Field and Stream - Hunting Hogs RSS

The 35 Best Photos From Field & Stream's 2012 Spring Trail Cam Contest: Round II

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:15:02 -0400

Who says trail cams are only fun in the fall? Set yours out this spring, then send us your best photos. You could win a new Bushnell Trophy Cam HD (MSRP $323.95).

Here's how it works. This contest will have three rounds. The first, Round I, began, March 12, and closed on April 12. Round II ran from April 12 to May 12, and Round III from May 14 to June 14. We're giving away three Bushnell Trophy Cam HDs (MSRP: $323.95) in each round, one cam each to the top three entries, as chosen by our editors.

Congrats to users luna, mod70 and Semibald, who each have won a Trophy Cam for their shots in Round II.

So go set your trail cams up already. And have fun! --The Editors

Click here for more info on the prizes.

Click here to enter ROUND III of the 2012 SPRING TRAIL CAM CONTEST

The 50 Best Field & Stream Reader Photos from April 2012

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 02 May 2012 09:25:49 -0400

Each month, Field & Stream editors review the hundreds of photos submitted by readers to our Trophy Room. If your photo is chosen to be printed in the Game Faces section of the magazine, you’ll win a Rapala Fish ‘N Fillet knife!

Submit your photos here!

Here are the other best reader photo collections from this year:

January 2012

February 2012

March 2012

Man Accidentally Shoots Girlfriend in Legs on Hog Hunt

Sarah Smith — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 09:48:40 -0400

--Chad Love

A Florida man accidentally shot his girlfriend when he fired blindly into the brush during a hog hunt.

From this story on ABCnews.com:

Life at home for one Florida man got a lot more complicated when he accidentally shot his girlfriend in both legs thinking she was a hog. Flagler County Sheriff’s deputies say 52-year-old Steven Egan was hog hunting Saturday night with girlfriend Lisa Simmons at a hunting camp off a rural county road in Flagler, in the northern part of the state. Around 7:30 p.m., officials said, Egan shot at a hog and then left Simmons behind in the tent to go look for it. When he heard a noise in the woods he fired his gun again, thinking it was the animal.

Unbeknown to Egan, Simmons had also left the tent to pick up loose oranges that had fallen from trees on the property. Instead of hitting his wild target, Egan struck his girlfriend in both legs with a .30-caliber bullet. “He saw a hog and thought he shot it and went to look for it,” Maj. Steve Clair with the Flagler County Sheriff’s Office told ABCNews.com. “He heard her and thought it was a hog and just shot.” Simmons, of Brandon, had to be airlifted to the Halifax Health Medical Center for surgery and was listed in serious condition.

Headlines aside, it's no laughing matter. Simmons is lucky to be alive and Egan is extremely lucky to not have a tragic, completely avoidable death on his conscience.

The 50 Best Photos From Field & Stream's 2012 Spring Trail Cam Contest: Round I

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 15:22:02 -0400

Who says trail cams are only fun in the fall? Set yours out this spring, then send us your best photos. You could win a new Bushnell Trophy Cam HD (MSRP $323.95).

Here's how it works. This contest will have three rounds. The first, Round I, starts today, March 12, and closes on April 12. Round II runs from April 12 to May 12, and Round III from May 12 to June 12. We're giving away three Bushnell Trophy Cam HDs (MSRP: $323.95) in each round, one cam each to the top three entries, as chosen by our editors.

Congratulations to users Kim Doucette Kelly, Isham C. Shelby and Stephen Schimacher who each will receive a camera for their entries in Round!

So go set your trail cams up already. And have fun! --The Editors

Click here for more info on the prizes.

Click here to enter ROUND II of the 2012 SPRING TRAIL CAM CONTEST

The 50 Best Field & Stream Reader Photos from March 2012

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 15:00:43 -0400

Submit your photos here!

Here are the other best reader photo collections from this year:

January 2012

February 2012

Enter The 2012 Spring Trail Cam Photo Contest to Win a $323 Camera from Bushnell!

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:59:09 -0400

The 2012 Spring Trail Cam Photo Contest

Who says trail cams are only fun in the fall? Set yours out this spring, then send us your best photos. You could win a new Bushnell Trophy Cam HD (MSRP $323.95)!

Here's how it works. This contest will have three rounds. The first, Round I, started March 12, and closes on April 12. Round II runs from April 12 to May 12, and Round III from May 12 to June 12. We're giving away three Bushnell Trophy Cam HDs (MSRP: $323.95) in each round, one cam each to the top three entries, as chosen by our editors.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER YOUR PHOTO IN ROUND I!

