happen. You're a lot more likely to go home empty handed than with a bunch of hogs. On public free range land in most places you'll be lucky to get a hog each and even on public land you might do no better.

For eating size hogs there are fenced areas of good size you can go to fairly cheaply and take several within your budget however and actually have a chance of getting several. On free range hogs it is a whole nother game. TX would be best likely but with the land being private costs ain't gonna stay within the budget I'm afraid.

You might wanna talk with Jim Reed of the Reed Ranch and see if you can work out a deal with him for a week of hunting on your own. His standard prices sure ain't gonna be within your budget.

GB

wipartimer · « **Reply #2 on:** December 21, 2003, 03:55:54 PM »

myronman, I'm going withfive buddies to an outfitter in sout Texas in less then a month. the hunt itself costs $650 per person + the travel expenses. The outfitter has 7 ranches that he hunts. We are allowed all the hogs we can get, along with predators. javelina will cost an extra $100 per animal. This will be my second trip to Texas for hogs (first time with this outfitter) . It sure is a great break from February in Wisconsin. I will be sure to post the result when we get back (FEB 15). :grin:

myronman3 · « **Reply #3 on:** December 21, 2003, 05:17:02 PM »

thanks for the info guys.
i dont plan on mopping up anything; i just figured if i go and if things happen right i would love to be able to shoot more than one. and no tags? guess i have been in liberal wisconsin too long.

wiparttimer... let me know how you fair. i just dont want to go out and shoot some dumb animal that was kicked out of its pen. we want a HUNT. sounds like your plans are right up our alley. especially the break from wisconsin in feb. part.

really interested in hearing what you experience. good luck!

Graybeard · « **Reply #4 on:** December 21, 2003, 05:43:54 PM »

Hogs in south TX especially in conjunction with javelina sounds like a high fence to me. But then most south TX ranches are aren't they? Still that's a good deal price wise.

myronman3 it really just depends on what ya really want and what's the real priority. Free range can be a real challenge. I've been many times to the Hollins WMA in Bama where they are a lot of hogs. I've yet to even see one. Ya can't hunt them at night, ya can't bait them and you can only hunt them when season is open for a game animal. Hogs are NOT game animals in Bama and there is no set season for them on public land or any closed season on private. You can also only use the gun or bow legal for whatever game season is open to hunt them in the WMAs. Sure cuts down on the success rates.

Now I've gone down to south Bama to hunt on private land with KB an occasional poster here and on two trips took one and had another shot but it was a running one and I didn't connect. KB did get one he offered me but I was using a handgun and he had a rifle and I knew I couldn't make the shot I had offered so declined and told him to shoot. That's pretty good success on free range hogs really.

You can have a fun and interesting and even somewhat challenging hunt on fenced ranches for them IF they aren't stocked in there like cord wood and if they weren't raised in a barn yard and then turned loose. On a hunt at Tellico Junction back about '93 I think it was when I hunted they caught their hogs in traps off the National Forest land that adjoined their preserve and turned them loose inside about 2000 acres of supposedly hog proof fence but I sure saw holes big enough for hogs to get thru so it ain't really hog proof but is enough so to keep some in. These have always been wild from birth and being inside his 2000 acres sure didn't diminish the hunt.

GB

DesertRam · « **Reply #5 on:** December 22, 2003, 06:17:11 AM »

California requires licenses (~$110) and tags ($12 ea./one per animal) to hunt hogs; there is no limit. There are plenty of them, but as with Texas most of them are on private, pay-to-play land. There are public opportunities, but from what I understand they are quite challenging, with very low success rates.

Texas has, in my opinion, better oppurtunities at lower cost, particularly if you want a javelina. Sure, most places are fenced, but true hog-proofing is expensive and pretty rare, at least in my experience. Besides, a hog's home range can be pretty small if the habitat is good, so if you're hunting 10,000 fenced acres, the hogs are free-ranging for all intents and purposes. A pig in the middle of that may never even know there is a fence.

Texans bait their pigs, shoot 'em at feeders, shot 'em by moonlight (my personal favorite) or spotlight, run 'em with dogs, knife 'em, etc. You name, you can probably do it down there. You can find prices from $100-250 per day, all inclusive, with varying limits of hogs and other exotic game. Just type in "hog hunting Texas" in www.dogpile.com and you'll come up with all kinds of options.

Pig hunting is one of my favorite pasttimes. Hopefully you find a good option and get to partake of it.

jpuke · « **Reply #6 on:** December 22, 2003, 08:07:10 AM »

My in-laws live in the central coast of CA and I've actually seen pigs running around while driving down Highway 101 between Gilroy and Salinas - I hope to hunt out there this summer some time. My only problem is the information that I've been fed from my mother-in-law. She has some friends with their own land and they say I don't need a tag/license to hunt on their private property. I personally don't believe her but she assures me that I can. Do any of you know if she's right?

DesertRam · « **Reply #7 on:** December 23, 2003, 05:15:11 AM »

As far as I know, you're required to have a valid license and tags for any hunting, even on private land. However, you should confirm this with the California Game and Fish. I've gotten good responses through their email address on their web page. Be aware that you should consider purchasing your license and tags through the mail. Apparently, license vendors are required to return unsold licenses and tags to the G&F, and they get a little hard to locate that late in the license year (I think it ends June 30). I went out there in May a few years ago and nearly didn't get to hunt because we couldn't find a vendor with a non-resident license book left. The last time I went, I just faxed them a license request (with CC#) and they mailed my license and tags to me. It took about 5 days or so.

Good luck if you go, there is some decent hog hunting to be had around Gilroy. I've seen the boogers out rooting around in the middle of the day in that country.

