Options for night hog hunt?

[ctom87]

I've never hog hunted, but if you've followed me any, you may know I'm on a new lease. I was able to scout it for the first time a week ago and there are a lot of hog tracks (although in no way am I skilled enough to guess the population, but my gut tells me it's pretty heavily populated.)

So, the only thing to do is look up feral hog recipes and take the boys out for a hog hunt. Probably going to try to kill as many as possible. There will be three of us setting up on 3 blinds. I believe the other two have an infrared set up.

I got nothing other than an AR with a 30 rd mag, and a prayer that there won't be a cloud in the sky on a nearly full moon.

With that said, it's not in the budget for a thermal scope...I really don't want to spend anything, to be honest, but if there was a system that would give me a better chance at seeing in the dark to nab some hogs that I'm unaware of, I would be willing to spend $300 or less.

So that's what I come to y'all for... Is there a way that I can improve my chances without breaking the bank?

Another bonus question... how much of an impact does the hog population have on the deer population? This area hasn't been hunted and only 3 to 5 deer were taken last year on the 1500 acres so I'm fairly certain there would be a really good survival rate of fawns this year.

[BlackHogDown]

Sounds like the Sightmark Photon is what you're needing. You could find one used for your budget, I'd guess. I'm not too familiar, admittedly, but if you need a little more distance you could slap an IR illuminator (if it doesn't require one to begin with)


EDIT: a quick search shows several recently that sold in no time. One can be had for near $300. For example...

https://discussions.texasbowhunter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=726237&highlight=photon

[txhunter90]

Moultrie makes a hoglight feeder light for $60. Dont know how well it works. With a $300 budget you may be able to a night vision scope for around that.

[LMiz]

I love my sightmark photon. The new one is apparently a whole lot better than the old one but I have not had the opportunity to test out the old version. So when buying used just know that.

[gonehuntin68]

I'm a bit bias but I would go with our 66LRX gun hunters package in Red. This comes with everything you need including the light, mount, batteries, charger and a aluminum carrying case for $204.99 but we offer 10% off to TBH members, just send me a PM and I will send you the coupon code for 10% off. Below is a picture of the package and case. If you ever decide to go to a night vision scope, you can simply order the IR LED($29.99) for the 66LRX light and you will have the best IR light on the market. It also can easily be converted into a bow light. Here is a direct link to our website and this package.

[TexasArchery_27]

Here's a quick view into the Set-up I made last year. Post #11 https://discussions.texasbowhunter.c...d.php?t=692228


If you're hunting over bait from a blind I would advise to just go with Solar Powered Photo Cell LED lights on Amazon. They're about $60 each and one did the trick for me last year out to 150 yards. Don't go with a motion sensor light - I tried the Moultrie feeder lights and they suck. They spook the hogs and don't cast enough light.

The lights are on an adjustable mount, and the Solar panel is detached (Make sure it points south).Take a sprite bottle and cut into a square to slide over the light in between the housing. Observe for a few nights to ensure the angles of light cast are right. Set them on a pole or 2x4x10 and give the hogs about a week or two to get used to the light.

The only downside to this set up is the panels won't charge very well on overcast days.

The lights come with an on/off switch. Make sure they're off before deer season. Good luck!

[jds247]

Go to home depot and get 3 or 4 of the solar sidewalk lights and zip tie them to the legs of your feeder. It wont take long and the pigs will eat under it at night. We use to feed under a street light to shoot pigs..

The pigs will run your deer off in my experience. So shoot all you can.
I make pan and link sausage out of the sows and give to boars away unless they are big and stink . Then I'll drag them off.. shooting pigs are fun but you will need a thermocell this time of year..

[32drawlength]

Approx $30....this works great. I’ve used & seen the $$$ lights.

You can get this in red or green.

Seriously, it’s 95% of the $150-300 lights which are great too

[brokeno]

Cheap solar lights from Walmart

[Muskles]

Approx $30....this works great. I’ve used & seen the $$$ lights.

You can get this in red or green.

Seriously, it’s 95% of the $150-300 lights which are great too

These work really good. I have one in red and green. Rigged up a bow attachment and it was pretty good. The pressure switch went out and I bought a Sniper Hog light. I only use the windfires as a flashlight now. I highly recommend the Sniper Hog light.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

[JayB]

I'm gonna tag this for later use.

[Pushbutton2]

I'm a bit bias but I would go with our 66LRX gun hunters package in Red. This comes with everything you need including the light, mount, batteries, charger and a aluminum carrying case for $204.99 but we offer 10% off to TBH members, just send me a PM and I will send you the coupon code for 10% off. Below is a picture of the package and case. If you ever decide to go to a night vision scope, you can simply order the IR LED($29.99) for the 66LRX light and you will have the best IR light on the market. It also can easily be converted into a bow light. Here is a direct link to our website and this package.

This is how I hunt them!!!

[Pushbutton2]

I'm a bit bias but I would go with our 66LRX gun hunters package in Red. This comes with everything you need including the light, mount, batteries, charger and a aluminum carrying case for $204.99 but we offer 10% off to TBH members, just send me a PM and I will send you the coupon code for 10% off. Below is a picture of the package and case. If you ever decide to go to a night vision scope, you can simply order the IR LED($29.99) for the 66LRX light and you will have the best IR light on the market. It also can easily be converted into a bow light. Here is a direct link to our website and this package.

Gonehunting68.

Can I get just the case for my 66LRX?

[Paycheck]

Go to home depot and get 3 or 4 of the solar sidewalk lights and zip tie them to the legs of your feeder. It wont take long and the pigs will eat under it at night. We use to feed under a street light to shoot pigs..

The pigs will run your deer off in my experience. So shoot all you can.
I make pan and link sausage out of the sows and give to boars away unless they are big and stink . Then I'll drag them off.. shooting pigs are fun but you will need a thermocell this time of year..

This is what I did. But I used pvc pipe about 4 feet long stuck on tee post an the spike on the lights that suppose to stick in ground put on top of T-post. This way I have the lights between me and the feeder shining at the feeder. Great for bow hunting.

[Passthrough]

You won’t get a hog to stand still in our country with a light.....thermal is where it’s at! That being said... I know you said that’s not your budget. So I’d try some cheapie mounted lights to the feeder