My Texas hog hunting trip review.

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  • KJQ6945

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    After a year in the planning, my first ever hog hunt, is in the books. All went well, hogs were killed, and everybody had a blast.

    THE PLANNING

    I started researching a hog hunting trip about a year ago. All I wanted, was to get a group of friends together, go down to Texas, shoot all these evil black guns we've accumulated, and bring home a little pork. I wanted more of a shooting trip, than a hunting trip. I wasn't looking to mount some world class boar's head on my wall, just kill a bunch of pigs with some friends with some non-conventional "hunting rifles". Turns out, that is a pretty hard trip to put together.

    Most outfitters will not accomadate what I wanted. You pay them for a three day hunt, and it's over after the first pig, unless you want to pay more money. Most places are either a high fence preserve where you are shooting hogs that they have trapped, and released inside for you to shoot, or you are going to a "managed ranch". Either way, your shooting is very limited. I was under the impression that hogs were a nuisance that needed eliminated?

    Most outfitters and commercial ranches have strict caliber restrictions. Read that as, evil black rifles need not apply. Again, I thought hogs were a nuisance that needed eliminated.

    After lots of disappointment, I came across a place called M.Y. Ranch. They seemed to offer more of what I wanted.

    my Ranch

    I emailed the owner, Walter Stewart, and after talking with him on the phone, booked the trip. He has roughly 1000 acres, no caliber restrictions, and per the website, he allows you 3 pigs per day. He wants them gone, he isn't trying to manage a heard of nuisance animals.

    THE TRIP

    Initially, we planned on six guys, but, due to life, we ended up with four. Myself and a good friend from here in Indy, and an old Army buddy of mine from PA, with a friend of his. Two trucks, both dragging trailers with ATVs.

    Walter offers you use of his ranch. He is not a guide, he is not an outfitter. He has a large mobile home that can accomadate up to about 9 hunters comfortably on the property. He will show you around the property, and give you a map. On the tour, he shows you the elevated hunting blinds and feeders he has on the property. They have a freezer, and they will skin and quarter your pigs for a small fee, about $50, which is money well spent.

    SUMMARY

    I'm going back! We had a great time. We hunted Tuesday through Friday. Between the four of us, we got 10 pigs, and 1 coyote. On the first night, we had 6 pigs in the freezer, and everybody got at least one. My Army buddy from PA, put 3 down out of a single group.

    Ultimately, team PA, won with a score of 7 to 3, but I believe team Indy brought home more weight.

    if you are looking for a real hog hunt, as opposed to a high fenced trip, I can't recommend this place any higher. He only allows groups, and your group has the entire ranch.

    my Ranch


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    INGO lower.......
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    Last edited:

    churchmouse

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    I agree. There is a lot of double talk as to them being a nuisance but also being managed as a business.

    Looks like you had a great time.
     

    jagee

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    Dude, I'm freaking jealous.

    When you go back, CALL ME! I know life is about to hit me hard, but I really want to try and make this happen.

    I want some bacon! :bacondance:
     

    two70

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    Congrats on the great hog hunt! I'm sure you had to contact a lot of people to find what you wanted but the nice thing is Texas has lots of options.


    I know I have posted the following numerous times already but eastern Texas has several large pieces of public land loaded with pigs and open to hunting for a nominal fee. If one does their homework and is prepared to work hard you can have both a hunt and a shoot without paying an outfitter for the privilege. Hog hunting is an absolute blast and I would encourage anyone that wants to hunt them to do so sooner rather than later. Whether looking to hunt private or public land, be diligent and persistent in your research and you will find exactly the type of experience you are looking for.
     

    jd4320t

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    Great write up and thanks for sharing. It definitely sounds like a good place to go.

    I'd like to hear about rifles and calibers used if you don't mind sharing.

    Oh and how was day vs night hunting?
     

    BiscuitsandGravy

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    At the Ranch.
    Very nice and thanks for sharing. I also would be interested in type/cal of equipment used.

    Will keep these guys bookmarked. Sounds/looks like a solid no-nonsense trip.

    :ingo:
     

    KJQ6945

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    Great write up and thanks for sharing. It definitely sounds like a good place to go.

    I'd like to hear about rifles and calibers used if you don't mind sharing.

    Oh and how was day vs night hunting?

    Never having been before, we brought quite a bit of variety of guns. I tried to cover the entire spectrum of possible distances, from .308 bolt gun, all the way down to the HK SBR in .45acp. I generally went out with two rifles, one with a daytime optic, and one with thermal. The two pigs I brought home were both shot with 77gr 5.56. Neither pig took another step after being shot. The PA guys both brought 6.5 Grendel's and 5.56s. The other Indiana guy had the big bore honors, with a .450 Bushmaster. Shot placement is more critical than caliber, in my opinion.

