Goin' Hog Hunting!

[44 Man]

Well, it's a great way to finish up our winter here in Texas!    We are wintering in Texas from Michigan, and I have made many friends here in Medina in the 'Hill Country'.  Of course my friends know that I am a hunter and shooter and one of them told me last night he has a hog problem and invited me over next Tuesday to hunt!  It's not perfect because my Topper 30-30 is still lying on the bed in Michigan where it was when I packed and I forgot it!  So I'm going to take my 7-08 Handi with me this time.  I'm also going to carry one of my single action pistols in case I get a close shot.  The definition of a 'close shot' has changed over the years as these 'old eyes' change.  It may be a good day or a bust, but wish me luck and hopefully I'll have a story to tell next week!  44 Man

[bigvarmnt]

Don't forget pictures if there's a story   Good Luck

[jammer308]

cool. sounds fun!!  fyi- i was looking around the other day and found a place outside san antonio that has a normal rate of 699.00 per hunter for 2 hogs + a few various varmints, offering a reduced rate of 299.00 right now.. its good for 2 years from the date of purchase if i read it right.. i'm up in wisconsin myself, would love to head downsouth and pick up a new dog and make a hog hunt out of it as well...  chris

[rdlange]

So you think your Topper 30-30 is you perfect hog gun?  I'm always told 30-30 is too little.  Then they give me that 'what you been smokin' look when they seen shiny lead bullets instead of plastic tip somethings...

Good luck. 

[cjrjck]

Hunted as a guest on a Hill Country lease one year before being invited to join a South Texas lease. The Hill Country place was overrun with blackbuck and whitetail, had tons of turkey and some other exotics. Never saw a pig or javelina. The South Texas place has tons of whitetails, javelina and pigs, and  no exotics and few if any turkeys. The whitetail rut in the Hill Country was usually in early to mid November. In South Texas it was very late December. Amazing the difference a two hour drive makes.

Any feeder that did not have have a fence around it usually attracted pigs in South Texas. Not sure if that is the same in the Hill Country.

I too have grown fond of my 30-30 Toppers for pigs here in Georgia, especially when loaded with the Barnes TSX Flat Nose. That big fat hollow point bullet never fails to expand nor does it ever fail to penetrate a long way. In fact, I haven't recovered one yet.

[Dinny]

So you think your Topper 30-30 is you perfect hog gun?  I'm always told 30-30 is too little.  Then they give me that 'what you been smokin' look when they seen shiny lead bullets instead of plastic tip somethings...
Good luck.

The 30-30 Topper will do a fine job of dispatching hogs. It's all about where the bullet goes.

Good luck on your hunt, I shot a hog last Sunday and just recovered him from the creek yesterday. I posted the story in the Hog Hunting forum below.

Thanks, Dinny

[sjester]

Rut dates vary all over Texas.  The data presented here came from collecting pregnant does and measuring the fetuses to determine conception date.

Hogs have been in South Texas for quite some times and continue to expand their range in the Hill Country mostly moving in to new areas via river and creek corridors. Areas that were relatively hog free 5 or 6 years ago now have them.  Free ranging exotic ungulates are also on the increase in the Hill Country.  Blackbuck are not as big a problem for native whitetails due to their food habitats but some species like fallow deer, sika deer and particularly axis deer are thought to be impacting whitetails negatively in some local areas as discussed in this article.  South Texas has never been a hotbed of exotic ungulate introduction with the notable exception of nilgai antelope which occur primarily in South Texas coastal counties south of Corpus Christi.

Good luck on your hog hunt, please kill all you can get a bead on!!

[Ranger99]

good luck
if you drop a sow with babies, stay
put and they'll all gradually wander
back and you can take 'em one by one.
good tender eatin'

[STUMPJMPR]

If you get a close shot.  Head shoot them with the 7-08.  They'll drop right there.

[cjrjck]

Rut dates vary all over Texas.  The data presented here came from collecting pregnant does and measuring the fetuses to determine conception date.

Hogs have been in South Texas for quite some times and continue to expand their range in the Hill Country mostly moving in to new areas via river and creek corridors. Areas that were relatively hog free 5 or 6 years ago now have them.  Free ranging exotic ungulates are also on the increase in the Hill Country.  Blackbuck are not as big a problem for native whitetails due to their food habitats but some species like fallow deer, sika deer and particularly axis deer are thought to be impacting whitetails negatively in some local areas as discussed in this article.  South Texas has never been a hotbed of exotic ungulate introduction with the notable exception of nilgai antelope which occur primarily in South Texas coastal counties south of Corpus Christi.

Thanks for posting this. Texas is so cool as far as hunting goes. I wish Georgia had something like this.

[FPH]

You don't want hogs....not if you are a land owner.  I remember back in the 70s when it was open season on Axis deer.  They were thought to out compete the native white tails for forage.

[petemi]

Lewis, good luck and have fun.  Wish I could be with you.  We hope to see you guys at Grayling this Summer.

