2016 - Alabama Hog Control

It is time for the 2016 thread and I want to do things a little different this year. I am not going to update the totals near as often but try to post more stories and pictures. I am terrible about taking time to take pictures. But, I will do my best.

We finished 2015 with 700 on the head. Hope to hit the 1,000 mark this year. With great word of mouth and radio advertising we have picked up some great new properties and things are looking very promising! Hopefully, I will have a great catch tonight to start the year out with a bang!

Kill em all!

Good luck!

What Remington 270 said!

Guys and gals,

Trapping is smoking hot right now. I caught a sounder of 13 last Saturday night at our hunting club. And I have clients knocking them out of the park right now.

Had 5 pigs at trap from 1830hrs to 0245hrs last night. 3 piglets entered the trap but didn't trigger. Fat preggo sow ate corn to trap door...looked in and ate what she could...and backed out. smh

What kind of trap. Size door?

Root trigger trap that I talked to you about on the phone a couple weeks ago. 1 door is 4' wide and the other is 8'. They'll get hungry soon...all their food was washed away in the Christmas flood.

Food is running out quick.

Really need to catch that preggo sow! Looks like she's bout to drop a dirty dozen

We caught 3 big prego sows Sat night. I didn't do a fetus count. After backstrapping 12 I was tired.

Got the preggo sow. She just couldn't turn down that jar of old fig preserves.

Congrats!

Becca and I set up a trap on Dec 5th in Wilcox County. The location had been prebaited about 3 weeks and the pigs finally started hitting it hard. Just so happened that this activity picked up right when the acorns ran out.

Since the trap was set up we have caught pigs in it 5 times for a total of 23 pigs. The interesting part is that 10 of these were large very pregnant sows.

If it had been about catching large numbers, we could have waited until the sows delivered and it would have added another 60+ pigs to the totals. But, we target sows no matter what.

We caught on the following dates; Dec 11th, Dec 22nd, Dec 25th, Jan 9th, and Jan 18th.

After each catch we cleaned as much of the pig poop out of the corral as possible. Did not concern ourselves at all with the blood.

I think this demonstrates the importance of cleaning up after a catch and following the process.

That will def be part of our process with our next catch. Haven't really had that prob until this last catch. She was in there @5hrs and made a mess.

Had a client with a single trap in Bullock County last week catch back to back nights with catches of 13 and 15.

2016 starting out pretty good. We have killed 45 hogs so far this month but that is well down from last years 117. I started looking at the numbers and noticed something else was very different this year.

In 2015, about 80% of our pigs were very young. This year we are not catching hardly any small pigs. In fact it seems the sows are late giving birth this year for some reason. We have killed 14 pregnant sows this year already. Last year the sows caught were all with very small piglets.

I have no explanation as to why this is happening. And I have no problem catching pregnant sows. I think it is great. But, it dang sure impacts the catch numbers! LOL

Get you a go pro or like camera...we love your pic's

We have a go pro, I just need to make sure I take the time each time to take it and use it. Thanks!

We got 9 more this morning off of our hunting club. The ole Jager Pro trap is hammering them. We set that trap up on Dec 5th and have caught 6 times in that trap in that location.

It is all about following the process. Six catches in under 2 months in a single trap. Pretty darn good ROI!!!!

keep hammering 'em!

Our coyote trapper started a contract yesterday. He has caught 4 yotes, 1 bobcat, and 3 coons so far. He is adding 65 coon cuffs today and tomorrow. That total should really climb.

Starting night hunts with clients Friday night. The ole hog total should start to climb as well.

We are at 77 so far.

Still very early in the year yet.

We have our first night hunts of the year booked this weekend. Looking forward to hammering some hogs.

trapped 4 last night. Finally!! 2 boars and 2 sows. All about 50#'s. Found a big pig that apparently was drowned in the Christmas flood. Biggest set of cutters I've seen since I started helping here.

Have I ever said I hate a full moon/almost full moon. It is amazing how much it seems to impact night time activity.

Posting some night hunt videos on our FB page if any of you are interested.

great. Thanks Barry. Looking forward to viewing them.

Boy does it make a difference when the farmers start putting seed in the ground. Went down to south Russell County this past Thur and Fri nights and killed 16. Killed 12 in one freshly planted corn field. My brother is going to go back and guard it again a couple of nights this week. It still amazes me how hogs can smell a freshly planted field. They seem to file in from everywhere.

The night hunting and the trapping have been on fire lately. I caught 39 (23 and 16) in a single trap last week in just a 5 day period. Both catches were daylight catches too.

241 total so far this year.

Just got a call from a client in Bullock County. He has caught 146 in 8 weeks with a single camera and gate. He has built 3 corrals and is baiting 6 sights. He is moving the electronics and gate around as needed. He caught a sounder last night of 34.

Dang trapping has been on fire lately. It seems the sows dropped little ones everywhere in Feb and they are just now getting out good with mom and the rest of the sounder. Really making the totals look good. Glad we can catch them before they get big enough to start doing some damage.

My brother took a crew out and killed another 12 last night. We have killed 49 hogs off of one planted corn field in Barbour County in the past 13 days. We hunted it 6 times.