    As for the day VS night hunting, we only saw one pig during the day. We were scouting a field that we were planning to hunt that night, and spotted one wandering around a swampy, wooded area.
    We tried to be setup by about 5-5:30pm. The feeders are on timers, and start going off around 6:30pm. Most go off 3 times in the evening, and once in the morning. The majority of the pigs we saw, were between about 7pm and 2am.
     

    T.Lex

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    Oops, got premature postification earlier.

    We hunt a place that has about 800 acres about a hundred miles north. Its a private cattle ranch (owned by family), so keeping the hogs out helps the cattle. They also have an annual quota of deer they need to harvest, so we help with that, too.

    The terrain looks very similar.

    Also interested in the equipment, as it looks similar to what we use, including a suppressed AR and thermal. That thermal is like magic. :)
     

    SSGSAD

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    Wow, looks like fun .....

    Thank you, for all the work, that you have done, and sharing the info here .....


    If you need a hunting buddy, let me know ..... LOL !!!!!
     

    wildcatdd

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    Very cool! Wish I would have heard about these guys before I did my hunts. I went through some outfitters outside of the Austin area, but I had to deal with trophy and outfitter fees.
     

    Alamo

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    .... I was under the impression that hogs were a nuisance that needed eliminated?

    Ding Ding. I can't figure this out either. If you want to preserve a large species, like elephants, tigers, lions (sorry Cecil), etc, you set up a legal hunting regime that allows controlled hunting and gives everyone incentives to maintain and grow the population of game. This has been demonstrated time and again.

    So Texas does have a hog nuisance problem, but because people are willing to pay to hunt them, there's a built-in disincentive to hunt them to extinction. Plus they breed like rabbits, but their only predator is man.


    Anyway, glad you had a good time!
     

    KJQ6945

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    Oops, got premature postification earlier.

    We hunt a place that has about 800 acres about a hundred miles north. Its a private cattle ranch (owned by family), so keeping the hogs out helps the cattle. They also have an annual quota of deer they need to harvest, so we help with that, too.

    The terrain looks very similar.

    Also interested in the equipment, as it looks similar to what we use, including a suppressed AR and thermal. That thermal is like magic. :)

    I brought way more guns than I needed, and ultimately, only really used the thermal. It works day or night, and is hard to beat.

    The thermal is an ATN Thor, 9-36x100. It's on a Colt 6920 upper, with an INGO lower, and a YHM Phantom suppressor. Packing for the next trip will be a lot easier.
     

    T.Lex

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    I brought way more guns than I needed, and ultimately, only really used the thermal. It works day or night, and is hard to beat.

    The thermal is an ATN Thor, 9-36x100. It's on a Colt 6920 upper, with an INGO lower, and a YHM Phantom suppressor. Packing for the next trip will be a lot easier.

    Yeah, we did that early on, too. Three of us usually drive down, and I think the first time we had 9 rifles among us. For awhile, we got down to 6, but the last trip I had a new bolt that I was trying out, so we were back up to 7 I think. This next trip, I think we'll only bring 5:
    - .270 bolt with thermal
    - 3 .223 ARs (1 SBR suppressed)
    - .308 bolt

    Now that I look at that list, we may only use 2 ARs.

    With those super bright lights for night hunting the hogs, which we can transfer between guns. Going during deer season, so we'll try to help with the quota.
     

    KJQ6945

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    How did you handle getting the meat back to Indiana?

    These two big coolers, and there is an even bigger one on the front of the trailer. All the meat was frozen except the Friday night hog. We put about 12 bags of ice in, and never added any for the trip home.

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    Mike D.

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    The only thing I would like to add to KJQ’s write up, I was the friend from Indy, is about this being a true hunt. It is in the true sense a wild hunt. Even though there is, cattle, fencing around the property, there is plenty of room for the hogs to get under the fence, come, and go as they please. There are feeders on the property but after a few days of hunting it was determined that, the hogs didn’t rely on the feeders. KJQ and the guys from PA did some homework and found an area where they felt the hogs were funneling through from their bedding area to other feeding areas on the ranch. As for Walter and his ranch hands, they were great. They helped us with anything we ask for, from adding food to new feeders and trying new bait or unlocking gates to gain us access into new areas. We could truly use the ranch as if it were ours.
     
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