{"id":192,"date":"2019-06-14T07:44:38","date_gmt":"2019-06-14T07:44:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tma65.com\/blog\/?p=192"},"modified":"2026-05-21T11:37:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T11:37:22","slug":"texas-feral-hog-hunting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/texas-feral-hog-hunting\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Feral Hog Hunting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_83 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\"><div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\"><p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p><span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 eztoc-toggle-hide-by-default' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/texas-feral-hog-hunting\/#Texas_Feral_Hog_Hunting\" >Texas Feral Hog Hunting<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-2' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/texas-feral-hog-hunting\/#Find_An_Outfitter\" >Find An Outfitter<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/texas-feral-hog-hunting\/#The_Basics\" >The Basics<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/texas-feral-hog-hunting\/#Choosing_the_Right_Rifle\" >Choosing the Right Rifle<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/texas-feral-hog-hunting\/#Splurge_on_Ammo\" >Splurge on Ammo<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/texas-feral-hog-hunting\/#Go_Big\" >Go Big<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div><h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Texas_Feral_Hog_Hunting\"><\/span>Texas Feral Hog Hunting<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">I\u2019ll never forget the first time I heard them. It was the dusk of a warm October day in South <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/a-beginners-guide-to-nilgai-hunting\/\">Texas<\/a>, near Alice, and I was sitting in a tower blind overlooking four scendaros with my dad\u2019s best friend Jeff. It scared me a bit. Those squeals and high-pitched screams will cause anxiety in a kid!<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Jeff didn\u2019t seem surprised, he just spit another stream of tobacco onto the blind\u2019s floor and reached for his rifle. He must have seen the look of confusion, or maybe fright, on my face. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">\u201cFirst time hearing wild hogs?\u201d he asked. I only nodded. \u201cThey\u2019ve been down here a long time,\u201d he said. \u201cBrought over by Columbus and the early explorers. Rooting the hell out of the Earth.\u201d<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Each scendaro had a feeder about 50 yards from the blind. Those pigs must have known exactly what time it would go off because as if on cue, the rapid clicking of corn getting slung onto the ground brought the entire pack out of the dense mesquite and into the open. There must have been 20 of all sizes and colors.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Jeff\u2019s first bullet when through the head of one pig and killed another in its wake. The hogs vanished as quickly as they\u2019d arrived. I was ecstatic. Not only to see such fancy <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/uses-for-a-low-power-variable-optic\/\">shooting<\/a> but to have also just witnessed a first in the wild. Pigs, to me, were a product of barnyards and nothing more.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Over the course of that trip and throughout my life I\u2019ve had many opportunities to <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tractoptics.com\/shooting-22lr-rifle-in-a-whole-new-way\/\" title=\"Shooting a 22LR Rifle in a Whole New Way\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"575\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shoot<\/a> wild pigs. While I\u2019m not in to killing for pure joy, hogs I don\u2019t mind so much. They\u2019re destructive and \u00a0plentiful, with no looks of slowing the wide swath they\u2019re quite literally cutting through the country. And they make pretty good table fare.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Some <a title=\"How to Maximize Deer Hunting Season\" href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/blog\/how-to-maximize-deer-hunting-season\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">deer hunters put down their rifles and await the arrival of turkey season<\/a>. Others fish. Then there\u2019s the bunch that put their energies toward the pig population. If you\u2019d like to fall into the latter category, but don\u2019t have hogs in your area, the most important piece of advice we can offer is head to the state that houses half (nearly 1.5 million) of the nation\u2019s pigs: Texas.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-195\" src=\"https:\/\/tma65.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/inner30-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><\/figure><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Find_An_Outfitter\"><\/span>Find An Outfitter<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Google \u201cTexas Feral <a title=\"All About Hog Hunting\" href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/blog\/all-about-hog-hunting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Hog Hunting\u201d and the search engine will return dozens of outfitters all promoting \u201cThe best hog hunting<\/a> in all of Texas.\u201d Like any business you\u2019d consider, anyone who\u2019s going to lead you on a pig hunt needs to have a good reputation. First, they ought to have a decent website. It\u2019s 2017 and 95 percent of the information we consume comes from the world wide web. Good outfitters have invested in this.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Next, look for positive reviews from past customers. If the website is well done but there aren\u2019t many reviews, perhaps it\u2019s a newer operation. However, you can bet that somebody knows this person. The <a class=\"wpil_keyword_link\" href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" title=\"hunting\" data-wpil-keyword-link=\"linked\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"303\">hunting<\/a> community is not that big. Pick up the phone and make some calls, starting with the outfitter.