Had clients catches yesterday of 7 and 19.

Hell yes. Good job! I need to get in the woods and see if those little ones are making mom's job harder in the TNF. Maybe find a few morrells too.

Had a group of guys hunting with us this week from PA. They had a great trip. Killed 12 on a night hunt, 11 during the day hunts, and shot a ton of bullets killing 19 in a trap. And they were dang sure entertaining as well.

That scene in saving private ryan, when they were chasing the Nazi's in the trench shooting at them, comes to mind.

We are at 288 for the year so far. I think that is about 30 ahead of last year at this date. Going to have to pick it up if we are going to break 1,000 for the year.

Sitting on 304 now and hoping to add to the total this weekend.

Hottest 5 counties so far this year.
Wilcox 127
Barbour 55
Bullock 49
Lowndes 33
Autauga 18

Closed out the month of April finally. I am so happy to see turkey season close each year. Now I can get on a lot more properties.

We are at 325 for the year now. Up 50 over last year to date.

And we are up 33 on the female to male ratio. We were up 50+ until April. Dang if this past month wasn't a boar killing month.

398 to date.

We are still ahead of last year but it sure seems like we are having to work harder for them. Some of the older properties we have been working are beat down pretty hard. But, that is a good thing for the landowners.

Even though is seems like we are having to work harder to find pigs this year we are still ahead of last years pace.

415 total for the year and ahead of last year to date by 36.

I am very pleased with Chris and his coyote trapping. He is knocking it out of the park. I believe he will exceed 200 for the year when it is over.

448 Total hogs now.

Chris has caught 55 coyotes and 39 coons on his first 4 contracts. He is working on his 5th contract and has caught 7 yotes and 6 coons on it so far.

461 total now.

Chris has caught 66 coyotes and 47 coons in the first 5 contracts.

Nice!

I have decided to start breaking down my kill numbers a little further and to report on my clients catches.

Year to date:
Day Hunting - 58
Night Hunting - 176
Us Trapping - 248
Clients Trapping - 1,729

Total Us - 494
Total Clients - 1,719
Grand Total - 2,213

Year to date:
Day Hunting - 58
Night Hunting - 181
Us Trapping - 261
Clients Trapping - 1,746

Total Us - 500
Total Clients catches- 1,746
Grand Total - 2,246

This is the earliest we have ever hit 500!

Year to date:
Day Hunting - 64
Night Hunting - 188
Us Trapping - 270
Clients Trapping - 1,806

Total Us - 522
Total Clients catches- 1,806 (25 clients reporting)
Grand Total - 2,328

Did one of your clients just catch a sounder in barbour/Russell County in a 50 acre corn field? I got word last night that the farmer that has corn growing right next to, brought in a Jager pro and shut the gate on around 27 the other night the 1st time he shut the gate. Fig'd he may be a client of yours

Wow! That's an impressive half year!

I have several clients in Russell County, probably so. I haven't received a report yet though.

We finished July with a total of 59 giving us 559 for the year. I think we are up 46 year to date. We have broken monthly records every month this year starting in March. That makes a strong 5 straight months.

Our clients have reported another 1,905 so far this year. They are averaging 11.24 pigs per catch. And that does include catching a lot of single boars.

We are at 582 for the year now. We didn't hit this mark until Sept 18 last year. Would still like to hit 1,000 for the year. But, we are going to have to catch a high gear to pull it off. We are on pace for about 800 right now.

My brother took out some clients last week on a half night hunt. They killed 10. Night hunts have been hot lately! My last two hunts have been 14 and 19 and brother gets 10 in just a few hours.

592 total now.

Nice!

Thats awesome.

The Pig Plot trap caught it's 100th pig last night. That trap has been in place since mid Dec and the boar last night made the 15th time we have caught in it in that location.

I am going to leave that trap in that location for 1 complete year just to see how many times and how many hogs I can catch in that one location.

We are up to 593 for the year now. Should blow by the 600 this weekend.

The exciting thing is our clients that report their catches have topped the 2,000 mark for the year. They are sitting at 2,040. It would be awesome for them to hit 3,000 by years end.

We finished the month with 625 year to date. We are 75 ahead of last years total at this point. I have some hitting two of my traps. Hope to start Sept off to a fast start!

What a weekend. We killed 33 in two night so thermal hunts and we caught 5 in one of our traps.

Brings the total for the year up to 674. We didn't reach this number until Dec 7th of last year. I think it is a safe bet that we will break our total from last year of 700. We may break it this weekend!

Trapping clients are up to 2,066 for the year now.

I saw a pic on facebook, did you beat our record?

Nope, feel one short.

Great job getting rid of them! Heck of a year you have going!

We caught 8 in a trap in Wilcox County last night. Two sows and 6 tiny piglets. Smallest we have ever caught in a trap. Really surprised the sow brought them out that young. But, the sow was obviously a first timer herself.

Anyway, that brings our total for the year to 696!

I haven't gotten any updates from trapping clients lately so their total is still at 2,066.

It is amazing how our kill totals have increased each year as we have grown the business.

I will list the years and totals below.

