How many TRUE 300 and 400 lbs hogs have you seen?

[Keechi]

I have been out of town all week and had a buddy run my traps while I wasgone.Called him this morning and ask if he did any good,and he told me he had caught 2 (one about 300 and one about 220).When I got to his house and look they were about 150 and maybe 200lbs.My point is how often do wild hogs reach 300lbs and how many reach 400lbs?I myself have caughtor killed many in the 200 lbs class and only shot3 in the 300 lb class.I have never got one in the 400 lbs class and have only seen a handfull caught or shot that weight over 400.What % do you think grow that big?(1 in 500?)And how many people over estimate weights?

[BustedAssRanch]

I think everyone starting up in hog hunting over estimate weights. Its like any other hunting. Guessing weight on the hoof takes time & lots of animals to get proficient at judging them. I have not taken a 300 or 400 pounder. I have only seen 1 that I guessed at 300 pounds +. If it would have came in bow range I would have been able to tell you better. :)

[CODY]

Mike I see that alot too. I've killed several in the 200# range and showed other hunters pictures of these 200 pounders and most hunters guessed them at closer to 300#. I've only killed one that weighed 300#. Those hogs that are 200# normaly look about 250-275# liying dead but I have learned to know better. After you put those big guys on the scale several times a guy learns to judge them better. Those trail camera pics are even harder to judge. I've seen alot of 200-250 pounders get estimated at 300-350# and I think there really isn't that many hogs that get to the 350-400# range maybe 1 in a 1000 probably not even that many.

[dougepooo]

This is a big point of contention with me. I see hogs, and pictures of hogs all the time and when i hear or read their estimates on what they weighed it blows my mind. they are almost always grossly over estimated And I have done it myself.And pictures never make hogs look smaller than they are but often make them look bigger.

The fact is, I have NEVER personally seen a three hundred pound hog and I am an official scorer. Furthermore I have NEVER seen a 200# sow.

Now don't get me wrong they do exist, especially in high fences where they can be feed better than what is naturally occurring in the field. In fences there is also a much higher percentage of bar or cut hogs giving them much better growth potential.

If all that isnt confusing enough you have to take into consideration that almost all of the truly huge hogs taken are not actually wild hogs at all but domestics with their big floppy ears and curly tails, both sure signs that a given hog hasn't been outside of the pen and away from the feed trough for more than a generation or two.

The simple fact is that a truly wild hog , growing up on the wild eating whatever he can find and having to work for it very very rarely reaches the coveted 300# mark and a true wild 400 # hog is almost completely unheard of.

and if any one is interested, the hog in my avatar was at first completely black and weighed 271 #. after cleaning all the mud off he was found to be pie bald and lost9 pounds in weight due to all the thick black gumbo mud. That is my biggest ever and I have only killed two over 200#.

[aggiebowhunter]

People who claim theyve killed 350lb+ hogs do not have scales.



Since we started this business I know Ive dealt with atleast 2,500 hogs (and thats being conservative)



I have probably seen 15 over 300



I have seen 3 over 350



I have seen 0 over 400



However I do believe a 400lb hog exhists in the wild with no fences somewhere where he is receiving great nutrition.



First hog I dealth with that weighed over 300lbs i could not budge when he was on the ground. Im a big feller and when I cant lift something its serious. Three of us coudlnt get him into a pickup. He was so big I used a front end loader to pick him up. I knew he was a monster but i was disappointed when he only went 305



I think its the shear density and compact body of a hog that makes folks believe that they weigh so much. They are heavy and dont have good handled to lift.



Now weve killed a couple hogs here at the ranch that have been well over 700lbs but not truely wild in my eyes. Both were domestic hogs that turned rogue. They were both trapped hogs. Bad as they were, they werent truely a wild hog.



Skull shape was wrong to be wild and the bottom teeth between the tusks had spaces between them which gave it away that they were once domestic.

[USHogOutfitters]

In the last year we have cuffed 17 hogs over 300 pounds. most of them we did weigh. I also have went to pick up hogs that people say are 300 to find out that they might be 150 to 200. 6 of the hogs we caught in the last year where over 450 with 2 of them well over 500 pounds. The hog in the vidoe of the week we caught last week and he weighed 351 pounds. I have seen many barrs over 300 pounds in the wild. I do think big boars are rare to find and even rarer to catch but we hunt at least 5 days a week and most of the time 7 days a week. I also have noticed durring the drought last year and into this year we where catching many big boars, but as soon as this rain started a couple of months ago we are now mainly catching small ones under 250 pound hogs.



All of these hogs where caught in the wild and not behind a fence. The biggest hog we have caught is on a video on our site we didnt not get to weigh him but he was much bigger that anything I had ever weighed.

[dougepooo]

In the case of the bar hogs, the very fact that they are bar hogs tells you that they were in captivity at some point. I have no problem believing a hog can attain huge size in a pen eating honey buns and the like not movin around much but i still believe that hogs weighing over three hundred pounds in a completely wild setting with his package still in good working order is a very rare thing.

