I'm going down to San Saba in a few weeks to do some lease maintenance and figured i would hog hunt while down there. I will be in my deer stand and was curious if i should hunt them around sundown and a few hours after around 6:30-9:00? or a few hours before sun up around 5 a.m.-7:30 a.m. or around 12-3 a.m.?

also my buddy suggested i put some corn in a bucket and add some Big Red and let ferment for a week or two before the hunt and if i can get ahold of some hog wild or some cool aid, he also suggested that they love mini marsh mellows. what are your suggestions on all of this? we have hogs but they are very very speratic and not always around and i will only be down there for two nights and trying to increase my chances of seeing one. Any advice will be much appriciated. Thanks

also coons messed up my feeder and it hasnt been working for a month or two thats why i am going down there so doubt the hogs have been still coming by all the time.

best time to go is around your local pack's pattern


in Haskell Co I see them as early as 4pm

on my currently lease they dont move til just before sundown and active throughout the night

don't introduce anything new that they haven't smelled before , that will spook them

just throw a lot of corn out, in, around the bait area .... go ahead and dump half a bag of corn

Find out where they water and stage yourself close by. Hogs make a lot of noise. When you see or hear them in the target area, move in for a shot.

The place I hunt I can only go on weekends and no feeders, so not alot of prepwork I can do. Here is what has worked and not worked for me:

Not worked: Lots of weird, fruity, or sickly sweet smells have not worked. Not the same day anyways. I have tried several different things that were supposed to work for hogs and had no luck with them hitting it the same weekend I am down there.

They may hit it before I go down again, but they seem wary, or slow and lazy about it. This covers from fresh fruit, and fresh fruit mashes, to the mixes you can buy off the shelf. Including Jello and kool-aid mixes.

Plain corn in my case has not been a huge success either. The place I'm hunting has a massive amount of readily available food for these guys and they won't put alot of work into regular corn. I have been using the post hole digger trick where you dig up to 2 feet or so and then layer corn and dirt, these guys have so much other food available to them though that they eat the plain dry corn off the top and don't bother digging for the rest. Hand spreading a large area doesn't seem to hold them very long either. And The coons will come in and hit the tops or even dig up most the hole on dry corn, and the hogs again won't really bother.


What has worked for just a weekend hunt: Soured Corn.

I take a big bucket, maybe 1 or 2 weeks before the hunt, I dump in the corn, then I cover with water, I get a pack of rapid rise yeast and activate it(Following the directions on the package) and then I dump the activated yeast in said bucket of corn and water with 1-2 cups of sugar (Just enough to really kick start the yeast). This bucket will hold over 3/4's a bag of corn if that help give any idea on the ratio you need.

Around a week it doesn't smell like rot or anything, but more like rising bread, alcohol, and fermented corn. For whatever reason the piggies I am after cannot seem to leave this stuff alone, and they do not just walk on by it. This is the only stuff I seem to be able to use that convinces the pigs it's a good idea to hang around and dig a hole.

Post hole digger, eighteen inches at lease down, and layer it corn, dirt, corn yadda yadda. when you get to the top, stomp it down, and then pour some of the soured corn water on top and then a scoop of the actual corn as well.

Again, the area I hunt I can't set up feeders or anything to bring them in on a regular basis, so if I got out baiting I'm needing it to work within a day or two, and this is the only thing I've used that's given me any help. Other recipes I've used seemed to have hurt more than helped.

Good luck on your hunt!

I agree with not putting out something they have not seen before. In my experience it takes them 2-3 days to come to new stuff. Corn would be your best bet. They have been particularly nocturnal in north Coryell county since last December--usually not active until after 9pm. But, they are also incredibly random in their "patterns", so it is a crap shoot as to when they will be out. Good Luck.

You have some great advise above. With free range hogs I will scout the dirt roads, water areas, and cedars for fresh signs. Soured corn was a great tip earlier in the post.

warmer weather picking up would try the early mornings or evenings, if ya find area freshly roooted-up,take bag of corn an hand throw it out in wide area, i'm postaddic havent got a hog yet this year, always good ta get 2nd opinion or 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 or 7 agh hec, just hunt & have a good one

Thanks everyone.

If the landowner will let you dig a hole and you have the energy or better a power post hole digger.
Dig a post hole a few feet down and sink as wide a piece of pvc pipe as you can and fill it with the sour corn.
They will hang around it for several days trying to dig the corn out. Drive's them crazy.
The deeper the better.
You just set up in your blind and wait.

Also, believe it or not , they love diesel soaked corn. Great seasoning for the meat too!
This is an especially good where you have deer eating your sour mash corn. They won't touch it.

So many ways to attract them, but be be patient. One year we got a couple of barrels full of corn dog left over from the State Fair. Dumped them in a kids plastic wading pool. Added a bit of water and half bag of corn. After two days they found the bait and it was a fun time. Hogs are nomadic though and will travel miles to hit feeders. If serious, keep that bait pile working every day. Hard to do when you are out every other weekend though.

You should probably get out there early evening before the sun goes down and wait for 4-5 hours. They seem to be most active in the late evening/early morning.

All great comments so far. Another huge one is the wind. If you know which direction they are coming from be sure the wind isn't carrying your sent in their direction... they will never show up if they smell you.