Hunting often comes down to trying to intercept them. To deter the pigs, clean up any fallen or overripe fruit or veggies. What are wild hogs afraid of? Although they have solve the problem of deterring wild hogs, they may have a negative effect on the local ecology. Some of the most common types of these plants are: Spider plant, Hornwort, bladderwrack, bearberry, and rattleweed. Monocular vision enhances the wild hogs field of vision this improves the ability to locate food and detect immediate danger, this field of vision enhancement comes at the expense of depth perception. Here are 7 facts that every hunter aiming to harvest wild hog should know. To read more from the Texas A&M research on wild hogs, click here. I have tested most cover scents on the market, while some do seem to perform most fail to perform as advertised. Additionally, garlic essential oil is also effective at repelling groundhogs, as they cant seem to stand the scent of garlic. Click to attach a photo related to your comment, domestic pigs, feral hogs are very intelligent, How to Get Rid of Rats Naturally Without Harming Them. Here's a look at how dangerous feral hogs are and what should you do if you encounter one. Hogs love to wallow in the mud. 2. The fourth factor is human perception and human dynamics. What not to feed pigs is anything moldy, slimy, or rotten. Try combining scent deterrents with physical or auditory deterrents. (2) foraging on the ground - fruits of woody species, fungi, small animals, vertebrate carrion, etc. Cayenne Pepper Skunk Repeller. I've concluded that no scent is as distracting to a wild hog as the scent of FOOD! These truffle pigs were very expensive at the time and were greatly recognized for their great sense of smell. To deter the pigs, clean up any fallen or overripe fruit or veggies. if you do not disrupt there senses. However, any landowner that plans to trap or snare hogs should have a valid Texas hunting license, since these activities could affect other wildlife species. it is this lack of depth perception that i believe leads to the near blind myth. Have you ever wondered if woodchucks (groundhogs) can actually chuck wood? Overall, these animals are smart. For nearly a century, scientists have investigated chemicals that can fell big, vertebrate pestsparticularly feral swine. Wild hogs do not have very good vision, although they do have a good sense of smell. Whether these little bandits have been stealing your garden vegetables or their burrows are getting out of control, youre ready to do something about it. Finally make sure that you do not live any food close to your garden that the pigs can scavenge. Also, keep Fidos food in the house. Groundhogs can cause real problems for home vegetable and flower gardeners. In our previous hog hunting blog titled Hog Hunting: 12 States Where You Can Hunt Them Year Round & Why You Should, not only did we elaborate on what states allow you to hunt them without a tag limit, but we also indicated 4 crucial reasons of why you should consider hunting them. Garlic And Onions. They can cover considerable areas, except when the females are pregnant. Their sense of smell is so good, pigs can discriminate between mint, spearmint, and peppermint with 100 percent accuracy during academic testing. If youre in need of an exterminator or wildlife professional, you can learn more about our nationwide network of pest control professionals. Plus, with how smart and mischievous these guys are, it is nothing short of fun. It really depends where you hunt and the type of hog hunting you do. The nice thing about these types of scent deterrents is that they are probably already in your pantry! What Animal am I According to my Zodiac Sign? Snake predation by feral hogs is most likely insignificant at best. Be observant of what you do before a hunt and make sure you limit yourself around scents that can stick to you. Broadside-Shoulder Shots are Best. In some areas, the problems caused by wild hogs have increased as due to crossings with domestic pigs. With a hogs sense of smell being its strongest weapon, the hog is unable to use it properly due to the wind providing constant uncertainty of the smells around it. Depending on what scents pass through its nose, a hog will either go towards the source, or keep as far away as possible. David is the main protagonist of the Duck Season game. Are wild boars . Here are some of the known groundhog attractants: We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. While, Is a 26 or 28 inch shotgun barrel better? These ain't grandpa's hogs running the woods, these are crossed with Russian boar and bad to the bone. For example, black pepper can simply be sprinkled around your garden to deter groundhogs. However, now that you know where they will reside during the warm months, they might be easier to locate. Use the same odor-elimination procedures with hogs that you do with deer. There are some other plants that repel groundhogs as well, but their names aren't as well known. 