34 Best Pig Hunting Tips

If you are searching for pig hunting tips to become a better hunter then the best pig hunting tips are compiled in this article to make you a better hunter. Whether you are a beginner pig hunter or have more experience hunting hogs, you will become a more successful hog hunter with these pig hunting tips.

Best Pig Hunting Tips

1. Hog vs Deer Tracks

You should learn to distinguish between hog tracks from deer tracks. Hog tracks are fuller than those of a deer and feature rounded tips than pointed ones. Hog tracks are square in the front and back with a more uniform width while deer tracks have a teardrop shape.

2. Remember Your Phone

Stephen Lee, the owner of Intercoastal Safaris, states that you should not forget to dim the light on your cell phone and put it on silent, not vibrate.

3. More Bait For The Feeder

Load the feeder with a lot of bait to attract pigs. You won’t have to haul in refills if you load the feeder with a lot of bait. Additionally, this prevents you from spreading your scent around the area which could spook the hogs quicker.

4. Big Guns For Big Boars

Mature boars have thick pads of gristle beneath the scarred hides on their shoulders as protection from the tusks of other males. This makes them tough-skinned mammals. If you are hunting big boars, take along a heavy-caliber gun. The .30-06 and .300 Winchester in open country and brush guns like the .450 Marlin for swampy lowlands and river bottoms are good choices.

5. Small Herd Hunts

If you come across a few signs of pigs in the area, don’t be discouraged. Instead, hunt smaller herds that are more predictable than bigger groups of pigs whose activities attract more hunters.

6. Shoot Young Pig For Meat

If you want tasty and tender wild pork, don’t shoot boars. Go after a young pig. The taste of the hog’s meat diminishes quickly as the animal’s weight climbs closer to 200 pounds.

7. Good Snake Boots

To protect yourself from strikes that will hit you below the knee, wear snake boots when you hunt pigs in rattler, cottonmouth, or copperhead habitats.

8. Snakes & Hunting Summer Pigs

Many dangerous snakes are active during the summer. Watch out for snakes if you hunt pigs during this time of the year. Walk on dry, open ground and avoid low-hanging branches to minimize the risk of encountering a snake. Always check your hunting blind, tree stand, or vehicle before entering as snakes often hide in these places. You can read a review of the best climbing treestands from this link.

9. Wild vs Feral

Most of the hogs in Northern America are feral as they are descended from domestic pigs. Only a few of them are truly wild. A true Russian wild boar features a much longer nose and legs than a hog descended from domestic stock. Moreover, it also features a pronounced ridge of hair running down the center of its back with a straight tail.

10. Pig Squeals

If a pig squeals for a few minutes in the evening, chances are a sow is being bred by a boar. Remember the area you heard the squeal and hunt that area later for the boar.

11. Scent Control

Todd Triplett, the author of The Complete Book of Wild Boar Hunting, thinks that scent control is very important for a successful hog hunt. He advises you to always wash with a scent-free soap before you go hunting, especially from late spring to early fall. Wear hunting boots that won’t leave a scent. We reviewed the best hunting boots and you can read it from this link.

12. Baiting Pigs

Always mask your human scent by wearing gloves when you are setting up a bait pile to attract wild or feral hogs. Pigs have a very good sense of smell and are wary of any human sign, especially if they have been hunted before. Put your bait along trails used by pigs and create a trail back to a larger pile where you will set up. Set up so that your stand is downwind of the pile. This is one of the best pig hunting tips to remember and always implement.

13. Shoot To Kill Quickly

Shoot a hog directly behind the shoulder as well as slightly lower than you would aim at a whitetail deer. Be sure of your shot before taking it. With a thick layer of fat that can quickly plug a wound, trailing the blood might be difficult, especially if it was shot in a wet and swampy environment. To become a more successful whitetail deer hunter, you can read this article on the best whitetail deer hunting tips.

14. Hog Wallow In Silty Soil

If you are searching for hog wallows, good areas to start your search are places where the soil is rich with clay or other fine salts. This kind of soil coats a hog’s skin better than coarse, sandy soil which provides better protection from insects and parasites.

15. Spot-and-Stalk In Open Country

If you are hunting in an open country, you can spot wild pigs from a distance and stalk them. Position yourself where you will have a good view and the wind is blowing toward you. If you spot one, walk slowly and quietly toward it, keeping the wind at your face and using any cover. Pigs don’t have the best eyesight and you may be able to get up close without being detected.

16. Hog Habits

Hogs eat the acorns as soon as they fall to the ground making it difficult to see where they are fed. Deer deposits droppings in their feeding area while hogs leave droppings around their bedding areas. Their habits make it important for you to know where and how they move to hunt them.

17. Follow The Plows

Hogs tend to go to freshly-plowed gardens of crop fields in search of fresh roots. This is a great place to hunt pigs during the summer. if you want to increase your chances of spotting hogs, then try to remember this as it is one of the best pig hunting tips.

18. Hunting Hogs With Dogs

If you are hunting hogs with hounds, don’t use a gun mounted with a scope. It is difficult to shoot a boar when dogs are moving around and harassing the hog. A rifle scope will restrict your view making it difficult to know if a dog is about to jump in front of the muzzle before you pull the trigger.