Pete

[frgerald]

There was an article in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Texas newspaper) last Friday about a hog round-up contest statewide.  Only 15 counties (IIRC) out of 254 counties reported in.  The total take of hogs trapped and shot was 7000.  The contest ran 3 months (again IIRC).  Per the TPWD there are hogs in virtually every one of the 254 counties in Texas, some more than others naturally due to difference in terrain and vegetation and availability of water.  TPWD estimates between 2 and 3 MILLION hogs are loose in Texas.  Anyone can read the article by going to the web-site for the newspaper.  Not certain it was last Fri., but was last week.  My 1/2 heimers is acting up again!!      Gerald 

[sjester]

Many folks like feral hogs...at first...but not for long.  The novelty soon wears off and they are very damaging to native flora and fauna as well as destructive to farming and ranching operations.  I've even had kayakers report seeing them feeding in local rivers and going completely under the water to uproot aquatic vegetation.  I went out to visit a new landowner over 15 years ago who had bought a place and the hogs had shown up.  As I was trying to give him some information on hog control, he stopped me saying that he really enjoyed the extra hunting. He wanted to show me all his deer feeders so we took a little tour.  No kidding...all the feeders we looked at had been pushed over, emptied and torn up by hogs.  I showed him the tracks and the hog hairs on the aluminum posts (he didn't have any cows anyway).  When I got ready to leave he asked me for information on hog traps and how to contact the local hog trappers and hunters.

Axis deer are much more efficient competitors than whitetails, primarily because as drought sets in and food preferred by whitetails (browse and mast) become short, axis can switch over to grass.  Whitetails have a very tough time digesting mature grass. In parts of the Hill Country some ranches are seeing whitetail numbers drop way off, being replaced by free ranging axis deer particularly with the last 4-5 years of drought.

Luckily free ranging exotics including feral hogs are regulated as feral livestock and can be harvested year round.  More people are paying attention and focusing effort on removing both hogs and other exotics around here thankfully.

[hoytcanon]

So you think your Topper 30-30 is you perfect hog gun?  I'm always told 30-30 is too little.  Then they give me that 'what you been smokin' look when they seen shiny lead bullets instead of plastic tip somethings...
Good luck.

So... don't shoot those traditional bullets designed for .30/30 lever guns... no reason not to shoot a spire point in a .30/30... I practice with Hornady 150 SST's and hunt with Nosler 150 AB's... same POI... a .30/30 will have no trouble dispatching hogs... I suppose you could step up to the 165/168 bullets, if you need a confidence boost.

[YRUpunting?]

Guy's, 44 Man's 30-30 is in Michigan laying on a bed, he forgot it.  He's hunting with a handi 7mm-08.

44 Man, take a look at the link Tim provided in a prior post.  Hog vitals are higher and farther forward than a deer.  Shoot a hog like a deer and you gut shoot it.

[Dinny]

Guy's, 44 Man's 30-30 is in Michigan laying on a bed, he forgot it.  He's hunting with a handi 7mm-08.

And there's no doubt the 7-08 will work very well.

Thanks, Dinny

[theratdog]

GOOD LUCK 44

[hoytcanon]

Guy's, 44 Man's 30-30 is in Michigan laying on a bed, he forgot it.
He's hunting with a handi 7mm-08.

Yes... we read that too...
I would have to say that 7mm-08 is my favorite game taking caliber... and if our comments on a .30/30 (left at home on the bed) apply... even more so the 7mm-08... the 139/140's will do the trick nicely... or at hog ranges the 154's carry a little more mass and energy... but apparently this talk of mass and energy is moot, after Dinny's .243 hog with a 58 VM...
 

[colt1960]

Good luck on your hog hunt. Im sure you will have a blast. Rick.

[FPH]

but apparently this talk of mass and energy is moot, after Dinny's .243 hog with a 58 VM...

My friends always take .243's, they took 7 hogs on their weekend hunt this year.

[chamois1]

Your 7mm-08 will do a great job. I have hunted hogs for almost 40 yrs now starting in 1974 in central Fl. First hog was killed with a 25-06 . the next with 308. after that I got into muzzleloader and most of the hog after that were killed with 50 cal patched round ball behind 90 gr FF powder.  I even took one 200 lb. hog with a old army Ruger cap & ball revolver. It took four rounds to put him down mainly because of the angle of the shots sence he was coming straight at me, but it put him down. I always enjoyed hog hunting more than any other hunting that I have ever done. Enjoy your hunt and don't worry about the 7-08 . It will do a great job.
 
Eddie
 

[Rustyinfla]

  W.D.M. Bell killed elephant with a 7mm Mauser. Your 7mm-08 will do just fine.

    Good luck.

[44 Man]

Thanks guys for the tips!  I had forgotten about the vitals being lower and further forward than a deer, I could get in trouble with that.  These hogs are not 'monster' hogs, I doubt I would see anything over 150 lbs.  And the landowner wants a good 'eatin' hog, so under a 100 bls is even better.  (but I'd rather get a big one and keep the tusks)  For those pigs the 30-30 (thats not here) would do just fine, but the 7-08 even better.  I didn't bring my Federal 'bonded bear claw' factory loads with me so I'll be using 150 gr corelocks in my 7-08 Superlite.  Tomorrow is the big day! She'll be hard to sleep tonight!    44 Man

[rdlange]

Awesome... wonderful!  "Kill the pig".  Glad you got an adequate shooter.  I like my 158 also.  Makes the rest of my Handis seem like clubs.  LUK..!

[tacklebury]

Good luck man.  Wish I was in Texas about now.  Weather really blows this time of year here.

[hoytcanon]

Looking forward to your post hunt report... good luck.

[sjester]

Good luck and have fun!!! We killed one about 100 lbs just after Thanksgiving in Texas peanut country and it has been the best eating in recent feral hog history.

[YRUpunting?]

Good luck and don't forget your camera. 

[44 Man]

Oh yeah!  Going to get the camera right now!  Tacklebury, I agree on the weather in Michigan.  It's in the mid 70 here now and going to 80 this weekend.  We will be going back to Michigan in two weeks.  It's in the 40's there now.  Brrrrrr!  Wish we could stay a little longer (we usually do), but got to get back to renew our permits before they expire.  I'll report back soon on what happens.  44 Man