4. The smell of smoke is a good scent masker. Repellency of plant, natural products, and predator odors to woodchucks. If youre unsure about your groundhog problem or if you dont think you can handle it on your own, get help from a professional! Citrus Peels are Natural Home Remedies to Keep Skunks Away from the House. And once this product dries, you will not be able to smell the rotten egg scent. will cast a shadow, often times alerting one or more of the hogs in the group, they will become skiddish and possibly leave the feed area. The problem with this educational approach is that there are twice as many myths as there are facts out there regarding the challenges created by the senses of the feral hog. If you havent read my article on hunting hogs in the rain, I think you should do so. Groundhogs can climb, but theyre not the most graceful. He is compact, not long like a deer," Clayton said. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Lets check out all the scents and smells they dislike so you can start deterring them today! Pigs have a remarkable 1113 active genes related to smell. With the progress of science, we should be able to get rid of wild hogs without damaging their wider ecosystem. We recommend wearing gloves and spraying a little bit of cover scent to mask your presence. What smells do hogs hate? They are capable of sensing odors five miles away and able to detect food sources several feet underground. Of course, if you're hunting from one location, like a treestand, you want scent around the shooting zone. In general, boars have widely distributed populations and, in some cases, show signs that their numbers will keep on growing. Groundhogs have a few distinguishing features to separate them from these animals, such as their tail shape, solitary nature, and white guard hairs that give them a frosted appearance. A successful hunt requires you to trick their senses and allow them to carry on as if you werent around. They can be drawn to an area using feed that emits a strong odor. They eat almost any plant material and are especially fond of tomatoes. Hogs are creatures of habit. As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Repels wild hogs and alters their digestive system in 2-ways: Food tastes bad and their digestive system is disturbed and surrounding soil become bad smelling. They wont hesitate to burrow under a fence. 9. So be wary if you have small dogs or cats, as this deterrent mayattractthe predator to your yard. Notify me via e-mail if anyone answers my comment. It is interesting to note that pigs have 9 different glands that allow it to to recognize a wide variety of odors anal, buccal, digital, Harderian, mental, preorbital, preputial, salivary and vulvar. The first step has nothing to do with building a fence or calling animal control. As wild hogs become more and more popular to hunt due to their increasing numbers, many hogs have adapted to hunters behavior and strategies by becoming nocturnal. Lazy, right? Fence Height:To deter groundhogs, your fence should be at least three feet high. Then, address the cause. Regardless of the establishment of or lack of a home-range feral/wild hogs are movers and they rely heavily on their senses to survive. The combination of these ingredients drives woodchucks away by creating an unpleasant burning sensation. Safer Brand Spray powerful groundhog repellent that contains 3 great-for-repelling-groundhogs ingredients capsaicin, piperine, and black pepper oil. That means storing your hunting gear and clothes in ways that minimize the introduction of foreign scent in the field. Feral/wild hogs hearing is keen enough to detect a fairly loud whisper @ around 100 yards, human voice above a whisper and they are GONE. However, since then, the truffle hunting job has been given to dogs due to the pigs natural instinct to root up the land looking for food. This will prevent any ambient scents from getting onto your clothes. Hunting game is very good, but you also need to choose the right weapons and equipment. Problems only arise when groundhogs begin burrowing near the foundation of your home or if they find their way into your garden. JavaScript seems to be disabled in your browser. Keeping Skunks Away from Your Home with a Cayenne Pepper Mixture. When they cause perceived problems, we try to control their growth in lethal or unethical ways. With all of this talk about repellent scents, it makes you wonder what groundhogs hate the most? Recent studies have shown that the wild hog population is increasing across the United States by as much as 20% yearly! There are plenty of commercially available products likeI Must Garden Groundhog/Woodchuck Repellent, where the main ingredient is whole eggs. If you find a suitable wallowing location, it's a natural candidate for some scent. As the name suggests, its solar-powered. Using game cameras and some stealthy pre-hunt reconnaissance can help identify the hog trails. In the 1950s and 60s, says Mayer, wildlife departments promoted pig hunting and sometimes even . But more specifically, its made with rotten eggs. If you find a suitable wallowing location, it's a natural candidate for some scent. However, they have also been introduced into the Americas, Australia and onto several islands. If you find a suitable wallowing location, it's a natural candidate for some scent. When eaten in high doses over a short period of time, it is toxic to feral swine. You can also catch wild hogs laying in the mud, or moving late at night when they temperatures begin to drop. , Bow and Arrow Hunting