TexasCHLforum.com

Anyone hunt feral hogs at night?

What do you use for illumination?
Night vision scope or red/green spotlights or something else?

Hunting in Texas

Slow Glow Hog Light:
https://slowglow.com/

Comes with 2 lights: Green and either red or IR.
It has a motion sensor and the visible lights come up slowly so the hog doesn't notice.
The unit runs off a 12V feeder battery and the optional solar panel keeps it charged.
Have taken several hogs with it.
The unit is made in Texas and the people are very nice.
I have 2 units - one at each feeder.
Feel free to PM me with any questions.

Thanks for the info
It looks exactly like what I need.

Stand, Feeder, Slow Glow

It really depends on your budget, you can start cheap with a light like mentioned above or go all out with tens of thousands in night vision gear.

A long time ago I bowhunted hogs from a treestand this guy had rigged up with a red floodlight clipped to a 12V car battery. He had a dimmer switch wired into it, so when the hogs arrived, you slowly turned on the light. Worked fine. Crude, but got the job done.

The deer lease is starting to have hogs eating the feed put out for deer.

A light could be a fun way to put a dent in the feral hog population.

Night vision could be used in the upcoming Zombie Apocalypse but "that's just crazy talk"

tomneal wrote: ↑Fri Oct 15, 2021 9:38 pm It looks exactly like what I need.

Stand, Feeder, Slow Glow

We used to use a 12 V. red light and it works really well. Gun or bow. Did I mention that it's incredibly fun?!?!? (just be careful!)

ATN thermal scope on a 300 Blackout AR

Budget is the factor that really determines what you get.
Related to the budget issue is how often do you plan to hunt hogs?

Hogs, if they're out during the daylight hours, will quickly go nocturnal when increased hunting pressure develops. A light at a feeder is one option, it's how I started. Eventually I bought an IR digital night scope. A good one currently available is the Sightmark Wraith.
https://sightmark.com/collections/wraith

If the desire is to regularly go after hogs, things like feeder lights and IR scopes are really just gateway devices that end up with the purchase of a Thermal Weapon Sight. Here's a recent discussion on a different forum regarding that topic:
https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubb ... ost8412839

I made this progression myself, going from feeder lights to an IR scope to a Thermal monocular and eventually to a Thermal Weapon Sight. It's wasn't cheap, but I hunt hogs year round and nothing else. I don't go after deer or anything else, just hogs.

Another way to reduce hog problems at deer feeders is to install a low fence around the feeder.
https://agrilifetoday.tamu.edu/2009...t ... ust-right/
https://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubb ... ost8376938

I presently have a freezer full of feral pork, but if anyone in central Texas (I'm near Austin) has land (deer lease or crops) with a hog problem, I could possibly be talked into helping reduce the problem.
Some of my hog hunting videos — https://www.youtube.com/user/TeufelHandlanger

I always wanted to do this but the expense of all the equipment chases me off.

I’ve had good luck with the ATN infrared scopes. For less than a grand you can do some good hunting at night. I also use a green light mounted to the gun made by stream light. Be advised, pigs will spook at the green if they have seen it before.

03Lightningrocks wrote: ↑Sat Oct 16, 2021 5:16 pm I always wanted to do this but the expense of all the equipment chases me off.

deep cycle battery, electric wire, red light, dimmer switch, hammer and some nails, and you're good to go.

Ruark wrote: ↑Sat Oct 16, 2021 7:46 pm

03Lightningrocks wrote: ↑Sat Oct 16, 2021 5:16 pm I always wanted to do this but the expense of all the equipment chases me off.

deep cycle battery, electric wire, red light, dimmer switch, hammer and some nails, and you're good to go.

There's a lot to be said for this approach. I've used a simple white solar charged motion light from Harbor Freight for years. They're not real expensive and seem to last 2-3 years at least. A lot of folks use green or red lights, but I've found that the hogs adapt almost immediately to any light, even white. When I started, I put out a white light. Game camera pictures showed the hogs ran off the first time it came on, but were back five minutes later and it never bothered them after that. Just make sure to position the light so it's shining away from you!

What you say is interesting because the first couple times the green light got put on the hogs they never ran. Now when there is a green light they run as soon as it’s turned on. I think that they learned in my particular case that green means “thunder…..thud…..squeeeeeeeel!”