Newbie hog hunter and I need help

[LoneGunman]

I'm in South Florida, after 6 years of looking and asking we finally got access to 150 acres to hunt hogs on. My father and I have deer hunted but never hog hunted. So we go to bass pro shops and buy two two man stands (I have a 12 and 8 year old who goes with us), I bought a feeder and mounted on a 55 gallon drum on a tripod.

Weve seen a few hogs on the property and signs all over the place. We set the feeder up yesterday afternoon, its set to feed at 6am and 4pm. We got to the property today around 2pm, noticed the corn is still on the ground, I expected the whole area to be rooted. Got into our tree stands and waited until it was just about dark until we left, the only thing we saw eating the corn was coons. We almost hit a hog on the way out with my truck.

We put the feeder in around a 100 foot clearing thats in the woods, the stands are probably 20 or 30 yards away. I was under the impression that the hogs would smell the corn and at least eat it at night, there are no signs the hogs have touched it. Should we try something else to get them to start coming to the feeder or just give it some time?

Ive read that a lot of hogs are nocturnal, some people say its from hunting pressure some say thats just the way they are. Should we gear up to hunt them at night?

Sorry for the long post and newbie questions but I have 2 boys who are dying to at least see a hog and I don't want them to loose interest.

*edit, Is it legal to hunt hogs at night with lights on private property in Florida? I can't find anything that says you cannot and being they are considered livestock and property of the landowner I would think you could.

[Land_Owner]

Can't answer your second question.  Never wanted to hunt them at night with the woods so thick.  Too easy to loose one.

The hogs won't typically come to your feeder the night you put it in the woods.  Human scent is all around that place from the work that you did just to establish the feeder there.  Hogs are survivalists and certainly not kamakazi.  They don't want to get shot any more than you do.  Your scent in the woods is certainly predatory and unnatural to them.  Let the place "cool down".

Give the hogs a chance to find the feeder.  Help them by hanging a 1-gallon milk jug filled half way (3/6) with water and one third (2/6) with corn about four feet off of the ground nearby.  Cut a hole in the upper part of the jug for putting the corn in and letting the smell out.  The corn swells from the water.  It will begin to ferment.  The smell of fermenting corn will bring them in a few days to a week depending on their frequency through that area.

With a tripod feeder you might have a problem with them upsetting the tripod and trampling the barrel to get to the corn.  Only time will tell you for sure.

The rest of your set up sounds good.  Have fun.

[LoneGunman]

Thanks for the reply. I'm only a little South of you, Martin County.

[Wynn]

It is not legal to hunt at night in Florida with a firearm (except coon hunting with dogs and then only under strict guidelines.) As Landowner said; give the feeder so time to work. Hogs have a excellent sense of smell. I usually wait until after a good rain before I sit on a new location and leave as little scent as possible when approaching a stand. If there are hogs in the area, they will come sooner or later and return to the feeder regularly.

[LoneGunman]

Thanks Wynn, Ill call the fish and game people and ask to make sure, I'm getting a differant answer from other people. A lot of pay to hunt places offer night hunting of hogs in Florida, Ive seen their ads.

[bigjeepman]

You might try some scent-free sprays that are available. We spray each other down really good before we ever go into the woods for any of the hunting we do here. I do know that if the four of you go together each time, you have dramatically increased the odds of being scented by any game/predator. I even store my camo/boots in a scent free bag to keep as much un-natural scent as possible out of them. I mostly hunt for coyotes and maybe these suggestions might be overkill for hunting hogs but it cannot hurt to try. From my few experiences from hunting hogs ... they are aren't stupid animals like a lot of people think.

Lol ... hogs are survivalists and certainly not kamakazi ... very good reply Land_Owner ... that was so funny ...

[LoneGunman]

I found the answer in writing, Wynn was correct. You need a special permit to hunt anything at night with a light.

http://www.floridaconservation.org/permits/glnpermit.htm

[qajaq59]

You might want to check on this, but I was told that if you started baiting hogs in Florida you could not hunt over the baits for the first 6 months. And I believe you can hunt hogs at night, but not with an artificial light. You'd need a full moon I guess. It would be worth your while to call the F&G people and get some accurate answers.

[Land_Owner]

According to the FWC on-line regs

Wild hogs: With landowners’ permission, wild hogs may be taken year-round with no bag limits, size limits or licenses required.  Wild hogs can be taken on most WMAs only during specified seasons, where bag and size limits may apply.  Baiting or luring: Taking game on lands or waters upon which corn, wheat, grain, food or other substances have been deposited by means other than normal agricultural harvesting or planting is prohibited, except Resident game and wild hogs, other than turkeys, may be hunted in proximity of year-round game-feeding stations on private lands, provided that feeding stations were established at least six months prior to taking resident game.

Kind of definitive with regard to feeders.

[Wynn]

quote "And I believe you can hunt hogs at night, but not with an artificial light. You'd need a full moon I guess."

This is wishfull thinking on someones part and could cost them or you dearly.

I hold a depradation permit on the property I work on for hogs and coyote. You may NOT hunt hogs in Florida with anything but dogs and a knife, duct tape, rope, etc. after or before legal shooting hours without this permit.
The FWC website covers all hunting and fishing regs very clearly. A call to your nearest regional office will clarify any regs you do not understand.