hogs with bow and arrow is a thrill that challenge-seeking hunters love. Wild pigs may seem an unusual species to thrive in Canada's cold climate, but the feral swine descendants of European wild boars brought to the nation for game farms and as food are . One of the most crucial signs to look for when aiming to harvest a wild hog is to locate uprooted soil. Pouring scent around bait, or at any location, signals that the spot is safe. Wild hogs are very strong, so they can charge weak points in a fence if they feel like it. Pet food left outside attracts the attention of pigs as well as other opportunistic critters. This cross-breeding is mainly true for males since the females avoid pigs. Feral Hogs are wild animals that need food, shelter, and water. To use predator urine to repel groundhogs, be sure to follow all the directions on the label. Their high reproductive capacity is due to three main factors; they reach sexual maturity early, they have a relatively short gestation and they produce a high average number of offspring. Corn will "sour" once soaked for several days, creating a smell that will attract hogs but keep other animals, such as deer, away. Commercial Wildlife Repellents. SMELL Wild hogs possess one of if not the strongest highly developed senses of smell of any animal you will hunt, capable of detecting certain odors in excess of 5 miles away. Their sense of smell is so good, pigs can discriminate between mint, spearmint, and peppermint with 100 percent accuracy during academic testing. Check with your law enforcement center to find out if you arent breaking any laws by shooting the pest rodents. Hogs are aggressive in a way that deer aren't. Today, America's feral swine include wild boar, escaped domestic pigs, and hybrids of the two. As we stated above, they have a great sense of smell, and they are large, aggressive animals that can come charging at high speeds which means that if you are planning on hunting or trapping these wild hogs, you must be careful with the techniques that you are aiming to use. Hot Sauce And Cayenne Pepper: Why They Work To Repel Rats, 11 Things That Attract Ticks (And How To Repel Them), 9 Different Ways That Spiders Get Into Your Home, How Long Pigeons Nest For (And If They Reuse The Same One), Garlic: Can You Use It to Repel Squirrels? HogHuntingForBeginners.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Avoid growing crops that pigs enjoy, such as strawberries and other sweet fruit. Their burrows can be extensive, up to thirty feet in length, but one burrow system cannot bring down a house. Think of the consistency of scrambled egg mix. Choosing the right mount for your Rifle Mount Flashlight. Hopefully this will be enough to deter them from your property. But, just because you have a groundhog doesnt necessarily mean you have a problem. On average, groundhogs measure 1 to 2.5 feet long and weigh 7 to 13 pounds, although they can potentially grow to be 24 inches (3 feet) long and weigh as much as 30 pounds when in an area with few predators. Pouring scent around bait, or at any location, can put hogs at ease. They have also been known to jump over fences that are less than 3 feet high, and researchers have sighted wild hogs making their way out of traps that were 5 to 6 feet high. B., & Curtis, P. D. (2021). Groundhogs come to a yard or garden because they think its a good place to find food and it provides a safe haven. If you have any extra, be sure to store it in the fridge. The feral or wild hog (scientific name Sus scrofa) is a mammal belonging to the Suidae family, which also includes pigs. Their sense of smell is so good, pigs can discriminate between mint, spearmint, and peppermint with 100 percent accuracy during academic testing. The wild hogs sense of smell is among one of the strongest in the animal kingdom, making them a very tough game to hunt. How do you fight a boar? Minimize shadows to improve night hunting success rates. The significant role played by bitcoin for businesses! Join us and I will tell you everything. While doing rattlesnake telemetry at the Chapparal Wildlife Management Area, I walked (usually within a few feet and quite often a few inches) up on numerous snakes, hundreds of times. Make sure the mesh has an opening no larger than 2 inches X 2 inches. Like we mentioned before, groundhogs have a keen sense of smell. Check for burrows around your garden to determine if groundhogs are to blame or some other critter like rabbits or raccoons. Chain-link fences and those made with heavy-duty steel hog mesh should keep the wild pigs out of your garden, but . However, it is important to remember that these animals seek to reproduce and maintain their numbers, just like any other species. Their sense of smell is so good, pigs can discriminate between mint, spearmint, and peppermint with 100 percent accuracy during academic testing. What can I do to keep ground hogs out of my yard? Therefore, uprooted soil is one of the most recognizable signs of a wild hogs presence and is going to help you harvest a nice pig. The smell alone of certain herbs and aromatic flowers will repel even the most determined groundhog. That familiar smell can have a calming effect. They can trample and uproot crops, springs, and creeks, and many times this means going