Feral hogs and home range

[Iukee]

Here in Texas feral hogs cause a lot of damage. My question is do hogs have a core area and is it easily found by them leaving so much sign. I've been out to some farms that had damage to their fields but when I tracked  from the field down into the drainage just found a main trail with minimal sign going off both ends of property. Am I right in assuming that somewhere along that drainage is the core area for those hogs and they just travel up and down on occasions such as high water and feeding runs? This is Texas so I just can't run up and down the creek to find it I'd have to get permission from each property owner along the way.

[mullet]

 hogs travel from food source to food source. When they run out, they go looking for more. They also need a wet or cool place to hold up in when it's hot. Hogs don't sweat, that's why they wallow in the mud. They are fairly easy to bait with corn or corn with beer mixed in and let sour.

[Iukee]

mullet- I know you have a lot more experience than I and I appreciate your input. So if you were in my predicament, where would you focus your efforts. I mean, these farms look to have been targeted once or twice a year by the hogs and probably at night, make for pretty slow hunting.

[mullet]

 If it was me, I'd start a bait pile in the drainage or near it. I would do it there  hoping they would be encouraged to feed in the daylight in the drainage, rather than out in the open. It might take awhile for them to find it but they will sooner or later. Corn, soured in a bucket with beer works good. Just put corn in a bucket, pour a couple of quarts of the cheapest, nastiest tasting beer or malt liquor you can find, my favorite,Old English. Put a lid on it and set in the sun for about a week. Then hang it off the ground and poke some wholes in the bucket and let that foul smelling stuff start dripping. They can smell it a long way off. Once you get them coming they will keep coming back as long as you feed them or kill them off.

[Juniper]

If there is food on a consistent basis, there will be hogs on a consistent basis.  It may take a little time for them to find it, but once they do, they will be back.  I hunt a lease in OK with quite a few feeders on it and the hogs know exactly where each feader is.  The same hogs will check every feeder on our lease, they will eat at every one, if the turkeys or deer don't beat them to it. 
Don't be afraid of hunting them at night it is a blast.  In Texas, I have killed more hogs by moonlight than in the daylight.  They also seem to let their guard down a little at night. 

PS.  Night hunting for hogs is allowed in Texas, but not sure if it is allowed during deer season.  Better check first. 

[woodstick]

something else that is good bait and it aint bs. soak corn in diesel it is the best thing i have found.

[mullet]

 Also, take a burlap bag and soak it in old motor oil or diesel and wrap it around a tree at ground level. In an orange grove I hunt a bunch of diesel got spilled on the ground, here it is all sand. Every night the hogs roll and dig in it. They have a trench around the telephone poles there that are oozing pine sap.

[PeteC]

Hey Iukee,where in Texas are you?I'm in east Texas,near Tyler.We hunt pigs on public land as soon as it gets cold,(or if we limit out on deer).I'd do just what these fellas are telling you when it comes to huntin' private land.I've had success with soured grain sorghum(maize).put the grain in a 5 gallon bucket(with a lid),add enough water to cover the grain,seal the lid tight,then leave it in the sun a few days.Check it now and then,you'll know when it's ready,trust me . I dig a posthole as deep as I can,then pour the soured mix into the hole.Check it for activity ,then when they're coming in,go huntin'. God Bless

[Iukee]

Thanks guys really appreciate the input, I've been trying to stay away from the hassles of dealing with bait just lazy, I'd rather find where they are hitting acorns or some other natural feed. But, having said that, with the limited ground I have to work with a guys got to go with what works.

PeteC- I know you, talked to you before when my handle was floorman. I still live in Chandler but buying a few acres over by you. Snake road you know where that is don't you?

[PeteC]

Ron ,I thought you were movin' to Oregon, or somewhere in that neck of the woods.Glad to hear your still around. I'm not sure about snake road,what else is it called? God Bless

[Iukee]

PeteC- We were going to move to washington state, but, things change fast this day and age. So we are going to buy ten acres over off of 850.

[PeteC]

Your right,your not to far from me.I'm just over on FM 848. God bless

[Iukee]

Is there a range over on that side of Tyler that you shoot at?

[PeteC]

 Yes,there is a range over there off of FM850,yet,I've never been there.I just shoot around the place when I practice. God Bless