I really enjoy yet hate it...

Hog trapping.

Started the conditioning process. There are 2 separate sounders that have been feeding here. Hoping they will join together soon.

Is it a cell phone activated trap?

Keith

Go get them.

That looks fun but frustrating

trap em and then bus em to dc.

Yes. Homemade

I know the feeling.

Good luck. Post up the pictures as you work thru the process.

Dave

Think anyone would notice?
Every snout already there is deep in the public trough.

Probably

Just curious, does anyone separate the piglets and raise them to slaughter?

Pig roast soon

That would depend on local law. In Texas you can sell them for slaughter. In Alabama they must be shot on site. In Georgia they can only be moved with a USDA permit.

You would be basically doing it for the enjoyment. Domestic pigs put on weight a whole lot faster than wild caught.

I'd think the younger ones would be decent table fare.

... stack em up like cord wood bud

Added a panel earlier today. They're currently feeding now

That looks tedious, but I understand why you do it.

The hard part about these.... the neighboring property is a state park that was trapped by aphis for years. I have seen several sows that are not going near it. If they don't start acting right they will have to try to hide from the thermal.

Yep I understand. I caught the last sounder in our county back in Dec. Glad their gone but I kinda enjoy trapping them.

CHOOT EM!!!

Being from Alaska and knowing nothing about wild hogs what is a sounder?

A sounder is a group of pigs. Kind of like a flock of birds or a pack of wolves.

It doesn't appear that group is trap shy as their appetite draws them in even as you erect the enclosure. Hopefully the trend continues with the entire group until the gate falls. I have some that won't step foot inside any enclosure.

There are 3 sows that are not coming near it. These young pigs are dumb.

We had three sows and 9 piglets coming in until we placed the trap. The piglets got all up in it, the sows stay just outside. Frustrating at times. Each sounder is different. Some go right down in and get caught the first night, other may take a couple of weeks.

That's one of the reasons I slowly erect the trap.

This is a drop trap…Hog Eye. We’ll get’em eventually.

One of my buddies built a drop trap. I like the idea but they don't have to run as far to beat it . Especially with a large sounder.

Another panel added today. 2 of the 3 sows that have been avoiding the corral have joined in this evening.

How long do you go before trapping them

I bait for 3-5 days before starting to put panels up. Then wait until every pig goes in a couple nights in a row before closing. I want them comfortable with the enclosure.

Awesome


Are you close now?

Planning on Friday night

All panels are up. Gate has been tested. Hogs are sleeping in the corral.

Planning to drop Friday evening. If they cooperate.

You hog guys are a hoot-and-a half! Maybe even a whole half!
Hogs are a PAIN but I don't do hogs.
I call the calvary!

His name is Gus.

Blessings,
Mark

are they good table fare is my only question..thats a lot of pork!

That's a big BBQ there.

When I trapped hogs I hated handling them. The smell that gets up your nose and lingers for a couple of days. That rancid smell that is a mix of mud/urine/feces and just general hog stench. The only way I found to quell the smell was to put peppermint toothpaste up my nose.

What’s really fun is when you’ve been baiting a group like that for a week getting ready to drop on them then the local dog hunters come in and kill 1-2 and screw everything up.

Atleast they kill them where you're at. Here they just turn them back loose.

A couple things........back in the mid 80's......bottom fell out of hog prices.........anybody that tried to raise one from birth to slaughter would lose $100 per head. But if you had a bunch, what to do? Rural legend (similar to urban legend....but funnier) was one guy put a couple hundred feeder pigs in a trailer, took them to the middle of town and dumped them out on the ctown square. Said people had been dumping dogs and cats on him for years.......and it was time for some payback. Might even be true.....but something similar to that is likely the source of many of the feral hogs we are cleaning up today. They appear to be descendants from domestic hogs that either got lose or were turned lose. In the right areas, they can do pretty well on their own.

Long time back, a college professor was telling us how they used to round up cattle scattered out over tens of thousands of acres in the desert southwest. When roundup time came, they simply setup funnel traps around the water holes. Cattle caught themselves.

Have always thought something similar would work with feral hogs. Setup a large corral (about half acre or so)........made of corral fence with hog panels wired to the inside......then set them up as a large funnel trap. Get them used to coming and going and when ready to catch them, set one way gates. They walk in.....can't get out. Their escape route funnel leads to back of a stock trailer. Prison food.

There is a local guy here who uses extremely large corrals like that. His biggest catch is over 80 at a time.

You tube video of a hog climbing a 6 foot fence. Never seen one in a tree so far

My experience is that they can be good to eat, but it depends on if they’re really stressed. A quick, well placed bullet on a smaller hog, and you have good meat, especially the females. However, it has been my experience that the ones highly stressed aren’t as good to eat, and if they’re a boar that’s been stressed, forget about it.


