Better type of Hog trap

[JimD]

DR Billy Higginbotham A & M did an article called "Selecting a Manual Gate trigger for Wild Pig Trapping" and here he details different types of triggers to use for different situations. If you read the Texas and Alabama reports and utubes you will see that most big hogs will not go thru a Wexford type gateless type of trap because of the tight fit and Push-in” designs probably do not catch trap-shy animals very well. The original wexford trap is a good idea but the opening goes from a 24 inch opening to a 14” opening before you have the 3' trap wings.

I have been using a modified Wexford Trap witha 36" opening and the 2x2 hinged board to keep the trap open and the small tire that Billy talks about for the trigger. My braid attaches to the hinge and runs and ties to the back of the trap with a loop in the line over the tire. I have a small tire laying close to the feeder that has the braid tied to it and tied into the loop above. You put the corn in and around the tire so the hogs root it around and closes the gate where the deer will not. Tire needs to be in the trap so the hogs will get used to it.

I modified a Wexford style sheep/goat panel #4 welded wire, 4x4" square, 16' x 48" x 16' panel for the trap opening by cutting it in half.

I modified the Wexford style so that instead of a 14" opening that my opening is 36" wide at the mouth.
I have 4 feet of panel for the spring loaded closure wings and 5 might be better. The next t post on each side is 3 feet cross at the mouth of the trap and moved out side so you cause the ends of the wire to push out against each other and the next t post is 3' back and. I use a piece of treated 2x2 treated board that is cut in half and hinged. See above article as the pieces at the hinge are cut to over close the 80 degree mark. I pry the wire open 40" and set the above trigger and tied to the tire so it functions more like a saloon door type of trap than "push thru" type of trap. Remember all tposts are placed on the outside of the wire.

I cross braced the two t posts at the mouth by laying a t post on top of the wire next to the two t posts and and used the heavy tie wire to support the trap. The trap will need this and possibly one more if there are big pigs. I had two last weekend at about 125 and 120 each plus some shoats and piglets.


The mistake that I made was using the cow panels that I had with the 6"h x8"w squares in a x 16' #4 wire panels (21$ each) for the rest of the trap. It is amazing how big of a pig can get out once they get their head thru the 6x8 holes one was 20+ pounds. To make the mouth of the trap I cut in half a 48" h x 16'sheep/goat panel with 4x4" squares of #4 wire ($62. dollars). The cow panel is not strong enough for the mouth of the trap. The hogs can beat the wings up pretty good.

I was wondering if a piece of heavy duty rebar might help support the wings if wired to the out side of the panel but then if bent might leave an opening for the animals to get out too?

With the price of the cow panel vs the sheep panel I was wondering if one of the cheaper rolls of 2 ft small hole poultry wire or 28" rabbit fencing fencing might be the cheap alternative if you use cow panels and just buy one 4x4 " sheep/ goat panel for the wings. The wiring is about 17-22 Dollars for 50' at HD.

The big Hog that was there Thursday was a freebe since I had wired the trap open but the hogs rooted the gate closed anyway. Old man went to ck the place and had 4 hogs in the trap and the 3 small ones got out and the big one did not. All 4 pigs that got out went thru the second gap that was 6"x 8" in the second row from the bottom Not sure that chicken /rabbit wiring would be strong enough. I had three hogs Saturday night and the small 20 lb hog got out but the trap held the 35 and sow.

If you have cows and other animals you can slide a t post or two down to the height needed across the opening to keep them out of the trap while letting the hogs in.

Our hogs in Marble Falls are usually 175 lbs or less and VERY trap shy. Behind the house is a 4x4x 8 ft trap they will eat all around but not go into.

The one change is to put a 4 ft removable gap if you plan to haul the hogs out alive. I have used rebar to hold the gap open but with this width it is not a problem to just drag them out. I was surprised that the caretaker killed the big sow and it was in the trap dead for a day plus and we had another sow and pigs two nights later.

Opinions on how to make this better with out having to get more 61 dollar panels for the part time trapper? Better trap modification ideas?

[dustoffer]

Here's the gate I use on my 100' trap. I keep the two outer doors down and only the center one up when trapping. I've not caught any huge ones, maybe 150lbs max, but the two sets this year have yielded 20 hogs plus 11 fetuses from 3 prego sows.

[McClain]

A very close friend with USDA Wildlife Services in Louisiana that has done a lot of hog trapping says the bigger the opening the better, especially while pre-baiting. Also prebaiting is essential for large catches and educated hogs.

[BitBackShot]

If you haven't tried the round drop traps, they work very well. Pigs don't know the trap is there when they walk up on the bait at night.

[Farmdog]

Looks deadly to me

[JimD]

I have looked at all the Alabama and Texas Utubes and even all the Wildlife Extention info.

They seem to like the wooden drop door made 4 ft wide and one of the cheapest but will it catch trap shy hogs in the hill county that see it all? Both states like this design. Alabama also lists their study of just how many hogs will push thru a closed trap to get in and it is few. That is a lot of wood for a hog to walk thru. And not having any over head wood or metal is the best idea of this trap looking natural.

What I made was one of the cheapest that I have seen after being in Utopia watching how one ranch does their traps and they use a push thru version at the 3' wide level with good results and cheap cost for multiple ranches.

Being open with nothing to walk under is a strong point but I can see some big hogs not getting out but beating the cr-- out of the two arms of the trap.

Playing with this idea I wonder what two side swing panels spring loaded might do if they over lapped each other rather than closed like saloon doors?
or
I have seen several single side swing doors that looked good but you are still out the expense for the angle and square tubing and having something for the hogs to walk under but you could build a heavy duty reinforced hog panel WIDE door too. Wider is better in all the studies and even the Aggies have a design for an 8 ft plywood gate but still it is a lot to walk under too if you are trap shy.

My trap is about 6 cow panels and one split 4x4" hog 16' panel.

What is your opinion and experience?

[gingib]

I am looking to get a 2nd big corral trap built in a few months and looking at options. I want a 5 foot drop door. Like on the wireless traps

[JimD]

http://wild-wonderings.blogspot.com/2013/12/diy-hog-traps.html

Here is one of the articles on an 8 ft drop gate but there are multiple out there. I like the Alabama 32" gate but it needed to be redesigned for a wider gate at least 48".

Still a lot of bulk and material above the trap on these drop gate traps.

[JimD]

I had placed a roll of 24" chicken wire on the inside around the cow panels to see if it was strong enough to hold small pigs in the trap. Amazing how big of a pig can get thru the cow panel opening. I had a 40-50 lb little boar hog that did a number on the chicken wire and pulled it up in several places.
He had an attitude till the 22 bullet hit him between his eyes.

The chicken wire may work from the out side. I do not know.

There are still several different heavier wire in 24" wide that might do a better job or just bite the bullet and get 4"x4"x 16' goat panels but they are 2 x the cost of the cow panels.

Trap works well.
Ideas on keeping the small pigs inside?

[Dusty Britches]

Very cool. We are building a dual purpose pen - food plot. It is about 1.5 acres, wrapped with hog fencing to keep them out from August - January. Then we will open it up and convert to a hog trap with a 10' drop gate from January - May. When it is finished I'll post up pictures.