TimWieneke · « **Reply #8 on:** December 23, 2003, 04:43:36 PM »

If you want to bowhunt, there are many places that will fit easily in your budget. There's one place in Oklahoma - name escapes me now - that always seems to get recommended. The owner's names are Matt and Cheryl - what the heck is the name of that place? Anyhoo, in okie you won't run into javies, but you will run into hogs.

Tim

P.S. I know of another guy in Missouri that runs a pack of dogs for about $200 per day. If you're interested in something like that, I can try to find his info.

myronman3 · « **Reply #9 on:** December 23, 2003, 06:18:14 PM »

i guess i had the wrong idea about hogs and javalina ranges overlapping. i kind of figured that javalina might be a good secondary plan. didnt really have my heart set on it, though.

Graybeard · « **Reply #10 on:** December 24, 2003, 05:33:09 AM »

The javelina's native range is a bit in the southern portions of AZ, NM and TX plus Mexico. They are stocked just as are hogs or exotics in other places but their range in the US is somewhat limited.

GB

Walker · « **Reply #11 on:** December 25, 2003, 06:24:24 PM »

South Texas is full of hogs and Javelinas. High fence??? How high can hogs jump. Actually, very little of South Texas is under high fence. Good mesh wire might keep Javi's in but hogs down here generally go anywhere they really want to go.

myronman3 · « **Reply #12 on:** December 26, 2003, 04:39:56 PM »

you have any suggestions on which areas i look into?

Walker · « **Reply #13 on:** December 27, 2003, 07:55:34 AM »

You might check with this place. They only do bow hunts but they may know a gun hunt operation.
http://www.pedernalbowhunts.com/

Ironwood · « **Reply #14 on:** December 28, 2003, 05:43:15 AM »

Here are a couple of links for public hunting in Texas.

http://www.southernregion.fs.fed.us/texas/recreation/index.shtml

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/hunt/public_hunting/#aph

There is a lot more land open to public hunting than you might think. Most of the public land is in the Eastern part of Texas, but that's where the hog population is about the greatest. As to where the hogs are, someone else will have to tell you that.

wipartimer · « **Reply #15 on:** December 28, 2003, 03:50:41 PM »

Here's where I'm going. www.huntinfo.com/hht/ Anyone ever hunted with him before?

HWooldridge · « **Reply #16 on:** December 29, 2003, 08:32:14 AM »

I live in Central Texas. There are lots of hogs in the right areas and plenty of javelina as well. The local papers often have listings for day hunts at $150 to $250 per day - usually a 2 day minimum. Try the San Antonio Express News website and check out the classifieds. A good area for both types of game is Sabinal, which is west of San Antonio about 50 miles. You can fly into SA, rent a car and be in good hunting country within an hour. As stated above, most land is privately owned so you'll have to locate a willing landowner but hunting is big business here and lots of places manage for all types of game. You'll need an out of state license but hogs are feral and considered varmints so there is no bag limit. The state managed places are good but don't allow night hunting and sometimes that is more fruitful since our pigs often go nocturnal when deer season begins. As you probably know, they can't see but can hear and smell extremely well, so it is a challenge to hunt them with short range arms like a pistol or bow. Personally, I hunt with a muzzleloader or 44 handgun. Good luck...H

howie1968 · « **Reply #17 on:** December 31, 2003, 11:28:29 AM »

you can come to East Texas and hunt down here i have some contacts that will let ya kill hogs for 50 p[er hog and there are plenty free ranging hogs you will have to hunt pretty hard but if ya stay along the creeks success is almost 100 percent if ya get down this way i can show you some awesome public hunting land at the upland wilderness area where i have killed numerous hogs there is no baiting allowed ont the wilderness area but pigs are abundant let me know

Mad Dog · « **Reply #18 on:** January 04, 2004, 10:56:46 AM »

I am leaving for a hunt in South Texas in less than 4 wks. We will be hunting for 4 days. The hunt includes 2 javelinas, all the hogs we care to shoot, limited guide service, 3 meals a day, cooler, and lodging. The ranch is 3,200 acres. Cost is $600, plus license[$45], and trip down and back. We figure we can do the trip for about $1,000, down and back. When I get back, I'll post how the hunt was.

Mad Dog

Graybeard · « **Reply #19 on:** January 04, 2004, 11:56:57 AM »

So what ranch ya hunting? Do they have a web site?

GB

Mad Dog · « **Reply #20 on:** January 04, 2004, 12:18:50 PM »

We are hunting the Martin Ranch, 25-30 miles northeast of Del Rio, Tx. The owners name is Max Martin. His website is www.martinranch.com/ This will be our first time there, and I'll post our results when I get back.

Mad Dog

Graybeard · « **Reply #21 on:** January 04, 2004, 12:58:31 PM »

I'm going to be REAL interested in that after hunt report. They have some VERY UNUSUAL rules and regulations I've NEVER seen anywhere before and which quite frankly I'd be reluctant to sign up for.

For instance the fees are paid regardless of success. Most high fence operations have a no kill no fee policy so that if you don't see anything of interest to you there is no trophy fee to pay. On this one you pay even if you don't see an animal while there. Very suspicious to me.

Also they have a policy of if you fire a shot EVEN IF YOU MISS your hunt is over and you pay full price with no option of taking another animal. This is the most ridiculous policy I've ever seen. I fully understand if you wound one you buy it policy but a clean miss ends the hunt and you still pay? No way.

It appears you can't wipe your butt while on the ranch without first asking permission from upper ranch management. Can't drive your vehicle at all. Can't drive theirs without express permission. Can't move from stand more than 100 yards. Must wash vehicle after EVERY use even if it is a mess when you get in. Must clean stand when you leave no matter the mess it is in when you arrive.

Just from what I' read in the Rules and Regulations I think they'd have to pay me to hunt there.

Sure hope your after hunt report makes some of this concern go away.

GB