First time hog hunting

[Maverick21]

Heading out tomorrow (Friday) to my buddies ranch to put a dent in a hog problem they're having. Just looking for tips. Best time to catch em, will 7.62x39 be sufficient, what kind of cover should we be in etc. Don't have a suitable scoped rifle so it's either gonna be the ak or sks with a red dot. It's not perfect but I thought the red dot would help with low light conditions since irons would be nearly impossible to use in the dark. Is there a way to light up the corn we have laid out without scaring them off? Any advice would be appreciated

 

[guns are dumb]

According to the 2010-2011 Oklahoma Hunting Guide, shooting hours for hogs is one-half hour before official sunrise to one-half hour after official sunset, so there shouldn't be much of a light problem.

 

[Maverick21]

According to the 2010-2011 Oklahoma Hunting Guide, shooting hours for hogs is one-half hour before official sunrise to one-half hour after official sunset, so there shouldn't be much of a light problem.

Thanks for the response. We have a night shooting permit from the game warden.

Regardless I was just wondering from those more experienced what would be better given the low/nonexistant light conditions and what would be adequate cover for hogs. (heard their sight is poor but have excellent smell)

 

[crg1372]

Thanks for the response. We have a night shooting permit from the game warden.

Regardless I was just wondering from those more experienced what would be better given the low/nonexistant light conditions and what would be adequate cover for hogs. (heard their sight is poor but have excellent smell)

A hog's sense of smell is 5x keener than a dogs. The thicker the cover the better. Look for signs around a water source. Best bet is putting a feeder out and they will train themselves to it. As far as the night permit, is it for the group or just the landowner? I believe the landowner is the only one with permission according to the regulations. Might be wrong though....

 

[r00s7a]

A hog's sense of smell is 5x keener than a dogs. The thicker the cover the better. Look for signs around a water source. Best bet is putting a feeder out and they will train themselves to it. As far as the night permit, is it for the group or just the landowner? I believe the landowner is the only one with permission according to the regulations. Might be wrong though....

I don't believe so, unless it has changed recently. They can write the permit for a group. Landowner will usually be one of the group, but you can put other names on there as well, up to four total if I remember correctly.

 

[r00s7a]

Also, being that you have a depradation permit, kick on the spotlight, then you don't have to worry about the lighting conditions. Would still be difficult with iron sights though. My trapping has ended now that the acorns are dropping, they are staying away from the corn completely. I've never still hunted at night with a permit, we would always just load up the flatbed and drive through the pastures. They remained somewhat calm under the light until you got up next to them. But we always used buckshot, so we'd pull up pretty close to them and still managed to squeeze off a few shots and/or run over a few. Just be careful driving through a pasture at night, it can get kinda hairy!