Meanwhile, click through this gallery of the best photos from last year's Spring contest.

The 45 Best Field & Stream Reader Photos of February 2012

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 10:46:15 -0500

Submit your photos here!

Here is the gallery of the best reader photos from January 2012.

SC Man Catches Disease From Hog Killed on Hunt

Sarah Smith — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 12:02:31 -0500

--Chad Love

Wild hog hunting is exploding in popularity right along with the exploding wild hog population, but this is not the kind of hog fever you want to be catching.

From this story on wyff4.com (South Carolina):

An Upstate family and wildlife officials are warning hunters of a hog-bourne illness after a Laurens County man was hospitalized following a hog hunting trip. "Had we known this, we would have never -- he would have never gone hog hunting," said Renae Hensley, whose 23-year-old son, Josh, was in Greenville Memorial Hospital on Thursday with an undiagnosed illness.

"Yesterday his fever was around 104 all day. It spiked to 105 at one point," Hensley said. Hensley and her husband, Butch, said Josh started feeling ill on Sunday, after a hunting trip the day before, in which he and his friends killed a 360-pound hog using dogs and knives. Renae said she and her husband suspected that a disease called brucellosis may be the cause of Josh's condition after hearing about the disease from a friend.

According to Tom Swayngham, a wildlife coordinator for the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, brucellosis is carried in the bodily fluid of some wild pigs, and can be passed to humans if an animal's blood gets in a person's eyes, nose, mouth or cuts in the skin. "It's not very common. A lot of hunters do not use rubber gloves, and we wish they would," Swayngham said. "The best precaution is to use rubber gloves when cleaning the animal. You don't want to touch any uncooked meat, intestines, or reproductive tracts," he said.

Anyone ever contract brucellosis from a hog they shot? What precautions do you use in the field?

The 50 Best Shots From The 2011 Field & Stream Fall Trail Cam Contest

Online Editors — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 08:03:25 -0500

Here are the editors' picks for the 50 best entries in our 2011 Fall Trail Cam Photo Contest. Congrats to KSwhitetails who took first place with his "Bobcat catches a turkey in flight" shot and will receive the grand prize: a pair of Steiner 10x42 Predator Xtreme binoculars.

Congratulations to all this year's winners and thanks to everyone for the hundreds of great submissions.

You can check out the top photos from each round of the contest here:
ROUND I
ROUND II
ROUND III
ROUND IV

The Best Field & Stream Reader Photos From January 2012

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 12:06:52 -0500

Submit your photos here!

Here are the monthly Best Reader Photo Galleries from last year:
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November

The Best Shotguns of 2012

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:56:43 -0500

The Best New Rifles of 2012

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 12:41:18 -0500

There were more exhibitors and more atendees at this year's SHOT Show than ever before. That means more guns than one could ever see, but we did our best to find the best. Here are David E. Petzal and John Snow's picks for the best rifles from the show floor.

A Book About Hogs, Dogs, and Southern Hunting Culture

Sarah Smith — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:31:39 -0500

by Hal Herring

Every once in a while a book comes out that is so far out of the mainstream, and so perfectly beautiful that it makes you just stop and marvel at how deeply the outdoors and the experience and tradition of hunting runs in our culture.

I consider myself extraordinarily lucky to have found Melody Golding's new book, The Panther Tract: Wild Boar Hunting in the Mississippi Delta. I got the book in the mail today, and have whiled away most of the afternoon lost in it, reading the dozens of hog hunting tales, studying recipes for wild pig and gawking at the 160 spectacular photos of men, women, horses, dogs and wild hogs, and above all, the haunted, mist and rain soaked swampscape of Yazoo County, Mississippi.

The Panther Tract is very definitely a book of southern hunting culture. The photos and stories are taken mostly on the Tract, a privately owned hunting camp that has hosted generations of hunters and fishermen (although many of the tales come from hog-hunting in other parts of the Delta, including public lands on the Delta National Forest, and the Panther Swamp National Wildlife Refuge southwest of Yazoo City). This is the Big Woods country immortalized in William Faulkner's epic hunting tale The Bear, and the hunters in Golding's book, as well as Golding herself, are very aware of that fact--there are still well-heeled hunters, riding good horses and mules, running fine dogs and drinking good whiskey with the very untamed people of the swamps and thickets. In place of the bears (which are slowly coming back to the area), they have hogs. Thousands of them.

