Hog hunting in Pearl River WMA

[Andrew28DiRocco]

I got all my licenses already. I was asking about the turkey loads because I will also be hog hunting

 

[Andrew28DiRocco]

So do I have to check in just for squirrel and are 4 shot rounds legal for squirrel season in case I see a hog

 

[mike84z28]

The answer is yes and yes !

 

[Emperor]

So do I have to check in just for squirrel and are 4 shot rounds legal for squirrel season in case I see a hog

http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/hunting

It's all in there! Two things to keep in mind about hunting in Louisiana:

1.) The Emperor is a Master Animal Dispatcher!

2.) If you are going to ask about regulations, you may as well get the answers from the guys that write the rules!

 

[Hoggin]

Hunters wearing orange get shot less frequently than hunters not wearing orange. I went scouting off of Indian Bayou Rd this morning. Saw one bird watcher, 3 squirrels and no hoggies. Need to get off the high ground and into the mud to find the hoggies I think. But I stayed mostly on the trails and I know that's not the way to hunt PR. Will go again tomorrow morning to see if I can locate the hoggies from entering from Hwy 11.

 

[Andrew28DiRocco]

I appreciate all the help everyone

 

[Hoggin]

Andrew, it's really best to read the Pearl River WMA section of the annual regulations guide that can be found here: http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/sites/...015_louisiana_hunting_regulations_low_res.pdf
Small game info starts on page 40.
General WMA info starts on page 54.
WMA hog info starts on page 65.
PRWMA info starts on page 86.

If you have questions about the regs, don't hesitate to call the enforcement officers at 985-543-4777. This is only my second season hunting, so I've asked these guys a lot of questions and they have always been nice about helping.

Small game (rabbit and squirrel) season ends Feb 28, and so does hog season by extension. Small game is rimfire only, and hogs too by extension. However, the regs under the feral hog section state, "...and hunters may use centerfire pistols in addition to using guns allowed for season in progress." So I hunt with a .22Magnum rimfire rifle and carry a .45 centerfire pistol on my hip in case it gets up close and personal.

 

[Andrew28DiRocco]

Thank you hoggin all help is greatly appreciated I will be there by highway 11 all weekend, mostly squirrel hunting and maybe some scouting, Id love to join you on a few hunts or anyone to learn some more about prwma

 

[Hoggin]

This is my first season at PRWMA, so I'm no expert there. Last season I used a bag of corn and a scout camera to learn hoggie patterns (was on private land that has since been sold). That was so easy. I literally knew that at 2:30pm the big red mohawk hog was going to show up, so I was there at 2:15 and 15 minutes later I was dragging a hog home. We took 22 hogs last season with a camera and corn. "Indian hunting" at Pearl (that's what my boys call it) is more challenging but I'm enjoying learning. Only 10 hogs this season at Pearl, but it's much more fulfilling.

I scouted four times this week off of Hwy 11. Twice on Oil Well and twice on Indian Bayou. In both places I found spots that looked promising (lots of tracks, torn up ground, and turds). Both were near water, far down the trails, and off of the trails. The deeper you go the better. This morning before work I went back to try one of those spots. I had my ninja walk on and all of a sudden, 15 feet in front of me, a 125# hoggie jumps up and hauls ass. Scared my pants dirty. I scoped him in, popped him 3 times, and he just kept running. That's the first hog that didn't fall immediately with my new .22Mag and high velocity hp CCI rounds. I tracked him for 45 minutes but could not catch up once he went in the briers. As much as I hate letting an animal go, I had no choice. It really gets under my skin to lose an animal, but sometimes it happens. So all frustrated I was heading back to my car and 60-70 yards ahead of me I saw the rear end of a nice 200#er head off the trail into the brush. He was also right in the place I thought hogs would be (both of these hogs were in the same relative spot this morning). I tried to quietly make up ground and get into position, but he either heard me or winded me and started running before I could flank him. No shot on that one. But, with a little scouting and going deep into the brush, I was able to find activity. They are there. You just have to put in a little scouting time (and hope the dogs are not there to run them out).

I didn't see anything last night, but 20 minutes after dark I heard multiple shots from multiple directions, then some yells of jubilee. It sounded like two groups of hunters shot hogs in the last few minutes. An enforcement officer stopped me on the way out last night to check for compliance (rifle type and WMA license), so make sure you are good to get checked.

One other thing that I highly recommend as a new hunter to PRWMA... download a GPS tracker to your smart phone. I use Geotracker because it's free, I'm cheap and it works great. It overlays on top of Google Maps with an arrow showing your current direction and a path showing you where you have gone. It's easy to get turned around in Pearl and this app negates that. Many times I look at my phone and realize I'm not where I want to be. Impossible to get lost with a GPS tracker. It's also handy to learn the area. I review all my past trips and drop pins on the map where I see interesting stuff (tracks, feeding grounds, trees with missing bark, illegally placed hunting stands which means that someone really likes that spot, etc.).

I'll probably hit Oil Well Sat & Sun mornings this weekend in a grey Highlander. Say hi if you see me.