Now , with that said, there are settings that lend themselves to higher than normal growth rates. Take for example hogs living around crop fields that grow say peanuts, soybeans, ect. if these fields are planted year round providing unlimited food the year round and if hunting pressure is low, well than anything is possible.

.

The Giant hog deemed Hogzilla killed years ago in Georgia proved to be a domestic that had gotten loose but for quite some time feed on catfish feed that washed up to the bank at a fish farm. Such unnatural settings as this can allow a hog to reach very large sizes. They most assuredly have the potential to get big.

And through the use of dogs and spotlights or night vision equipment is by far the most productive way to kill these big hogs. They tend to avoid traps and move around almost exclusively at night.Virtually any one with a trail cam can tell you that they get lots of pictures of big solitary boars at night but never see them during daylight hours.

If I'm not mistaken you use dogs and for that reason I'm sure you see more big ones than most of us.

[USHogOutfitters]

Yes we use dogs. I agree big hogs are rare. Just using our numbers tells you how rare theyare. In 2008 we caught 1782 hogs in the wild (all alive with dogs). Out of that many hogs only 17 were over 300 pounds and only 2 where over 500 pounds. So I agree they are hard to find and even harder to get them to let you put handcuffs on them. Also we hunt in and around corn, rice, and milo fields all the time and these hogs are always bigger and fatter than any where else we hunt.



Barr hogs do not mean that they where pen fed but not saying they where not. We have caught 1000s of wild boarssince the early 80s from the wild that we have cut and let go. We have only started to kill them and take alive forclientssince the late 90s when they became a horriable problem in our area. Now it is a kill or remove only policy for us.

[dougepooo]

do you happen to know what you could get for a hog of say 300 # if you were to sell it to one of the ranches? Randy do you guys buy them over at the langly ranch?

[USHogOutfitters]

$200 to $1000 depending on the Boar and his cutter size.

[dougepooo]

so it might well be possible to go hunting with you guys and completely pay for the trip and maybe even come out ahead by selling the catch? will they buy saws?

[txbhunter1]

My biggest one to date(357) was killed in the higher foothill wilds of California. There were a fewothers with him that were just as big and bigger. I am not sure of their history,as no ranches were aroundthat area,but I do know that the coastal lands out there and some places around Pineflat Reserv have some huge hogs running around.

[Cuz]

I've seen 5 in my life that would go over 300 pounds and I've been hog hunting for 25 years. I shot one at my family farm and a guy on our old lease south of Abilene shot one. I've seen one other on my place that there is no doubt in my mind would be well over 300 and I missed one with my bow at the same place near Abilene. Oh and the one on the post I made called "How much do you think this one weights". He's on a game came pic.

By the way AggieBowHunter, I DID have a a scale for the one in my avatar and it was bouncing between 373 and 376. I call him 375!

[aggiebowhunter]

do you happen to know what you could get for a hog of say 300 # if you were to sell it to one of the ranches? Randy do you guys buy them over at the langly ranch?


We generally do not buy dog caught hogs especially that big, survival rate is poor. We prefer trapped hogs. Now dont get me wrong when we need hogs we will take them however we can get them, but thats pretty rare.



We are also a buying station for a packing house. We send our sows and dog caught hogs to them. So its possible to go on a hunt then sell the hogs you caught. I wouldnt plan on it paying for your trip though. Right now hogs week keep to hunt were paying .40 a pound for and those going to the packing house are about .10lb.

[aggiebowhunter]

I meant to say people who kill 500lb hogs do not have a scale

[dougepooo]

randy have you got any of those 700 pounders out there right now?

[txbhunter1]

Funny guy this early on a Mon morning Doug..................http://texashoghunter.com/images/images/forum/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[dougepooo]

what? that is an honest and valid question. He said they have had 2 in the past, i just wonder if there are any there now.

[txbhunter1]

Ididn't think he had any that big. My bad, sorry Doug.http://texashoghunter.com/images/images/forum/emoticons/cry.gif

[aggiebowhunter]

randy have you got any of those 700 pounders out there right now?


No, not right now. They generally dont make it vey long when we do folks love to mow them things down.



I do have one over 300 though.

[Cuz]

SEVEN HUNDRED POUNDS?!?!? Holly smokes!

[aggiebowhunter]

620 lbs. This man was dying of cancer and one of his last wishes was to take a monster hog.



http://www.texaswildhoghunting.com/images/101_2756.JPG



http://www.texaswildhoghunting.com/images/101_2757.JPG

[mrbowhunter]

HOGS ARE ONE OF THE SMARTEST ANIMALS AND THE OLDER THE BIGGER AND THE SMARTER THEY GET A OLD BOAR IS SMARTER THAN ANY TROPHY DEER .FOR HOG TO REACH 400# HE IS GOING TO BE 4 OR 5YRS OLD + DEPENDING ON AREA VEGITATION. IN WESTSIDE OF TEXAS DONT SEE VERY MANY BIG HOGS ON THE EASTSIDE AND SOUTH TEXAS THEY'RE MORE .95% OF HUNTERS SHOOT THE 1ST HOG OR GROUP THAT THEY SEE .VERY RARELY DOES A BIG HOG IN AT FIRST EVEN TRAILING A SOW IN HEAT.UNLESS ANOTHER MALE IS AROUND BIG BOARS HANG OUT BY THEMSELVES AND NOCTERNAL