But it would be a huge mistake to say that this book was for southern hunters or hog hunters, only. The Panther Tract is for any outdoorsman or woman who likes large bore handguns, and mules and quarter horses that will swim you across a half frozen swamp, scramble up the mud bank on the other side and stand firm and easy while you blast a hog with your short-barreled .308 from the saddle. It's about mudcaked boots and brush-shredded Carhartts and custom knives big enough to kill a hog with a thrust under its front leg to the heart, or make a dainty cut and castrate a boar for future sport and barbecue. It's about wealthy doctors shooting a W.Voss drilling with a 7x57 rifle under a double barrel 16 gauge, alongside men whose only possession is a good pistol and a hog dog. And buddy, this book is about dogs.

My personal favorite kinds of dogs: Catahoulas, Catahoula curs, Blackmouth Curs, Mountain curs, Plott hounds and redbone crosses and pit bulls of old and distinguished lineages, and pit bulls that just wandered up one day and proved themselves in heart and blood in lethal combat with hogs, making scratch over and over again. Dogs in tracking collars and dogs in Kevlar vests to protect them from being disemboweled by a hog's tusks, and dogs who go in naked and take hold like a snapping turtle and don't let go till it thunders. And it's about the hog-obsessed men and women and youngsters, some as young as seven, who are, or at least try to be, worthy of those dogs.

The traditions run deep as the Delta topsoil, the knives are sharp, the stories uproarious ("My wildest hog hunting story has to be when a big ole sow bit my finger off," begins one). The recipes look rich enough to put a muffin top on a supermodel in 24 hours or less.

The Panther Tract is a long way from politically correct. It's hard to imagine what PETA or even the average non-hunter would make of the pit bulls and cold beer and horses busting thin ice to get to the hounds before they get killed by the hogs. And it does not matter one whit what they make of it. Because this is a book for people who are already in on the secret.

This is a book for hunters. Get more info here.

SHOT Show 2012 From The Floor: Day 3

Online Editors — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:48:52 -0500

SHOT Show 2012 From The Floor: Day 2

Dave_Maccar — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:34:22 -0500

SHOT Show 2012 From The Floor: Day I

Dave_Maccar — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:48:40 -0500

Lessons Learned and Soliciting Queries for SHOT Show 2012

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 11:15:08 -0500

by David E. Petzal

This past year was an unusually active one for me. I dragged my rotting carcass across both oceans and to a number of states, and took 11 head of big game, with big game being defined as a wild swine or larger.

Looking over the whole business, a number of things stand out. The longest shot I took was at an elk. It was 160 yards. The two shortest--at a red stag and a mule deer--were around 30 yards. The average for everything was 80 yards. None of this is long-range shooting, and leads me to wonder, where are all these 500-yard shots everyone is obsessing about? During the whole season, one person I was afield with took a long shot--400 yards--at an elk, hit it and was unable to find it. In the real world, at least from my experience, things still happen well inside 200 yards.

Second, of the shots I took, six were offhand. This was a lot; usually I can kneel or find a rest of some sort. And it points out that you should get the hell away from the benchrest and practice shooting on your hind legs, because not infrequently, you are going to have to do it for real.

Finally, in every single case but one, I had to shoot fast. This was because what I had in the crosshairs was either very close or already on the prod and if the wind had shifted or someone farted, it was going to leave quicker than you can say “vanishing hindquarters.” More often than not, shooting at game is something you do as fast as you can positively identify the target and get your gun up. Be advised.

And now for something completely different: In a week I will be going out to the SHOT Show, and the folks who put this website together have asked me to ask you if there is anything you would like me to look for and report on. And no, that does not include booth babes. Thank you in advance for your suggestions.

The Best Field & Stream Reader Photos From 2011

Dave_Maccar — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:15:14 -0500

Every month readers submit hundreds of photos to our Trophy Room. They include everything from grip and grin shots of some beautiful animals and fish to remarkable nature shots taken on fishing and hunting trips. These are the web editors' picks for the best reader photos of 2011.

Our Trophy Room is always open, so Submit your photos here!

Here are the monthly Best Reader Photo Galleries of 2011:

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

Field & Stream's Best Photo Galleries and Blogs of 2011

Dave_Maccar — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 13:53:52 -0500

A lot of interesting stories came across the web desk at Field & Stream last year. These are the web editors' picks for the 25 best stories of 2011, in both photo gallery and blog form. Click through this gallery to see what you missed or take another look at a personal favorite.

