Summer Hog Patterns

[ebneruh54]

My buddies and I have been on several hunts this summer and we are trying to increase our "opportunity rate" each time we go. we have already fixed feeders, blinds, etc etc but I do not think it is the problem. EVERYTIME we go, we walk up on 20-30 hogs and several other packs roaming around, and we do stalk them but with limited success. Then, when we sit in the stands from 7 until 930 or 10 we dont see a dang hog! So, we finally put up game cams at the feeders and the pics were interesting, but I can seem to make sense out of them...

ALL of the photos of the hogs at the feeders were between 11 am and 2 pm. rarely any at night (when we are hunting them). They are full of mud in the pics and in solid packs (10-20). We are thinking that they are feeding/traveling during the middle of the day to roll in the mud under the feeders for 2 reasons...1. is the mosquitos which are ridiculous and 2. the heat.

can anyone on here share anything they have learned while hunting hogs in the summer? maybe different tactics? i would love to hunt during the day but i cant bc of work!

Thanks for the help!

Jake


Also - funny story: my buddy and I were at his land fixing the battery on a feeder next to a big grass bed (touches the back leg of the feeder). after 5 min of filling/fixing feeder a ~200 lb boar (white with black spots) stands up and casually trots off. It was hilarious, the lazy son of a gun was sleeping less than 5 yards from us at the feeder. i could have popped him with the pistol but were saving that sucker for a broadhead!

[DorothyNotKeegan]

You made need to adjust your feeder times. The late night feedings make a pig come in later. It also depends on how long you've had your feeder in the location. It's takes a while for the pigs to know when it's going to go off. I went to my lease the other day and the pigs came running before it ever went off. They're not a umb as some think.

[ETEXASHUNTER]

Also the the over coverage and heat conditions play a factor in the there time I hunt in East Texas and they are all 9-3am windows. they come in after the feeder has gone off and will sit there all night sometimes. The Trail Cam Shots reflect the times as constant 9-3am even on the rainy nights

[ebneruh54]

we have them set for 730 pm and they have been there for atleast a year. in the winter it is clockwork sticking a pig before dark but summer has been rough! as far as the hogs knowing feed is coming out, its all a matter of when we get the time to fill the feeders and how much corn us youngsters can afford! ha! We took off the morning feed routine and switched to just 730pm.

[jerp]

Do you have any tanks the hogs like to visit? It may be just on our place, but there is a definite heat-of-the-summer pattern around the tanks. They almost always can be found at one of the tanks right at dawn, wading around and rolling in the mud. I guess they are cooling off after a night of roaming and they are putting on their "bug repellent" before bedding down for the day. The only problem is guessing which tank they are going to use that morning but them seem to always hit one of them when it's really hot.

[Nitro1970]

I have my feeder go off around 8:20pm and the pigs will come in anywhere from 9:45p.m. to 3:00 a.m. with just a couple of days in a row at the same time. Just hard for me to know when to show up.

Good luck

[Cajun Blake]

I would make a home made wallow or watering hole

dig a 2-3" deep hole about 5 feet in circumfrence

then fill hole with 55 gallon drums of water , replenish with water everytime you go out there

build it and they will come

this was done by a previous TBH'er (Buff ??) for deer

pretty sure Buff has a video link attached with his success hunting over a man made water hole

search prior threads to see, or maybe someone can help us out with the link


also, tack / wrap some burlap sacks to nearby trees and coat generously with used motor oil... this will attract hogs by sense of smell. Hogs will rub against burlap to get rid of ticks

[leebtattoos]

generally speaking, the hogs come out only at night during the summer months. if yours are coming out during the day, hunt them during the day. am i missing something?

[stickman]

Problem is this summer there has been a ton of rain so there is food and water everywhere. If you have them patterned at the feeder at a certain time thats when I would be there. Seems like the middle of the day would be hotter for you to sit there but there would definitely be less mosquitos. As for stalking them, find some shaded creek beds and move into the wind very slowly listening for grunting or squealing to help you locate their where abouts. Try setting up some bait stations with a corn/jello powder mix and sneek up to them at night under a fool moon.

[ebneruh54]

leeb - working during the day...we can only go after work so we're trying to find summer tactics to ensure a successful hunt!

Thanks for the help. The land has several ponds and creeks so we may have to stalk the creek bottoms.

We used the deisel carpet pads on his other property and it worked great. we may have to try the burlap!

[mhbaseball]

killed one saturday at 11pm after I heard a group running in the creek....all 6 in the group were soaking wet. Heard many other hogs in other parts of the creek. Its a waiting game

[leebtattoos]

leeb - working during the day...we can only go after work so we're trying to find summer tactics to ensure a successful hunt!

Thanks for the help. The land has several ponds and creeks so we may have to stalk the creek bottoms.

We used the deisel carpet pads on his other property and it worked great. we may have to try the burlap!

gotcha. try cutting feed times. that might help. or vacay time

[AJ the TP Guru]

With protein feed available to them in the calf crib 24/7, they still show only at night (Elgin, just E. of Austin). Multiple sounders, first showing around 11pm, last around 5am.

[Hilbile]

good info