I am looking to buy a dart gun for tranquilizing large hogs caught in snares. I am usually alone checking my snares and traps, so I don't tackle them alive by myself. I have a game ranch wanting to buy some bigger boars, and thought the dart gun would be the way to go. I have a vet who can fill the darts for me, but I am looking for any info on the best gun to buy. I think a pistol will work for what I need, all shots will be very close. Thanks for any help, Cody Sikes.

Couldn't you just use a pole and how are the hogs still alive when there snared . Love this hog snaring thing . I'm a student . After you get them out do you feed them grain or sell them to guys that stock them or something . I haven't had the call yet but I'm ready to rock

Cody,

The distance you are talking about most wildlife vets and research biologists would use a blow gun or pole syringe.
I worked with feral hogs in three states over 10 years and while I've seen them darted and drugged during that time
If you want them live for some market purpose, remember they hear stroke faster than any other species I've used those
methods on. If you are going to kill them for food remember some drugs can't be eaten by humans, therefore a good
Training either by your vet or from one of the two natl. courses should be first and foremost.

When you work with immobilizing agents being alone in the field is never a great choice.

Also everyone that knows you can drug talks in the community and drug seekers will vandalize vehicles which can result in
fines or loss of dea license for your vet.

After which that degree is worthless.

Cost of drugs, another consideration.

Pneudart and daninject are the two main systems used widely.

Id still recommend leaving this option in your mind and getting
more comfortable handling hogs from someone with experience.

Good luck,

Justin

Forgot to mention that animals amped up from capture often don't become immobilized on the first injection.
Even subsequent injections might not yield a hog that is sedated.

Also, in a snare they are already held, if you dont think they are held good enough talk to some folks about better anchor rigs.

What is your final destination for the hogs?

HD Wildlife is spot on about hogs not darting well and the safety considerations of using tranqualizer drugs when no one else is around. I know of at least two people who accidentally injected themselves and if no one had been around they would have been in real jeapordy and I know we all say it won't happen to me but how many people leave their homes thinking, I beleive I will have a car accident today or fall off a ladder just for the fun of it.

In many states it is unlawful to administer drugs to an animal without the approval of the respective state fish and wildlife agency. I have no idea what the FL law is but check on it if you haven't already to avoid a major problem.

Also as far as prefillng the darts, I don't know what the current drug of choice for darting hogs is but when I was involved with it 25 years ago there was a fairly narrow weight margin for the dosage so you would need to plan on carrying a variety of darts if that hasn't changed. Also if you are going to be carrying loaded darts around check on the DEA licensing requirements for possession of that particular drug to avoid putting you and your vet friend in a bad situation as you may have to go through the process of getting a DEA license and a State drug license as well. I always worked under the umbrella of an Govt. Agency's license so I haven't looked into the possession issue by a private individual for commercial use. I do know the tranqualizing drugs are the most tightly controlled of the veterinary drugs because of the high potential for unlawful use. Also you will need to install a lockbox/safe in your vehicle to secure these drugs when they are in the vehicle.

You may already have figured all this out and I don't mean to be too negative but dealing with tranquilizing drugs is serious business and darting a hog is way more troublesome than say a deer or bear.

HD,a friend of mine has a dart gun for cattle when they get out in towns or places he can't rope them off of a horse. He has it worked out pretty good as far as dosage on the cattle, so he has been able to tell me some of the ups and downs of darting animals. The same vet fills his darts when he needs them, everything is completely legal and documented.

As far as not being anchored enough, my snares are 3/32 or 1/8 inch cable. They are swiveled with crunchproof swivels, and tied of to trees no smaller than 4 inches in diameter. I am not worried about the anchor, it is the cable that tends to get kinks and break in the thick areas I have to snare. I caught 3 hogs last night, 2 60 pound shoats and a 250 pound boar hog. I shot the boar because he was to big to fool with alive, and while I was unhooking the snare, hear a snap and one of the smaller hogs broke the snare and charged me. Of coure the pistol was laying by the big hog, and he got away. This is why I want a dart gun, much safer for me.

As far as experience with hogs, if I can find someone who has more experience with hogs than me I would love to learn from them. I have hunted, still and with dogs, trapped, snared, and caught by hand many hogs over the last 10 or so years.

The final destination will be a game ranch after they have been in quarantine waiting for the withdraw period to be over. I am pretty familiar with quite a few medicines we use in cattle, and know all about the withdraw period before slaughter.

Another interesting read on moving feral hogs in Florida. http://www.freshfromflorida.com/ai/pdf/brochures/DACS-P-01510_Swine_Trappers.pdf

Wow, y'all must really think I am a child! I have all of my legal bases covered, not trying to slip anything by anyone. I only wanted anyones opinion on the type of gun best suited to my needs. If you only have legal opinions, please keep them to yourself, I have to much to risk losing over breaking any laws. However, if you have used the darts in the past, I would love to hear from you your best suggestion on a gun.

Cody,

When someone writes about darting hogs to make things easier, I question experience because as you know most hog guys hog tie with a knee on the hog no muss no fuss.