When you are shooting with open sights, it is easier to make sure you have a clear shot. You can learn the steps on how to mount a scope on your rifle from this article. Additionally, you can read a review of the best hunting riflescopes on the market from here.

19. Hogs and Acorns

Setting up a stand or ground blind near an oak tree with acorns is a good place to hunt hogs. Set up your stand downwind of where acorns have fallen from red, white, or live oak trees. The best hunting ground blinds are reviewed to help you choose the best one for your hunting needs.

20. Shot Placement For Quick Kill

Hit a pig through the heart and/or the lungs to quickly kill it. Always follow up quickly to retrieve it. Where you hit the pig is very important, especially in the summer, if you want to quickly retrieve it. It can run for some distance before dying, making it difficult to find before the meat goes sour.

21. Bedded Pigs & Thickets

Search for thick vegetation in swampy bottomland, laurel tangles in the mountains, and grown-over clear cuts in forested country. Pigs spend time in this type of vegetation and you should set up your stand on trails that come from their bedding cover to areas that they eat. Sit there long enough for the scent you left on the way to have dissipated when they head out to feed in the evening.

22. Still-Hunting Pigs

Don’t still-hunt in the early morning and late evening if you are hunting pigs in thick cover. They are easier to approach when they are bedded than when they are actively moving and feeding. Moreover, they are more active during low-light conditions.

23. Don’t Enter The Bedding Area

Don’t enter the core of a hog’s bedding area if you are still hunting. You could push them out of the area for some days if you enter. Hogs will quickly pick up your scent if you enter their bedding area. Discipline yourself and exercise restraint. This is one of the best pig hunting tips to remember.

24. Getting To Know Hogs

Always remember that wild hogs have a very good sense of smell, good sense of hearing, and intelligence but poor vision. This knowledge can always be used by you when hunting them. They move at a trot and are good swimmers but can only gallop for a short distance.

Additionally, they tend to frequent paths that connect their resting places, feeding areas, and water holes, and wallow with salt licks. Water sources for bathing are also very important for them. This knowledge can be capitalized on to find them.

25. Faint Trails

Locate faint trails if you want to get an old hog. They tend to roam alone from the food sources to their bedding areas. Don’t make the mistake of setting up on the most obvious hog trails in the area. Faint trails that are not cluttered with different-sized tracks are your targets.

26. Look For Scat

You can get a lot of information about pigs by studying their scat. From the scat, you can learn what it is eating from the composition and consistency of the feces. If the stool is wet and loose, this is an indication that it is feeding on rich and moist food sources like fresh tubers. With this knowledge, you can search for these areas to find them. Additionally, undigested bits of food also give you clues about the animals’ diet and where to scout for them.

27. Use A Hunting Blind

If you take a child hunting, using a hunting blind is a good idea. Children can’t sit still for an extended period of time as adults do. They will have the option to shift positions without being noticed if they are on the ground blind. You can improve your deer hunting skills from a ground blind by reading this article on how to deer hunt in ground blinds.

28. Hunting Pigs In Summer Without Bait

Pigs will feed during the night to avoid heat and insects during the middle of the day. If you will not hunt over bait, there are two tactics you can employ while hunting them. You can hunt behind dogs and you can still hunt since pigs feed on many different food sources.

29. Wallows Give Information

When you are scouting for hogs, search for wallows. These areas will give you a good idea of the sizes and numbers of animals in a herd. It will be fairly easy to find hog tracks near wallows and they will give you a good idea of the hog’s size from the imprint left in the mud.

30. Find Boars From Pig Rubs

When hogs are done with a wallow, they will usually rub their bodies on the trees, smearing sap on their hides for protection from biting flies. Be on the lookout for these rubs as they give you evidence of the size of the boars using that area. If you find scars left by a boar’s tusks, you know that you are hunting the right place.

31. Evening Hours Hunt

A great way to find pigs is to hunt over bait in the summer months. However, don’t hunt over the bait in the morning or the middle of the day. You will be more successful hunting in the evening when hogs are leaving their beds to stop by for a snack on the way to settling in for the night. You can read this article on hunting coyotes at night to improve your hunting skills of coyotes.

32. Stalking One Spot Too Often

Don’t walk through a specific area often when you still hunt as hogs quickly pick up signs of humans and will become wary if they think people are using their territory. Instead, use a tree stand to hunt the area and only stalk the area once every three to four days.

33. Hunting Hogs From A Boat

Some of the best places to hunt hogs are in deep swamps and along the river bottoms. Hogs like low-lying and wet habitats. To sneak into hunting cover without snapping and crackling the branches and limbs of trees, you can use a boat. You can learn how to hunt from a treestand by reading this article.

34. Old Homesteads Hunt

Look for wild hogs around the abandoned homesteads. These sites often have abandoned orchards, and overgrown gardens, and are often close to open meadows or overgrown pastures that provide a range of other food sources.

The Bottom Line

These pig hunting tips will help beginners and experienced pig hunters become better hunters and have successful hunting seasons. Our fervent hope is that these pig hunting tips will be helpful to you as a hunter. Additionally, you can improve your hunting of elk with this article on the best elk hunting tips.