Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Hog Hunt Recommendations

Me and a couple buddies want to go Hog hunting probably in 2024. Not worried about trophies, would like to bring some meat home. Want to do a 3 or 4 day hunt and either have lodging, or decent hotel close by. None of us have ever hunted hogs before, so don't even know where to start. We live in Western Pa, so thinking Georgia, Alabama or similar. Texas isn't out of the question, but adds a couple days or travel.

I hope you find a good place, lots of fun to kill those bastards

You’re in luck.

Unfortunately the south has plenty of hogs.

9 bar ranch-decatur texas

Identify and solve your logistical issues first. How will you get the meat home? Tennessee and the Carolinas have hogs and are a lot closer to western Pennsylvania than the Deep South. You could drive there in a day, which saves the hassle of moving through airports. That eliminates the chances of an airline losing your guns or letting your meat sour on a ramp somewhere. Expect the airlines to screw up and you won't be disappointed.

Don't hunt for the meat, hunt for the experience. Hogs are unlike any other species, so you don't really hunt them in the same way. If you want a lot of meat, then kill a moose.

No outfitter wants you to kill a bunch of hogs. They want you to get one or two and leave the rest for him to sell to the next guy. Most private landowners want you to kill every hog you can but you won't meet them without personal connections and they rarely offer the same level of support (especially the walk-in cooler) as an outfitter.

Hogs are fast and smart. Once you fire a shot, the ones that you didn't hit will be gone and won't come back. Based on the limited amount of hog hunting that I've done, a suppressed rifle is the key to killing more than one at a time.

Most outfitters will put you on a stand within 100 yards of a feeder or water source. Impact velocity will be pretty close to muzzle velocity, so pick your bullet with that in mind.

Outfitters aren't gun people and very few of their clients can shoot well. They may dictate how you set up for the shot, such as with a bipod or shooting sticks. Find that out in advance, then decide whether that works for you.

The size of the hog makes a difference in what you'll want to do with the meat. Decide what kind of hogs you want to kill and learn to judge their sizes before you go. https://thehogbook.com/ has a lot of insight into how to handle and cook different sizes of hogs.

Ask around. There are several good threads going on here right now about what to look for in an outfitter. Check online reviews of each outfitter. Some of their websites talk a good game but reports from actual hunters may reveal important things that affect the quality of your hunt.


Okie John

Tn will be a fenced in lodge most likely. We have some peculiar hog hunting rules honestly. Not open season 24/7 365 here unless private and added to landowners exemption for each parcel of land and person. Some areas lots of hogs. But it’s pockets of them and nothing like the volume of Texas

Might do some reading before committing to here.

South Georgia is where I would be looking honestly.

I enjoy hog hunting at Suwannee River Ranch in north Florida. You do not pay unless you shoot one. Cost for guided hunt including skinning and quartering is $300. But be a good sportsman and tip your guide. phone: 386 935 0012. www.suwanneeriverranch.com

Hoping this is helpful. - Sherwood

Good info here, thanks.

I'll second ingwe's post from the other hog hunt recommendation thread. Check out Thompsons Hunting Lodge in Crystal City Tx. They run on both a high fence ranch and a low fence ranch.

I'll be back there for the 7th time next month. Great place.

Check out their YouTube channel Camp House Adventures.

I'll third that. I need to get in there one of these years with you guys.

If you go to Thompson's, you'll fly into San Antonio and rent a car. There's a Bass Pro just outside of town where you can buy clays and shotgun shells as well as a hunting license. They had a bird thrower if you want to shoot shotguns along with a 100 yard range. It's about a 2 hour drive to Crystal City, but easy to get to. Watch your speed on those back roads, I got caught doing 87 in a 75mph zone out in the middle of nowhere. The gentleman let me go with a warning. We had a car full of guns and he didn't even blink an eye. We told him we were there to shoot pigs and said that a good thing.

You hunt out of box blinds usually within 100 yard of a feeder. The guides take you to your blind before light and pick you back up around 9:00 and go back for breakfast. Then you go out in the afternoon until after dark. The feeders were going off at 7:30 when I was there. Then the place comes alive with wildlife you've never seen before if you're inside the high fence portion. They've got exotics. They're good people, good food, and good accommodations.

Flying in and out of San Antonio with guns was a breeze, it's the airport that you're flying out of that I'd be worried about. If you follow the rules, you should be OK. Make sure you have a good gun case.