At this point my thoughts on the need are still the same, drugs are still too much for me to consider for your scenario, however to each his own. If you've got a vet and a buddy with lots of experience and you follow state local and fed laws you should be good to go.

I used to radio collar all manner of wildlife not that long ago and the bonus of having immobilizing agents in my care quickly became a nuisance.

Id find a good partner for the line if the hogs charging is a common issue and you need another trigger man.

Just my .02 from my experience, again the syringe pole, blow gun, both portable and light. Otherwise look at the pistols that have a co2 meter. That way you know when you need to change tanks, versus needing a quick shot and watching the dart fall just outside the barrel.

The cattle drugging comparison isn't one I'd live and die by. Hogs are very different from vets I know and have worked with. The drugged hog doesn't thermoregulate well and animals under sedatives and immobilizers require TPR (temp/pulse/respiration) checks while under and if they start flagging or seize they are dead without a vet and your out cash.

Again just my thoughts, have been around a few myself.

Best of luck either way, the two manufacturers I listed the one is more expensive for repairs while the other may cost more up front but cheaper on U.S. based repairs.

Justin

Oh and what K9 says is still true, not working with a partner with immobilizes is a bad accident waiting to happen, especially with hogs squealing and adrenaline while loading darts into guns.

I don't mind the knee and tie method, when I have a good dog on his head or ears. Funny, I trust o dog more than a steel cable! I have not found the blow gun type of darts yet, it is probably cheaper than the pistol. The vet I work with is pretty sure he can set me up with the proper dosage, I will have to see. If I do wind up killing some while working out the bugs, it is not a big deal since I am killing all of them now. I would like to be able to get the $150 -$250 for these boars live, compared to the $50-$75 I am getting for them for meat.

These are the size hogs I am looking at darting, not some little 100 pound hog.

Cody, for what you are wanting to do, a jab stick will work fine, and will save you quite a bit of money in the process.

It was good to hear you had looked into the legal aspects of dealing with the drugs. I can't speak for anyone else but I didn't think you were a "chld" just someone thinking outside the box on how to solve a problem they had, by using a method they were not familiar with. My comments were meant to assist, not offend because unlike you, many people don't look into the different regulations dealing with drugs used for agricultural purposes as opposed to those used for wildlife or commercial purposes and wind up getting themselves and their buddy the vet in a world of trouble.


Good luck with your endeavors

Good lookin bunch of hogs! As an invasive species guy I sure like the idea of them in the oven versus on the "range" so to speak.



As K9 says and I think you can see, the tone of the comments were meant to help and as always lots of folks read these posts for ideas and not everyone has the setup you do, so hopefully the info will help others.

Good luck and watch those cutters!

Justin

When I was a teenager my dad was taking a big boar to the stockyards for the neighbor. He had loading fences on either side of the tailgate and told me to stand on one so the boar couldn't move it. Great idea there Dad! The boar hooked his nose under that fence and sent me and the fence into the air like we were made of cardboard!

I do appreciate the helpful suggestions. I looked up the blowguns, and they are as much as the co2 pistols! The jabsticks are pricey too, I wonder if a skunk pole would work? I will be checking some more snares this morning, and take some pics of what I am working in.

For those who are interested, just for example, the pneudart company has a range of products from the bottom line blow guns,
to the crazy AR-15 looking camo wrapped gauged projectors.

The decision behind each one is not only budget but reliability. For many folks I know this meant using the air-activated where
you pump the air in much like the old bb guns. The bonus is you know 7 pumps projects "X" feet and you can practice for that.
With the cartridge type you never know exactly when your last shot is going to fall short so that is one downside. You can always
be conservative and practice so you know after 6 shots, throw the cartridge away and put a new one in. Then you have the serious
expensive but great gauged projectors, these allow you to know how much air you have and you can enter the amount of air you
want for your shots to be sure you have exactly the amount you need for your practiced distance.

Above all the training and field work I did through the years, what was repeated was practice practice practice. The instructor of
the one course who had worked on everything from bison to wolves and african wildlife species, would keep his equipment at
his office and every day make time at lunch while eating a sandwich to shoot at designated distances with the projector of choice
and with darts weighted for the drug dosages.

Just like anyone who takes their pistol, rifle, shotgun, or bow seriously, practice makes for a great marksmen.

Cody, if you are interested, look into Mark Johnson's class (global wildlife resources out of bozeman) or safe capture which is given
all over the country. I took Mark's class 2 times over 10 years while I have colleagues who took safe capture. The difference is no
live animal practice situation like you get in mark's, otherwise they both agree each of them teaches a solid foundation.

It could lead beyond hogs if you get serious, so this way you have a cert, that many animal control people have to have, etc...for county
city, state, fed.

Hope that helps, their site seems a bit slow, but might be my MAC.

Best,

Justin


http://shop.pneudart.com/air-activated/
http://shop.pneudart.com/gauged-projectors/
http://shop.pneudart.com/cartridge-fired/

Thanks, I will look into it. I would enjoy doing more with it, not just stuck to messing with stinking old hogs! I do enjoy learning new things, and the class looks interesting.