Hogs - No longer Nocturnal !?!

[Revolting Peasant]

Most every group of hogs has an older sow that is the brains and memory of the mob. Mature hogs can remember water/food source/danger for several years. That sow is the leader and if someone shoots her, that knowledge is lost. The mob just became that much dumber and has to relearn. Always shoot the biggest sow first.
That may be part of what you are seeing. Kill that sow and the group gets dumber. Or they may be responding to pressure at night. Some properties, after deer season pressure drops off they return to evening and morning feeding to beat the other hogs to the feeder. Or they may just be hungry! calories count for a breeding sow and she needs them bad to nurse pigs.

 

[HobieH3]

It's true. I spotted Rosie O'Donnell at Whole Foods @ 11am over the weekend

Hogs are too smart to shop at Whole Foods. Want to some REAL hogs, go to WalMart.
Don't know about video games, but they can drive those little scooters...

Oops, did I type that out loud?

 

[Coastal]

I've hunted in areas with hogs for many years now. They are like any other animal and their activities are effected mainly by food, water, sex and predation. They are highly migratory to find whatever it is they need. I hunted a ranch for a good while that was up off a river several miles. When we had rain the pigs would come up out of the river bottom several miles away and we'd see them all over the place for a period of time. As soon as it started drying out and the ground got hard they were back down in the river bottom and we wouldn't see many at all with the exception of the really big single boars. There were also times when certain foods were available that they would show up bigtime. They loved wild onions on one place I hunted and when they onions hit a certain point in the spring they would root up acres of pasture getting them. Just like overnight they would show up in big numbers. Other times they would almost completely disappear and likely had another food source they were hitting elsewhere.

I have hunted places where the pigs were pretty dumb. They would flock to feeders in big numbers and during daylight hours. You could stalk groups of them in open clearings and pipeline right of ways. Stuff like that. I have also hunted places where they were very tough to kill. The last ranch I hunted they would not come to a feeder if you walked around it. I'd go pull my game camera cards first thing when I got to the ranch and would have pics of pigs at my feeders morning and evening daily for a week or more straight but the whole weekend wouldn't see one at the feeder and the corn would stack up. I tried one weekend not going to check game cams before we hunted and we shot pigs every morning and evening at my different feeders. I tried wearing rubber boots to check my game cams and it still didn't help. Then from a bow blind I watched hogs circle the feeder and sniff it all out then ease off without ever coming out of the brush. And that was just the scent on the game camera from when I checked it and they picked up my scent off the camera from 10 yards away. Normally it took 3 days after checking a game camera or otherwise walking around one of my feeders before they would come back to it at all and then it would usually be at night for several more days before they would start to show up in daylight again.

The only difference between the really easy places I hunted with fairly dumb hogs and the really difficult hogs I have hunted is hunting pressure. On the ranch where they were so tough to kill they got pounded anytime they were seen. By anyone who saw them. Ranch hands, ranch foreman, biologist, property owner, hunters, etc. We were all expected to kill as many as possible any time they were seen. So they got trapped, shot from trucks, shot from stands, shot from helicopters, etc 365 days a year. If they came out in the open for long they were going to get shot at. And they were super tough to hunt. The other places I have hunted had some hunting pressure but nothing like that. So in my opinion they are smart and learn quickly how to avoid us when we put the pressure to them.

Last thing is, they are like deer or any other critter, the moon effects them. When you have a full moon they will feed at night more. When it's pitch black at night they will feed more early in the morning and late in the evening. And they love to find a good place to wallow during the day.

 

[Lasiter]

I'm curious about your source on that (pigs are the fifth smartest animal). I've been around both species a lot, and from experience, I have to disagree.

I suspect pig intellect is greatly exaggerated by animal rights groups and Hollywood. For example, in the filming of Babe I believe 49 different pigs were used, and each was capable of learning 1 'trick'.

Obviously they have the ability to learn, but compare a mob of hogs to a pack of wolves. Or a domestic hog to a domestic dog. Look at respective brain sizes. Now, I'm not a doctor or a psychologist, just a redneck in Canada, but that's my experience!