A friend of mine told me how to tell if a hog will be good to eat. I haven’t tried this method yet but I believe it will probably work. Hopefully someone here could confirm it either way. He said that if you cut a piece of meat and burn it with a lighter, if it smells strong (like the odor of a boar), then the meat isn’t good to eat. If it doesn’t stink when burned, it’s fine.


The pigs I’ve eaten were dispatched with a well placed Bullet, they weren’t stressed, and the meat was great.

This is getting exciting, cant wait for Saturday viewing this post. Will we see the gate come down and the pig go crazy?.....jk

Only pictures. my camera that took video quit when 3g went away.

Can't Wait

Wish you could livestream it.

It looks like you have them ready. Hope you get them all.

I have and use several cellular equipped large and small coral style trap setups and they work fine, but it sometimes requires being up long hours at night waiting on the hogs or all of the group to get inside the trap enclosure before triggering the gate. That new trap concept called the "Pig Brig" seems to have some merit as a multiple catch type trap that you don't have to monitor all night to trigger a gate. It is a large round heavy net type trap, and the hogs trap themselves. Check it out.

There are a lot of videos of the Pig Brig traps in use on you tube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_msYPrngeo

So what's the end game here?

.....tick tick .tick

I have no interest in going back to driving T-post. And I have seen how short of a life span nets like that have down here. I have insomnia anyway lol.



Close to 20 dead pigs

That is the concept I always thought would work. Scaled up version of a pigeon trap or fish trap with one way gate. If the net won't hold up, just use it as a gate......or devise a throat like on a fish trap. They force their way in.......can't force their way out. And large enough that A: you catch the whole sounder......and B. Large enough they remain calm and don't panic.

This from the perspective of an old farm kid who learned at an early age that a guy with a 5 gallon bucket of feed can get animals to voluntarily walk into places you will struggle to drive them into by force.

Also curious about what happens to these hogs once captured? Dispatched on site.....or hauled off to a different fate?

And is this a paying damage control job? Or self ADC?

Paying job, dispatch on site , no exceptions

I know a guy with a pig brig and he has been wearing them out. I think the pig brig is probably best suited for a landowner where you can drive the posts and leave them out and pick the net up when not in use. No worries if the water comes up on it, and no cell service required. Also, much cheaper than the portable cell cam traps if not building yourself. The paid hog trappers I know need something they can set and pick up quick. My local USDA hog trapper is currently running six different cell cam traps. That is a job.

When the shooting started, This big Hampshire boar started ramming the gate, warped it in the middle and knocked it out of the guides. He had been shot 5 times with a .22 when he tore the gate down and escaped. I found him two days later, 150 yards away, when the buzzards got on him.

It's definitely a job, the Pig Brig is more than some cell gates

But the pig brig price includes everything you need except for the t-post, and can carry in the back of a polaris ranger. The commercial cell cam traps require additional interlocking panels, batteries, trailer, etc. Nice setups, but usually in the $7k plus range. If you dont have the time, knowledge, or desire to build a gate, big brig is about the lowest cost commercial multicatch trap. The guy I know using the pig brig is a former g&f employee with a lot of hog trapping knowledge. He was really skeptical about the pig brig, didnt have the cash for the bull creek, jaeger pro, etc, had no cell service on his place, and some of his land was subject to frequent flooding. He was pleasantly surprised with the pig brig. Has caught as many as 24 in one catch. He did say it took him six hours to put it up the first time, but thinks he could do it considerably quicker next time. He did say he didnt think it was not a good option for commercial trappers.

The Pig Brig is not going to last as long as corral either. Eventually you will get to the point where you could have bought one. Aphis guy here is on his 3rd net in 2 years.

A 12gauge with birdshot is hard to beat for dispatching big hogs in a trap. It hits like a slug.

Pig Brig is great for a landowners use

Yes sir, as I said, dont think the pig brig is for the commercial guys. Us private guys might make two or three catches a year. USDA was going to trap my property, but wouldnt move a trap in for fear of flooding - plus, be got no cell service. I have a couple utility panel traps I have used, but dont have much luck getting hogs to force their way in after initial catch. But, those traps dont need cell service and flood water doesnt hurt them. I have actually caught carp in them. Too be honest, I kind of like using the thermal on them.

Had a group that would not go near a corral type trap but they were caught by one of the net traps within a few nights. Then had another sounder that would not approach a net in one field fall to a net in another field a half mile away. Was recently given a drum of peanut butter I'm starting to use in my traps. With all the food plots going to seed I imagine it's going to be tough to be consistent on them for a few weeks.

Takes about 45 minutes to an hour if the ground is hard, a little less in better dirt. I'm at 167 since Jan 1st and have had to lay off for turkey season.

Well, hogs didn't cooperate last night. Trying for Sunday night

Waiting

Got one of the sounders this evening

Good job!

Good job

1?

Nice work!