Blind Texas DIY hog hunt?

[Gun&BowSD]

Buddy and I were in some shit together on the other side of the world, and haven't seen each other in a while so thought we could meet up. He lives in Texas but has no connections to the hunting world. I've hunted my whole life but never in Texas. And never hogs. Looked up public and seems there's (hardly any compared to the size of the state) a handful of places some guys could do some hunting.
Question is: Blind hog hunt, with no prep time for bait or blinds, no on the ground scouting. What are you doing?
Calling? I have my foxpro. Spot and stalk doesn't seem feasible from what I can tell of the area way to thick
I know I know...this sounds like every guy who has drawn some prestigious elk tag with no prep but its not really that. I'd just like to link up with a brother, and do our part to help the hog problem as a bonus.
Any ideas? Do hogs come to bait placed that same day?

 

[Weldor]

Your best bet is to find a good outfitter . They offer day hunts or packages. Pretty much every kind of hunting in Texas costs money, just the price of admission. There are some very resonable ones out there. Look at Oklahoma also, more public land.

 

[ArmyAg97]

Without consistent bait to keep them around they could be anywhere. You'd have to do a spot and stalk type of deal with a pretty low chance of success. As mentioned, hogs can usually be hunted with an outfitter at a very reasonable price.

 

[Okie-hunter]

Sounds tough. Not familiar with Tx public but I figure OK pigs like the same stuff. The thing with pigs a lot of times is they are in the thickest nastiest stuff they can find during daytime. However if I was going to try it I’d key in on waterholes with thick cover around it. There is always chance you’ll catch one out in the open early/late in the day.

 

[Okie-hunter]

Also, it’s probably too late in the summer to hunt bean fields but if by chance you found a bean field that isn’t 4ft tall you could find them coming to that in the evenings.

 

[Gun&BowSD]

Thanks guys. I will look into a guided deal for pricing, never done guided anything before. I also had considered the water holes as well and found a handful on the Googles that consistently have water in them. There is a creek that runs through as well with somewhat open banks. Considered moving along it for tracks and or just an ambush opportunity. Don't know enough about hog movement to be confident in that strategy though. I appreciate the input

 

[Gun&BowSD]

Another question, how receptive are landowners to opening hunting for hogs? I know they cause a helluva mess. I also considered getting some addresses of properties that look like they would be good for opportunities. (Thick nasty stuff borders up into Ag fields with some tree rows) and using the cards life has dealt to write some letters "hey we are both firefighters and combat wounded vets just looking to reconnect...we are good respectful people I swear" hahah more words than that of course. Or do landowners get people knocking every day and have just gotten to the point of no? Or trespass fees? Which I understand too. Just don't know the Texas ettiequte.

 

[Jsmalls273]

You're correct about Texas having crap amount of public land for its size. I'm a public land hunter in Texas, north Texas specifically and it's tough but the land we do have isn't terrible, just a lot of people. I don't know where your friend lives so that would help me recommend a public land location? But there are tons of hogs and wouldn't be too hard on spot and stalk. That's pretty much the only way I hunt, from the ground. Mostly, find the land you want to hunt and find the hog sign. Baiting takes time so I wouldn't waste money or energy in that.

As far as landowners letting you hunt, good luck. But I wouldn't waste time in that either cause they've already been asked or have people.qho hunt it. And as much as the hogs destroy their land you ain't hunting for free for damn sure.

If your buddy is in DFW area, I can recommend a few areas that might yield some hogs. FYI- you do need hunting license for hogs down here, so ya might as well wait a month for deer season and hunt deer too. Also- is this bow or gun hunting? Most public land in Texas only allows bows and maybe shotguns.

Sent from my SM-S921U using Tapatalk

 

[Gun&BowSD]

Thanks for the input. I can send you a PM as well. Appreciate the input, from everybody here. Rokslide community is always looking out.

 

[Big_wals]

Yeah, Texas sucks for public hunting opportunities. I’m extremely fortunate in the fact that my FIL manages a couple decent sized farms that I can hunt on. As far as baiting, I will often have hogs show up the first night but I know the area and can usually place bait upwind of their bedding area, or at least upwind of where I know they’ll be traveling.