Whitetail deer can learn, and even get pretty smart. Would you consider a deer intelligent? They have a brain about the size of a pigs.

Interesting thread. I don't mean to be argumentative, just thought I'd put it out there.

There were deer in the woods surrounding our range in the Oakland, CA hills. Every day the deer above the trap range would come down the hill to graze until shot was close to bouncing off their hooves. The 100 yd rifle range had nice grass. You could see the deer gathering waiting for the last shot at 5 pm in the summer. At 5:01 the range would be full of deer grazing, like they had wrist watches.

 

[jrthomasjr]

I think hunting pressure will drive them nocturnal, as I've observed only young ones (if any at all) taken on ranches with high hunting pressure, and our youth hunts are day hunts only. I've seen mature hogs taken during the day on ranches that are highly managed or seldom hunted.

Weather will also cause them to change their habits. The only time I've been on a hunt specifically for hogs, we had a successful hunt the first afternoon. A storm came through that night, and we never saw another hog. The ranch hadn't been hunted in 10 years other than the author of a hunting column in a newspaper, and he'd only been there a couple of times. Deer and turkey were everywhere and not really alarmed about our presence.

Left alone, though, I think hogs follow patterns similar to deer as I've seen them out at the same time as deer, day or night. One time I even saw them in tall grass together, which is not normal.

As to intelligence, I read a summary on a study conducted many years ago, pre-internet when I read it. The study involved pigs and beer. Turns out pigs like beer....a lot. In the study, the lead boar liked it so much he wanted it all and wouldn't share. He quickly became a drunk. The next boar on the pecking order took advantage of this, challenging and subduing the drunk to become the new lead boar. According to the study, the drunk then went on the wagon and took the lead position back. It didn't mention, however, if it was the new lead boar becoming a lush with the same behavior that led to the downfall of the first lead boar (hence the first lead boar being on the wagon was not of his choice), so I have some skepticism about it.

The pigs liking beer isn't surprising to me. We used to lease a property that had 4 silos. When you fill them with any kind of green grains (corn, sorghum, etc.), stalk included, it ferments. The juice runs out the cracks in the concrete at the bottom, right into the feed lot. Drunk cows, drunk birds, you name it; if it's in that feed lot, it's drunk! Very entertaining to watch, especially when the birds try to fly.

 

[osprey176]

I have no question that hogs are intelligent,though I wouldn't try to rank them with other animals. At my club in Florida, we had lots of feeders,and most were set to dispense the corn just after dawn,and at dusk. The pigs would move in close to the feeders, but stay just inside the thick cover and wait. At the beginning of the season, as soon as the feeders slung the corn, the hogs would charge in and eat. After a couple were taken out of the herds, they became more cautious,waiting later and letting the babies go first. Towards the end of the season, they were totally nocturnal. We didn't night hunt. We saw this pattern repeated every season.

 

[Poppadoer]

We've all had our experience with the hogs and other varmints that roam and feed at night.I've seen raccoons,opossom,and lots of other so called nocturnal critters during the day.Quess what,yep you guessed it,they were feeding.Don't guess they got their bellies full during the night.Just saying.

 

[Brett Bracken]

I'm curious about your source on that (pigs are the fifth smartest animal). I've been around both species a lot, and from experience, I have to disagree.

I suspect pig intellect is greatly exaggerated by animal rights groups and Hollywood. For example, in the filming of Babe I believe 49 different pigs were used, and each was capable of learning 1 'trick'.

Obviously they have the ability to learn, but compare a mob of hogs to a pack of wolves. Or a domestic hog to a domestic dog. Look at respective brain sizes. Now, I'm not a doctor or a psychologist, just a redneck in Canada, but that's my experience!

Whitetail deer can learn, and even get pretty smart. Would you consider a deer intelligent? They have a brain about the size of a pigs.

Interesting thread. I don't mean to be argumentative, just thought I'd put it out there.

 

[Brett Bracken]

I have no question that hogs are intelligent,though I wouldn't try to rank them with other animals. At my club in Florida, we had lots of feeders,and most were set to dispense the corn just after dawn,and at dusk. The pigs would move in close to the feeders, but stay just inside the thick cover and wait. At the beginning of the season, as soon as the feeders slung the corn, the hogs would charge in and eat. After a couple were taken out of the herds, they became more cautious,waiting later and letting the babies go first. Towards the end of the season, they were totally nocturnal. We didn't night hunt. We saw this pattern repeated every season.