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"The_Basics\"><\/span>The Basics<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Like deer, hogs typically feed in the morning and evening and lay up during the day. Unlike deer, they leave sign that a blind man could read. They have no problem wandering way out into an open agricultural field to feed, which gives the hunter a chance to kill several in one sitting. Pigs have excellent hearing and senses of smell, yet their eyesight is poor. As long as you can spot them from a ways off and stalk into the wind, getting close enough for a rifle shot is not overly difficult.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Choosing_the_Right_Rifle\"><\/span>Choosing the Right Rifle<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">If you have a deer rifle then you can kill pigs. Some hog hunters that use ARs have plenty of success with <a title=\".223\" href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/blog\/tag\/223\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">.223<\/a> Remington and .300 Blackout calibers, though we like to get up to at least a .243 for clean kills. A hard-hitting .308 with a RESPONSE 4-16&#215;42 .308\/7.62 helping to guide your <a title=\"The Debate For Three- or Five-Shot Groups\" href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/blog\/the-debate-for-three-or-five-shot-groups\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shots gives you the ability to hone in on several pigs out of a group<\/a>, whereas a bolt-action rifle will limit your shots. But, hey, cranking a bolt is better than chucking a spear.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-image\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" class=\"wp-image-196\" src=\"https:\/\/tma65.com\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/inner31-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/inner31-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/inner31-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/inner31-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/inner31-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/inner31-2048x1366.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/inner31-960x640.jpg 960w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/inner31-450x300.jpg 450w, https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/06\/inner31-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><figcaption><em>Using a semi-automatic <a title=\"Why the 2.5-15x Rifle Scope is Ideal for Hunting\" href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/blog\/why-the-2-5-15x-rifle-scope-is-ideal-for-hunting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rifle is ideal<\/a> for shooting several feral hogs in one sitting.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Splurge_on_Ammo\"><\/span>Splurge on Ammo<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">Wild hogs are some of the toughest animals on the continent. Their super-thick hides and plates of armor near their vital area create bullet-proof-vest-like effects on soft-tipped bullets. Hornady\u2019s Full Boar ammunition is specifically designed for a hog\u2019s armor. It\u2019s tipped with GMX bullets that are comprised of homogenous alloy, meaning there\u2019s no jacket or core that could hinder penetration. Federal Premium Vital Shok is another solid round and one that you may already have due to its popularity with deer hunters. Its Nosler Partition bullet is just hard enough to dive deep into the body and just soft enough for vital-wrecking expansion<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Go_Big\"><\/span>Go Big<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\"><a title=\"First Case of CWD Found in Wild Texas Whitetail Deer\" href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/blog\/first-case-of-cwd-found-in-wild-texas-whitetail-deer\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller came up with the concept of hunting wild<\/a> hogs from a helicopter several years ago and the idea has propelled itself into a multi-million dollar industry. While we don\u2019t have experience within this method of feral hog hunting, there are countless videos online that demonstrate the radical approach. Call it cheating or unfair, but even helicopter <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.tractoptics.com\/all-about-hog-hunting\/\" title=\"All About Hog Hunting\" data-wpil-monitor-id=\"598\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hunting<\/a> isn\u2019t dampening the overall spirit of feral swine. \u00a0<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify\"><\/p><p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"text-align: justify\">There are several different ways to <a title=\"hunting\" href=\"https:\/\/tractoptics.com\/blog\/category\/hunting\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">hunt<\/a> pigs. In a landscape like Texas, where ranches can extend for miles and miles, you\u2019ll likely spend a lot of time riding around in the truck. In other places you may use dogs. Regardless, hunting feral hogs in Texas is a really fun way to spend a few days in that lull between seasons.<\/p><p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Texas Feral Hog Hunting | TRACT design and engineer performance-grade optics without the added retail costs.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12193,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2255,2258,2259],"tags":[2676,2797,2812,2813,2844,2845,2846,2847,2848,2849,2852,2854],"class_list":["post-192","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-extra-topics","category-hunting","category-hunting-rifle-scope","tag-hog-hunting","tag-hunting","tag-hunting-calibers","tag-hunting-calibers-for-deer","tag-hunting-rifle-caliber","tag-hunting-rifle-caliber-chart","tag-hunting-rifle-caliber-for-deer","tag-hunting-rifle-calibers","tag-hunting-rifle-calibers-by-size","tag-hunting-rifle-rounds","tag-hunting-rifle-sizes","tag-hunting-rifles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11472,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192\/revisions\/11472"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12193"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.tract-optics.co.za\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}