As has been said already, landowners are likely fed up with giving people permission to hunt and then dealing with gates left open, ruts in the field from guy’s driving where they shouldn’t,etc. But it never hurts to ask. The worst they can say is no it might be worth while to call the local game wardens and ask them for connections to farmers with hog problems, there’s a chance they could hook you up with someone. As a bonus, if you do manage to get permission to hunt on private land, a hunting license is not required. Just written permission from the landowner.

 

[Bugger]

Forget the idea that you’re helping anyone out with a pig problem. It’s an industry in Texas like anything else. Hogs are a minor inconvenience to most land owners that is heavily outweighed by the free pork and income by hunters. The farms that really have issues hire professionals.

Texas is saturated with veterans, so free access and/or sympathy is highly unlikely. Not saying you’re gonna pull that card, just letting ya know it doesn’t work.

Look for guides that have access to multiple properties instead of landowners that’ll nickel and dime ya with extra fees for guides, gutting, and meals. There are lots of ranches that have cheap hunts and you have to find the fine print that reveals it’s a small high fence feeder hunt. Lots of those around the bigger cities.

Fort Cavazos (Hood) has a decent population of pigs, check out the regs and join the Cavazos Hunting Facebook page to see if anyone there would be willing to let you scare some pigs off their deer feeder.

 

[Weldor]

Forget the idea that you’re helping anyone out with a pig problem. It’s an industry in Texas like anything else. Hogs are a minor inconvenience to most land owners that is heavily outweighed by the free pork and income by hunters. The farms that really have issues hire professionals.

Texas is saturated with veterans, so free access and/or sympathy is highly unlikely. Not saying you’re gonna pull that card, just letting ya know it doesn’t work.

Look for guides that have access to multiple properties instead of landowners that’ll nickel and dime ya with extra fees for guides, gutting, and meals. There are lots of ranches that have cheap hunts and you have to find the fine print that reveals it’s a small high fence feeder hunt. Lots of those around the bigger cities.

Fort Cavazos (Hood) has a decent population of pigs, check out the regs and join the Cavazos Hunting Facebook page to see if anyone there would be willing to let you scare some pigs off their deer feeder.

Agree 100% it' a industry. That said there are some decent packages available if you look around. No free lunch in Texas.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

Plenty of pig infested public in Texas. OP, what part of the state is your buddy in? It's a BIG place and that matters. As others have stated, it's not worth the liability for LO's to have people running around to kill a pig or two for free. The ones that have real problems hire a helicopter crew to take out hundreds at a time, all the others complain because it's cool but don't really have problems enough to let people hunt free. Hogs will for the most part move at night, and yes they'll sometimes come to the smell of corn/bait but it's a lot better if you can put it out consistently for a week or two. You and your buddy can draw hog hunts from TPWD, might look into that, $3 per application. Looks like Jsmalls has you covered up North, if your buddy is East check out Sam Houston NF, Angelina NF, Sabine NF, Davey Crockett NF, etc... more Central check out Granger Lake. There's not going to be a lot of pigs in West Texas. $48 will get you access to a lot of options and a book to browse through them: https://tpwd.texas.gov/huntwild/hunt/public/annual_public_hunting/

Here is a map you can click on the areas for info: https://tpwd.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=c9788957300943559f7b49206e8ef153

 

[Gun&BowSD]

Cool, I appreciate all the advice here gents. Having not been to or from Texas I had no idea of the attitude of LO's in regard to how pigs are to their land, apparently not as bad as I had gathered over the years. This all makes sense and yeah, the unfortunate reality is that bad history with hunters does make people shut it down. I also understand them wanting some money in the deal. Guess I'm used to the coyote/cattle game where people just say kill em all please. They essentially make money but not losing calves.
Buddy lives in Houston. We have been looking at guided deals as well just due to the unknown.

As far as Texas being full of veterans, hell yeah I love it! Bunch of red-blooded, country loving Americans down there. Served with a number of Texans.

 

[Boltgun]

Don’t be afraid to still hunt into the wind for bedded hogs. We do it all the time in GA, which is plenty thick. Carry low ready, and be ready to shoot fast. Often if you jump a sounder, one of the pigs will pause (particularly if you are shooting suppressed) to try to determine what jumped them, and you can get a good shot.

Success rates aren’t high like thermals at night, but it’s exciting hunting that requires a lot of teamwork and communication once you start shooting. Think movement to contact.