I just returned from an exciting muzzleloader hunt. Hog hunting with a muzzeloader and dogs is one of the biggest adventures still remaining in the sport of hunting. The good news and the bad news is the number of hogs is growing nationwide. More states are liberalizing seasons and bag limits for hunting feral pigs because they pose the biggest threat to wildlife and humans of any other game species. Each year, hogs destroy millions of dollars worth of crops, as well as infect crops, like we saw in California last year.
Hogs are carnivorous during this time of year, when deer, lamb, cattle and other livestock are dropping their young. Hogs have become such a nuisance that some states like Mississippi, Florida, Alabama and Texas have no closed seasons or bag limits on hogs, and you can hunt hogs during daylight hours and after dark. Muzzleloader hunting is a fun way to get a fine array of pork chops, sausage, spareribs and pork shoulder at a low cost. There seems to be no relief from growing hog numbers. Hogs are very prolific and can have from two to three litters a year with an average of six to eight piglets per litter. So, even when we hunt and take hogs with a Muzzleloader in the spring and summer, we’re not making a huge impact on hog numbers.
Hunting hogs with dogs is one of the most-effective ways of ridding an area of hogs besides trapping. The advantages of hunting hogs with dogs are the dogs can find, bay and/or catch the hogs. Even in areas where hogs are trapped, hunting the hogs with dogs can effectively keep hogs out of your watermelon patches and fields of corn and vegetable garden and from rooting-up green fields you’ve planted for wildlife.
One of the big advantages of hunting hogs from now until deer season starts is you can hunt them early in the morning while the weather’s cool, late in the afternoon just before the sun sets or at night. Night hunting with a CVA rifle is really an exciting sport. To learn more about hunting hogs with dogs contact Terry Knight at Lifetime Hunts at (662) 361-1008, visit www.lifetimehuntsllc.com, or email lifetimehunt@tecinfo.com. When you’re not hog hunting at Lifetime Hunts, there are plenty of ponds there stocked with bass, bream and crappie.