Texas hogs

[ammohead]

My son is moving to a suburb of Dallas and he has a granddaughter of mine that I haven't met yet. I was thinking of doing a hog hunt with my son while visiting. Not sure when, open to ideas. Any suggestions?

[MDC]

Where abouts is he moving?
Give me about two weeks headsup and I'll get you in contact with a guy. He'll get you on them and is a stand up guy.

[ammohead]

MDC,

We just talked recently and he didn't recall the name of the burb but close to Dallas. I will post when I learn more. Thanks for the reply. Just the kind of response I was hoping for.

Bruce

[crawfobj]

Tacticalhogcontrol.com. 2.5 hours south, but I guarantee you've never been on a hunt like theirs. Night hunts with crazy night vision, thermal scopes and suppressed AR-15/AR-10 rifles.

[possom813]

http://www.nighthogs.com/




When we started out in April 2008 we had just one Generation 3 NV suppressed 77/44 Ruger and hunted only as friends-not guides. We still use that original rifle but have added five sets of Generation 3 PVS-7′s along with a PVS-14. We also utilize a Raytheon Thermal Weapons Scope on another suppressed 77/44 and a Gen 3 equipped LWRCI M6A3 Designated Marksman Rifle in 6.8mm SPC (www.lwrci.com) with a custom bored titanium XL suppressor (half the weight and twice the price of stainless steel suppressors). We have a third suppressed .44 magnum with a daytime scope for when the hogs are coming out early. All three .44 magnums shoot custom loaded subsonic ammunition pushing out 300 grain Hornady XTP’s at about 1050 fps with an effective range of about 85 yards. They have a decibal level about the same as a high powered pellet gun. The LWRC uses custom loaded ammo pushing 110 grain Hornady V-Max at about 2600 fps with an effective range of about 200 yards (if the shooter can hold up his/her end). It has a decibal level in the range of a .22 long rifle. Three of the rifles are equipped with Timney single stage triggers that are as nice as the finest deer hunting rifles.

[ammohead]

Turns out that Daniel will be moving to Garland TX. A visit that included some hog or javelina hunting would be a blast.

[x101airborne]

Garland is just down the road from Hearne. Hearne is the train capitol of Texas. While there, you need to visit the Dixie Cafe. Best dog gone chicken fried steak I ever had. And you can get tea in GALLONS!
And when I TEXAN says the "best chicken fried steak" that really means something.

[crawfobj]

The Dixie cafe is greatness, but its a 2.5 hour drive from garland.

[MDC]

You'll need to get about 4.5-5 hours west of Garland to find javelina but feral hogs can be found 15-30 minutes from Garland. Lake Lavon has plenty of hogs and offers hunting on public land. There are restrictions but once he gets settled he'll be able to look into it.
The fellow I mentioned before just had neck surgery but I'm sure he will accommodate if he isn't up to par when you are ready. After meeting his 9 yo son, I wouldn't have a problem chasing hogs with him. The boy is being raised right and is tough as Tarzan's feet.

[popper]

https://lavonlakehunting.tamu.edu/policy - info on Lavon hog hunting. I've heard it's run by the Corps of Engineers and is tricky. Garland is the burb east of Dallas city limits.

[MDC]

Thanks popper, that's it. I grew up in Mesquite which you know is Garland's next door neighbor. I'm just up SH121 from you now in Lewisville. It can be a bit tricky but doable. A buddy of mine got drawn for the Lake Grapevine lottery last year and took a couple of does and several pigs. Grapevine is archery only but Lavon opens their's to firearms occasionally. They are thick on the east side of the lake. Also Cooper WMA is about 45 min east of Garland and the hogs are trashing the State Park. My parents were "camping" in their 35' trailer and had a pack run through. The fact is Texas is over run with the damned things, the bad is everyone wants $300+ to allow you to shoot one. I certainly don't mind paying for the priveledge to hunt someone's property, but I'm not paying to rid the landowner of the ground rootin' suckers.

[ammohead]

Cheapest I have found in CA is $750 for a stand hunt. So $300 isn't too bad as long as there are plenty and we can hunt them. I suppose that if a persons land is being damaged by the damn things it is not too out of line to try to gain some recompense for the loss. What kind of license and or tag is required for a non resident?

