I've got a mature sow, two female shoats, and a young boar that stay on my property. I've been feeding them in preparation to hunt them at two bait sites, but recently all the hogs, except the young boar, have disappeared. I decided to delay hunting them because I saw the sow was pregnant and I wanted her to drop her litter, so I could have more hogs to hunt in the future.
My question is: Would the sow and the two female shoats lay up with the litter of piglets until they wean? If so, how long would that be?
Of course, a neighbor could have shot or trapped them, but no one has said anything to me, so I'm just trying to determine why they've disappeared. Thanks for any information you can provide.
Hogs tend to move around a lot. They will stay in an area for a few days/week or so and move on for a few days.
Keep constant feed out and they will tend to stay in your area for longer when they do come around.
They do stay holed up for a few days when they drop till the little ones can get around good.
I've got pics of sows laying under my feeders nursing their piglets before! Lol
Your neighbors may not appreciate the "stocking" of a pretty destructive animal population near them. Those things can multiply like crazy.
Well, those same neighbors night hunt and poach on my property so I don't care how they feel.
They do not lay until piglets are weaned - but they might lay up for a few days even couple a weeks - in GA we see "nests" fairly often but you will see tiny piglets following a sow around - still drinking milk when she lays down
Thanks, Corey. I just found it strange that they completely abandoned a site they hit regularly. I can see the sow laying up, but I have no idea why the other two females would be missing. Of course, the boar could have struck put on his own.
Hogs move a bunch. I have pigs on my property and will see them regular for a few weeks then nothing for as much as a month. Depends on the food available but they make their rounds.
We had one of our hunters stick an arrow in a big sow last year. Sow was not recovered on that hunt. Three weeks later same hog was killed 9 miles away and the broadhead was recovered from the first wounding shot. We put out plenty of corn to try and keep hogs coming to the bait but they are pretty nomadic and tend to wander from waterhole to waterhole. There is no way to know what a wild hog is going to do or where they are going to go. The hogs on the river seem to wander even more than the hogs on the high and dry parts of the ranch. For whatever reason it is harder to keep them on a bait. May be that there are several smaller parcels on the other side of the river with numerous deer feeders along the river. Point being don't plan on grooming a wild hog to shoot later because they probably won't be around when you want them.
Thanks for all the responses. I learned a valuable lesson this week. When the hogs are on my property, hunt them. They should be back in the fall. We have about 30 acres of water oaks and they seem to love them.