over homes and business that are in close proximity to humans, livestock, or watering facilities. Although all groundhogs look about the same, just like we humans, each groundhog has unique preferences. You'll have to decide if the knowledge gained from these preliminary trips into the woods outweighs the chances of disturbing the hogs' routine. As soon as it gets a whiff of a possible big predator like a coyote or fox, its likely to vacate the areaASAP. However, hogs will surely awaken to sudden, abrupt noises and will further investigate or make a quick getaway. Hunting without a rifle is like, Like humans, polar bears have a plantigrade stance: they walk on the soles of, Once downed by a hunter, well-trained tollers will retrieve the bird as well. Confident hog hunters accurately shooting well within their comfort zone might consider sending a well-placed round directly into the recessed spot behind a hogs ear. The good news is,groundhogs and woodchucks are actually the same animals, so theres no need to confuse the two! In 2014, one church outside Houston was so worried about its annual pumpkin sale that it enlisted armed guards to stand watch over the patch at night. Well, we are here to tell you. We wrote an in-depth piece on if awoodchuck can actually chuck wood here. Practice good sanitation in your orchard, keeping dropped fruit out of . Do feral hogs kill snakes? Two notable places in North America are tapping into new resources to prevent, track, and cull pig populations. Groundhogs always create at leasttwoentrances to their burrow, the second entrance being an emergency entrance or exit. Given their high capacity for reproduction, they have unfortunately become an invasive and harmful exotic species. Like peppers, garlic and onions contain compounds that can upset a pigs stomach. ), knowing this fact will help you better plan your hunts, and hunt the weather to the best of your ability by getting into the mindset of a wild hog. Top Five Strategies to Protect Crops from Wild Animals. Groundhog Resistant Plants. This is easily accomplished by simply carrying a pound or two of corn in a bag tied to my pack or belt, cut a small hole in the corner allowing a few kernels to drop out as the bag moves from your actions. Wild hogs are known for using their snouts to root through vegetation and find food. Please consult a pest control professional before applying any tactics from pestpointers.com. No one wants a tomato that tastes like hot sauce and mustard, right? If you decide to use fencing, there are a few things to keep in mind. Therefore, uprooted soil is one of the most recognizable signs of a wild hog's presence and is going to help you harvest a nice pig. Hogs like to cover a lot of ground, especially in the morning and evening. After a few hours of being out in the hot sun, your mixture will begin to sour. They go by many names, including wild hog, razorback, piney . Thanks to their acute memory, every time they smell that food they will associate it with its bad taste. The smell is what keeps it off the list of groundhogs' favorite foods, although they do occasionally eat them. Putrescent eggs are made with, well, eggs. What smell do wild hogs hate? This method appeals to a groundhogs sense of danger. Once the harvest had begun to grow, wild hogs rooted up his backyard when they have never done so before. Considering many hog populations that are becoming hard to control are in the south (Texas, Alabama, etc. This is best applied to completely dry plants. Dont chew gum! Alternatively, you can find them online, such asAmerican Heritage Industries Coyote Urine. Groundhogs have a keen sense of smell that helps them stay safe from predators. Their Canadian . This site is owned and operated by Hog Hunting For Beginners. Learn how to eliminate natural body odors to stay undetected by whitetail this season. How do banks earn a profit from lending money to their customers? Cuny noted feral hogs have a strong sense of smell and are able to detect odors several feet deep, hence their rooting into the ground for a meal. Although we did state that wild hogs do not have the best eyesight, they can sight figures up to 100 yards away. Additionally, foxes are predators of groundhogs, and fox urine can repel groundhogs as well. Your email address will not be published. At one time, domesticated hogs were managed as free ranging livestock in parts of the state. Dont worry; no live animals will be involved on your part! Sprinkle Talcum Powder in the Garden. The chilling sound of two Velcro pieces being pulled apart is more than enough to send shivers down a horse's spine. This results in more pregnant females and, therefore, more offspring per litter. Most often asked questions related to bitcoin! Hogs are used to encountering the scent of other hogs. It takes just 8 grams of sodium nitrite to kill a 100-pound pig, Gentry said. Now that youre packed full of groundhog deterrent information, you should have a small arsenal of ideas to repel these pesky critters. Herbs 6. Groundhogs will steer clear of anything treated with talcum powder because they hate the smell, so it is effective with preventing groundhogs from eating your garden, but it may not be strong enough to deter them from burrowing and creating tunnels in your yard.