[MDC]

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/regulations/fish_hunt/licenses/hunt_licenses/
You'll just need a non-resident special license (type 107) $132. This will cover you for exotics including hogs. Other than that, just permission from the landowner. There is no closed season, bag limit or weapon restrictions unless imposed by the landowner. This is for private property, Corps of Engineers and Texas Public Lands have other permits/restrictions.
If the landowner is not going to accompany you, be sure to have his (or his agent's) written permission, name, cell phone #, home phone # and address in case the guy in the green truck stops for a visit. I have never had an ounce of trouble hunting someone elses property, and most of the wardens will know the landowners in their counties, but safe is better than sorry. And if you're all legal. the landowner and TP&W will be happy you are here.

[migtek02]

I'm off I20 &360 looks like I'll be spending some time at Lavon.

[MosinRob]

I know a guy in meridian witch is in bosque county. Bout 80 min south of dallas. He charges 100 a person per night. You hunt from heated blinds on bait. The bait piles are lighted. Shoot unlimited hogs. Also shoot anything else that comes in, fox, coyote, etc.

[ammohead]

Thanks Rob, sounds like a winner. Hunting on foot would be more fun, but when in Rome!

[pls1911]

I hunt on a place north of Abilene, stalking though mesquite thickets.
The pucker factor can be high in the summer, when mud packed pigs are sleeping nearly invisible, and you're really slow, and really quiet.
Unseen, they can flush from underfoot like a 200 pound pheasant and scare the bepoopers out of you. Nearly rode one out of the bristle bush more than once.
And big Black boogers look too much like angus calves through the under brush to shoot, so you sneak closer, although you know whatever it is , is staring right at you.... and when it does move it's fast!
Best afternoon was six shots, sixty seconds, six pigs, posted elsewhere here.

[craazyhoss]

you can get a 3 day hog permit for about 50$ there are several of us who have went to Carrizo Springs every march for last 10 years for hog hunt that is what we bought

[reloader28]

Myself, I can not bring myself to pay to hunt to hunt pigs in Texas. Everyone screams about them wrecking the land, but then want you to pay to help them out. Not me.
I would very happily camp down there with a couple buddies for 2-3 weeks if someone needed help just thinning them out. But I refuse to pay for it.

Ammohead, if you just want a pig, Theres a guy just north of Twin Falls Idaho that sells Russian boars. Last time I looked, he had 500 acres covered with boars for $300 or $350/hog. Also fallow deer and different kinds of sheep. Its looks a heck of a lot closer to you than Texas. His site was something called like Shoshone wild boar hunts.

[ammohead]

R28,

I have checked out their website and am considering it seeing as Daniel didn't move to Texas afterall. $350 for a nice pig hunt isn' too bad even if it is a canned hunt. 500 acres may make it seem not so canned.

[veeman]

500 acres, those hogs likely have never even seen the fence, or realized they are enclosed.

[TXGunNut]

500 acres, those hogs likely have never even seen the fence, or realized they are enclosed.

Possibly, most hogs around in this area seem to be nomadic. Ranches around here will get torn up by a group of hogs one night but when you get a rifle or traps into play they're long gone. I think it depends on the particular group of hogs.

[Finarfin]

You'll need to get about 4.5-5 hours west of Garland to find javelina but feral hogs can be found 15-30 minutes from Garland. Lake Lavon has plenty of hogs and offers hunting on public land. There are restrictions but once he gets settled he'll be able to look into it.
The fellow I mentioned before just had neck surgery but I'm sure he will accommodate if he isn't up to par when you are ready. After meeting his 9 yo son, I wouldn't have a problem chasing hogs with him. The boy is being raised right and is tough as Tarzan's feet.
While there may not be many, I saw some javelinas by the Navasota river outside college station a few years back. No one had told them they don't live there.

[Finarfin]

Possibly, most hogs around in this area seem to be nomadic. Ranches around here will get torn up by a group of hogs one night but when you get a rifle or traps into play they're long gone. I think it depends on the particular group of hogs.

I think they'll cover some ground too. A place I go to is over 300 acres and is the densest cover by far of any of the neighboring properties and they tear through the fences all the time.

[TXGunNut]

While there may not be many, I saw some javelinas by the Navasota river outside college station a few years back. No one had told them they don't live there.



Javelina have recently showed up in the Caprock Canyon area as well but they're not legal game. No one is sure how they got there but a hunter was fined a couple of years ago for shooting one. Not sure if they're legal in the College Station area so I'd check before shooting one. Javelina and feral pigs are not the same critter.