Wild Hogs And “Song Dogs”

By Scott Ellis

As the summer heat sets in and turkey season is a distant memory, thoughts of the upcoming seasons are definitely weighing on my mind. What is a hunter to do to pass the time? Well I’ve got just the solution to get you in the woods with your favorite rifle.

Wild hogs are legal game on any private land year round and can offer some exciting off season hunting. If you were raised in Florida, pigs have probably been a normal part of the scenery during the general hunting seasons. Some of us hunt them with dogs, some of us hunt them with guns and some of us don’t hunt them at all but, they can offer a challenge and the ability to polish your predatory skills as a well.

Hunting hogs is definitely not rocket science just look for wet areas, mud holes and swamp heads. Pastures are a safe bet as well, especially after a good hard rain. The soil is softened and allows them to “root” with ease. Also if your using supplemental feed, target those areas as well.

As the summer rains start to pick up their range will broaden. The wet low areas will become more abundant and so will the hogs. With the days soaring into nineties your best bet is daybreak and late afternoon right up until dark. Tree stands can also be productive if you’ve located mud hole or “waller” where the “rooters” are frequenting. Stalking is my favorite method of hunting them, just slipping along the edges of pastures scanning the wood lines.

Coyotes or “song dogs” will challenge even the most skilled hunters. According to the Florida Wildlife Commission there are no seasons on these wily critters on private lands. Simply stated you can hunt them, as well as hogs, all year long. There are seasons regulating them on game management so check the regulations on your local hunting area.

In my opinion the most exciting and successful way to hunt yotes is by calling them from a stationary position. Much like turkey hunting it requires a stealthy set up including head net and gloves. The big difference is that coyotes have a keen sense of smell. Their eye sight and hearing are sharp as well.

Scouting is key to success just as with any hunting. Check roads for tracks that resemble a medium size dog with claws showing on the imprints. Also coyote scat will look very similar to a common dog’s feces. You’ll often find hair in the droppings suggesting feeding on fur bearing mammals. Blowing a coyote howler at night will often draw a response helping you locate them as well.

I don’t want to paint a bad picture of these animals but they are an invasive species. Meaning they are not native to our state. They can wreck havoc on turkey and deer populations when they are concentrated in large numbers. Not only are they a blast to hunt you could be doing yourself, the members of your hunt club and the land owner a favor by harvesting them. They have also been known to cause problems with cattle herds as they will hunt calves in packs.

There are two basic methods for calling “song dogs”. One is imitating other coyotes. The other is imitating wounded prey. They are quick to respond to an easy meal. One of the main staples in their diet is rabbits. Due to the abundance of cottontail and swamp rabbits here in Florida it is my first choice of calls. A Quaker Boy cotton tail screamer is a sure bet to lure them into gun range. Begin your series of calls with intensity then waning to a short softer squall. On paper it would resemble waaaaaa waaaaaaaa waaaaaaa waaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaa…..waaaa …… waaa…. waa..wa. Produce this call in three to four series. If you’ve ever heard a rabbit caught by a hawk the initial response is intense and loud and then starts to lessen in intensity. As the hawk regrips his prey the cycle repeats again until the animal expires. This is the sound you are emulating.

After emitting your series of calls raise your guard and your gun and prepare for your shot. I highly recommend a monopod or shooting sticks to steady your aim. Generally, if there is a “yote” in ear shot it will respond quickly. I would only recommend staying at a set up for fifteen to twenty minutes. Then pick up and move to the next area. Coyotes are generally more active at night so base your hunting around early morning and late afternoon until dark.

As mentioned imitating the howl of another coyote can also yield success. This is generally more productive during the mating season, February through March. A lower pitched howl challenging other males in the area, a medium pitched howl of a female or even a high pitched bark of pups. Produce the sound starting with five to seven barks then into a howl then ending with two to three barks. Give three or four series and wait. I would recommend searching the net for the sounds of the mentioned calls. It will better aid you in the sounds your trying to produce.

