Thread: Does anyone have any tips for hunting pigs without dogs, only rifle??

Ive got a bit of a pig problem that needs dealing with and have never hunted pigs without dogs before, just woundering how good there sense of smell and hearing is compared to deer, and any other general tips.

Cheers Josh

It depends on how much pressure they have had, not much and they can be rather dumb.
Lots of it and they can be just as hard as deer, cagey and nocturnal.
I've found walking in on them with spotlight and supressor can work a treat.

Josh

Some people would give their left nut for a problem like this.

Pigs have poorer eye sight than deer, excellent hearing ...... a sense of smell second to none.

Pigs have a better sense of smell than most dogs.

Set up a hide or a trap and bait them.

Pigs love smelly baits and will come from miles around to investigate the smell.

Fermented barley or maize is good, half a bucket on the ground and a couple of handfuls chucked up in the trees to get the smell wafting around will soon have them coming in.

Bury handfuls of blood and bone 6" or so under ground ..... They will smell it and root around to find it....... Keeps them in the area longer.

Bait them for a few weeks to get the used to coming in for a free feed before you start shooting or trapping.

Let us know how you get on.

Cheers
Pete

What sort of country is it?
Pigs generally are oblivious to a light at night.
While rooting they are very easily approached.
Very good sense of smell and hearing but if content stuffing their belly they can almost seem to completely ignore both senses.


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Originally Posted by veitnamcam

What sort of country is it?
Pigs generally are oblivious to a light at night.
While rooting they are very easily approached.
Very good sense of smell and hearing but if content stuffing their belly they can almost seem to completely ignore both senses.


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Dead right, on my aussie hunting trip last year, we were baiting 8 or so bait stations with horses and donkeys, some of the bait stations had tree stands, pretty simple, a ladder and a car seat nailed up a tree. All sites marked on a gps. We went back in the dark, one site we parked up about 400m and walked in, about 80m away we could hear them crunching on carcases, I walked up to the tree carrying my rifle, day pack. The tree stand was about 20m from the bait. I made a shit load of noise climbing the tree stand and the pigs couldn't have cared less. I had a thermal camera and counted more than 20 pigs. I didn't shoot any but was quite interested how they interacted with one another. There were some big pigs in that mob and my finger was getting itchy but waited until they had had enough and buggered off.

They are easy to hunt in the bush (apart from the fact they are short) as long as you have the wind in your favour.

I've been within 5-20 metres of them with their noises right in the ground, the wind has swirled & bang they are gone, their noises are incredible.

Pigs make plenty of noise in the bush, they don't mind you making a fair bit of noise either as long as it isn't metallic, they think you are one of their mates.

They don't seem to mind rifle shots in the bush, they seem keep following the leader, which is handy if you are in the way

It is hard to see them with a spotlight, but it is a very productive way to target them.

If you are lamping them ,we liked a breezy night as they here you comming other wise . Shouldn't be hard in welly

Get a pig Dawg. Couldn't resist sorry. Plenty of good advice above. Alternately you could arrange a Wellington forum pig blitz. I am sure their would be a bunch of willing helpers..

I shot one in the bush last year and to be honest there was some good luck on our part but we heard them coming, they are noisy waited and then three of them walked right out in front of us maybe 10 m away tops and were totally oblivious to us standing right there.. Dropped the biggest but the other two bolted..

A friend up this way shoots them on a regular basis one her farm, but she doesnt allow anyone to dog them. Seems to pay off, as they just keep on coming out of the surrounding bush, and she doesnt bait them up.
When I say she shoots them regularly, I mean as often as 3/4 times a week sometimes.

Thanks guys for all the tips, ill make sure to let you know how i go. And in adressing Veitnamcam's question they are coming into the padocks rooting up the ground, there is regional pine forest on one side and scrub on the other. Cheers Josh

"Bait station" with some maize+ sour milk and trail cam to figure out the time the are feeding ?
@kiwi39 and I will happily help you out to form a hog hunting party

We'll even dispose of the carcass(es) for you

Originally Posted by ebf

We'll even dispose of the carcass(es) for you

We can use my BBQ to cook the carcasses before we dispose of them ....

Shhh, "dispose" is just the codeword for making sausages, bacon, pork chops, ribs etc - nom nom

Pengy, your mates doing it right. Good on her.