2012 - 177 hogs
2013 - 330 hogs
2014 - 433 hogs
2015 - 700 hogs
2016 - 696 hogs to date

In addition to that Chris caught 127 coyotes and 58 raccoons. for us on coyote trapping contracts.

I have my first crow hunt of the year set up this weekend.

It is turning out to be another record year.

Well, we passed the old record back on the 29th. We caught 14 in traps and shot another 31 over the past week and change.

Look out 800. We are at 741 now.

We are at 752 now.

Clients have caught 2,371.

I have a boar hitting the Pig Plot trap. Have been waiting on him to bring some friends. He seems to be greedy. Will be dropping the gate on him this weekend if all goes well.

Dang boar has disappeared. So, still sitting on 19 catches in the Pig Plot trap. Acorns are dropping now, I guess he found something else to eat.

Total is up to 753 now. Nov is by FAR our slowest month.

766 now for us.

Client trappers are up to 2,406.

That's a whole lotta piggies.

Got some pig activity in the traps this weekend. Had a client catch 13 right after dark. Hope to catch in a couple of our traps tonight. Pigs hit both of them this morning shortly after 2 PM

Give a shout, Barry...I'll come take some off your hands!

We are at 770 ourselves this year.

Clients that have reported to us have trapped and killed 2,517 to date.

Lots of piggies!

I am running out of days. I was so hoping to break 800 this year. Sitting on 780 right now.

Of course, the clients are catching them like crazy. I am going to be making a lot of phone calls next week trying to get year end trapping numbers.

We finished at 784 for the year. Another record for us.

Will get the final client totals later this week.

Great going Barry!

God Bless,
David B.

Good job buddy

End of year breakdown.

Total 784 hogs killed.
437 were killed hunting
347 were killed via trapping

Kill breakdown
342 at night
95 during the day

Breakdown by sex and age
Mature females - 218
Immature females - 194
Mature Males - 183
Immature Males - 189

We worked 14 counties this year.
The 3 with the highest kill totals were:
Wilcox - 253
Bullock - 160
Autauga - 89

We worked for 24 different landowners:
The highest total for a single landowner was in Wilcox.
The 2nd and 6th were in Bullock.
The 3rd highest was in Autauga.
The 4th was in Lowndes.
The 5th was in Barbour.

We killed pigs on 158 different days during the year.
Trapped on 44 days.
Hunted on 114 days.

Some of the things that make you scratch your head are how the hog business works.

For instance - We only got to hunt Barbour County for 13 days when the farmer put his corn in the ground. We killed 55 in 6 hunts over that short period.

We killed 63 in Autauga County during September when the Sawtooths and Chinese Chestnets were dropping on the property. That was over 6 hunts as well.

Some properties are all year deals. But, some are for a very short period. You just can't shoot hogs in a 6 ft tall corn field.

I sure hope we can add more pasture land landowners in the future. You can kill pigs in them all spring and summer.

2017 is lining up to be another record breaking year. We just added a couple of LARGE properties in Wilcox, Macon, and Bullock Counties.

Dang I love this job!

Good job on killing a bunch of hogs this year!!!!

Your numbers do not seem to support the past theory that traps are absolutely the best way to remove large numbers of hogs. And, I do know that traps work great and are effective at catching hogs!!!

But, it seems that there ARE other good ways too, huh?

Awesome year Barry. Hope you catch/ kill a grand this year

Bless your heart.

My numbers do not lend to that conclusion at all. If I trapped half the acreage that I hunted I would have caught 2,000 pigs this year. I have to use the method the landowner wants.

You make a lot of projections & predictions. They are a lot like if and buts. LOL
But, in the end, the numbers tell the tale.

Simply pointing out the obvious.

Go troll someone else. That only thing obvious in your post is your desire to start another fuss.

LOL

I actually congratulated you on a good year.
Sorry for pointing out the obvious!!

Good Hunting!

Whatever!

that's a lot of pigs any way you look at it.

Just curious do y'all process these hogs and eat them or do u do something else with them. It's none of my business just curious. :-)

Here are the most often uses:

I cut out the back straps and bone out the hind quarters for the clients and they take them home.

I do the same for myself, family, or friends.

We donate a lot to needy families. I have a buddy in Selma that will pick up when I catch a sounder in a trap. He will skin them all and cut them up. He then gives them to elderly members in his church.

There are a few families near our hunting club that I can just roll up in the yard and they will snatch them off. I like that.

Hot summer time is the hard part. They spoil so fast. I call Wes Moore at Alligator Alley when I have a large number of hogs that I just couldn't do anything with in time. He will send one of his hands up and pick them up and feed them to his gators.

I have a phone full of contacts that tell me they want pigs. Pigs don't work on making pickups easy. I normally have pigs to give away in the middle of the night or real early in the morning. Funny how I have a hard time finding some to answer the phone at these times.

Sorry for the long response. I should copy and save this. I get asked all the time.

Barry

Oh thanks that's amazing lol.

End of year breakdown correction. 799 Total


Going through all my messages to myself to keep up with all our data I missed recording a catch of 15 hogs back in November. Dang it, 1 short of 800.