In early May I had the pleasure of guiding my buddies country music artist Chad Brock and Chris Bell on a coyote/hog hunt. It was as perfect as a morning could be in Florida in May. An unseasonably strong cold front had found its way across the state driving temperatures down to the upper fifties. We didn’t even have to fire up our Therma-Cells.

Even though turkey season has passed I was dying to just hear a gobbler. The morning started off with me doing some owl hooting and some crow calling with my voice. I was hoping to hear an old tom that hadn’t given up on breeding yet but, to my dismay no gobbles. On to the hunt. I had planned a loop through the center of my lease stopping in areas that I had seen coyotes and hogs during turkey season. The plan was to stalk, set up, call and then repeat the process throughout the route. About an hour after daylight we had stopped for a moment to locate a set up and out of know where a herd of hogs came running from our left at two hundred yards. The herd consisted of two sows, about one hundred and twenty five pounds and ten smaller pigs weighing about forty to fifty pounds. We watched them in full stride for about a hundred yards. All of us were just waiting for them to stop and we quickly realized they were on a mission to get somewhere fast. Chad dropped to one knee and with one well placed shot with his Thompson Encore chambered in 300 win mag. he dropped one of the sows. It was a truly amazing shot. Two hundred yards running broadside picking the shot through a thin line of oaks the hogs were on the other side of. Chris managed to get off a shot but it didn’t find its mark. We trekked over to Chad’s hog gave some congratulations and continued on the loop.

As we were easing along I said “Man, this morning would be perfect if I could call us up some coyotes before the morning was over”. Little did I know what was in store. After leaving a set up, I stated we were going to slip up to an opening in the fence that was at the entrance of a large pasture surrounded by oak hammocks on all sides. There we would set up again and call. As we entered the opening I was scanning the pasture with my binoculars and spotted two hen turkeys. Then something peculiar happened. The two hens spooked and began running. We were stationary and I knew it wasn’t us that startled them. I said “What could have spooked them?” Chris stated, “maybe it was coyotes?” I started calling and nothing appeared so after about ten minutes we opted to move. We were about seventy five yards from where I had last called and we spotted movement about four hundred yards away at the end of the pasture. I knelt down and I threw up my binoculars and guess what? Coyote! The dog was in a dead run. Unfortunately we had not made it to the edge of the woods yet so we were stuck about fifty yards from cover. As luck would have it the wood line he was hugging on his approach dipped into a little pocket, which hid us from his view.
We darted back to the wood line and managed to find concealment. I gave another series of squalls just to seal the deal. In the midst of all the excitement I failed to notice that there was not one but two “song dogs“. At about one hundred yards they both stopped to asses the situation. I started to tell Chad to take the one on the left and Chris the one on the right. Before I could finish that sentence Chad’s 300 barked. Nothing, didn’t cut a hair. Chris’ 300 Winchester short magnum then roared, airball, nothing. Amazingly enough they ran away from us on the exact same route they took to get to us, leaving them exposed and away from cover. This gave Chris plenty of time to chamber another round ,take careful aim and at 300 yards take his shot. Absolutely unreal, in a dead run Wiley Coyote folded up like he had been hit by a sledge hammer. It appears these boys like to give their game a fair chance. I guess one hundred yards was not sporting enough. All kidding aside, I have to say it was one of the most remarkable shots I have ever witnessed. After the ten minute walk to retrieve our trophy we had found he had sniped her right through the neck to boot. Just in case you were wondering how we knew the yardage, Chad’s Aimpoint scope has a built in laser range finder. It was one heck of a way to end an already successful hunt.

If your urge to get in woods and fulfill your passion (we like to call hunting) is just too overwhelming, give wild hogs and “song dogs” a try. You may be surprised how much fun you’ll have. Keep in mind I am not responsible for any of my fellow hunters sleeping on the couch and being in the dog house because you’ve found another reason to be in the woods. Happy hunting!