If you want to bring the meat back, the best thing is that they will hook you up with a butcher in Uvalde that can process it and ship it to you. It's not cheap. If you're planning on bringing it back in a cooler on the airline, that's a no go. Pugs tried that and it was a total hassle. He was able to get it through, but not without a lot of negotiations with TSA. I'll let him tell the story. The bottom line is that it has to be frozen solid and Thompson's Hunting lodge doesn't have a freezer, only a cold box. If you want the meat, go for the pigs that are around 100 lbs. The big ones taste like crap.

Hope this helps.

yup!

GWB

Y'all have a good time. Hope it doesn't rain.

Damn that’s muddy

I'm not sure what the dirt is like in your neck of the woods, but it's the weirdest schit I've ever encountered. When it's dry, it's like concrete. If it rains, the water doesn't sink in and it turns to something like barring grease. The stuff sticks to your feet (like that deer) and you'll get 10 lbs of mud stuck to each foot. And it's slick like grease.

10/4 on the mud!

Anywho,

I've my own lease to hunt, and this is about the only paid hunt I do.

Mainly cause of the guys that are in attendance.

Target rich environment if you be in the right place at the right time!



Thompson Hunting Lodge... after dark

as well as

coons......



and jacks' a plenty








ya!

GWB

Black Texas gumbo is like that.

Check out “Hog Creek Outfitters” on Facebook. We are located near De Leon, Tx. and have access to over 15,000 acres of river bottom and crop land. We do guided stand, thermal and dog/knife hunts. Lodging and meals provided. We have tons of photos and references as well. Give me a call or text at 254-734-5344. You can also message me on FB as I’m new to this forum and don’t rank high enough yet for the private message feature.

Georgia has some fine hog hunting. If you’re hunting Georgia most of the places covered up with them are in mid to southern Ga. They are hit or miss in many places. Sometimes we have a pile of them around and other times you wouldn’t know hogs were in the region.

If you want a little excitement, try to find someone to go with and catch them with dogs. Unlike anything you’ll experience and most the boys I run hogs with are salt of the earth, good ole southern gents. We’ve caught some absolute hosses over the years.

My wife and I have killed a few Texas hogs while on deer hunts. and a couple in Mississippi.
I am going on my first booked hog hunt 1st weekend in March.


There are many types of hog hunts one can book.
1. regular type of sitting on a stand twice daily and maybe after dark with a nightlight on the feeder.
2. Thermal scope night walk/stalk hunts. (usually more expensive)
3. Hunting with dogs and making the kill with knives.

So, for Christmas, I've purchased a hunt for us. I wanted dog/knife hunt. Son wanted Thermal scope hunt. Son-in-law didn't care, just wants to go.
I found a guy that offered me a combo. We will hunt 2 nights with thermal equipment and 1 day we'll chase them with dogs and knife them.

The weapon I've chosen.... ColdSteel AUS 8A
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I had a gunsmith friend who did the hog hunt jump in and knife em thing. He jumped on it and knifed it just fine, but after all the kicking and commotion he had alot of upper body brusing. He said it was the sorest he's ever been and it was a long miserable ride back home. No thanks. Do yourself and the pig a favor and burn some powder. Knives are for cleaning.

no, knife/dog is something I've wanted to do a long time. Had a trip booked a few years ago, but the temp in that area of Texas dropped to 4 degrees.
Outfitter was great, he called me and said we'd be wasting our money. I said ok. and he refunded my deposit.

this trip, it had to be thermal. I contacted 3-4 guys and settled on 1.

I just looked above my post and saw that Hog Creek Outfitters made a post. I was most impressed with him when we talked on the phone.
That's who we're actually going with.

I will do a hunt report after our trip. We go the 1st week of March.

Kill the SOB’s, it’s your duty!!!!!

This is on my bucket list.

Looks like a ton of fun

LOL! Then his guide(s) need their butt kicked until their nose bleeds!

To catch a hog by hand.
Approach the hog from the rear. Easily accomplished when the dogs have the pig distracted.
Grab the hogs left hind leg with your right hand. Lift and flip at the same time and grab the right leg with your left hand.
If you do it right, the pig will be upside down, belly forward. With little short, stubby front legs, they can't regain their feet.
In that position, it isn't hard to slip a blade behind the front leg for a heart "shot".

My uncle was a vet. I spent a summer up there catching pigs when he held a vaccination clinic. Pig farmers showed up from miles around to get their pigs vaccinated. Catching several hundred pigs a day was common.
In all honesty, don't remember that we wrestled anything over about 30 pounds or so.