For all past blogs, click here.

For all past photo galleries, click here.

The Best Field & Stream Reader Photos From December 2011

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 09:44:10 -0500

Submit your photos here!

Here are the monthly Best Reader Photo Galleries of 2011:
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November

First Shots Photo Collection

Online Editors — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 10:59:48 -0500

A collection of jaw-dropping hunting and fishing photos from Field & Stream's "First Shots" magazine section, updated with the most recent shots.

The 75 Best Field & Stream Reader Photos From November 2011

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 10:13:59 -0500

Submit your photos here!

Here are the monthly Best Reader Photo Galleries of 2011:
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October

The 50 Best Photos from Round II of the 2011 F&S Fall Trail Cam Contest

Online Editors — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 14:51:21 -0500

Here are the editors' picks for the 50 best entries in the second round of our 2011 Fall Trail Cam Photo Contest. Congrats to Dufhuntin who took first place with is "Owl spooking a doe" shot and will receive a Bushnell Trophy Cam; and to second-place winner, Bull80, who gets a Hide 'N Hunt Blind from Hunter's Specialties.

Don't forget to vote for the readers choice winners in Round II. The top three will each win a Freeman Guide Folding Knife from Gerber. And keep entering your great trail cam photos in Round III for more chances to win. You've got until Midnight on December 8th to enter.

Bonus Report: Ray And The Hogs Among Us

Sarah Smith — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:49:57 -0400

Rut Reporter Brandon Ray is an expert on the region. Ray was born in Dallas and shot his first deer with a bow in Central Texas at the age of 15. The full-time freelance writer manages his family’s Texas Panhandle ranch, is a licensed New Mexico guide, and last year took a 184 gross P&Y non-typical trophy. States covered: TX, OK, NM.

Like a modern day biblical plague, wild swine have spread across the nation, especially in the southern states. Not so different from a plague of locusts, a herd of feral pigs can decimate a crop field in just a few nights. In my area, they consume milo, peanuts and wheat fields. Farmers hate them. That works to the hunter’s advantage, as gaining permission to hunt hogs around crops is almost a guarantee.

They also compete for native browse that deer eat. They muddy stock ponds, root-up landscaping around country homes and destroy lush golf courses. They have reproductive capabilities that put a rabbit to shame. If deer and hogs end up around the same corn feeder, deer will always surrender to the hogs. Hogs will aggressively run deer off an easy food source. Deer hate hogs almost as much as farmers. Is there anything positive about wild hogs?

For all the destructive, negative aspects of wild pigs, they are fun to hunt. And when I kill a small one, I like hog sausage. I save the skulls from the big boars. Most states have few restrictions on hunting wild hogs. In Texas, there is no bag limit and you can hunt hogs year-round. So call them pests or call them trophies, but either way they are sporting animals to hunt.

Hogs favor thick, riparian-type habitats. Creek bottoms and river channels are good places to find wild hogs. But they are very adaptive. I’ve seen them in arid, steep red-rock canyons. Places more suitable for wild sheep. Wild pigs are mostly nocturnal.

Anywhere you hunt deer in Texas, you are likely to encounter hogs. With an estimated statewide population of more than 2 million, they are the second most plentiful big game animal in the state. Second only to the state’s 4 million deer population. Like most Texas hunters, I’ve shot a lot of hogs over the years. I’ve shot them with bows, shot them with shotguns and shot them with rifles. While I was hunting turkeys in the spring and while deer hunting in the fall. It seems any hunt can turn into a hog hunt unexpectedly.

While hogs in general are plentiful, killing a large, mature boar with big tusks is indeed a rare trophy. I found one such monster just last week. Like most big boars I’ve killed over the years, I was not specifically hunting pigs when I found him. I was perched on the rim of a steep canyon in the Texas Panhandle. The morning light just slanting across the mesas and peaks, revealing colorful rock formations and a few deer from the previously impenetrable black shadows.

Sitting behind a tripod-mounted Swarovski spotting scope, I dissected the river channel in the bottom of the canyon, scouting for deer. My HS Precision .270 topped with a Leupold scope lay across my daypack. I learned years ago, even when I’m scouting for deer, it’s wise to carry the rifle. Free-ranging aoudad sheep roam that same canyon badlands and are legal to shoot year-round. And of course, there’s always pigs. And as sure as I leave my rifle at home, I always see a big one.