[mrbowhunter]

HOGS ARE ONE OF THE SMARTEST ANIMALS AND THE OLDER THE BIGGER AND THE SMARTER THEY GET A OLD BOAR IS SMARTER THAN ANY TROPHY DEER .FOR HOG TO REACH 400# HE IS GOING TO BE 4 OR 5YRS OLD + DEPENDING ON AREA VEGITATION. IN WESTSIDE OF TEXAS DONT SEE VERY MANY BIG HOGS ON THE EASTSIDE AND SOUTH TEXAS THEY'RE MORE .95% OF HUNTERS SHOOT THE 1ST HOG OR GROUP THAT THEY SEE .VERY RARELY DOES A BIG HOG IN AT FIRST EVEN TRAILING A SOW IN HEAT.UNLESS ANOTHER MALE IS AROUND BIG BOARS HANG OUT BY THEMSELVES AND NOCTERNAL

[aggiebowhunter]

This hog was at 735lbs when the scale broke and the hog was not all the way off the ground. We call him 735 but Im pretty sure he would have gone another hundred pounds or two. So weve called him 735 since.



http://www.texaswildhoghunting.com/images/hunters_016.jpg



http://www.texaswildhoghunting.com/images/hunters_010.jpg



http://www.texaswildhoghunting.com/images/bighog.JPG

[txbhunter1]

Randy,

Those are truely amazing hogs. How big were they when you guys put them out? Did you have them long or were they pretty big when you got them? Ijust can't fathom one that big. I shipped one on the farm, a Hampshire boar that weighed in at 650, according to the shipper, but he looked small compared to these.

[aggiebowhunter]

They both came and left within a week or two.

[txbhunter1]

Neither of the ones hanging with the guy with cancer are small ones either huh. 200+

[aggiebowhunter]

Your right they were all well over 200

[aggiebowhunter]

I got to thinking and forgot about this hog. This is ol Rojo Grande and he we a bit over 450 if i remember right.

http://www.texaswildhoghunting.com/images/101_4255.JPG

[txbhunter1]

Iwould say yes. Figuring the guy weighs in about 230 maybe and the hog is half again his size.

[venado]

Anyone curious as to what sized hog it takes to win a jacket at Los Cazadores (south TX premier contest)? Usually around 325# and a 255# off of our place won a jacket in the 2007-8 season.

[dougepooo]

what does it mean to win a jacket?

[aggiebowhunter]

I hunt not real far from the headquarters, Ive been threatening to take a hog in there on my way several times, but I wasnt sure how theyd like a hog that wasnt from south texas. I think Brezina or Buck Medley has won it the past couple years

[aggiebowhunter]

what does it mean to win a jacket?


Winning a jacket a cazadores is basically the top prize in probably the most premier hunting contest in texas. They are highly sought after and are the ultimate bragging right. For me it woudl be about liek winning the lottery.



I like to watch the leaderboard during deer season each day to see what is rolling in.



http://www.loscazadores.com/

[dougepooo]

im familer with the contest I just didnt know a jacket was first prize.

[aggiebowhunter]

Not just first place but if you place you get a jacket. Used to if you brought in a deer that scored over 150 youd win a jacket, but nowdays I think theyve bumped it up to 175.

[venado]

The 3 largest hogs win a "jacket" and aggiebowhunter is right... you wear them around LC and they show your "braggin rights". Nothing more than an ego trip but most of us bozos enjoy that occasionally....!

[milton]

Everyone over estimates. Wehave several on camera that shopuld weigh over 300 but have not seen that 400 lber yet maybe 1 day.

[orduckhunter]

here's my 300 lb boar

unfortunately, the picture was scanned on a lousy scanner, so the quality isn't very good



(I don't know how to embed the photo - so here's the link)




http://texashoghunter.com/oldatt/wildboar2.JPG

[BustedAssRanch]

here's my 300 lb boar

unfortunately, the picture was scanned on a lousy scanner, so the quality isn't very good



(I don't know how to embed the photo - so here's the link)


Thats a nice one.

[txbhunter1]

Nice hog duck..... Do you think that Steve and Topgun are enjoying the good life with Monty up there in Manitoba bear hunting yet? LOL Wonder if they have had any luck yet?

[Cuz]

All I can say is WOW! Those are some bruiser hogs!!!! Tough to even see one like that in the wild. Cool pics!

[JLH]

I catch alot of hogs every year with my dogs and havent caught but 1 hog that went over 400 and only a handfull that went over 330 or so we catch between 100 and 200 every year

[orduckhunter]

Nice hog duck..... Do you think that Steve and Topgun are enjoying the good life with Monty up there in Manitoba bear hunting yet? LOL Wonder if they have had any luck yet?


I'm hoping they are into the bear!

I look forward to hearing how it went, and seeing their photos!