KyCarl is correct...hogs are extremely intelligent......up there with porpoises and whales. They are definitely the smartest animal in the barnyard. Their biggest flaw is that they are gluttons....that's what gets them killed.

 

[seattleman1969]

I agree with several others, hogs adapt VERY quickly and they seem to learn from one another much faster than deer or other species.

 

[skipglo]

They are much smarter than most animals! smarter than dogs.
Pigs are actually considered the fifth-most intelligent animal in the world—even more intelligent than dogs—and are capable of playing video games with more focus and success than chimps! They also have excellent object-location memory.

You are absolutely correct. No point in me saying mostly the same thing... but I just learned from you the video game aspect.....so hunters...maybe take your play stations and a TV to the field...new baiting idea...and if the pigs don't show up at game time ..at least we won't be bored while we wait!

 

[John Klingenberg]

I did hog control on some big ranches. Several of the ranches were over 50,000 acres so we shot lots of hogs. One year I personally shot over 300. The one sure thing about locating and taking hogs is this, hogs are where they are. They have no territory like a lot of animals. A whitetail doe will be born and die in about a mile square area. A hog has no loyalty to the pack, their young or territory. They go where the food and water is. Theyll show up when they feel like it. They will develop a habit and hit feeders but even if that feeder is a 365 day operation theres no guarantee theyll be there every night/day. The heat is what Ive noticed drives them to night feed more than anything. Even hunting pressure doesnt really change day night patterns it just changes how they do business. I've shot into the same herd on consecutive nights over a big wheat field and they went from feeding far out in the field to feeding the edges only closer to cover. The guy that commented on shooting the lead show is correct. It's a setback but it can slow them down. Sows will totally abandon piglets on the run, I'm not sure how they reacquaint but my suspicion is they dont. I've scooped up little piglets in my ball cap to take home and the sow was long gone judging by the openness of the area I was hunting. They can have roughly four litters if the food sources are good and weather cooperates but that's ideal conditions. And your farm is ruined if that's happening. Two litters is more likely. I watched a certain colored sow for a few years and she was having two litters. A Texas biologist produced several videos where they live trapped sows with different aged piglets. They ear tagged the piglets and removed the sow. On various game cameras and sightings they showed that even little piglets just over your ankle survived about 30% of the time. Sorry for the long read, I find pigs fascinating and I'm really a hog hunting addict.

 

[Gcan]

I'm curious about your source on that (pigs are the fifth smartest animal). I've been around both species a lot, and from experience, I have to disagree.

I suspect pig intellect is greatly exaggerated by animal rights groups and Hollywood. For example, in the filming of Babe I believe 49 different pigs were used, and each was capable of learning 1 'trick'.

Obviously they have the ability to learn, but compare a mob of hogs to a pack of wolves. Or a domestic hog to a domestic dog. Look at respective brain sizes. Now, I'm not a doctor or a psychologist, just a redneck in Canada, but that's my experience!

Whitetail deer can learn, and even get pretty smart. Would you consider a deer intelligent? They have a brain about the size of a pigs.

Interesting thread. I don't mean to be argumentative, just thought I'd put it out there.

Only know that pigs and bears are very similar in intellect. Both have problem solving smarts.

From what I know about training dogs and movie shooting schedules, the fact they used 49 pigs has more to do with the time constraints associated with the fact that most pigs can learn multiple tricks far faster than any dog but movies don't shoot for years. Unfortunately by the time you taught one young pig 49 tricks it would be 2 years old and 200 lbs. The name of the movie would have been "Babe and Beyond" or "Babe, the first 10 years". So the solution is to teach 49 pigs that are all the same age, just one trick each. Logical?

 

[foul bore]

I hunt in west central Texas, lots of hogs. they, at times are very predictable, other times not. I hunt them usually in late evening, killed a lot of them. I have seen them do some smart things, and some really dumb things. you never know, always be ready