With the Texas Whitetail Deer season opening in a couple of weeks, I found myself checking the pictures from my game cameras on an hourly basis. I had targeted a nice buck that was staying on my hunting property the past few months, but he had disappeared. The images flooding my game cam app gave me the obvious reason for that buck’s disappearance… Wild Pigs! Here is what I did to remove as many as I could, as fast as I could!
I’ve received a lot of grief from people around the USA who don’t live in Wild Pig infested areas. They don’t understand the damage these hoards of omnivores can do to a well-managed deer hunting property. Their sheer numbers, lack of any real predators (except humans and cars/trucks) and ability to breed quickly, make wiping them out impossible. However, with some effort, they can be controlled on smaller properties.
The Pig Problem:
I currently run 4 feeders on my 60 acres of land. My property consists of thick brush, with natural and cut open areas. I have 5 tree and ladder stands set-up around these feeders, which allow me to hunt each feeder area, depending on the wild pig traffic shown on my game cameras. I load my feeders with approximately 15 bags of corn every month. This corn is not meant to be the deer’s main food source, instead it is there to supplement their diet and, most importantly, keep them on my property. Deer can be very sketchy though; so any interruption in their feeding habits can move them off the property. The main problem is when the wild pigs move onto the property and control the access to the feeders. When this happens, I estimate that 70% of the corn is eaten by the pigs! Add tree squirrels and raccoons to the mix and it does not bode well for my deer hunting plans.
The Removal:
- The first step was to set the timers on certain feeders to go off when I was already in the stand and the sun was setting. This gave me the cover of darkness and the use of a thermal optic, to give me an edge during the removal.
- The second step was to turn off the feeders that were in areas that are not conducive to me killing big numbers of pigs. These were the feeders next to stands where I typically bow hunted, so shots would be tight.
- The third step was to pattern the wild pig visits based on the most current game camera images. Wild pigs, when left undisturbed, will stick to a pattern, moving from feeder to feeder based on the available corn at certain times.
- Lastly, I made sure to check zero on my AR15 (chambered in .223 Remington), so every shot would hit its mark.
After completing the steps above, the first night of removal began. My plan was to target the lead sows in the sounder. By doing this, the smaller pigs would stay on the property for easy removal. I sat in a tree stand next to an area I deemed “the feedlot”. This set me up 70 yards away, up high, with an area that was very open. After about an hour of being settled, I began to hear grunting and brush breaking. The sound was getting louder, so I check that my thermal was turned on and gave the forward assist a light push. Soon, I saw the white blobs just inside the brush as they made a beeline to the feeder. Once they stepped out, I began to pick apart the group to find my initial targets. One big, fat sow stood out in the crowd. I made note of her location, then search for any other larger pigs in the sounder. There were at least two more larger pigs, but neither of those showed signs of being breeding sows. Although they were not my first targets, they were next in line. For those who are new to wild pig hunting, understand this bit of advice. The temptation of pointing your firearm towards the center of the group and just pulling the trigger (spray and pray) has to be quelled. It is imperative to pick one single target, make the shot, then move on to the others.
I quietly flipped the safety off, as my trigger finger found its way to the front of the trigger shoe and placed the glowing green crosshair on the back of the big sow’s ear. When I pulled the trigger, all hell broke loose! Even though I was shooting suppressed, my ammo was not subsonic. While the first sow was falling backwards, I was already moving to the next sow. “Boom”, sow number two was down. By this time, chaos was making the search for the last large pig almost impossible. But I found her, she was in the front of a line of smaller pigs making a dash towards the brush. I put my crosshairs on the back of her head and touched off the next round. The white spray of blood, brains and meat confirmed the kill. I looked for another target, but they were now all white blobs back in the brush, disappearing in the growth. I collected the sows and hauled them back to my shop using my ATV. The first pig was big, easily over 175 pounds. Night one was over.
The cameras showed no more pig activity at any of the feeders for the rest of the night. However, a few does did show up and were feeding at the same spot I killed the sows. The next morning, I took care of the sows, pulling off some of the meat for sausage. After putting the remains in my dead pile, the vultures made short work of picking them down to just bones. I purposely did not visit any of the feeder areas during the day. I wanted to give the smaller pigs a chance to feel comfortable.
That afternoon, I made my way to another feeder in the SE corner of my property. The sun had just gone down when I noticed little blobs walking out to the feeder. My initial thought was raccoons, but they kept coming! These were definitely pigs. I turned on my thermal scope and started to scan the feeder area. There were 7 small pigs feeding at the bottom of the feeder. I was farther away from the pigs at this stand, but they were still close enough for quick work. I lined up two and squeezed the trigger. Both of them dropped immediately, with another squealing in the background. I lined up on a few that ran about 4 feet and stopped. They were confused on what to do. I erased that confusing with three more 55 grain VMax bullets, dropping each one. I swung back on the squealing pig, that was now dragging itself away. After giving him one more shot, I frantically looked for the last one. All the dead pigs were glowing, so it didn’t make finding the last one easy. Finally, at the edge of the brush, I saw it. It wasn’t running, but was still moving at a decent pace. I put my crosshair on its nose and pulled the trigger. The head exploded like a watermelon, dropping it. I scanned them all again, making sure they were all dead, including the ones whose nerves were causing leg kicks and flopping around. Night Two was over.
After an hour of collecting and loading up the smaller pigs, I took a shower and went to bed! The next day, I took care of the pigs (<80lb pigs are great eating), then headed home. Nothing but raccoons and does were showing up on the cameras for about a week after the pig removal. That changed the following weekend. More does started to show up. After that, smaller bucks popped up here and there. Then, on a crisp morning during a cold front, my target buck showed back up! A couple of weeks later, he was still there, along with another decent sized legal buck. It’s time to get back out there with my bow and see if I can take him!
I also kill big Boars, too. But those stories are for another time!
- Wild Pigs Hogging Deer Feeders – A Removal Story - November 10, 2025
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