About 150 yards below me, movement caught my eye. A herd of pigs were walking single file across some of the steepest, nastiest bluffs you could imagine. They were crossing from one spire of rock to the other side through a narrow sheep trail. Through the binoculars I counted 10 in all. Nine of them were average-sized black ones. Second from the back of the line was a fat, calico-colored boar. From my eagle’s eye view above him, his back looked wide enough to support a saddle.

I plopped down on the canyon ledge with my rifle over my backpack, simultaneously feeding a 130-grain Hornady round into the chamber. Just as I found the big boar in the scope, they disappeared behind a truck-sized boulder. Then they were lost from view, behind a steep ledge.

So I slung my arms into my backpack, put the rifle over my shoulder and descended down the canyon wall as quietly as possible. They had no idea they were being watched. If I could get down to the next bench, I should be able to see them walking the game trail below on the next level. Just as I peaked over the ledge, there they were. Still single file, the big boar was now the last in line. They were at a steep downhill angle. The Nikon rangefinder said hold for 116 yards at that angle.

At the blast, the big boar dropped. I worked the bolt, trying to find a second target before they disappeared. But the rest of the mob was gone through thick mesquites and cedars before I could line up a follow-up shot. It took me about 30 minutes to thread my way down through the rocks and cliffs to the dead boar below. I could smell him before I saw him. The pungent, rank smell filling the still morning air like the aroma of a road-kill skunk.

And he was huge! His feet the size of a calf, a noggin like an alligator and the girth of a dolphin. His mud-caked hide was dappled in colors of tan, white, brown and black. As ugly of a trophy boar as you’ll find. I never put him on a scale, but I’ve weighed other big boars of similar size. I’d guess his live weight at an honest 275 pounds. Maybe a bit more.

So while your deer hunting this fall, keep your eyes peeled for the unexpected bonus game that now roams almost everywhere.

Heroes of Conservation Winner Announced!

Dave_Maccar — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 15:58:38 -0400

At a time when the U.S. government is being asked to do more with less, conservationists all over the country are doing more without waiting to be asked. These efforts were recognized at the sixth annual Heroes of Conservation awards gala, sponsored by Field & Stream and Toyota. "It's a critical time, budgets are tight, and it is possible that essential projects to restore and protect America's wildlife and lands will be shelved due to lack of funds," F&S Editor Anthony Licata said at the Washington, D.C. event. "But there is hope. We are humbled by and incredibly grateful to people like our heroes, who are willing to work even when there isn't a budget."

David Ramsey of Unicoi, Tenn., was named Field & Stream's Conservation Hero of the Year for his extraordinary effort in securing the 10,000-acre Rocky Fork Watershed for public use as a wildlife management area. "I am completely overwhelmed by this award and this event," said Ramsey.

Ramsey spent 15 years brokering relationships between sportsmen’s groups, government officials, and conservation organizations to permanently protect the Tennessee watershed for public use. A sporting-goods store manager and wildlife photographer, he used his photographs of the pristine mountain land in presentations about its heritage in an effort to grip listeners. With the help of the Conservation Fund, Ramsey’s efforts finally paid off. The land was purchased away from developers, and people are using it the same way they always have.

The ceremony honored seven finalists for their efforts to salvage river and forest ecosystems, educate local youth, and manage natural resources that impact game.

Secretary of the U.S. Interior Ken Salazar was a surprise guest at the gala, taking the podium to point out that volunteerism is the backbone of conservation in the outdoors.

Dan Ashe, the Director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, was a speaker at the event, thanking the finalists for their extraordinary contributions to their communities. He also lauded the Hero for a Day volunteer program, which took place in six locations across the country this spring.

The awards were hosted by chart-topping country music singer Craig Morgan, who also hosts All Access Outdoors on Outdoor Channel. “The conservation work of these heroes paints all outdoorsmen in a positive light,” he says. “People don’t realize the environmental impact hunters and fishermen have, not to mention the financial impact. It’s important that we as conservationists continue to get involved and educate the community on what we bring to the table.” Morgan is involved with the National Wild Turkey Foundation, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and the Whitetail Institute. He ended the night with an acoustic set of hits and a preview of his yet-to-be-released new album, including the single "This Ole Boy."

Each Hero of the Year finalist received a check for $5,000 to contribute to their projects, and Ramsey was also awarded the grand prize: a new Toyota Tundra.