 

[Andrew28DiRocco]

That was the most informing information yet and gave me great hope! I'll be in a black expedition with a bull bar and off road lights and a Florida license plate I'll join you and even drag the hogs out to make it easier for you

 

[Hoggin]

One other thing that Emperor alluded to some time ago in his posts and I may have mentioned as well... hogs are extremely good smellers. Our eyes and ears are better than theirs, but their sense of smell is awesome. Go to a sports/hunting store and purchase "scentless" hunting clothing detergent and body soap/shampoo. Wash everything you plan to wear when you hunt, including a towel, in the scentless detergent. Dry it in your dryer with scentless hunting dryer sheets. Sprinkle a little scent reducing powder in your boots. After you shower, use the towel you scentless washed to dry off with.... don't do these things and you'll smell like a perfumed human predator. I have a hunting buddy who doesn't buy all the commercially available stuff, he uses combinations of baking soda and other stuff. I don't know that much about it, but I do know you have to descent as much as possible. Then the biggest thing is to hunt upwind. So you want to walk into the wind, with the wind at your face so your scent is behind you. If a North wind is blowing, approach your hunt site from the South. If you approach from the North the hoggies will smell you and run off before you are ever able to hear or see them. if you can bring a tree stand or climb a tree to raise your scent above ground level that works great too.

I like to use http://www.wunderground.com/ for wind direction. Just enter Pearl River in the city to get info. And, no, this group is not affiliated with a politically motivated group of extremists who go by the same name.

 

[Andrew28DiRocco]

anyone having luck without dogs?

 

[Hoggin]

A brief summary of my first hunting season at PRWMA:
December: Mostly scouted with a rifle on my shoulder to locate the hogs. Only bagged one hoggy.
January: Found them. Bagged 9 more hoggies.
((February 1: Hunting with dogs allowed in Pearl))
February: Zero hoggies. I went to Pearl 12 times in Feb and only saw two hogs. Didn't have a good enough shot on one; Shot one hog on the run but he kept running and got into brush before I could take second shot. I spoke to two enforcement agents who swear that the dog hog hunters are great to reduce the population, but my experience was just the opposite. After Dec-Jan I knew a few pretty solid hunting spots. Places where I would have shots on multiple hogs. After Feb 1, no hogs to be seen. Plenty of signs all around, and I walked miles and miles and miles. But I tell ya those dogs either pushed the hogs to the interior and/or made them go nocturnal.

And I've recently discovered that ground hoggy makes one hell of a lean burger and some damn fine tacos too!

 

[nolaradio]

Got any pics?

 

[Hoggin]

attempting to learn to post pics... standby....

 

[Hoggin]

 

[Hoggin]

 

[Hoggin]

87 days til youth hog season opens in PRWMA; 94 days til adult season opens. Since last season I have secured two suppressors (rim fire and center fire). My gunsmith (Brent with H&H in Franklinton, LA) has threaded my barrels so I'm just waiting now. At Pearl, I've walked up on a group of hoggies multiple times. We did well once taking 3 of 6 hogs but you only have a few seconds to take them all down. Usually we only took 1 out of the group. So my new idea is to fire as quietly possible, increasing the chances of taking multiple hoggies. Oh yeah! I've got a new 300BLK AR format that I built for piggy busting, but even suppressed with subsonic rounds the action is just too loud. Even semi-auto .22 has an action that's too loud. So I've gone to bolt action (add "slide-glide") with a .22, .223 and .308 (all Savage). Finding subsonic .223 at a 1:9 twist is a genuine challenge (Beck has the most options), so I'm going .22 suppressed during small game season (or .22 magnum when I just want a quick trip) then .308 suppressed during deer season. Bolt action only. I took 10 hogs last season, which was my first season at Pearl. Much of that time was learning where the hogs were. I expect to, and should, take 20+ hogs in the 2015-16 season to really fill the freezers. I'm down to only one set of ribs, two backstraps and a case of sausage

So I'm happy with my Savage .22 suppressed with subsonic lead hollow point rounds, but that's not bringing a lot of damage so the discussion with my buds is shot placement. I'm 100% convinced neck shots are the way to go. Too much armor in the head for slow HP rimfire rounds. Same for heart/lung shots -- hit that shoulder plate and the hog will think a mosquito bit him. There is no armor in the neck. you either hit meat, spine or esophagus. I've found a website that has excellent neck shot placement anatomy pictures (actual pictures, not a drawing) and wanted to share it with you. Basically, draw a straight line from the eye back to the middle of the beast and 2-3 inches behind the ear. Then you've got about a 2-3 inch diameter kill zone. And if you can't hit a 2-3" circle at 20 yards you're taking up the wrong sport. It's best to shoot a bit low rather than high. Above the spine is meat. Below the spine is the esophagus. A spine shot will drop a hoggy in its tracks. An esophagus shot gives hoggy 15 feet at most before he drops.

Anyway, here are the anatomy links. Hope it helps you guys put some pork in the freezer. Three months to go!!!

http://blog.hsoi.com/2010/09/03/feral-hog-anatomy/

and

http://www.texasboars.com/anatomy.html

 

[kengel2]

Have you ever used Becks ammunition before? Looking at the 64gr 223 rounds for AR use. Might finally try my luck out there. I'll be using the AR with a Saker 762.

Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

 

[Hoggin]

I have not used Becks yet but I have some of their ammo ready to try. I've got their .308 subsonic and .223 lead-free Controlled Chaos rounds which look pretty amazing.